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Grief by Ed Lark
01/11/2005 . Source: Shaun Green 
pub: Reverb/Osiris Press Ltd. 149 page enlarged paperback. Price: £ 7.99 (UK). ISBN: 1-905315-02-3. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.readreverb.com
Juan is a village boy who has abandoned his past and the dark emotions that accompany it. To find a replacement, he has come to the city. The city quickly takes him for its own as he is drawn into the Crystal Realm and mingles with the social elite. Here fashion changes three times daily, drugs are constantly consumed to provoke the appropriate frame of mind, plastic surgery is as simple and convenient as changing a tie and the sex is great.
Out in the desert, a troupe of harlequins is searching for Juan. They number five: the level-headed and unstated leader Alberto, his lover and tortured soul Sanya, the bookish philosopher Louis, the giant Gargantua and a cat with a girl's face. These five misfits do not know where Juan is but they progress inexorably towards the city.
The twin narratives of 'Grief' are both linear and it is often obvious what is to come. Juan's life in the Crystal Realm sets a new benchmark for success but he remains dissatisfied. At points, his body crumbles or he damages it, both manifestations of his self-aware artificiality. The harlequins encounter many people on their journey but it is inevitable that they will arrive at the city. Yet this is not a story about destinations: it is a story about journeys. It is the events which transpire and the images of life that we are shown that make this novella special.
The characters of the harlequins are a delight. Louis and Gargantua in particular are tremendous and represent diametrically opposed life philosophies. Louis exhibits a slavish devotion to books and whilst well-meaning and kind he is reclusive and ignorant. The world has left him and his books behind and he is condemned to an irrelevance he is blissfully unaware of. Gargantua laughs, drinks, dances, sings and is always filled with an irrepressible joy at the simple pleasures of life. These two argue often and secretly are great friends.
Juan and the characters that he encounters are all fake and insincere. They are illusory and cruel in their indifference. They hold the common people of the city in contempt, referring to them as 'Extras' who are redundant and meaningless. We see Extras fed to sharks and a waitress kicked to death by a crowd. War is a game in which the rich participate or gamble upon. History and its monuments are regarded only as things which can aesthetically please the city's elite. The people of the Crystal Realms are only out for themselves.
Although 'Grief' is a simple story it is also a powerful one. It resonates on many levels with our own present and past. It is readily apparent that the city that Juan comes to is not so far divorced from our own. In the conflicting philosophies of Louis and Gargantua, we see elements of our own outlooks upon life. Through these extremities we can recognise and examine ourselves.
'Grief' is witty, profound, heart-warming and beautifully written and is highly recommended to all fans of fantasy or magic realism.
Shaun Green
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