Customer Reviews

The Cormorant

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Initially, I intended to criticize "The Cormorant" by Stephan Gregory for failing to be as compelling as I had expected a book touted as "Award-winning" to be. However, as I began writing this review, my opinion began to take another shape. Gregory does a masterful job of creating the landscape and atmosphere of the Wales countryside and the cozy cottage where the narrator and his wife take residence after the death of his uncle Ian. It is quite easy for the reader to become enveloped in the world the author has created: to cozy up to the fire and watch the pre-Christmas snow falling outside the slowly-fogging windows, all the while sensing the sulking, angry presence of the ugly joke, the cormorant, trapped in a cage in the back yard. Based on atmosphere alone, "The Cormorant" is a book whose images and emotions will linger in your mind. The ending of the story, the portion of the book with which I was going to find fault, is still unraveling itself in my mind. At first, I felt that the ending didn't create the kind of emotional impact that I felt the author had intended. I now believe that my feelings had more to do with the fact that I stayed up late reading and got little sleep, rather than any failings on the author's part. I feel a bit like a shock victim coming out of it: the emotions are rising up in me as I think back on the story, and plotlines that I felt were left unresolved are weaving themselves together. The sheer fact that a novel can leave this kind of lingering impression should be enough to recommend it. White Wolf publishing, under their Borealis line, has published a number of great books in recent years by authors who are not well know in the United States. After reading several of the titles published in this line, I now browse through bookstores in search of the Borealis imprint. Some other titles in the line include "The Immaculate" by Mark Morris, "Resume with Monsters" by William Browning Spencer, and "Virgins and Martyrs" by Simon Maginn. Check them out!!!

A man inherits his uncle's estate, which consists of little more than a cottage and a bird, the cormorant of the title. He takes his wife and son to live in the cottage and, against his wife's wishes, becomes more and more involved with the cormorant, a "pet" that is more than half wild and dangerously unpredictable. Was the bird a malevolent gift from the solitary, woman-hating Uncle Ian? Is Ian haunting his nephew, or is the cormorant merely an excuse for him to spend more and more time away from the demands of his family? Someone once told me that he didn't like this book because the protagonist "didn't struggle enough against his fate, as characters must in a horror novel." In my opinion, this is a horror novel precisely because the protagonist didn't struggle (not at first, anyway.) The best way I can describe this is to say that if a master writer took the seven year itch, that mysterious longing for freedom that sometimes strikes married people, and turned it into a horror novel, this is what you'd have--and make no mistake, this is an incredibly well-written book. The author takes us by the hand and takes us down a strange and eerie path, one where we're not entirely sure whether or when we should be afraid, and he doesn't flinch from taking us all the way to the end of it. There are no compromises here, no veering off the path to a prettier place where we can have a sweet little happy ending. The book is so short it could really be called a novelette but after reading it I felt like I'd been punched in the gut by someone who knew exactly how to do it for maximum effect. This is an adult book dealing with adult issues. It is definitely "no one under 17," not for any sexuality but for a scene of violence and cruelty.

Gregory portrays the cormorant as a perfect blend of malevolence and mystery. Short but memorable, with an ending that is both haunting and surprising.

I found this book in a mini library at RAF Upwood in 1990. I was there attending the Air Force NCO Academy. I didn't have the money to buy any books so with a free library at my disposal, I chose this one to start with.

The story is about an evil bird, a Cormorant, as the title implies, that terrorizes a family. Saying the bird is evil is an understatement. I'd never heard of Cormorants before, but after this book, I had my doubts I'd even want to learn more! However, because of the book, I took an interest in the birds, at least to a point, and learned that they are normally quite benign.

I won't go into plot details as I read this thing 18 years ago, but it still left an impression on me. The author sets up a creepy setting with a dreary world that permeates the whole story. I've never read a book that has creeped me out as much as this one did. Even back then, I was pretty jaded to scary stories and it would have taken a lot to scare me. Maybe the fact that I was in Jolly Olde' Englande' with constant rain and fog might have helped the mood, but I think if I'd been in the desert in the middle of summer, the story would have had the same effect.

If you like creepy stories that leave you wanting to take a hot shower and get in the bright sun as fast as you can, you might want to check this one out. It does the trick! Recommended.