Book review: The Night of the Long Goodbyes a scarily real futuristic black comedy

The light of that world hides in the shadows of this one

Sun, 28 Mar, 2021 - 12:30

Review: Shane Butler

H. P. Lovecraft (Call of Cthulhu; Shadow over Innsmouth): great writer at a terrible time. Lived penniless, lauded in death. E. L. James (Fifty Shades of Grey): Terrible writer at a great time. Cork’s own Erik Martiny (Night of the Long Goodbyes): Great writer at a great time. Rich or poor, their words constitute a contemporary message, warning, and fear.

The experienced science fiction writer is an explorer of futures, following certain theoretical trajectories; a proponent of taking a component from the contemporary climate and following a hypothetical path of its development, sometimes utopian, often dystopian. Martiny’s personal expedition into the future of sensationalist politics is absolutely a product of speculating upon the future with respect to our current.

It is from this perspective that credence is lent both to Martiny's writing and the time it is written in. Following the 2020 U.S. presidential election, where it is now more than ever before apparent that politics has devolved into a hyper-sensationalised borderline reality-TV experience, Night of presents us with a dystopian future so cynical in this regard that political parties are named through the same logic that rock-band titles are construed.

Is such a world absurd? Absolutely, leaving the story to border on comedy or satire.

Is such a world impossible? Absolutely not, leaving the story to border on existential worry, that we could fall into such a world.

The light of that world hides in the shadows of this one.

Initially, the messaging and commentary seems blunt and thoughtless, but this serves to merely lay the foundations for a nightmarish dystopia where far more subtly crafted critique blossoms.

Martiny wears his influences (Orwell, Robbe-Grillet, Huxley) on a magician's sleeve. The less invested audience members might groan when they see the familiar pack of cards be presented to introduce the coming trick, as they conjure their own conclusions about the trick they are about to see. To the grand magician, however, this is seen as an advantage. What a surprise it becomes to those cynical viewers when the magician takes those familiar cards and turns them into a performance never before seen.

Night of, despite being humorous enough to be considered science-fiction comedy, nonetheless represents the best of its genre. Where the more you read into that story, the more you read into this world, and heed the warning of this hypothetical explorer of the future.

The Night Of The Long Goodbyes is an excellent book elevated by being so relevant to the time at which it is written, and it would be a disservice to leave it on a store's shelf without inviting it onto your own.