For October 21
Plot:
As envisioned from 1895, the year 1920 looks good. The tariff and labor questions have been settled. New architecture replaces old. The war with Germany, occasioned by the latter’s seizure of the Samoan Islands, has left no visible mark on the republic. And we won’t mention the ridiculous plight of General Von Gartenlaube’s forces in New Jersey.
The Government Lethal Chamber opened in April 1920 for those who consider their lives no longer worth living.
Hildred Castaigne tells the reader that four years earlier, he fell from his horse and was carried unconscious to Dr. John Archer. The good doctor concluded that Hildred’s brain had been affected and sent him to an asylum. Hildred claims the fall left him with no “evil results.”
“On the contrary it had changed my whole character for the better. From a lazy young man about town, I had become active, energetic, temperate, and above all—oh, and above all—ambitious. There was only one thing that troubled me, I laughed at my own uneasiness, and yet it troubled me.
“During my convalescence I had bought and read for the first time, The King in Yellow.”
Hildred, now free, meets with Mr. Wild, the repairer of reputations, who lives above the shop where Hawberk the armorer lives with his daughter, Constance. Hildred is in love with Constance. Unfortunately, Constance loves Hildred’s cousin, Louis.
Hildred understands mysteries gleaned from The King in Yellow, and although his cousin is the heir, according to the Imperial History of America, Hildred wants to be king. He even has a crown that he tries on for size now and again. He forbids Louis to marry.
Thoughts:
This is the first story in a collection titled The King in Yellow. The stories are loosely connected and move backward and forward in time. The King in Yellow of the book is a play that drives its readers mad.
Chambers’ book is part of the so-called Decadent Movement of the latter 19th century, which valued fantasy and hedonism over reality. (It’s a fantastic job if you can get it). Early writers were French, such as Théophile Gautier and Charles Baudelaire.
All that to say, Hildred is more than half a bubble off, and he has a hard time separating fantasy from reality. He is the dreaded unreliable narrator. How much of what he says is true? Is the year even 1920? And yet, despite everything, the reader can’t help feeling a little sympathy for him and feeling the tragedy at end of the story all the more.
Some of the imagery is breathtaking. I can understand Hildred wanting to hold onto the world of the Yellow King:
“for I cannot forget Carcosa where black stars hang in the heavens; where the shadows of men’s thoughts lengthen in the afternoon, when the twin suns sink into the lake of Hali; and my mind will bear for ever the memory of the Pallid Mask.”
The authorities have declared Hildred cured. How sure is the reader? One of the things Chamber excels at is capturing the odd, uncomfortable dialogue people have with someone whose sanity they question.
Unfortunately, living in fantasy has real-world consequences. This is a sad story.
Bio: Robert W. Chambers (1865-1933) was a playwright, artist, and illustrator who turned to writing supernatural and weird fiction. Of his seventy books, his best known is The King in Yellow, which was influenced by Ambrose Bierce and, in turn, influenced H. P. Lovecraft. Told in vignettes that jump forward and backward in time, it describes a play that drives its readers mad.
The story can be read here:
The story can be listened to here: (1:30:10)
Title: “The Repairer of Reputations”
Author: Robert W. Chambers (1865-1933)
First Published: The King in Yellow, 1895
Length: novelette
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 
An interesting and different plot. I have to admit I had not heard of the Decadent Movement before.
As for the Decadent Movement, it was short, and unless you’re an English major, I don’t think anyone pays attention to it anymore.
Yes, it was different. And sad.
OK that is good to know