The Familiar, Volume 4: Hades

Even with four installments, we’re already too far into this series for me to attempt to give a cursory overview of Volume 4 while trying to hide specifics. Those who are caught up in the series will know what I mean. That said, I’d like to touch on highlights of the book in order to spark intrigue while not completely spoiling the more important elements. In The Familiar, Volume 4: Hades, one encounters (among other things): a teenage girl named Xanther who may very well exist in multiple (or all possible) timelines, knows the names of every animal she encounters (not their species or type, their personal name) and sees dark stones covering the eyes of every person around her which she must mentally “flip” away. Xanther also gets transported to a creepy-ass winter forest with thousands of floating, disembodied stone-eyes marching towards her every time she has a seizure. There are some downright nightmare-inducing page turns in these sections. Additionally, Xanther found a cat (or is it the other way around?) which is not actually a cat (we aren’t sure exactly what it is yet), is thousands of years old or more, possesses definite (if uncertain, to us) power and for whom something very powerful and very bad is definitely coming. Other elements of note, rapid fire: three A.I. beings called the Narcons who directly interact with the narrative and provide commentary/references/clues for the reader, glass orbs that are kinda-sorta-maybe computers but which can scan catalogued events throughout time, pink and blue balloons that hold some highly addictive substance (upon which one character named Jing Jing is hopelessly dependent), “The Great Tian Li,” an elderly witch (?) from Singapore who has flown to Los Angeles because she claims the aforementioned cat belongs to her, one very bad dude in Mexico City simply known as The Mayor who traffics endangered animals for the purpose of brutal sport, a Latino gangster named Luther who has lost his appetite and can’t get it up anymore because of (...), an alcoholic, depressive detective named Ozgur, a stubborn little taxi driver named Schnork who is suppressing some extreme grief and a handy new interactive service called HomePorn in which strangers come into your home and have sex in front of you (!!!). Simply put, this series is insane, in all the best and most intriguing ways. Something I very much appreciate about MZD’s approach with The Familiar books (and an aspect I’ve mentioned in previous reviews) is that he maintains a balance between difficulty and enjoyment for the reader. These books are challenging at times, no doubt. They’re mysterious, they’re abstract, they’re minimalist and some passages can be utterly inconceivable. However, they’re also heartfelt, dramatic, dark, terrifying and funnier than one might think. I’ve found myself getting emotionally invested in more than half of the nine characters and deeply curious about the remainder of them. To put it simply, The Familiar is a more accessible series and a more approachable read than its basest premise would suggest. To naysayers who might deem the series pretentious, all I can say is that you must pick one up and read it before letting your assessment land there. These aren’t just hard books for the sake of being hard. They’re fun, they pay off and there’s a community around them to help parse out the questions as you go. With each subsequent volume, MZD is rewarding those who endure with more hints, more clues and (a few) answers, all the while the greater mystery deepens and grows more complex. Imagine if the television series LOST had all been planned out ahead of time and was leading somewhere that actually made sense. The nice part is that the books are each small segments of the larger treasure map being pieced together, (helpfully) referencing one another (with page numbers [even!]) to keep the reader on track and remind them of passages past (passed(?)). It’s all one big mind-bending, reality-defying, possibly simulated and probably multi-timelined puzzle. And the picture is getting clearer all the time, so keep scrying.

The self-doubt and the skepticism I once felt upon picking up the newest installment in The Familiar is now gone by Hades, volume 4 in this insane, spiraling 27-part (fingers are crossed quite determinedly and [semi-]permanently) series. And as soon as I cracked the first page, I was hooked, drawn fully, immersively back into its tangling web-world of elucidations, obfuscations, mystifications and cascade of reflexive, referential themes, easter eggs, motifs and more. This is not just a story about a 12-year old girl and her cat. It's not even "just a story" at all. Danielewski, in destroying narrative form, exploding genre tropes (particularly with his sights on pulp genres) and applying the rubrics of the classics (if the title Hades wasn't signifier enough) has created in The Familiar a contemporary myth. It is also an essential Global novel (it has a bit of the zeitgeist, but, really, it feels beyond that even) with the scope of uncovering identity as a shared experience, rather than an individual one. It's not even a single myth, it's a full mythology in a scale that's on par with the ancients. We have creation myth (one that seems to be pointing to ideas of simulation & simulacrum; is reality real?), we have myths of morals (new morals for the contemporary, global world that search beyond good and bad, though must operate within those parameters), a myth of unity (one that is slowly drawing together an almost [almost] comically diverse rainbow coalition) and, of course, entertainment myth, where rich lines of connexion are drawn between distant players, elevating the acts of mere mortals to the power of deities--the myth of uplift (though, methinks there will be inversions to come). To even begin turning over the stones on the rich web of narrative in The Familiar is a trip down a rabbit hole, a rabbit hole with paper-covered walls of conspiracy. A conspiracy whose conclusion is one thing: Truth. That capitalized, metaphysical version of the word. The version that one can only get to through myth and story--the reason Humanity has these forms. I don't know what Truth Danielewski's working towards is--though I have some inklings, it would be reductive and myopic to limit them to a parenthetical. But I do know I'm along for the ride as long as it goes. While these 880 page books read like 250/300 pages, it's significant to note that by the time you've finished Hades, you've torn through (at least) 1,000 pages and 120 chapters in the blink of an eye. I'm already prepped to dip back in for a full re-read in preparation for Redwood, Season One's conclusion. Perhaps you'll join me? In my reviews, to this point, I don't think I've broached the book-series-as-TV-series topic, nor have I really done much explication of plot, or speculated about where the story lines are headed. That's mostly because I don't want to be prescriptive by engaging that in a review--these are the things you go out and have a conversation about. And I think this is a significant part of Danielewski's design. A beautiful vision where water cooler talk takes aims at big, hairy ideas enrobed in a peculiar book featuring a little girl and a kitten; a vision of talk about "what happened this time on The Familiar" instead of reality shows and formulaic scripts. Just accessible enough for every Tom, Dick and Jane, but rewarding and rich enough for those of us with a predilection for "big" books. In essence, everyone should read The Familiar. It should be clear at this point that The Familiar series is going to wildly surpass House of Leaves in terms of literary accomplishment--and that's even if Pantheon doesn't let MZD see this thing through to all 27 volumes. We're only at 4/27ths of the story (and only promised 10 so far), but I know one thing for certain: Pantheon had damn well better.

The Familiar is anything but. The series takes nine lives and methodically weaves them together in ways that are sometimes predictable but most times not. Volume 4 is the series at its best. Every characters personally is already vivid and familiar to the reader by this point and revisiting them in this volume is refreshing after waiting since Volume 3. The formatting of pages is mind blowing as always. While reading there were many times where I stopped to admire the artwork on the page. This is a series like nothing I've ever read and it's safe to say that Volume 5 cannot come out soon enough. To anyone who wants to be challenged, and most of all rewarded from literature, I HIGHLY suggest reading this series. You will not be disappointed.

This is Volume 4, HADES, of Danielewski’s projected 27 volume masterwork, THE FAMILIAR, and though the connections among the various characters (now, after four 800+ page volumes) is (slowly (finally)) revealed, the rest remains opaque as ever. It’s mystery upon mystery, and my guess is that we’re dealing with an all-encompassing mythology here, an (unFAMILIAR) mythological/philosophical/cosmological framework upon which this entire FAMILIAR is constructed (hint: could the philosophical work of Jacques Derrida provide a clue (The Animal That Therefore I Am (1997/2008)))? Multiverses? Sentient universe (i.e. sentient Nature)? Collective consciousness? What’s familiar [a cat] is now unfamiliar. Cat as the Other? Nine characters=nine lives? The story thus far is full of tantalizing clues, Easter eggs, fascinating threads to follow into other areas of study. I enjoy big, complex books. Books that challenge me. I value the journey as much [if not more than] the destination. THE FAMILIAR is just such a book[s]. However... Can THE FAMILIAR hold my interest over another decade? It’s a gamble. Danielewski likens his project to a TV serialization, granting him the time and space to develop characters, plot, themes, and the creative packaging of THE FAMILIAR reinforces this comparison with the visual medium. Fives seasons of five volumes each, with a few, what, epilogue [?] volumes at the end. Twenty-seven volumes, probably not reaching completion for another ten years, if at all? Really? I mean, I only have so much shelf space. It’s an enormous amount of time, energy, and passion the author is asking of his readers. I admire his grandiose vision, his creativity. His hutzpah. But on a slightly smaller scale, please? Then again, perhaps the literary weight of twenty-seven 800+ page volumes, over 12+ years says something about the intrinsic worth of its subject. I’m sure Danielewski had a reason. At the release of each volume after v2 I’ve hesitated: should I keep going? And each time I’ve answered with an open pocketbook. The story is simply that good. Having finished v4 I’ve decided to complete the first season with the next volume [v5 release date in Fall 2017], and assess at that time if I’ll continue on the journey with Xanther, Astair, Anwar, Luther, all the others, and the white Nameless One. Right now I'm leaning toward stopping at V5, but we shall see. It’s been an interesting, enjoyable ride thus far.

The #4 book in the series is better than the third one. Stories are getting better. The nine stories are showing up in each other now more frequently. For most of the characters, hard decisions need to be made. The "star" of the series, Xanther, is the star of this volume. She has the most changes. The various "cliffhangers" will have you waiting for next Halloween. That's when Book 5, The Season One Finale comes out.

Haven't read it yet. Holding off until "5" comes. So as soon as I finish "4" I will have "5" right here waiting for me. I loved "1", "2" and "3". It all started for me with "House of Leaves".......

The Familiar series is brilliant, and you won't regret getting involved as they are all equally as enthralling! its is beautiful, intelligent, violent and the characters are all deeply explored. love, love, love these books!

This book is so incredible. The characters are getting more and more intriguing as their stories progress, and Danielewski's incredible variety in styles and voice lend each a unique personality. Their world's are drifting close. Can't wait for the next book!

"Hades" is volume four in the series "The Familiar". Rating its quality puts it between volume 2 and 3. The nine different storylines continue at the end of August and take us to the middle of September. They are still intriguing, the Ibrahims most of all. Luckily they move more to the foreground and it seems the other charactes like Luther and Jinjing, but also Isandórno, Özgür and Shnorhk are of less importance, even though by now they are connected by extra side characters. Luther's voice is starting to contain more Spanish again, as well as once more taking over the style from Danielewski's book "Only Revolutions". Jingjing has finally arrived in Los Angeles but keeps talking in his very weird, unintelligible language. I even got the feeling that he's using more mystery words than in the previous books.

Regalo apprezzatissimo

Expensive but a worthwhile purchase. Exceptional quality when it comes with the book and met my expectation further then expected