Five more days until the official launch of The Visitor. A few pre-sales have been completed and a consignment deal with a local bookstore will be signed tomorrow.
The Visitor is not just a Love story; it is a story about Love.
The Visitor is a simple story. A Love Story. A story about the visitor who is leaving behind his friends, his family and his Beloved. But it is more than that; it is a Story about Love.
From the visitors last moments of life he has clarity. That in itself provides a certain peace as his life had been quite conflicted. However, the reader will not have the insights to his conflicts yet, as those days of angst are described in the prequels to The Visitor (volumes 2 through 7 of the Corvus Chronicles).
The absence of understanding the visitors previous periods of angst may actually leave the reader conflicted. The Love story part of The Visitor is easily understood. It's pretty simple. 90 pages. Two people meet, they "fall in Love", one of them dies; and their is some pain in the parting. However, it is the story about Love which may tend to trip the reader up.
While the read is short, it is not easy. It is like a river that flows smooth in some sections, then fast in others, and in other sections seems like it is churning over rocky white water passes that are hard to navigate.
The reader is warned that the novel is hard to navigate by the author in the introduction:
Notably, The Visitor is written from the perspective of a third-party narrative trying to relay through poetic parables a common story about Love and life on the eve of death. It is hoped that each reader will find the message unique to themselves and their own situation.
Each stanza is purposefully intended to be able to stand independently while remaining connected and instrumental to one central message. This style is meant to echo how each of us stands alone, yet we are all connected. The discordant rhymes and rhythm symbolize the
unique speech and tempo that exists within us in an attempt to slow down the reader so that they may reflect on a message which may appear unnatural at first reading.
The narrator also warns the reader that the poetic parables of the visitor can be distracting;
An irregular cadence and natural rhythm graced his voice. It was a poetry void of predictable rhythm and strained at times to rhyme. His voice moved discordantly, straining on unexpected syllables, making it hard to ignore, like the flaws in logic or the stain on a favourite garment. To those with too critical an ear, it was easy to miss the point and be diverted from the message.
While the explanation of the author and warning of the narrator may help provide some foreshadowing that the words ahead may be challenging...taken together the real reason the 90 pages may trip the reader up can be understood.
The author indicates that the message may appear unnatural at first reading and may slow the reader down so they may reflect on a message. This message is what is usually hidden. The narrator warns it can be distracting for those with too critical ear and again divert the reader from the message.
So, what is the message both the author and the narrator are alluding too?
It is a message found within the entire book. Both in the author's words, the narrators words and the visitors poetic parables. There is an underlying story; and that story is not the Love story; it is the story of Love.
The are clues throughout the novel which can help direct the reader towards understanding the deeper story (interpretation of the message) such as;
- when a "was" reads as an "as" to symbolize the concept of a denial of permanent time by eroding a passive particle by simply dropping an expected letter (w)
- when a word is replaces by a synonym, such as "peaces for pieces" or "error for air"
- when a different language is used for one word, such as amour or sans pax
- When a word is capitalized as a proper noun (such as Love) rather than an adjective (love)
- When a rhyme scheme keeps being thrown of count; sometimes to the point of a line being just one word; (such as Living)
These are all examples of when "the message" is something rather than what you might read on first glance. Typically, but not always, these are in the poetic parables. The parable is the story within the story...or if you like, the story of Love within the Love story. (see June 19th blog for understanding of what a poetic parable is).
When you trip on elements such as those listed above. Slow down. Stop reading with your eyes/mind and read with your heart. Read it within the context of the whole story.
There are other elements within The Visitor which are a little harder to uncover. There are actual cryptic passages which spell out foreshadowing of other novels within the Corvus Chronicles which include even the spelling of actual names (cryptically). But those are elements for another day.
Until next time,
Journey in Love
Michael Paul