LIGHT BOXES

First published by Publishing Genius Press 2009
Penguin Books 2010
Soft cover 147 pages
Fable, fairy-tale

The first word that comes to mind, after having read this something-like-a-déjà vu-feeling of a novel, is magical. The last time I remember reading such a unique style of writing was when I first met Griffin & Sabine – as introduced to me by Nick Bantock in 1991. Unlike Griffin & Sabine, however, which is written in epistolary form, Light Boxes is written in several different fonts and sizes, ignoring word-count per page, whilst throwing away everything that even remotely resembles some semblance of continuity for the many inhabitants living in a small town under the spell of February. Phew.

The cold and dark month of February doesn’t like things that fly. So to punish the residents who fly kites and hot air balloons, February has banned flight of every kind and has catapulted the town with snow and ice and cold and dark, into a forever winter. During February’s long stay, children go missing, and depression filters into the crevices whilst the town begins to ban together to ward-off the nightmare of unending winter.

“Bianca whispers into the bathwater.

Maybe the priests aren’t really priests. Look at the way their silly robes move.
I want to be safe. I want to live inside a turtle shell.” page 20

Thaddeus, Bianca, Selah, Caldor.
The girl who smelled of honey and smoke.
War Effort members.
The Solution – who wear bird masks and black top hats.
And of course,
a godlike spirit named February.

“Then the stench of burning leaves, and the bulbs bloomed crystal white across his face. The War Effort cheered. Some ran out into the snow-filled plains to mock the sky. Others took turns fitting the box over their heads, letting the light soak into their winter beards. Their tongues tasting the blood from their splitting lips.” page 43

I found myself being thrown into a psychological war of words, having to seek comfort in what I perceived to be the thread of the matter. This book is not for everyone. You will actually have to think in order to deduce your odds of likeability. A bravura of a debut (cult-following) novel.