For this review on an Edward Gorey book I am going to make up a new term. Hopefully some day it will become famous and as a result I will be the most famous monster in the entire world (instead of being just one of the most famous). Here is the term. You should use this term at least three times today to help me spread it everywhere.
“Extra-Content Content”
I define “extra-content content” as content outside of what is in front of your face (which is the obvious content).
Before we get to the term, what can I say about Edward Gorey? He is one of my heroes. I said that one day before I was aware it was coming out of my mouth, and I know that it’s true. Oftentimes there are a lot of heavy words thrown about when people try to talk about Gorey’s works. One of these words is “Surrealist,” which I think should be modified to “Dadaist” in that Edward Gorey seemed to delight in creating art by rules. Something Gorey once said about his methods ended up being the title of a book about him. Answering a question about a book he had written, he said “I put them in order of ascending peculiarity.” If that isn’t Dada, then I don’t know what is.
The Glorious Nosebleed is one of my favorite works by Edward Gorey. I am also partial to The Curious Sofa, The Hapless Child, The Gilded Bat, and The Loathsome Couple. Unlike Glorious Nosebleed, these four books all follow a roughly narrative form, with a beginning, middle, and end. For example The Gilded Bat follows the trajectory (and eventual end) of a ballerina’s career and life.
Books like The Glorious Nosebleed are not narrative and instead follow a formula. The Glorious Nosebleed is an alphabet book. It is a collection of 26 couplets consisting of a simple sentence and an illustration. Every sentence contains a word that starts with a letter of the alphabet, and the letters progress A, B, C, and so on. As you read the book, each sentence is viewed on the left page of the open book, and each illustration appears on the right.
The real genius of The Glorious Nosebleed lies in the “extra-content content,” which can be found in the language Gorey used and the details of the illustrations. Here are some examples:
For the letter J: “She toyed with her beads Jadedly.” In this couplet, Gorey presents us with a man and a woman. The woman is reclining odalisque-like on a divan. She is wearing a white dress and toying with a long string of pearls around her neck. The man is in what appears to be a gargantuan floor-length smoking jacket. He is carrying what looks like a (presumably roasted) bear’s head on a platter. The teeth of the roast are bared. The woman is looking away, bored. The “extra-content content” is where the magic begins. What is the relationship between the man and the woman? Did he slay the bear himself as a gift to her? Would she really want a roasted bear head? Does she toy with the man the way she toys with her beads?
For the letter Q: “She let go of it Quickly.” A woman in a jaunty outfit perched on a rock wall in a field is dropping what looks like a snake. Again, there is barely any emotion in the face. Again, there is a lot of “extra-content content” in this Gorey couplet. Is that a snake? Did it just bite her? Is she poisoned now? (I like to think it did and she is.) She is the antithesis of Cleopatra. She looks nothing like Cleopatra. Did Edward Gorey think of Cleopatra when he wrote and illustrated this?
By far my favorite is the letter X: “The piece was sung eXcruciatingly.” Here Gorey presents us with three wilting audience members in fancy dress, sitting behind an enormous, wild plant. The ladies are both wearing opera gloves (I love opera gloves!) The lady in front is clasping her hands as if begging. The floor is tessellated in a loud op-art pattern. The “extra-content content”? I don’t know about anybody else, but I can hear the singing just by looking at this scene. It is pure genius.
The last couplet is “He wrote it all down Zealously.” The illustration is of a man who is obviously Edward Gorey himself, with his beard, glasses, and signature enormous fur coat.
Dreamybee, Jackie (Literary Escapism), and Louise all wondered about the title, The Glorious Nosebleed, and if there was some meaning in it.
The front cover of the book shows a miserable woman draped on her back over some large rocks. She is holding a handkerchief to her face to staunch the flow of blood from her nose. Standing next to her are two men looking off into the distance. The title and Edward Gorey’s name are etched into the clouds. The back cover shows a white dog in the same scene from the front cover, presumably after the people have gone. The dog is sniffing the spot where the nosebleed victim was resting her head. I think that the title and cover might be the best way to describe this book: It happens. It is meaningless. There is something essential spilled. Then it ends. Maybe you will never have another one like it.
The Glorious Nosebleed - By Edward Gorey – 1974
The Glorious Nosebleed on Amazon
P.S. Here is more information about Edward Gorey – Wikipedia, a documentary in progress and the Edward Gorey House.
P.P.S. This post is part of a Weekly Geeks Meme.
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