What surrounds us is only a veil for what really exists – a review of John Langan’s novel “Poławiacz”

Thousands of dimensions of one simple story

The main character of the novel is Abraham, whose wife died after a difficult fight with cancer. The man develops alcoholism, which he manages to recover by returning to his old activity – fishing. When his friend from work meets a tragedy in which he also loses his family, Abe decides to help him by involving him in his favorite occupation. Initially it succeeds. At the same time, it gives rise to the strangest and most terrible story of his life …

We could write about Poławiacz on many, many pages, and this is because this work is extremely multidimensional, although the story presented in it is – after all – simple. It deals with the topics of loss, death, longing, the pain of existence, and a desperate search for a substitute for happiness – feelings that many of us can identify with. Dressed in a tense atmosphere of horror, misty and long-lasting uncertainty, these themes draw the reader to a book that is really hard to break away from.

The plot goes beyond the known ways of knowing and presents each event from different perspectives. It makes us wonder: is the world we know actually the real world? Is it the only one? You get the impression that the more we want to know what will happen next, the more the author moves the punch line away from us, outlining an even wider picture of the whole story. It comes to the fact that we identify with the main character even more, because, like him, we want to know the causes of all this complexity. We wait and wait as if we were indulging in fishing ourselves. We are still confused, but we know subcutaneously that it all makes sense and has a solution. May we only get to know them before we go mad …

Drawing on the richness of literature without duplicating

The multidimensionality of the Poławiacz also consists in the references to the greatest works of horror, horror and weird fiction genres, which are almost immediately visible to a fan of classical literature. Already at the beginning, we read a fragment of the Melville masterpiece Moby Dick , probably the greatest work in history about working in the open ocean. We can find a lot of references to it in Poławiacz . It is not anything special, as there are many such references in contemporary literature, film and series, but here they are unique, subtle and, although often obvious, somehow accidental.

However, there is no question of cases here. Langan wrote his second book for 13 years! This can be seen in absolutely every element of this novel, in every detail of the story, especially in its atmosphere. Everything is perfectly polished, although most of the action is overwhelmed by chaos. As it turns out over time, only apparent.

In addition to Moby Dick , this novel shows a strong inspiration for Langan’s work by Lovecraft (which is also expressed in many of his other works), as well as Edgar Allan Poe, Joseph Sheridan Le Fan, William W. Jacobs and Stephen King. However, referring to these writers, Langan does not copy, but rather presents his version of the issues raised by them.

If you like the works of the above authors, Poławiacz is definitely a position for you.

The Enigmatic Fisherman

Almost everything in this novel is mysterious, at least at the beginning, but it remains so for a long time. The constant tension in which the author keeps us only increases our appetite for explaining numerous mysteries. This explanation does not come for a long time, which causes a kind of irritation and a desperate desire to come to the truth in us. And when we finally reach her together with the main character, we wonder – are we sure we wanted to meet her?

The central character himself – the title Catcher – has been shrouded in an enigmatic fog as soon as he is mentioned. We know that he is a key figure in unraveling the secrets of the events presented, but a lot of water in the Dutch Stream will pass before we know its true meaning for the story.

Speaking of it, the Dutch Stream is enigmatic almost until the very end, associated with a terrible secret that no one of the locals wants to talk about. Only the story told by the owner of the tavern, Howard, explains some of these secrets, but still not all.

Horror in a different sense

Polawiacz is an exceptional horror film. True, we are dealing with monsters and scenes from hell, but they are sporadic. The most terrifying in the novel are those human, down-to-earth aspects of the events, i.e. the loss of loved ones, loneliness and boundless longing. They are ultimately leading to all these terrible things, they are the cause of them. The frightening prospect of what they can lead us to.

The mastery of pre-deal

As I mentioned before, when we think we are getting to the bottom of the matter, suddenly everything becomes even more complicated as the author expands the story. It does this by introducing a preface – and it must be admitted that it is a masterpiece! His many years of meticulous work on the book are visible again. At some point, you can get lost in the content, wondering if it’s accidents with the main characters or just a story from one of the characters. Nevertheless, the action always makes sense, and all presented worlds are finally combined into one. Which can be really scary …

A tailor-made masterpiece

What can I say – the Polish translation is amazing! The cover itself encourages people to reach for the book – it bears an impressionistic picture, very economical in form and color. The calm sea is awe-inspiring, creating an atmosphere of anticipation for the coming storm. The content of the book is great for that. The drawings inside are small works of art. They are full of darkness, and each reflects a different part of the story. It is impossible not to stop at them for at least a moment. A visual feast!