Résumé
Résumé de Le Bassin de la Lune
À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
For readers who love early fantasy, lost worlds and pulp adventure told with rich color, and anyone curious about the roots of modern science fantasy.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
The Moon Pool is an adventure of ruins, strange light and a world hidden beneath the Pacific. Abraham Merritt wrote it in the years just after the First World War. It first appeared in the pulp magazines of the day and then came out as a book in 1919. Merritt was a magazine editor as well as a storyteller, and he wrote for readers who wanted wonder with their thrills.
The book begins with a mystery in the Caroline Islands, where huge stone ruins stand on the island of Ponape. A scientist's expedition goes in and does not come back whole. From there the story moves from the world of ships and doctors into a place that has its own light, its own people and its own gods. You get a scientist's cool eye, an Irish adventurer's humor and a growing sense of dread. Let us begin with the expedition and the ruins where the trouble starts.
Dans ce résumé
- 1A scientist's expedition meets the ruinsFree
- 2The Moon Pool and its shining visitor
- 3Goodwin and Larry O'Keefe join the search
- 4Beneath the pool lies another world
- 5Light, fear and the pull of the unknown
- 6How Merritt tells it, and what to watch for
Point clé 1 sur 6
A scientist's expedition meets the ruins
The story is told in the first person by Dr. Walter Goodwin, a scientist who is drawn into the affair through his friend, Dr. David Throckmartin. Throckmartin leads an expedition to the ruins of Nan-Matal on Ponape, in the Caroline Islands. These stone works are real places in the Pacific, and Merritt uses their weight and age to give his tale a base in the real world. The ruins are old, large and strange, and nobody quite knows who built them.
The tale opens with Goodwin's own voice, careful and sober. He is a man of laboratories and evidence, and he says up front that what he has to tell will test belief. That choice matters. A narrator who trusts facts makes the wonders to come feel more alarming, because he has no wish to believe in them.
Throttled by what he has seen, Throckmartin is no longer the confident leader Goodwin once knew. He has changed in a way that frightens his friend. The scientist who went out full of hope returns shaken and hunted by memory. Goodwin sees that something terrible has happened and that his friend can hardly speak of it.
From this opening the reader understands the pattern of the book. A learned man goes looking for knowledge, and the place he studies looks back at him. The ruins are not only stones to be measured. They are a door, and the question is who or what is on the other side.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about Le Bassin de la Lune
What is The Moon Pool about?
It tells of a scientist who joins a search for lost friends after a mysterious event at the stone ruins of Nan-Matal. A pool lit by the moon leads to a hidden world beneath the Pacific.
Who wrote The Moon Pool and when?
Abraham Merritt wrote it. It first ran in magazines in the late 1910s and then appeared as a book in 1919, during the early days of American pulp fantasy.
Is Nan-Matal a real place?
Yes. Nan Madol is a real group of ancient stone ruins on the island of Ponape in the Caroline Islands. Merritt uses the real site as the setting for his invented story.
Who is Larry O'Keefe in The Moon Pool?
He is an Irish adventurer who joins the search. He is quick, brave and a believer in old fairy tales, which makes a lively contrast with the scientist Goodwin.
Is The Moon Pool hard to read?
The plot is easy to follow. The style is rich and full of color words. Some readers enjoy the lush prose.