Although I am reading dutifully to the end - not far off - I find this work surreal and nightmarish. Conan and Valeria have wound up among a small population whose members are motivated only by hate and cruelty. Our two central characters remain upright and honourable but the sooner they can get out of this place the better and then the story will end. I am unlikely to read any more Conan.
Howard does not control his narrative point of view, switching from a particular pov to an omniscient narrator when he needs to tell us what has been happening elsewhere. I will read to the end but will not reread to make sense of any of the details. Poul Anderson and SM Stirling have introduced me to Conan but I expect to end my acquaintance with this character here.
2 comments:
Oh, RED NAILS is sort of extreme even for Howard's Conan stories! The claustrophobic environment and the demented inhabitants are pushed to the max.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
And that makes RED NAILS worthy of interest, how Howard handled such things.
Ad astra!
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