The Wolf Gift
Just finished reading Anne Rice's The Wolf Gift. I've never been a big Rice fan, although I've read some of her stand-alones, Servant of the Bones and Cry to Heaven, the latter of which is still one of my favourite fiction books ever because it helped me discover opera. I don't read much horror these days, but as a teenager I did. I read mainly classic horror: Stoker, Poe, Lovecraft, LeFanu, with a few modern writers like Poppy Z. Brite thrown in for good measure. I never enjoyed Stephen King or Clive Barker although I tried, and these days the "horror" that most bookshops stock is really paranormal romance, and I have zero interest in reading romance fiction, paranormal or not.
But I discovered that there's two types of horror that I like. Type one is the "chiller" type, fast moving, keeping you on the edge of your seat, compelling horror. Type two is slow moving, atmospheric, more beautiful and sad than horrifying. Most of my preferred horror fiction tends into one of the two types, although it has elements of both.
This one is mostly the second type, it's more philosophical, although it is still enough of a page-turner that I read it in two days. When my sister saw me reading The Wolf Gift she dismissed it as being like all the paranormal romance fiction out there these days, and the cover doesn't help. But of course it's not at all; it's true horror fiction with all the challenges and complexities the genre raises.
Can a monster who embodies the most primal and detestable urge we know as humans - the urge to kill with utter abandon - be hailed as a superhero?
It's the story of a man who becomes something else: something in between a wolf and a man, something in between a hero and a villain. It's set in modern California, in both city and wilderness. The protagonist, Reuben, is attacked one night, and after he recovers he finds that he's changed: he's stronger, hairier, with keener senses. As the man tries to work out what's happened to him, his animal side goes out into the world at night to deal its own brand of justice. It attracts the kind of attention that puts him in more danger.
It's not the cliché werewolf story of silver bullets and the full moon, which I have nothing against either, but in creating something new, it frees Anne Rice to focus on other topics, like what is heroism? What is right and wrong? And does evil exist, is it all just people making mistakes, or some combination of the two?
It isn't stated this way in the book, but this is one possible conclusion that can be drawn from her mythology, and it's my interpretation:
Rice's wolf was originally born of self-defence. It comes from a human-offshoot species that turned aggressive when threatened, where the ability to focus on a threat, to zero in on it, in order to protect the self or the group was a survival mechanism. That explains why the wolf-half can focus on feelings and intent to inflict damage.
Crossed with a human though, that ability made the werewolf more powerful, because from the human-half came that which made it a predator, and ultimately, a survivor. Unlike the original wolf defence species, humans attack and conquer. Humans are the aggressive species. So it's the human side that gives Rice's werewolves their enduring quality, as proven by the fact that the original (wolf-part) species was wiped out by humans, but the werewolf survived.
Looking at my reading history I obviously like the newer, more scientific takes on the werewolf myth, with Kathy Reichs' Virals series being the other one I'm reading. Like I said, I have no problems with the traditional magical moon-related myth and will happily read that if it's a good story, but I also like the more modern twists, where it's a genetic mutation or a virus. I find that interesting.
Of the "big three" horror creatures - vampires, werewolves, and zombies - my favourites are still werewolves and other shape-shifter stories (followed by ghosts, which are less popularly written about). In European folklore it was mostly wolves that threatened people, and that people turned into. In Russia it was bears. In parts of Africa it was hyenas and lions. In South America, jaguars. It was always the untamed and untameable in our stories that humans became when they lost their humanity. I find that combination of fear, nature, and human history fascinating.
I would label this book "fluffy horror", or maybe "horror for non-horror fans"... but I like "fluffy horror" better. :p Yes, it's still horror so of course there's the corresponding level of violence and sex and disturbing themes, but then, my bar for horror is extremely high, so that colours my interpretation and you may disagree vehemently. But this book is what I would consider fluffy by comparison to others in the genre. I've read similar levels of violence in general fantasy fiction, and it's still confined to the action scenes. The sex is mostly "off screen" and completely consensual. There's no torture, cold blood, or extended dread, and even the violence isn't lovingly dwelt on. It's just part of the way things happen. Like nature.
The reason werewolves are considered horror is because they confront us with what we're all capable of and because we all fear a loss of control. They tell us that wildness exists in everyone, and that it doesn't take an animal to be truly cruel: that is all human.
I found The Wolf Gift very enjoyable actually. I thought I would enjoy it when I bought it, just because I do like reading about werewolves, but I probably enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
But I discovered that there's two types of horror that I like. Type one is the "chiller" type, fast moving, keeping you on the edge of your seat, compelling horror. Type two is slow moving, atmospheric, more beautiful and sad than horrifying. Most of my preferred horror fiction tends into one of the two types, although it has elements of both.
This one is mostly the second type, it's more philosophical, although it is still enough of a page-turner that I read it in two days. When my sister saw me reading The Wolf Gift she dismissed it as being like all the paranormal romance fiction out there these days, and the cover doesn't help. But of course it's not at all; it's true horror fiction with all the challenges and complexities the genre raises.
Can a monster who embodies the most primal and detestable urge we know as humans - the urge to kill with utter abandon - be hailed as a superhero?
It's the story of a man who becomes something else: something in between a wolf and a man, something in between a hero and a villain. It's set in modern California, in both city and wilderness. The protagonist, Reuben, is attacked one night, and after he recovers he finds that he's changed: he's stronger, hairier, with keener senses. As the man tries to work out what's happened to him, his animal side goes out into the world at night to deal its own brand of justice. It attracts the kind of attention that puts him in more danger.
It's not the cliché werewolf story of silver bullets and the full moon, which I have nothing against either, but in creating something new, it frees Anne Rice to focus on other topics, like what is heroism? What is right and wrong? And does evil exist, is it all just people making mistakes, or some combination of the two?
It isn't stated this way in the book, but this is one possible conclusion that can be drawn from her mythology, and it's my interpretation:
Rice's wolf was originally born of self-defence. It comes from a human-offshoot species that turned aggressive when threatened, where the ability to focus on a threat, to zero in on it, in order to protect the self or the group was a survival mechanism. That explains why the wolf-half can focus on feelings and intent to inflict damage.
Crossed with a human though, that ability made the werewolf more powerful, because from the human-half came that which made it a predator, and ultimately, a survivor. Unlike the original wolf defence species, humans attack and conquer. Humans are the aggressive species. So it's the human side that gives Rice's werewolves their enduring quality, as proven by the fact that the original (wolf-part) species was wiped out by humans, but the werewolf survived.
Looking at my reading history I obviously like the newer, more scientific takes on the werewolf myth, with Kathy Reichs' Virals series being the other one I'm reading. Like I said, I have no problems with the traditional magical moon-related myth and will happily read that if it's a good story, but I also like the more modern twists, where it's a genetic mutation or a virus. I find that interesting.
Of the "big three" horror creatures - vampires, werewolves, and zombies - my favourites are still werewolves and other shape-shifter stories (followed by ghosts, which are less popularly written about). In European folklore it was mostly wolves that threatened people, and that people turned into. In Russia it was bears. In parts of Africa it was hyenas and lions. In South America, jaguars. It was always the untamed and untameable in our stories that humans became when they lost their humanity. I find that combination of fear, nature, and human history fascinating.
I would label this book "fluffy horror", or maybe "horror for non-horror fans"... but I like "fluffy horror" better. :p Yes, it's still horror so of course there's the corresponding level of violence and sex and disturbing themes, but then, my bar for horror is extremely high, so that colours my interpretation and you may disagree vehemently. But this book is what I would consider fluffy by comparison to others in the genre. I've read similar levels of violence in general fantasy fiction, and it's still confined to the action scenes. The sex is mostly "off screen" and completely consensual. There's no torture, cold blood, or extended dread, and even the violence isn't lovingly dwelt on. It's just part of the way things happen. Like nature.
The reason werewolves are considered horror is because they confront us with what we're all capable of and because we all fear a loss of control. They tell us that wildness exists in everyone, and that it doesn't take an animal to be truly cruel: that is all human.
I found The Wolf Gift very enjoyable actually. I thought I would enjoy it when I bought it, just because I do like reading about werewolves, but I probably enjoyed it more than I thought I would.