"The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood

Published 1907

Plot Synopsis:     

Two men take a canoe trip down the Danube River in pre-WWI era Europe.  As the waters widen into a vast flood plain, a chain of strange incidents force them to question the boundaries of existence and the very laws of nature.

Review:

What can be said about “The Willows” that has not already been written by numerous critics over the past hundred plus years?

The answer:  not much.  However, I will give it the old college try because a major thrust of this blog is to connect readers with great works.  There are so many incredible pieces of fiction, (Weird, Horror, SF, Mainstream, etc.) that for one reason or another have dropped off the radar to such an extent that, while often monuments to the genre in their own right, they are no longer easily available or even well known to modern and especially, I expect, readers younger than 25 or so.  

Those that follow this blog will notice that I will often be reviewing works from the 20th and late 19th century.  That this may give me the appearance of being a stodgy old school purist I am well aware.  This could not be further from the truth, however, as I absolutely gobble up the latest from King, Landsdale, Kiernan, etc., as well as many from the crop of “New Weird” authors that have revitalized the Weird genre in recent years.   If a fellow worm wants to ascribe me a label in relation to my old school tastes, I would say that “aficionado” is probably the most accurate moniker to cast.

But I digress.  “The Willows” is among the giants of all Weird Tales and, indeed, without it and just a handful of others of the same quality from the same era, Horror and the Weird (not to mention a goodly portion of SF) would not exist in the forms we know today.  Without such works would the style and quality of these genres be worse or better?  That is a “what if” scenario for another post (or maybe the germ of a good story) but my biased gut tells me our loss would have been incalculable.

“Genius" is a word that gets thrown around a little too freely in literary circles, so much so that the special merit of its attachment to an author or work has become diluted over time.  But for those unaware and uninitiated, Algernon Blackwood was the real deal and we sadly may never see his ilk again.  He was a major influence on the master himself, H.P. Lovecraft (may  we all please pause to genuflect piously to the Poe of the Prohibition Era - and I say that without a molecule of sarcasm), and Lovecraft described him best when he said, "Of the quality of Mr. Blackwood's genius there can be no dispute; for no one has even approached the skill, seriousness, and minute fidelity with which he records the overtones of strangeness in ordinary things and experiences..."

Quite famously, Lovecraft also said, "It is my firm opinion that his longish short story The Willows is the greatest weird tale ever written."

I think we can all agree that dear Uncle Howard knew his shit, so let's all take a moment of silence and ponder his above statement.

Yeah, let that sink in.

You probably feel at this point that this post is less a review of "The Willows" than an advertisement of it's greatness, and I must admit you're not far off base.  As I mentioned at the beginning, what can be said that hasn't been said already?   Well, there is one last Lovecraft quote that describes the power of the story perfectly, and anyone would be hard put to say it more effectively.  You see, "The Willows" is a rare example of a perfect story.  In construction, in execution, and in just plain grave-cold hands around your testicles atmosphere.   In Lovecraft's own words, it is a tale "without a single strained passage or a single false note."

"The Willows" is the finest example of Blackwood's ability to make the environment not just a setting of the story, but a character itself.   It is ever encroaching, ever speaking to the reader and the protagonists in its own silent, ancient language.  Blackwood was a lifelong nature lover and he traveled the world hunting and exploring at a time when man had not yet invaded or spoiled most of the planet's rivers and forests, when ancient, virgin woods still existed and were full of mystery.

As two men,  our protagonists in "The Willows," float along the Danube on a camping/exploration excursion in a small canoe, they are literally swept along to an ever changing fate in a landscape that increasingly fails to conform to the usual laws of nature.   The unceasing wind, the apparent sentience of the flora and fauna surrounding them, and the increasing sense that they are not anchored in stable reality combine to generate an incredible sense of dread and unease.  In more colloquial terms, there is a serious, "Holy shit, what the hell is going on here!" vibe that builds throughout the story that is sublimely terrifying.

Due to the wind and current, for the majority of the story Blackwood insidiously traps the men on a small sandbar island that is literally crumbling around them.  There is a constant feeling of impending danger and anxiety as they are confronted with nothing less than evidence of otherworldly (or, just as likely, other-dimensional) superior forces or beings with seemingly malicious intent.  All the while as the very ground they stand on is disappearing around them.   Needless to say, fear grows thick and smothering throughout the story, and nerve wracking, exhaustive, and completely awesome all at the same time.

If you have never heard of "The Willows," or Algernon Blackwood, then I urge you to seek both out immediately.   Like any author, not all of his works are homeruns, but the vast majority have that vein of genius running throughout, and even those that ultimately miss their mark upon the reader are still a pure pleasure to read.  More often than not, though, his prose, tone and description of the outdoors is mesmerizing (at some point in the future I'll review his second most famous tale, "The Wendigo," a great example of this ability, with one of the most distressing and unsettling endings ever written).

Enjoy fellow worms, "The Willows" is one of those stories that you'll wish you could experience for the first time over and over and over again.