Midnight in the Sunken Cathedral - Book Review

Kliatt, Jan, 2002 by Carroll Dale Short

Harlan Ellison. 2001. Read by the author. 4 tapes, 5 hrs. Audio Literature, 1-57453-412-2. $25.00. Cardboard, plastic; plot, author notes. JSA*

In his 50-year career, Ellison has produced a mountain of acclaimed short stories, novels, and TV scripts (for series ranging from Twilight Zone to Star Trek), while gaining a reputation as a raconteur, maverick social commentator, creator of elaborate--though fake--biographies for the dust jackets of his books, and perennial favorite on the college-campus speaking circuit. But surprisingly, despite a distinctive voice and edgy delivery that one reviewer has described as "liquid lava," the author has never recorded an audio collection of his stories. Midnight in the Sunken Cathedral not only remedies this lack, but also serves as an ideal introduction for newcomers to Ellison's offbeat and often disturbing fictional world. Though some of these stories deal with aliens, time travel, and mysterious worlds, Ellison bristles at being called a SF writer--and with good reason. He cites, as a major influence, the magical realism of Such writers as Jorge Luis Borges. And Ellison's bailiwick is not so much science as it is the territory that William Faulkner referred to as central to all serious storytelling: "The human heart in conflict with itself."

In this collection, that territory includes a late adolescent whose mind and heart are forever frozen in young boyhood ("Jeffty is Five"); two loners whose ongoing, passionate debate about gender in the novels of Dostoyevsky fills many an empty hour in an all-night diner ("Prince Myshkin, and Hold the Relish"); and a middle-aged man who reacts to the deaths of several close friends by developing a recurring, terrifying lucid dream that threatens his sanity ("The Function of Dream Sleep"). Ellison's reading approach is by turns angry, cranky, poignant, and reflective, but is always engaging to the point of habit-forming. Audio production values are consistently solid, and features such as the author's after-word on his experience of writing the latter story help make this collection especially valuable for established fans and new audiences alike. Carroll Dale Short, Birmingham, AL