Freud, chaos theory, Shakespeare and some laughs A Contrary review by Mike Frechette Marvellous Hairy Mark Rayner 2009, Crossing Chaos Enigmatic Ink In a culture long saturated with Freudian psychology, there’s no point in being subtle about phallic imagery in contemporary literature. Emerging author Mark Rayner clearly understands this, as evidenced by his newest and second novel Marvellous Hairy. Narrator Rob Goodman cannot understand why his friend Nick Motbot is acting like a monkey at their friend’s wedding, until he learns that Nick has been selling his body to science for experimentation. Ted Shute, CEO of Gargen Enterprises, keeps his office in the “famous Phallus Building” of the novel’s nameless city, where he hatches schemes to control the weather and manipulate human DNA for profit. When Rob discovers that Shute is behind Nick’s transformation, he organizes their friends to expose Shute’s corruption and bring this wicked villain to an end. Needless to say, the plot of Marvellous Hairy makes for a humorous satirical farce overall, with moments where Rayner’s character descriptions will cause the reader to laugh out loud: “He had long greasy black hair that clung to his head like an octopus humping his skull, and then fell onto his shoulders in oily post-coital exhaustion.” In other places, though, the jokes do not fully deliver. For instance, some of the movie and celebrity references have been circulating the culture for a while now and do not possess the fresh wit of other passages in the novel: “Blossom looked like you might expect: Julia Roberts with fewer teeth and shorter legs – you know, her character from ‘Pretty Woman,’ but along more human dimensions.” Nevertheless, the novel’s heavy-handed treatment of Freudian mythology is consistently funny throughout, providing the story with a hysterical premise. Back in college, Rob, Nick, and their eccentric doctor friend Maximilian Tundra jokingly reinvented basic Freudian psychology as what they term the Cult of the Claw. Instead of superego, ego, and id, they refer to the human, monkey, and lizard layers of consciousness. As a person consumes alcohol, these layers shed like monkey fur until one resembles just a fleshy organism, a beating heart. Their in-joke turned reality, Rob and Max worry that Nick – now sprouting hair and a tail – is regressing down this path. Besides Freud, Rob also has an interest in chaos theory, which ends up providing the key to understanding Rayner’s thematic objective. In their own way, both Rob and Shute try to control outcomes and tame the chaos of their environment. As chaos theory states, though, “final results are unpredictable,” leaving the reader to wonder if either character will fully achieve his vision. Still, there are signs that this tale might ultimately constitute a simple story of good versus evil. From the outset, Rayner creates a clear association between evil and chaos: “Wherever Shute walked a kind of void followed him; many people had noticed that it often got cold in his presence, as though Shute was a harbinger of entropy.” Shute’s impulse to control is driven by egoism and greed, leaving chaos in his wake. By contrast, Rob Goodman, as his last name suggests, is tempered by a desire for goodness and moral order. Characters like Shute and Nick, with their diminished superegos, might represent the most honest version of the human animal, but Rob, with his moral compass, represents its best. As if Freud and chaos theory aren’t enough, Shakespeare’s A Midsummernight’s Dream figures into this story as well, serving as the basis for its characters, plot, and overall atmosphere. While faeries inhabit Shakespeare’s fantastical world, ghosts populate Rayner’s, victims of Shute who now haunt him and push him to the brink of insanity. The ghost of his first wife – the Shade of Antonia – appears to our good narrator as well, granting only him the knowledge necessary to bring order to this complex narrative. Through Rob, Rayner skillfully interconnects the novel’s varying sets of characters and plotlines. He clearly likes to offer readers a number of interpretive lenses, at least with this newest novel. Those with a taste for the eccentric in their humorous fiction will certainly appreciate and enjoy Rayner’s latest effort. At times, the novel feels overloaded with such differing possibilities for interpretation, but critical reading and literary analysis are only fun if they are like Nick – a bit hairy. Mike Frechette lives in Chicago with his wife, Michelle. Index of Reviews...>Reviews.htmlshapeimage_1_link_0
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AUTUMN 2009 COVER THE EMPTY ARMCHAIR CYNTHIA NEWBERRY MARTIN DARWIN: THREE POEMS MARILYN KALLET WINTER MICHELLE CACHO-NEGRETE TRAVELOGUE HILARY DOBEL DON’T BREATHE, DON’T DIE RAMESH AVADHANI NO FURTHER NEED FOR NICETIES EDWARD MC WHINNEY ON A DRY STREET MRB CHELKO FROM THE EDITOR REVIEWS J.M. COETZEE LORRIE MOORE MOLLY HASKELL RAYMOND ARSENAULT MARK RAYNER THE WATCHFUL HEARTAutumn-2009.htmlArmchair.htmlArmchair.htmlDarwin.htmlDarwin.htmlWinter.htmlWinter.htmlTravelogue.htmlTravelogue.htmlBreathe.htmlBreathe.htmlNiceties.htmlNiceties.htmlDry_Street.htmlDry_Street.htmlRobinson_Jeffers.htmlReviews.htmlCoetzee-2.htmlMoore.htmlHaskell.htmlArsenault.htmlWatchful_Heart.htmlshapeimage_5_link_0shapeimage_5_link_1shapeimage_5_link_2shapeimage_5_link_3shapeimage_5_link_4shapeimage_5_link_5shapeimage_5_link_6shapeimage_5_link_7shapeimage_5_link_8shapeimage_5_link_9shapeimage_5_link_10shapeimage_5_link_11shapeimage_5_link_12shapeimage_5_link_13shapeimage_5_link_14shapeimage_5_link_15shapeimage_5_link_16shapeimage_5_link_17shapeimage_5_link_18shapeimage_5_link_19shapeimage_5_link_20shapeimage_5_link_21shapeimage_5_link_22