Metaphorosis Reviews
Written on Dec 15, 2023
Summary
A happily married couple return to their regular holiday spot, to find that a cave the husband enjoys exploring is closed, and they'll need the local count's permission to enter. Meeting him sets off an illicit affair that ends in a desperate caving adventure.
Review
Another in Christopher’s set of mid-20th century stories about ordinary men and women under stress. Here, a casual caving expedition gone wrong. It’s … fine. The characters are engaging, it’s generally credible, etc. However, there’s not much ending to the story. The semi-resolution is about what you’d expect – perhaps it was more surprising 65 years ago before we’d seen it so many times – but largely the book just stops abruptly.
There’s some key infidelity that’s never really explained. The married protagonist just … does have an affair, for no very good reason. It’s frustrating, because the reasons against are explicit, and the reasons for are, at best, inchoate. We’re eventually told she’s ‘utterly and hopelessly’ in love, but I saw no reason why she should be. For that matter, the cave exploration that begins it all doesn’t have much foundation.
I’m a fan of Christopher’s YA books (such as the completely different and much more effective The Lotus Caves), and have enjoyed his adult books (somewhat less), but this didn’t do much for me. If you’re a completionist, by all means get this. If you have a deep to be read pile, though, feel no qualms about letting this one go.