Lord Dunsany Review: In the Twilight

Recently I’ve read several old stories that ended with the now-despised reveal that “it was all only a dream.” Although Alice in Wonderland was published in 1865, it seems that dream endings were tolerated to a much higher degree in 1908. On the other hand, Bob Newhart successfully used it in 1990 and in 2008 Breaking Bad made a funny parody from it. Overplayed or not, the dream ending can work when handled right.

“In the Twilight” is clear that the narrator is drowning and slips from reality. The river and the rest of the world say their goodbyes until the narrator is revived in the real world.

Was it only a dream? Roger Ebert famously wrote in his review of Jaws IV: the Revenge that “the only thing worse than the old ‘it’s only a dream’ routine, which is the old ‘is it a dream or not?’ routine.” In most cases, I think Ebert’s right but Dunsany’s dreamlike prose makes it work.

The closest story I can compare “In the Twilight” is Goodnight Moon. If that sounds insulting, it’s not meant to be. Goodnight Moon encouraged children to bring the story into their own world, to say “Goodnight” to objects in their own rooms. With its similar repetition, “In the Twilight” reverses that, causing me to wonder who would bother to say goodbye if I was drowning.

That’s pretty morbid but Dunsany toned it down by having the narrator survive.

Unlike Dunsany’s stories of gods and heroes, “In the Twilight” is more subdued and personal, a good contrast for the overall collection.

Now, I’d like to congratulate myself for getting to the end without any sparkly vampire jokes. A few years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to resist.