Plowing through Lynch’s writing is the equivalent of driving a Honda with a 500-horsepower engine. His prose is simply masterful. Whether describing the violence of murder as “hunter-gatherly” or using a pilot’s crisp epaulettes to show a character’s preference for refinement, Lynch’s command of language is as fresh and innovative as it is precise.
Unfortunately, a good turn of phrase does not a good story make. Though an established memoirist and poet, it’s fairly clear that Lynch has yet to fully grow into the role of storyteller. The fiction contained here is ponderously paced and weighed down by an overemphasis on backstory. Worse still, his endings are either abrupt (“Martin never heard from her again.”), asynchronous, or quixotic.
However, this isn’t to say that the collection is pretty prose and nothing more. As a mortician, Lynch excels at creating a pervasive sense of sorrow, whether it be an embalmer grieving for a murder victim (“Bloodsport”), a fisherman mourning his father “Catch and Release”), or a retiree torn up over his several failed marriages (“Hunter’s Moon”). In addition, Lynch succeeds at taking unsympathetic characters and making them pitiable and interesting. The protagonist of “Matinee de Septembre” is a spoiled, elitist academic who ends up hopelessly pining for a Jamaican serving girl half her age while the title novella’s straightlaced preacher-turned-motivational speaker only feels divine inspiration after divorcing his unfaithful wife and engaging in random debauchery. Funny moments are few and far between, but when they work – i.e. a woman demanding a priest annoint a dog because it is a “Catholic” dog – they really work well.
Apparition and Late Fictions is a flawed but promising first effort, worthwhile as an introduction to an author who is likely to impress once he becomes more familiar with his craft.
7.5/10
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