In the Valley of the Kings
Encyclopedia
In the Valley of the Kings: Stories is a collection of short stories
, the single debut book by the American
writer
, doctor
and former professor
Terrence Holt
. It was published on September 14, 2009
by W. W. Norton & Company.
The book garnered Holt a large following and much positive appraisal. In the Valley of the Kings has been praised by Pulitzer Prize
winner Junot Diaz
, National Book Award
winner Gerald Stern
, National Book Award finalist Aleksandar Hemon
and many other writers. Various stories from the book have individually been featured in the O. Henry Prize Stories
, The Kenyon Review
and Best of Zoetrope
periodicals.
Holt's book crosses a number of genres, placing several short stories in outer space
under a science fiction
theme, while others are highly minimal in setting or concentrate mainly on the narrator
's voice
. Nearly all of the works exhibit an element of suspense and sometimes horror as well as an experimental or pseudo-surrealist or absurdist
tendency. A high level of symbol
ism is present throughout, and a unique, near-poetic diction
in terms of the work's prose. Motifs of existentialism
and cognitive dissonance
among the various protagonists of the collection can be noted as well.
The cover art of the book, a semi-transparent detail on a dark blue background, was produced by Ruth Martin.
, "seven short stories and one novella"), each with its own diverse plot and setting.
Later on all the doctors who examined the girl's body are found dead in various ways, the only noted pattern being that before death every one of them succumbed to a strange insanity-like state of mystical psychosis
.
The second short story is a more comedic horror evident of magic realism
; entitled My Father's Heart, it revolves around the life of a man who keeps his deceased father's still-beating and somehow sentient and mobile heart in a glass jar above his fireplace. The third title, Charybdis, concerns the fate of a doomed astronaut whose spacecraft is irreversibly heading towards the surface of the Sun. Like Charybdis, the next two novelettes continue the now present science fiction theme, increasing as well a building existential feel from the book: Aurora tells the tale of a self-aware and metaphysically struggling cyborg spacecraft forever stranded in the rings of Saturn
, and how the machine attempts to come to terms with the reality and memories of its human
past while still accepting its destiny as a now lone, purposeless fragment of consciousness trapped within the hull of a robotic mechanism. Eurydike presents a foreboding and terror-driven psychological horror
about a man who awakens in a dissheveled and abandoned building complex located on the surface of a distant planet, suffering from total amnesia
and not knowing who he is or where he comes from. The eponymous and longest (so-called "novella") section of the book, In the Valley of the Kings tells the story of an obsessive Egyptologist who has discovered the most massive underground structure ever built: a giant tomb for an unnameable God-king of ancient Egypt whose powers of immortality the researcher tries to unveil, all while fighting a debilitating disease. Scylla tells the story of a retired and nostalgic sailor whose life has been made bitter by an institution known only as the "Law". On a final note the last story, Apocalypse depicts an end-of-the-world scenario from the point of view of a married man living in a suburban area crumbling in anarchy in the wake of an inter-galactic, impending doom.
Short Stories
Short Stories may refer to:*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , an American pulp magazine published from 1890-1959*Short Stories, a 1954 collection by O. E...
, the single debut book by the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, doctor
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and former professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
Terrence Holt
Terrence Holt (writer)
Terrence E. Holt is an American doctor and writer as well as a former professor of literature at Rutgers University and Swarthmore College.-Biography:...
. It was published on September 14, 2009
2009 in literature
The year 2009 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*8 October - Romanian-born German novelist Herta Müller wins the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature....
by W. W. Norton & Company.
The book garnered Holt a large following and much positive appraisal. In the Valley of the Kings has been praised by Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winner Junot Diaz
Junot Díaz
Junot Díaz is a Dominican-American writer and creative writing professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology . Central to Díaz's work is the immigrant experience...
, National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
winner Gerald Stern
Gerald Stern
Gerald Stern is an American poet. His work became widely recognized after the 1977 publication of Lucky Life, which was that year's Lamont Poetry Selection, and of a series of essays on writing poetry in American Poetry Review. He has subsequently been given many prestigious awards for his...
, National Book Award finalist Aleksandar Hemon
Aleksandar Hemon
Aleksandar Hemon is a Bosnian-American fiction writer. He is the winner of a MacArthur Foundation grant. He has written four acclaimed books: Love and Obstacles: Stories , The Lazarus Project: A Novel , which was a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle...
and many other writers. Various stories from the book have individually been featured in the O. Henry Prize Stories
O. Henry Award
The O. Henry Award is the only yearly award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The award is named after the American master of the form, O. Henry....
, The Kenyon Review
The Kenyon Review
The Kenyon Review is a Literary magazine based in Gambier, Ohio, USA, home of Kenyon College. The Review was founded in 1939 by John Crowe Ransom, critic and professor of English at Kenyon College, who served as its editor until 1959...
and Best of Zoetrope
Zoetrope: All-Story
Zoetrope: All-Story is an American literary magazine that was launched in 1997 by Francis Ford Coppola. Blooming from Francis Coppola's "Crazy Idea Department," All-Story is devoted to showcasing the most promising voices in short-fiction...
periodicals.
Holt's book crosses a number of genres, placing several short stories in outer space
Outer space
Outer space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....
under a science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
theme, while others are highly minimal in setting or concentrate mainly on the narrator
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...
's voice
Writer's voice
Writer's voice is the literary term used to describe the individual writing style of an author. Voice was generally considered to be a combination of a writer's use of syntax, diction, punctuation, character development, dialogue, etc., within a given body of text . Voice can be thought of in terms...
. Nearly all of the works exhibit an element of suspense and sometimes horror as well as an experimental or pseudo-surrealist or absurdist
Absurdist fiction
Absurdist fiction is a genre of literature, most often employed in novels, plays or poems, that focuses on the experiences of characters in a situation where they cannot find any inherent purpose in life, most often represented by ultimately meaningless actions and events...
tendency. A high level of symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
ism is present throughout, and a unique, near-poetic diction
Poetic diction
Poetic diction is the term used to refer to the linguistic style, the vocabulary, and the metaphors used in the writing of poetry. In the Western tradition, all these elements were thought of as properly different in poetry and prose up to the time of the Romantic revolution, when William...
in terms of the work's prose. Motifs of existentialism
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
and cognitive dissonance
Cognitive dissonance
Cognitive dissonance is a discomfort caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance. They do this by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and actions. Dissonance is also reduced by justifying,...
among the various protagonists of the collection can be noted as well.
The cover art of the book, a semi-transparent detail on a dark blue background, was produced by Ruth Martin.
Plot summaries
In the Valley of the Kings is divided into eight sections (according to the inner lining of the book's dust jacketDust jacket
The dust jacket of a book is the detachable outer cover, usually made of paper and printed with text and illustrations. This outer cover has folded flaps that hold it to the front and back book covers...
, "seven short stories and one novella"), each with its own diverse plot and setting.
Ό Λογος
An investigative journalist stumbles upon and tells a tale of events on an incurable disease as it progresses throughout the world. The outbreak begins with a small child who reads the term "Ό Λογος" in a newspaper. The girl slowly becomes ill and increasingly debilitated before she dies and post-mortem is examined by autopsy workers. Although according to the morticians there is no conceivable physical cause of death, it is noted that an inscrutable Greek phrase, "Ό Λογος", is scarred along her skin, particularly noticeable on the forehead.Later on all the doctors who examined the girl's body are found dead in various ways, the only noted pattern being that before death every one of them succumbed to a strange insanity-like state of mystical psychosis
Mystical psychosis
Mystical psychosis is a term coined by Arthur J. Deikman in the early 1970’s to characterize first-person accounts of psychotic experiences that are strikingly similar to reports of mystical experiences...
.
The second short story is a more comedic horror evident of magic realism
Magic realism
Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of...
; entitled My Father's Heart, it revolves around the life of a man who keeps his deceased father's still-beating and somehow sentient and mobile heart in a glass jar above his fireplace. The third title, Charybdis, concerns the fate of a doomed astronaut whose spacecraft is irreversibly heading towards the surface of the Sun. Like Charybdis, the next two novelettes continue the now present science fiction theme, increasing as well a building existential feel from the book: Aurora tells the tale of a self-aware and metaphysically struggling cyborg spacecraft forever stranded in the rings of Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
, and how the machine attempts to come to terms with the reality and memories of its human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
past while still accepting its destiny as a now lone, purposeless fragment of consciousness trapped within the hull of a robotic mechanism. Eurydike presents a foreboding and terror-driven psychological horror
Psychological horror
Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror fiction that relies on character fears, guilt, beliefs, eerie sound effects, relevant music and emotional instability to build tension and further the plot...
about a man who awakens in a dissheveled and abandoned building complex located on the surface of a distant planet, suffering from total amnesia
Amnesia
Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
and not knowing who he is or where he comes from. The eponymous and longest (so-called "novella") section of the book, In the Valley of the Kings tells the story of an obsessive Egyptologist who has discovered the most massive underground structure ever built: a giant tomb for an unnameable God-king of ancient Egypt whose powers of immortality the researcher tries to unveil, all while fighting a debilitating disease. Scylla tells the story of a retired and nostalgic sailor whose life has been made bitter by an institution known only as the "Law". On a final note the last story, Apocalypse depicts an end-of-the-world scenario from the point of view of a married man living in a suburban area crumbling in anarchy in the wake of an inter-galactic, impending doom.