THE LAND OF LOOK BEHIND
BY
PAUL CAMERON BROWN
FOREWORD
The Land of Look Behind hopes to be something of arear-view mirror, at once cocked to reveal our innermostdimensions while transporting that, which by necessity, mustlie beyond. Involving ourselves in any interplay with flickeringimages, of course, must be more than fireside watching and it ismy hope the book will be seen not solely as a collection of shortstories, although these do figure prominently in the narrative.Satire, "beast fables," and texts (single-page entries) minglecasually with the longer tales. Regardless of the genre, theyhope to speak as a unit--to view the conflicting colours of aprism's radiation. Allow me to detail what you can expect.
On the subject of Indian myths, these are entirely of my ownmaking. They are an attempt to visualize the mysteries ofcreation through alien perspectives. Oral myths were Canada'sindigenous literature. In this vein, the writer resorts to utilizingthe spoken ballad form in some of his exercises. Some of theprose pieces reflect a mirror world where the gazer chancesupon reality with a new breath of perception--much as thenative people's world was to the arrival of the whites.
Bewilderment with the natural world is the keynote here.For how many of us have wished, like the Indian, to clarify aparticularly taxing bit of life--to elucidate its function into amore recognizable form?
On a larger plane, this is the issue before the book--the"terrible algebra of our existences,"--explored with the urgencyand sometime seriousness it deserves.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
To Cross The Bay...................... 9Upturn The Rock....................... 14Seaeggs............................... 16The Hire.............................. 21The Nightlamp......................... 26The Strongbox......................... 30The Sandpit........................... 36The Wager............................. 41Errands............................... 47Ponchontas............................ 51The Bloodfish......................... 53The Garden Patch...................... 55The Monarch........................... 57Brébeuf............................... 59City The Insects Invade............... 60Plaudits.............................. 61Summer's Clock........................ 62Automobile Soft Legs ................. 63The Pelly, The Powder and the Snake... 67Jabiru................................ 70Adua.................................. 73Rip................................... 76< |