Eric Stenbock (1860–1895)

Given his life, one would expect Eric Stenbock’s stories to be morbid and gloomy, but they are simply written, short and tend to have a fairy tale-like quality. Often, a sunny, happy atmosphere is disrupted by despair, disfigurement and death, although a couple have surprisingly sweet ends. These strange little gems were written by Stanislaus Eric (Eric Stanislaus) Stenbock, Count of Bogesund, of a Swedish and Russian aristocratic family on his father’s side; his mother was a Manchester cotton heiress, and he was born in England. Stenbock seemed like the epitome of the decadent writer–an aristocratic aesthete who was addicted to opium and alcohol, had relationships with various decadent artists and engaged in a number of eccentric behaviors, most notoriously taking around a life-size doll that he called his son. He published a few books of poetry and one book of short stories. His homosexuality is reflected in his stories, where some characters are obviously gay and others are possibly gay.

“Hylas” is one of the obviously gay stories. The narrator, artist Gabriel Glynde, takes young Lionel under his wing after using him as a model for his portrait of David. A love triangle leads to the bitter end. Although this one is short and simple, Glynde’s love for Lionel is pretty blatant and the paintings that are described mirror the changing relations among the characters. “Narcissus” continues the contemplation of male beauty, as the narrator of this one is, like the title character, in love with himself, which unfortunately leads to a dramatic reversal. “The Death of a Vocation” is probably the only one without the stabs of violence present in all the other stories. Given Stenbock’s homosexuality, the story could be seen as a depiction of a seemingly normal heterosexual marriage that is, in fact, something quite different. “Viol D’Amor” at first depicts a happy, loving, artistic Italian family, but a series of bizarre decisions lead to the unhappy end. “The Egg of the Albatross” has a fairy-tale feel, describing the strange but contented life of the orphaned girl Marina, who was found by her adopted parents and lives in a lighthouse. Marina is very much a child of nature and collects eggs to support herself, as she is accepted by the birds of the island as one of their own. Unfortunately, the encroaching tourism on the island is a threat to her simple life. “The True Story of a Vampire” is similar to the classic vampire story “Carmilla” but with men, although this one lacks the breathless intensity of Sheridan Le Fanu’s work. “The Worm of Luck” also has various reversals, as a Romani boy who flees his home finds success for a while but can’t escape his past.

Strange but oddly compelling stories.… (more)

First, this is a beautiful edition with an an excellent introduction and some wonderful pictures of the author, printed on high quality paper. It's a great book to hold in your hands and read. These are not the complete works of Count Stenbock, but I presume the editor, who knows a great deal about Stenbock and has edited some of his works previously, chose these because they are the best or the most representative. They are generally fun to read. Stenbock, who spoke several languages, wrote well. And his plots are certainly strange, though I'm not sure how decadent anything here is. Perhaps it depends on your state of mind. Reading these stories and poems (and one rather incongruous essay), I felt an immediate attraction and sympathy for the author. As I did when looking at the pictures of him, I felt that he would have been a fascinating person to know and have conversations with. His stories, though obviously written by an intelligent adult, often have a childlike innocence. They also have a childlike simplicity at times, which mars their effectiveness. In terms of the plots, there is nothing missing, but the narratives often lack complications or much suspense about where they are going. The atmospheres and ideas are good, but the execution is lacking. Or perhaps I'm judging them wrong. I'm sure Count Stenbock himself loved his stories--his world was too complicated already. Overall, the poems may be of higher quality. They have some nice images and definitely have ambiguities the stories lack. One or two are also more direct about same-sex love, a subject that naturally wends its way through Stenbock's works. To summarize, this is a book I'm glad I read because it introduced me to a fascinating, though minor, character. As someone who loves stories of this type, I also appreciated my moments of immersion into his character and obsessions. I would probably re-read the poetry, though I'm not sure about the stories.… (more)