Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

The next few nights I sleep with the light on. I read "Forest" by Ambrose Ibsen in bed and I no longer dare to sleep in the dark. It is a gruesome, scary, macabre and eerie story, in which I feel there is always a layer that I dare to call literary.
To start with because of the I perspective. That makes it even more intense, because the feelings of the person from whom the story is told come even closer. The main character's fears, tensions and worries show this macabre gem in the right way and that only increases the tension and makes it more scary!
In addition, Stephen Barlow (the narrator of the story) is someone you will love as a reader. He and the antagonist both cross borders in their own way and that gives an interesting tension to the conflict. In a way, it's also ironic that Stephen, who is a professor, is forced by the situation to move beyond the limits of the rational and into the shadows of the paranormal.
Ibsen deserves a compliment for the occupant. In every book by this great author there is always someone whom the reader will remember. From 'Stirrings in the Black House' (2017) that is Erik Wheaterby. He is my favorite character in the horror genre, leaving Pennywise, Dracula and Lestat behind. And now the occupant is in second place, because the author has outdone himself!
The semantic meaning of this ingeniously conceived monster, in my experience, is the awareness of temporality and death. First, he makes the heroes of the story realize that death is not the end and that there is something greater than man himself. The following quote strikes me at the heart of this:

“It is for good reason that men fear the dark. Our kind are transient, hopeless things. Things destined to live and die, leaving nary an echo in the yawning corridor of eons. I've always marveled at time, and at its ability to change things—to worsen, weaken and, however seldom, to improve—despite its intangibility. The cruelty of this world is that there is nothing in it that equates to permanence, and it is the burden of our kind to be saddled with—cursed by—that knowledge. The only commodity that endlessly endures is that invisible force that turns the pages; time.�

While reading this genius page turner, I occasionally thought of a chapter from 'Black: the brilliance of a noncolor'(1). The philosopher describes in this how black is the emptiness of all colors and the counterpart of purity. In Forest this approach touches on some motifs and it would be interesting to discuss this within a reading circle.
In short, for all readers who like to read a creepy story with a layering and ambiguity in the story that makes it literary, this is a must. Even though it will definitely cost you your night's sleep! #aferlifechronicles #ambroseibsen