Down to a Sunless Sea
Mathias B. Freese

By Alyce Wilson

Down to a Sunless Sea is a thought-provoking collection of short stories by Mathias B. Freese, author of The i Tetralogy. Many of these stories feature flawed protagonists: some possess character flaws, while others face physical challenges such as deformity or mental illness. One way or another, these characters find resolution, whether through self-acceptance, comeuppance, resignation or revelation.

The protagonist in "I'll Make It, I Think," for example, suffers from multiple physical problems, and he says, "I often feel like a Slinky flopping down a stoop when I speak." He adds, a paragraph later, that "Everything I say and do has a glitch in it." In his case, salvation comes from self-deprecating humor. By the end of the story, he's come to terms with his condition.

In another story, "The Chatham Bear," a visitor to a small town is bemused to note the uproar produced by bear sightings when, it turns out, some of the residents are more vicious in their behavior than a wild animal. This is a pattern carried across several stories, where characters strive to reconcile thoughtless and sometimes brutal behavior.

Several of the stories delve into pathological family dynamics, such as in "Unanswerable," an excerpt from i Tetralogy, where a man recalls an emotionally-scarring trip to the beach with his former Nazi father. In "Herbie," an enterprising young boy strives to set up a shoe-shine business, despite his father's abusive comments. And in "Mortise and Tendon," a sensitive young boy suffers the perpetually critical comments of his mother, while rebelling inwardly.

Whether it's a story about the inner thoughts of someone with obsessive compulsive disorder or about an emotionally stunted man incapable of closeness, each story is a metaphor for our flawed human existence. Freese calls our assumptions into question and argues for the sort of compassion and understanding that can, ultimately, lead to transcendence.

Rating: **** (Must Read)

Wheatmark, 2007: ISBN 978-1-58736-733-5