Thursday, February 6, 2025

The Great When by Alan Moore

Prepare for a journey through the uncanny streets of post-war London

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"The Great When" is a triumph—a mind-expanding journey through the secret heart of London that'll leave you looking at your own surroundings with fresh eyes. It's not for the faint of heart or those looking for a breezy read, but for readers willing to surrender themselves to Moore's singular vision, it's an unforgettable experience.

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In the shadowy alleys and bombed-out ruins of post-World War II London, reality itself seems as unstable as the crumbling buildings. It’s into this uncertain landscape that Alan Moore drops us in his latest mind-bending novel, “The Great When,” a work that proves the legendary comics writer hasn’t lost his touch when it comes to weaving intricate narratives that challenge our perceptions of what’s real and what’s imagined.

At its heart, “The Great When” is a coming-of-age tale wrapped in layers of cosmic horror, historical fiction, and metaphysical mind-fu*kery (pardon my French, but Alan Moore’s never been one to shy away from the vulgar). Our hapless hero is Dennis Knuckleyard, an 18-year-old working stiff at a second-hand bookshop run by the appropriately named Coffin Ada. Poor Dennis—he’s about to tumble down a rabbit hole that makes Alice’s adventures look like a stroll through Hyde Park.

A Book That Shouldn’t Exist

The trouble starts when Dennis is sent to collect some rare books, including one that, by all rights, shouldn’t exist: “A London Walk” by the Rev. Thomas Hampole. Problem is, this book is actually a fictional work mentioned in a novel by Arthur Machen. Yet here it is, solid as you like, in Dennis’s hands.

It’s a brilliant conceit, this idea of fictional books becoming real—reminiscent of Jorge Luis Borges at his most playful. But Moore, being Moore, takes it several steps further. This book, you see, comes from another London altogether—the Great When, a version of the city that exists beyond time, where past, present, and future blur together in a hallucinatory haze.

The Great When: A Masterpiece of Worldbuilding

Alan Moore’s depiction of the Great When is nothing short of breathtaking. It’s a place where abstract concepts like Crime and Poetry take on physical form as “Arcana”—beings of terrible beauty and power. The descriptions of this alt-London are vivid and surreal, filled with images that’ll haunt you long after you’ve put the book down:

“The edges of the structure are a foment of mills, churches, houses, bubbling up to seven listing storeys before simmering back down … passing back and forth upon the shining highway are unutterable transportations, sumptuous carriages that glide a foot or two above the wide road’s lustre, cars with artificial leopard legs where wheels should be.”

It’s classic Moore—dense, poetic prose that demands your full attention but rewards it tenfold. You can practically smell the ether and laudanum wafting off the pages.

A Cast of Unforgettable Characters

While Dennis is our everyman guide through this labyrinth of weirdness, it’s the supporting cast that really brings “The Great When” to life. There’s Coffin Ada herself, a foul-mouthed, tubercular force of nature who might just have a corpse or two buried in her backyard. We’ve got Prince Monolulu, a flamboyant racing tipster with connections to the supernatural. And let’s not forget Austin Osman Spare, a real-life occultist and artist whom Moore transforms into a kind of magician-mentor figure for our bewildered hero.

Each character feels fully realized, with their own distinct voice and motivations. Moore has always had a knack for bringing historical figures to life on the page, and he’s in rare form here. The dialogue crackles with wit and local color—you can practically hear the Cockney rhyming slang and music hall patter.

Themes of Time, Memory, and Identity

As Dennis delves deeper into the mysteries of the Great When, Moore explores weighty themes of time, memory, and the nature of identity. The idea that London—or any city, really—is a palimpsest of histories layered atop one another is brought to vivid life. Past and present bleed into each other, raising questions about how we construct our sense of self through the stories we tell about our surroundings.

There’s a melancholy undercurrent to it all, too. The novel is set in the immediate aftermath of World War II, and the trauma of the Blitz looms large in both the physical and psychic landscape. Characters grapple with loss and displacement, trying to find their footing in a world that’s been turned upside down.

A Rollercoaster of Genre-Bending Delights

While the metaphysical musings give “The Great When” its intellectual heft, Alan Moore never forgets that he’s telling a ripping yarn. The plot careens from one cliffhanger to the next, incorporating elements of noir detective fiction, Lovecraftian horror, and good old-fashioned adventure stories.

One moment Dennis might be fleeing gangsters through the twisting streets of Soho, the next he’s navigating the psychedelic landscape of the Great When, dodging sentient dustbins and negotiating with anthropomorphic concepts. It shouldn’t work, but Moore’s sheer storytelling prowess keeps it all hanging together.

A Return to Form

For longtime Alan Moore fans, “The Great When” will feel like a homecoming of sorts. While his recent prose works like “Jerusalem” have been ambitious and sprawling, this novel harkens back to the tighter focus of his seminal comic book runs. There’s an energy and playfulness here that recalls his work on “Swamp Thing” or “Miracleman,” albeit filtered through the lens of his more recent, experimental prose style.

That’s not to say it’s an easy read. Moore demands a lot from his audience, peppering the text with obscure historical references and deep-cut occult lore. But for those willing to put in the effort, the rewards are immense. This is a book that’ll have you reaching for your encyclopedia (or, let’s be honest, your smartphone) every other page, sending you down fascinating rabbit holes of research.

Not Without Its Flaws

For all its brilliance, “The Great When” isn’t without its shortcomings. At times, Moore’s prose can veer into self-indulgence, with passages that feel more like showing off his vocabulary than serving the story. Some readers might find the constant shifts between reality and the Great When disorienting, and there are moments where the plot threatens to collapse under the weight of its own complexity.

Additionally, while Moore’s depiction of post-war London is richly detailed, his handling of some period attitudes (particularly around race and gender) might make modern readers uncomfortable. It’s clear he’s attempting to capture the realities of the time, warts and all, but there are moments where it feels like he’s walking a fine line.

A Must-Read for the Adventurous

These quibbles aside, “The Great When” is a triumph—a mind-expanding journey through the secret heart of London that’ll leave you looking at your own surroundings with fresh eyes. It’s not for the faint of heart or those looking for a breezy read, but for readers willing to surrender themselves to Moore’s singular vision, it’s an unforgettable experience.

If you’ve enjoyed Moore’s previous works, or if you’re a fan of authors like China Miéville, Neil Gaiman, or Iain Sinclair who blur the lines between reality and fantasy, “The Great When” is an absolute must-read. Just be prepared to have your perceptions of time, space, and the nature of fiction itself thoroughly scrambled.

In the end, like the best of Moore’s work, “The Great When” is a love letter to the power of imagination and the hidden magic lurking in the everyday world. It’s a reminder that reality is stranger and more wonderful than we often give it credit for—and that sometimes, the most fantastical journeys are the ones that lead us right back home.

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"The Great When" is a triumph—a mind-expanding journey through the secret heart of London that'll leave you looking at your own surroundings with fresh eyes. It's not for the faint of heart or those looking for a breezy read, but for readers willing to surrender themselves to Moore's singular vision, it's an unforgettable experience.The Great When by Alan Moore