Severance: Stories

by Robert Olen Butler | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0811856143 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingGoryDetailswing of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 10/1/2006
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3 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Sunday, October 1, 2006
I bought this book at Books on the Square in Providence RI. (I doubt I'd have spotted that wonderful independent bookstore if BCer fsr44, who'd just led me on a magnificent Lovecraft-and-Poe walking tour, hadn't taken me there to finish up in style - definitely check it out if you're in Providence!) This book looks grim/odd/beautiful/tragic, and more than a little uncomfortable; it's a collection of small stories (which looked more like prose-poems when I flipped through the book), most based on actual cases of "severance" - as in beheading!

The author's premise was the theory that after a sudden decapitation it's possible that the brain remains aware for a short time, possibly a minute or two, and these stories are his interpretations of what each victim might have been thinking. The subjects range from historical figures (Anne Boleyn, etc.) to mythical (the Gorgon) to modern-day accident or crime victims - and include a chicken ("beheaded for Sunday dinner in Alabama, 1958") and even the author himself (with a date some years in the future). The captions listing the subjects and manners-of-beheading remind me VERY strongly of the bizarre news items featured in Wisconsin Death Trip; will see how the stories themselves go...

Later: Definitely... interesting! I didn't find all the dying-thoughts entries equally satisfying, and some I liked better for the choice of subject than for the actual words, but overall I found it an intriguing book to read. Some of the entries suggest whole plot-lines within their short space - the one for John the Baptist, for example - on the theory that one's dying thoughts might reflect one's most secret desires. Others are very immediate, as the "dragon beheaded by St. George," whose last thoughts have to do with a "pale flesh" that looks "not soft but glinty all over him". [I had not realized that St. George was himself beheaded - by Emperor Diocletian, not a dragon - so he's in here too!]

Some of the non-famous entries are more touching than the legendary ones; Ta Chin, the Chinese wife beheaded by her husband in 1838, wishes that her bound feet might be severed before her head. And of course the mere facts of some of the domestic tragedies (husband beheads wife, daughters behead father) and the industrial accidents (factory girl decapitated by elevator) make their own little death-poem, even without the additional words.

There are those here whose fates seem justified, such as serial-murderer Landru, who died on the guillotine; here, he muses about his crimes in those final seconds. And while the whole book is, of course, the author's idea of what the victims may have been thinking, in this case I suspect he was right...

An odd, eerie, disturbing, sometimes darkly humorous collection.

Journal Entry 2 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Thursday, August 28, 2008
I thought I'd offer this unusual book for a book ring; see the forum post here.

Later: since Guinneth was the only taker, I've handed the book off to her, to do with as she sees fit!

Journal Entry 3 by wingGoryDetailswing at Manchester, New Hampshire USA on Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Released 15 yrs ago (9/3/2008 UTC) at Manchester, New Hampshire USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I'm sending this book to BCer Guinneth in Manchester NH to kick off the book ring. [If I don't get any more participants it will be a very short ring {grin}.] Hope you enjoy it!

Journal Entry 4 by Guinneth from Manchester, New Hampshire USA on Monday, September 8, 2008
This arrived safely on Saturday. I'm already a good way through it as I keep picking it up at odd moments...

Journal Entry 5 by Guinneth from Manchester, New Hampshire USA on Thursday, September 11, 2008
I *loved* this elegantly designed little book and may need to search for a copy of my own. From the flyleaf: "After decapitation, the human head is believed to remain in a state of consciousness for one and one-half minutes. In a heightened state of emotion, people speak at the rate of 160 words per minute. Inspired by the intersection of these two seemingly unrelated concepts, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler has written sixty-two stories, each exactly 240 words in length, capturing the flow of thoughts and feelings that rush through a mind after the head has been severed." This concept is just morbid enough for me, yet the entries are not in the least bit grotesque; rather, each offers "a very distilled way of looking back on life and capturing its essence." (Also from the flyleaf.)

These glimpses are arranged chronologically, beginning with a man beheaded by a saber-toothed tiger in 40,000 BC and ending with the author's imagined demise in 2008. There are voices here representing figures from mythology (Medusa, the Lady of the Lake) and persons who actually lived, some well known (Nicole Brown Simpson) but many not (John Martin, a boy decapitated by a subway after lifting a sidewalk grate and falling onto the tracks below.)

The ones that I found most memorable include Lois Kennerly, who was beheaded in the collapse of the World Trade Center's South tower; Mary, Queen of Scots, whose last thoughts are about her little dog; Lydia Koenig, a Chicago woman beheaded by her own son in 1999; Charles H. Stuart, a Texas farmer beheaded by his two teenage daughters (for good reason, apparently); and Agnes Gwenlan, factory girl, decapitated by an elevator in 1899. (This one actually moved me to tears, perhaps because some of the things flickering through her mind were snippets from a lullaby that I currently sing to my own children.) As a side note, I was a little disturbed by the number of people decapitated by elevators! I'm sure I'll be more wary of them now. ;)

Anyway, thank you SO much for deciding to share this, GoryDetails. I'd like to PM a couple of BCers who might be interested in reading it if that's okay; I don't know why you haven't had a bigger response on the forum but I'd love for more people to read this.

Released 15 yrs ago (9/19/2008 UTC) at ~~~ ♥ ~~~ A Friend ~~~ ♥ ~~~, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I am mailing this off to mellion108 this afternoon. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! (We'll figure out the rest of the book's travel schedule later, LOL.)

Journal Entry 7 by mellion108 from Waterford, Michigan USA on Thursday, October 2, 2008
Thanks for sending this my way, Guinneth! What a welcome surprise when I (finally) made it to my post office box on this very chilly, very rainy, very dark evening. I look forward to diving into this—it's actually a lovely little book. Thanks for starting this on its journey, Gory.

I'll read this and either return to Guinneth or pass to the next adventurous reader. :)

Journal Entry 8 by mellion108 from Waterford, Michigan USA on Sunday, November 23, 2008
Who is this Robert Olen Butler dude? This is a haunting, strange, sometimes humorous (in a macabre way) collection. Some I thought were rather ho hum, but overall I found these snippets of memories/last thoughts/observations to be rather interesting.

I especially enjoyed Medusa and the Dragon. I also liked the Mayan ballplayer, Ah Balam, who bravely faced his fate upon losing a game match. I thought the American chicken (yes, it crosses the road) was surprisingly touching (I'm weird). I also liked Charles Stewart, who got what he deserved, in my opinion, and Brita Gullsmed, decapitated for being a witch, who didn't get what she deserved. Anne Boleyn was probably the sweetest entry in this collection.

For the right person, this would be an awesome gift book. It's a little book packaged in such a darling manner. Of course, you would raise some eyebrows if you gave this to your mom for Christmas—unless your mom is much more understanding than mine, at least—but I can see this being an interesting coffee table book.

Anyway, thanks so much for sharing this GoryDetails. I'll be sending this back to Guinneth as soon as possible.

Guinneth—I am SO sorry I held on to this for so long. It will be back in your hands soon!

UPDATE: Mailed Nov. 24, 2008

Journal Entry 9 by Guinneth from Manchester, New Hampshire USA on Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Yay, this little gem is safely back in my greedy little paws. (And I don't care a bit how long you had it, mel - in fact, I probably should have let you keep it as you clearly appreciated it as much as I did. PLUS you sent me a book off my wishlist. I am truly book-blessed. Thank you.)

I'm sure Miss GoryDetails will roll her eyes and chuckle at this, but: I'm stashing this lovely book on my shelf for a bit. Until it's ready to travel on, of course. ;-) Thanks again for sharing it! (And if you've changed your mind and would like it back, *please* let me know.)

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