Tartarus Press
In this new biographical study Mark Valentine enables us to understand more of John William Wall (1910-1989), the diffident, compassionate, highly intelligent and sensitive man who wrote under the pseudonym Sarban.
Having read and very much enjoyed Sarban's 'Ringstones' a short while ago I was delighted to unexpectedly take delivery of a copy of 'Time, A Falconer' Mark Valentine's short biography of the author and analysis of his published and unpublished work.
I very much enjoy Mark's studies of forgotten and underappreciated authors, his 'A Country Still All Mystery' and 'A Wild Tumultory Library' (both Tartarus Press) are both fantastic reads full of interesting details and intriguing diversions. Reading each has proved to be enlightening to both mind and wallet and I've learned to always keep a notebook handy when reading one of his studies which again proved useful here as I now have (another) small list of books to track down.
John William Wall published 3 books under the Sarban pseudonym - 'The Sound of His Horn' (1952), 'Ringstones and Other Curious Tales' (1951) and 'The Doll Maker and Other Tales of the Uncanny' (1953) - whilst working in various parts of the world as a diplomat for the UK government. Based mostly in the Middle East his stories often reflected life in the Levant whilst also sharing a Machen or Blackwood like love for the wild spaces and the thin places.
Mark's study provides an overview of Sarban's life and the places he served but happily the focus is very much on the literary work he produced in his spare time. He gives his typically thorough examination of the published work providing context and possible inspiration and further to this we are gifted tantalising insights into unpublished works that saw the light for the first time in a Tartarus Press volume published alongside this one.
Obviously as a study of the work of an obscure author this is likely to be of interest only to those already familiar with Sarban's work and to those people I highly commend it. If however you haven't sampled his writing then I can only recommend that you rectify that situation immediately by tracking down one of the trio of works and then coming back and treating yourself to this fascinating exploration.
Available from the link above.
Below is a short video by Tartarus Press co-publisher R.B. Russell exploring Sarban's books as well as the unfinished works left in the authors archives.
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