Ok, I really like this one. I can’t remember quite why I picked it off a shelf in 2013, but I’m pretty sure I’ll have bought it because of that wonderful cover – and because it’s about a theme that I’m interested in: fantastically anthropomorphised animals. Indeed, I wrote a section of my DPhil thesis on this, and bought this novel about a month after I submitted my final thesis. Thank goodness, being published in 1966, that Omar by Wilfrid Blunt was too late to be relevant for my remit anyway.
That cover illustration is by John Verney, and does a good job of selling the novel – but also leaps about halfway through it! The subtitle ‘a fantasy for animal lovers’ is also apt, and the narrator is certainly that. She is Rose Bavistock – an unmarried woman approaching fifty years old. She has recently lost her father (after complications when an otter bit him), but isn’t unduly upset. Animals mean a lot more to her than people do. She has had many and various pets, and enjoys the more exotic ones. So she is quite excited when she is given a bandersnatch, which she names Omar.
Blunt has borrowed the name ‘bandersnatch’ from Lewis Carroll (now perhaps more famous as a Black Mirror episode), but the novel claims that it is the same as the hyrax. Look up the hyrax; they’re cute! Anyway, after initially biting her, Omar becomes an affectionate pet and companion. But Rose starts to wonder if he is more intelligent than he lets on…
When she discovers that he knows some English, and can even read it, she is astonished. But that is just the beginning of the marvel…
I expected to like this, given my love for fantastic literature (I disagree with his use of ‘fantasy’ in the subtitle, but that’s one for people interested in fantasy theory). And I did more than like it – the novel is so charming. It was published in 1966, but reads more like a book from thirty years earlier. There is a certain nostalgic element to the novel, and Rose’s life is almost as atavistic as Omar’s. The twists that follow the revelation of the fantastic are handled well, and sustain the original conceit.
The only thing I’d mention, in comparing it to other novels in this genre like His Monkey Wife by John Collier and Appius and Virginia by G.E. Trevelyan, is that this is not a parable or fable. It doesn’t comment on its current society or contemporary anxieties, at least so far as I can tell. There’s no reason why it should, I suppose, but fantastic novels that do do that tend to have a little more depth. Omar is self-contained with very little to say about the world. It’s no the less charming for that, but it is a curio, seemingly divorced from context. And I’m very glad that I got it down from the shelf.
I rather like the sound of this one: these whimsical fantasies just for fantasy’s sake, which take you into a very different world with as little fuss and comment as possible…
Yes! There is definitely space for that sometimes.
Hyraxes are adorable! I’d never heard of them before.
What is the difference between fantasy and the fantastic? Maybe you could discuss it on Tea or Book? :D I would be interested in that.
Oo we should! Well, with caveat that every fantasy theorist uses the terminology a bit differently – fantasy is set in a made up world, and the fantastic is set in the real world, but with elements that break natural laws somehow. The example I always use is Lady Into Fox. (And the difference between the fantastic and magic realism is that supernatural elements surprise characters in the former, and are accepted as part of the world in the latter.)
I second Ruthiella’s comment – I’d love to hear what you consider the difference to be between fantasy and the fantastic. Neither is a genre I’m particularly familiar with, but if I had to guess at a way to define them, I might say that fantasy involves creating a different world, while the fantastic involves putting something unreal into the real world? The cover of this one truly is appealing…
See my reply to her now! You’re pretty much on the money :)
I’ve just bought this on the strength of your review and the glorious cover illustration. I’m only about half way through (this at one sitting) and am totally captivated. What an absolute gem.
Omar (so far) is everything I’d hoped he’d be and the humour is perfect. This definitely has a Miss Hargreaves feel to it but is softer and more obviously funny. I love the no-nonsense Rose Tavistock and the matter-of-fact way she deals with Omar. This has been the perfect pick-me-up for a wet and cold June day. Thank you so much for drawing my attention to it, I’ve not laughed so much for ages.
Oh that’s wonderful, Helen! I’m so glad you’re enjoying it :D