Customer Reviews

Night of the Jabberwock

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

 

 

Doc Stoeger is the editor of the Carmel Clarion, Carmel City's weekly newspaper, put to bed on Thursday night and released on Friday. On this particular Thursday night, the paper is looking extremely void of news and Doc complains that he wishes something would happen on a Thursday night to give him a hot story. As well as being editor of the local paper, Doc is also an aficionado of the works of Lewis Carroll and enjoys nothing more than spouting verse in Smiley's bar when work is over. The Lewis Carroll references become very important to the storyline and are scattered liberally throughout the book.

Before the night is half over, Doc's wishes come true as he is absolutely deluged with exciting stories that would make terrific reading the next morning. From bank robbers, to a factory fire, to the capture of a criminal gang. But as quickly as they break, the stories evaporate leaving him with the prospect of delivering a newspaper with nothing worthwhile to read.

In the midst of his newspaper worries, Doc is visited by a man calling himself Yehudi Smith - a name of great significance to a Lewis Carroll fan. Yehudi seems to know a great deal about Doc and about his fascination with Lewis Carroll and he invites Doc to accompany him later that night on a hunt for the Jabberwock. As surreal as this prospect seems, Doc is convinced that the prospect isn't as crazy as it first seems, so he agrees to go.

This is just the start of an amazing night for Doc Stoeger. Before the night is through, he finds himself in an unbelievably hopeless predicament on the run from the police, desperately trying to make sense of the night's events. It seems that the story goes off the rails and heads into the realms of fantasy, but the key to the whole story is hidden in the fact that, although everything that happens seems impossibly fantastic, when logic is applied and reasoned out carefully, the events become part of a very clever plot.

This is a brilliantly constructed book combining the strange and, at times, nonsensical talents of Lewis Carroll's brilliance with a scathingly clever mystery. This is the first book I have read by Fredric Brown, but I am now hopelessly and helplessly hooked.

And just as a teaser, here is an important verse of Lewis Carroll's that has a rather special meaning in Night of the Jabberwock:
As I was climbing up the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
I wish that man would go away

Fredric Brown was a uniquely talented writer who created numerous clever works in both the mystery and science-fiction genres. "Night of the Jabberwock" fits in the former category. It describes the strange and harrowing adventures of one "Doc" Stoeger, a mild-mannered little man who edits a weekly newspaper in a small Illinois town circa 1950. As events progress, the borderline between reality and illusion becomes increasingly blurred, and our hero finds himself in increasing peril. This is a slim little book -- only 140 pages -- which can be polished off in a couple of hours if you're a reasonably fast reader. It's a fun read that will keep you guessing 'til near the end, and provides more than a couple of entertaining moments along the way. Worth seeking out.

This is an awesome little book. Fredric Brown's writing is succinct and he weaves a very tight plot. The action in this book takes place during one night. The hero is a 53 year old guy named Doc Stoeger, and he has been complaining that nothing ever happens in his little town for him to print in his weekly newpaper. That is until one night! Then the whole town seems to go crazy and Stoeger is set into play by a very intelligent criminal. He sets Stoeger up to take the fall for two very heinous murders and plays him like a chess piece. The setting is 1950's small-town America, and the book will keep you turning pages until the end. Whatever you do, noir murder afficiondos, don't pass up this book. Beg, borrow or steal the book in order to read it. I picked up a very worn copy from a used bookseller in the States. (But you can't have mine!)

This is a thoroughly enjoyable read from start to finish. It is a short 160 pages and thus is perfect for a get together with good friends to read aloud on a single afternoon/evening or a few consecutive evenings, etc. It is a clever story with intricate plot connections and lots of references to Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" make it all the more interesting. The story is both suspenseful and heartwarming; and a period piece that takes place in a small town long before cell phones, email and other modern lifestyle fixtures. Even if you have never heard of Lewis Carroll you will enjoy the way the story unfolds and the insights into human relationships and character.

A strange tale, bolstered by arcane references to Alice In Wonderland, which at the core is a whodunit as experienced through an alcoholic haze by the narrator. That was my only problem with this entertaining book -- Doc is obsessed with liquor, and even if it's 1950, driving under the influence wasn't something to be proud of. The whole story is sort of preposterous, but that's what makes it so much fun. It reminded me a bit of Naked Came The Sasquatch by John Boston, except Jabberwock doesn't really involve the supernatural world.

A Lewis Carroll fan (a PhD who published one monograph and one article on Carroll and then ended up owning and editing a small-town weekly) is framed for murder. Brown tries very hard to make the unlikely seem possible. A fast read, with no "philosophy" or higher meaning. There is a disturbing dependence on drink throughout the book, as in all of Brown's books, which from today's vantage point is a little sad and so 1950's.