Order MY WORK IS NOT YET DONE here
(also reviewed)
Order THE CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE HUMAN RACE here
There are no angels unless they are Angels of Death...and I would never again doubt my place among them or lose my resolve to serve in their wild ranks.
One of the toughest adjustment I had to make from college to salaried employee existence was to develop a professional self. You could make an argument that I never did, but it took me a while to understands that work, to the ambitious among the workforce, was a graveyard for spontaneity. There is not nearly enough fiction exploiting this dark wrinkle of the world we live in, but it doesn't matter all that much, because reading MY WORK IS NOT YET DONE, by Thomas Ligotti is both a fulfilling and terrifying experience that should be a sustainable source of corporate fiction and unspeakable horror for the foreseeable future. It's a powerful and memorable work of fiction and while having a taste for horror might not be mandatory to enjoy it, it might be so to withstand it.
There are three stories in MY WORK IS NOT YET DONE, but the title novella is so crushingly good (and takes about 80% of the book), it really is the one that matters. The protagonist Frank Dominio has been working at a nondescript large company long enough to become supervisor of his department, Frank's got innovative ideas that would make the company move forward into an era of new prosperity which he introduces at a weekly meeting his colleagues and manager Richard. It's the beginning of the end for him, as his colleagues give his idea the cold shoulder and begin maneuvering to get Frank demoted and ultimately "let go". It turned out to be the worst idea they ever took for themselves and the company both as Frank turns into their worst nightmare. Literally.
Thomas Ligotti isn't only the essayist and pessimism scholar that inspired the first season of television show TRUE DETECTIVE, the man can write. By that, I mean he can write fiction better than most people alive today. The use of the first person narration in MY WORK IS NOT YET DONE is used as a vector of superb psychological accuracy and as a vehicle for Ligotti's personal philosophy so seamlessly that Frank Dominio literally drew himself in perspective to his environment. Ligottti created a deeply intelligent, vulnerable and compelling protagonist in a couple pages just kept drawing an increasingly livelier and more oppressive world around him, as you get deeper into the storyline.
There are three stories in MY WORK IS NOT YET DONE, but the title novella is so crushingly good (and takes about 80% of the book), it really is the one that matters. The protagonist Frank Dominio has been working at a nondescript large company long enough to become supervisor of his department, Frank's got innovative ideas that would make the company move forward into an era of new prosperity which he introduces at a weekly meeting his colleagues and manager Richard. It's the beginning of the end for him, as his colleagues give his idea the cold shoulder and begin maneuvering to get Frank demoted and ultimately "let go". It turned out to be the worst idea they ever took for themselves and the company both as Frank turns into their worst nightmare. Literally.
Thomas Ligotti isn't only the essayist and pessimism scholar that inspired the first season of television show TRUE DETECTIVE, the man can write. By that, I mean he can write fiction better than most people alive today. The use of the first person narration in MY WORK IS NOT YET DONE is used as a vector of superb psychological accuracy and as a vehicle for Ligotti's personal philosophy so seamlessly that Frank Dominio literally drew himself in perspective to his environment. Ligottti created a deeply intelligent, vulnerable and compelling protagonist in a couple pages just kept drawing an increasingly livelier and more oppressive world around him, as you get deeper into the storyline.
I HAD ALWAYS been afraid. However, as self-serving as this may sound, I never believed this to be a cause for shame and regret, even though and intolerable suffering may ensue from such a trait. It seemed to me that the finest people, as people go, cannot help but betray a fair portion of fear and insecurity, even full-blown panic.
On the other hand, someone must have a considerable dose of swine in their make-up to get through even a single day unafflicted by trepidations of one sort or another, not to mention those who go out of their way to court dangerous encounters, fearlessly calling attention to themselves, figuratively waving their arms and declaring to everyone within range, 'Hey, look at me. I'm up here. See what I can do. I'm the one you have to knick down. I'm the one.'
The main question I get since I've been trying to shove this collection down everybody's throat (it's been about a week, now) is: what exactly is corporate horror? The great thing about the curious genre labeling of MY WORK IS NOT YET DONE is that it gradually reveals itself to you as you keep reading. At first, it's only a story about professional betrayed, narrated by some obsessive guy, but it slowly crosses into psychological horror and even supernatural horror as it goes along, using the corporate setting as a vector for its events. Thomas Ligotti has the patience of great storyteller and took the time to develop great characters that will stand out to his readers before putting them through life-altering events. MY WORK IS NOT YET DONE is a horror book meant to frighten office dwellers and it is pretty fucking effective. That's what corporate horror is, I think.
Up until the slightly disappointing ending (the only thing about the novella that's not entirely original), MY WORK IS NOT YET DONE was in line for my "best thing I've ever read in my entire life" personal award, so now it's just in line for me "best thing I've read in my entire year" award. What about the other stories as the end of the book? They were also great, especially THE NIGHTMARE NETWORK, which I thought innovated with the point of view also, but the title novella was such an emotional experience for me, they both seem pale in comparison. The bottom line is: I'm just happy to have discovered such a talented author. MY WORK IS NOT YET DONE is terrific, but it stands out by the way it is written as much as by what it actually says, so just trust me on this: pick up whatever fiction Thomas Ligotti has written. It'll make you deliriously happy.
BADASS
BADASS