Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 2:09 am Post subject: A Set of Opinions
In modern English, 'farce' typically means a mockery or sham, with substantial pejorative connotation. In literature, farce is a specific genre. Wikipedia defines a farce as a work that "aims to entertain the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include sexual innuendo and word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases, culminating in an ending which often involves an elaborate chase scene. Farce is also characterized by physical humour, the use of deliberate absurdity or/of nonsense, and broadly stylized performances." In this, "It's Always Time: A Ribald Farce in Six Lewd Acts" is well titled.
While a willing suspension of disbelief is required at the outset, the reader is advised in advance of this by the nature of a farce and assisted by vicarious experience of the main protagonist's bewilderment in the early scenes. These initial fictional implausibilities are sufficiently addressed and satisfyingly resolved through the course of the narrative; the continuity was obviously well-planned in advance as allusions and back-references span multiple acts, advancing a carefully orchestrated plot. And on those few hand-waves and arguable deus ex machinae that occur, a suitable lantern is hung.
As the story continues into its subsequent acts, it becomes apparent that this is indeed a work in all the manifold definitions of the term. Attention to detail and diligence of research is manifest in the cogent interplay between such disparate fields as poetic analysis, physics, cultural anthropology, chemistry, history, sociology, and philosophy. From mythology to materials science to magic, the work draws deeply from a great many wells of human endeavor. The fact that this is done in an intelligent and deliberate way that advances the plot is as refreshing as it is uncommon; alternate interpretation of Sappho has been a staple of the cognoscenti for centuries, but one rarely sees an attempt - much less a successful one that makes perfect sense in the established context - made in adult fiction. Further examples abound.
While not much can be said without spoilers it can be openly stated that, beneath an exceptionally well-written and creatively graphic depiction of protean pleasures interspersed with aptly-timed geek references, and the substantial entertainment value therein, lies a frank discussion of the human condition. A printed copy placed on a shelf next to Piers Anthony's "Bio of a Space Tyrant" and Anne Rice's "Beauty" trilogy would be in appropriate company.
This conceptual lattice supports what is chiefly a character-driven story. Probably the most telling point about this work - what sets it on a level of its own - is character development. The dialogue is crisp and believable, the character interactions wholly plausible within the given fictional realm. One comes to actually invest emotionally in the characters as these interactions deepen and carry the plot forward with their momentum. While these are necessary elements for any author to accomplish in most any successful fiction, and while the antagonists are relatively predictable in their characterization (this we can accept, as the story acknowledges its own foundations in variations on several classical themes), the protagonists grow and take on a dimensionality impossible in porn and a degree thereof rare even in erotica. Neither term does proper justice to the quality of the work; best to stay with the author's description of "ribald farce".
The world of "It's Always Time" - just a few multiversal forks to the left of our own corner of space-time - the characters that occupy it, and the skill with which the author has crafted them, are so engaging and substantial that the work elevates itself from the common morass of the Internet and takes up the deserved mantle of literature. Immediately after reading, a very likely reaction is "Lewd or not, I want to read more stories about these characters!" - this more than anything else demonstrates that something special has been done here.
This is, without question, the best piece of adult-audience fiction I have ever read, and one of the better fantastical fictions overall. Oblimo has created something original that subtly fulfills as it enthralls, nothing so prosaic as a story; more accurately described as an achievement. A relatively obscure fetish through Epicurean epistemology herein rises to the status of art, and one hopes that the artist will tell more tales of this new world and the people in it.
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