| Comment: | My own grandmother died a few days ago as I write this. With this in mind, the events following Granny Grail's death become even less realistic. Before this 'incident', the plot was still credible to a significant degree, and this obscure lady's death seems to mark a radical change in the novel. If the novel is to retain any value, it is going to have to show its relevance to what is supposed to be the main plot of the novel, which is Howard's urge to get rid of his virginal status.
This plot and the subplot of Granny Grail's demise are linked in an unnatural way. When we wakes up the morning after the gas explosion and he realizes he's responsbible, he places himself in front of the mirror and examines his face, and he ends the paragraph by ascertaining he would have been laid if he just had better looks. The rest of the novel will have to show if all of this is brilliant absurdism or an isolated and irrelevant showdown of morbid humor. |
