Reviews for Exclusive Visions: Lesser Known Denominations of America

The average rating for Exclusive Visions: Lesser Known Denominations of America based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-03-24 00:00:00 Ken Shiloff The Polish writer Stefan Grabinski is known for his early modernist tales of terror, tales filled with speeding trains and gritty sexuality. His modernity, however, runs deeper than that, and his stories deserve to be remembered for more than locomotive imagery and furtive gropings in the dark. In his early years at the University of Lwow, Stefan learned he suffered from tuberculosis, the Grabinski family hereditary complaint. After graduation, he worked as a high school teacher, and achieved some critical success with a book of stories (The Motion Demon, 1920) in his early thirties, but tuberculosis compelled him to retire at forty. He continued to write, his books were neglected, and he died at the age of forty-nine, poor and little known. Grabinski was a modern man, who believed in evolution, yet he distrusted the Darwinian model and preferred the Bergsonian instead. In other words, for Grabinski, evolution was not the cold product of the calculations of time and mutation, but the result of the elan vital, the creative principle in all living things. The image of the train—Grabinski's favorite—is an ambiguous one, for, though it speeds with the force of apparent life, it is a cold mechanism of iron and steel, and its very speed and survival depends upon the precision of its schedule, the preparation of its tracks. Sexuality, on the other hand, is a pure expression of life force, and in Grabinski's stories we often see how the efficient, carefully calibrated locomotive world—and other grids and careful constructions—is invaded and overwhelmed by elemental desire. And the most horrifying thing about sexuality—in the stories of Grabinski—is that the life force is even more powerful when it comes from the dead. Grabinski's stories, however philosophical, please us with their puzzles and mysteries; Like Borges', they never stray far from the well-constructed tale. I like all the pieces collected in The Dark Domain, but my favorite are “The Area” (in which beings imagined but unwritten demand of their author a “full life”), “Szomota's Mistress” (the ultimate “corpse bride” tale,a horrifying use of sexuality), “Strabismus” (a Poe homage inspired by “William Wilson” and “The Tell Tale Heart”), “Vengeance of Elementals” (in which the power of Fire defeats the carefully plotted pattern of a Fire Chief), and “The Compartment” (a sexual liaison on a train devolves into violence and terror). These eleven stories will jangle your nerves, but will give your mind much to think about too. If you like weird tales, don't miss these. Grabinski is one of the masters.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-03-08 00:00:00 ANURAKBKK Soon This is a beguiling and potent collection of stories.  The author's quixotic nature is clearly evident in his writing.  Always the outliers, his protagonists believe in the strength of the mind and the cogency of their own visions.  Trains are a constant image in many of the tales.  A character takes trips without destinations, "under the influence of cosmic and elemental forces," leaving constraints of normal routine behind.  Celestial paths guide supreme motion. Grabinski believed in the powers of the chimerical and the elementals ("beings that appear during eruption of the elements").  He also incorporates ghosts and demonic forces into his stories, both of which destroy lives and lovers. The psychological component is paramount, as it is the mind and its ability to lend thoughts, obsessions and anxieties lives of their own.  In "The Area," an author attempts to take his stories beyond language, thus ensuring his own downfall.  So strong are his visions that he himself cannot escape their vampiric hunger. Eroticism has its place in this volume, tantalizing and unnerving in twists of fate.  Bodies undergo metamorphoses, only to separate with dire consequences. Egocentricity and the flow of time trap characters in their own hypotheses, wrapping them in strong beliefs before releasing them to their fates.  The most compelling elements in this collection are subjectivity and imagination, and the intense holds that they have on their believers.  It is important that one does not completely lose oneself in the creative current.  The void and the unknown are just around the corner.