Sad. Illuminating the dangers of opening one's mail. ( )

Sad. Illuminating the dangers of opening one's mail. ( )

Sad. Illuminating the dangers of opening one's mail. ( )

"He devoted himself to raising more lions", October 23, 2014

This review is from: The Lost Lions (Hardcover)
Short, rather sad little work, following Hamish - a 'beautiful young man' - in his outdoor life (Aran sweater, knee-socks and sporting a fine moustache, climbing a mountain.) The movie business, which brings him fame and fortune (and the opportunity to keep lions - lovely picture here, bringing to mind the author's own interest in cats), leads to his becoming 'unstrung' and taking off for S. America (naked and bearded in the jungle, still occupied in keeping his journal.)
Rather uncertain ending, but very solitary feeling - as he returns to visit his lions from a trip to a publisher and finds the animals have been sent to Ohio for the winter - cue image of our hero looking out over snowy waste.
Very short and at first reading seems to be about nothing, but Gorey implies a very lonely existence - even to this individual, gifted with looks and wealth. ( )

I got this book free through LTER. This is a delightful little edition from Pomegranate, beautifully laid out. The extensive white space on the pages with text (in Gorey's unmistakeable cattywampus handwriting) is a nice contrast to Gorey's ever-so-detailed art. Those lions certainly are lost, all right.

I'm not sure what else to say about this book except that it is a brief, surreal musing on a man's life, almost like a poem. ( )