A Book o' Nine Tales. — Reading Companion

Hypnosis as Narrative Device

The excerpts show hypnosis functioning not merely as a plot point but as a structural device that blurs the line between reality and illusion. In "Mère Marchette," Dr. Lommel hypnotizes the old woman to make her accept Victor as Pierre, her dead grandson. The text describes the doctor's "forefinger up to her forehead with a gesture he always used in hypnotizing her," and later he "breathed on her eyelids in the usual method of awaking her." This clinical detail suggests Bates may have been drawing on contemporary medical literature, such as the experiments of Jean-Martin Charcot, explicitly referenced in the dialogue: "you know the experiment M. Charcot tried yesterday." The story thus embeds a real scientific reference within a fictional scenario, using hypnosis to explore themes of substitution and the power of suggestion.

The Interludes: Structural Pauses

The interludes, placed between each tale, appear to be shorter pieces that may comment on or contrast with the main narratives. Their titles—"An Evening at Whist," "Mrs. Fruffles is at Home," "The Radiator," "Such Sweet Sorrow," "A Business Meeting," "Thirteen," "A Cuban Morning"—suggest a range of settings from domestic to social to exotic. Without full texts, it is unclear whether these interludes are thematically linked to the adjacent tales or serve as independent vignettes. However, their presence indicates a deliberate rhythm, breaking the longer tales with concise, possibly ironic or mundane scenes. This structure may reflect Bates's interest in juxtaposing the extraordinary (hypnosis, deathbed revelations) with the ordinary (a whist game, a business meeting).

Voice and Emotional Restraint

Bates's prose in the excerpts is notably restrained, even in moments of high emotion. When Mère Marchette learns of her grandson's death, the doctor's reaction is internal: "It is not death, but the agony she will suffer." The narrative avoids melodrama, instead focusing on physical details: "her eyes shone, a feverish glow was on her cheek, even her withered lips had taken on for the moment a wan and ghostly red." This clinical observation of emotion aligns with the story's medical theme. Similarly, in "A Strange Idyl," the opening tale, the sick man's delirium is described through sensory fragments: "the sunlight reflected from off the water somewhere" and "a butterfly seemed tempted to enter the sick-room." The voice remains detached, letting the reader infer the character's confusion without explicit commentary.

Readers approaching A Book o' Nine Tales should note that the excerpts represent only a fraction of the collection, and the interludes in particular remain largely opaque. The catalog subjects—"Fiction; Short stories, American" and "Science Fiction & Utopias"—may be misleading, as the excerpts show no overt science fiction or utopian content, unless the hypnosis experiments are considered proto-scientific. The work rewards attention to its structural interplay and psychological nuance.

Somewhere in my childhood I knew a boy whose grandmother mistook him for her lost son; I haven’t thought of that in years, and Mère Marchette’s hypnotic substitution brought it all back—the way we let strangers wear the faces of our missing. Children of the Tenements — Themes and Context once settled me with that same strange ache, rooms full of people each carrying someone else’s ghost.