Today,I have finaly got a chance to read the microfiche of this text,in fact a litle over board as it was and such,I REALY had no time,so it was kind of amaying that I managed to go through it all at one siting.It isnt all that long,though,just under 90 pages.
Anyway,there are a total of eight tales in this colection.I will talk a bit about the lesser ones,before I review the ones worthy of reading the colection.
Mr. Brett's Excursionis a story of a drunk,wanting to take his family to a boat excursion,but drinking away all the money for it.It is kind of simple and not much touching the point it wishes to deliver.
A Spoiled Story is a tale how a man fell down a ditch in Hawaii and saw two snakes fight each other and one ate the other up.Now its not even as thrilling as it sounds.I realy dont know why J.A.Salmonson at this place The Weird Review: A Musical Reformation said it is " a tale of terror in old Hawaii"-I found litle actual terror in the story and it isnt even true.
A Natural Conclusion is a tale of a silly misunderstanding of two people,in love-briefly the boy sends a cutout to the girl,which mentions the need for personal hygiene,she gets insulted,but its resolved that theres a poem on the other side,which was the initial thing .Realy as unmemorable as it sounds.
The New Minister is another tale of misunderstanding,this time about a minister whom his brethren suspect of being in love with a married woman,though he brushes them of and explains that the love letter was a part of a short story he was to contribute to a local gazzette to make ends meat.Yeah,next.
His "week off" is another tale that Miss Salmonson praises for more then it's worth.The phrase she uses to describe the tale is "recounts opening salvos of a possibly romantic encounter that soon dwindles into unutterable delusion" ,which is anything but a factual synopsis in terms of entertainment value.The synopsis wants you to see the tale,the tale itself does not realy want you to read it.It's common romance ,and it prety much is evident three pages into the whole thing just WHO the mysterious lady just may be and the fact that her name is delivered to us at the end in such a slip shod maner is a litle startling.Basicly,at the end of a leter,the phrase "Oh,but I havent told you her name,its.......", seems rightfully out of place.
However,for all this,the colection has three tales more then worth reading it.
A Musical Reformation the first one,it is the title story.It is a very nice Morrow no-Morrow piece and its quite nice in a way of the cruelty therein.
I believe Miss Salmonson sumed it up all to well: "The title story outlines a noble dream of redemption in the mind of a man who afterward drinks himself into oblivion ."Not much more to say and I hope the fair lady wont mind me borrowing this litle quote.
"My escape from Suicide" is the second story,and was the reason I even ordered this through inter-library loan.It is a tale of a man who is met up one day by a man who takes a favourable view on suicide.Lets just not reveal more and say its rather nice,even if more possible dwelling on Dr. Kurtz and his diabolical influence would have been nice.
Finaly,there is
A Strange Adoption,a tale about an asumed idea that when your brother dies,its best to get a stand in look alike.The story has some very nice tones and ends in a well-handeled way,but I cant hope but think that a lenghtier story with more details and a little more dwelling on the psychological similarities between the two would benefit us even more.It seems Cone had at times the generaly weird idea,but he was just not willing to expand on it to its full glory,leaving something more then a sketch, but something less then what you generaly expect from the buildup.
Overall,theese three tales deserve a modern revival and would be nice in a colection with other Morrow "niceties",so I can honestly say the money was worth it.A over all rating of 6.9/11.
