THE DEEP ONES: "A Child in the Bush of Ghosts" by Olympe Bhêly-Quénum
Talk The Weird Tradition
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1gwendetenebre
"A Child in the Bush of Ghosts" by Olympe Bhêly-Quénum.
Discussion begins June 4, 2025.
Written in 1949. First published in Liaison d'un été (1968).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1439581
SELECTED PRINT VERSIONS
The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories
ONLINE VERSIONS
No online versions found to date.
ONLINE AUDIO VERSIONS
No online audio versions found to date.
MISCELLANY
https://weirdfictionreview.com/2013/05/101-weird-writers-24-olympe-bhely-quenum/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympe_Bhely-Quenum
https://www.afrik.com/une-interview-d-olympe-bhely-quenum
https://tinyurl.com/8emat3c
Discussion begins June 4, 2025.
Written in 1949. First published in Liaison d'un été (1968).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1439581
SELECTED PRINT VERSIONS
The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories
ONLINE VERSIONS
No online versions found to date.
ONLINE AUDIO VERSIONS
No online audio versions found to date.
MISCELLANY
https://weirdfictionreview.com/2013/05/101-weird-writers-24-olympe-bhely-quenum/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympe_Bhely-Quenum
https://www.afrik.com/une-interview-d-olympe-bhely-quenum
https://tinyurl.com/8emat3c
2elenchus
Cannot help wondering about the similarly-titled novel, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, published before Bhêly-Quénum's short story was published but evidently after the story was written ... and of course, wondering as well about the Byrne-Eno album released after both novel and story.
3AndreasJ
Well, this went some places I didn't expect! It might be Weird, it might even be a ghost story, but it's definitely not horror (except for for the protagonist's family).
>2 elenchus: mayhap "bush of ghosts" is (a translation of) a standing expression? It's hard to google because all I get is stuff about the album.
I was a bit befuddled by the early African morning sun - the sun never rises particularly early in Africa.
>2 elenchus: mayhap "bush of ghosts" is (a translation of) a standing expression? It's hard to google because all I get is stuff about the album.
I was a bit befuddled by the early African morning sun - the sun never rises particularly early in Africa.
4elenchus
The graffiti in the cavern was so specific as to suggest an intentional referent, but if so -- one unfamiliar to me. (How would one know a crude rectangle was meant to represent a mirror, of all things?)
I also was intrigued by the landscape, the contrast between the golden sand on the trail used by the boy and his uncle, and the loamy earth of the forest with trees obscuring the sky. I don't associate such dense forest with sandy soil, perhaps baobab forests or something similar?
The introduction in The Weird agrees with >3 AndreasJ:, the tale is more surreal than horrifying.
I also was intrigued by the landscape, the contrast between the golden sand on the trail used by the boy and his uncle, and the loamy earth of the forest with trees obscuring the sky. I don't associate such dense forest with sandy soil, perhaps baobab forests or something similar?
The introduction in The Weird agrees with >3 AndreasJ:, the tale is more surreal than horrifying.
5AndreasJ
I suppose if you leave a yellow brick road long enough you’ll have a path of yellow sand …
I know nothing about soil conditions in Benin, but I did wonder about a possible Oz reference.
Maybe the rectangle = mirror symbolism is general in the area? Or it’s one of those dream things where you just know X means Y?
I know nothing about soil conditions in Benin, but I did wonder about a possible Oz reference.
Maybe the rectangle = mirror symbolism is general in the area? Or it’s one of those dream things where you just know X means Y?
6AndreasJ
Regarding the similar titles ...
The expression "bush of ghosts" doesn't occur in the actual story that I can find, and neither in the original French title (Promenade dans la forêt, lit. "(A) Walk in the Forest"), so it may well be that the uncredited translator nicked the expression from Tutuola or Byrne-Eno. ISFDB suggests that the English translation may have been first published in 1994.
The expression "bush of ghosts" doesn't occur in the actual story that I can find, and neither in the original French title (Promenade dans la forêt, lit. "(A) Walk in the Forest"), so it may well be that the uncredited translator nicked the expression from Tutuola or Byrne-Eno. ISFDB suggests that the English translation may have been first published in 1994.
