DOWN TO A SUNLESS SEA by Mathias Freese

Review by Steve

Mathias Freese has been a clinical social worker and psychotherapist for twenty five years. By his own admission, he has a dark view of humanity, but has kept a wry sense of humor. He shows understanding and compassion to the deviant and damaged in these fifteen short stories which are collected in his book DOWN TO A SUNLESS SEA.

Jane Holt, MLA, wrote in the book’s foreword “To be understood-to be felt- is the author’s purpose in this collection of short stories as in all of his writings because it is his purpose in his relationships with others and the world at large.”

The stories are all different and there are no happy endings or sense of closure. “I’ll make it, I think” is based on Freese’s crippled cousin. “For a While, Here, In this Moment” was written for his daughter showing his understanding of her physical agony and despair.

Dark humor shows in “The Chatham Bear” and “Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Father Was a Nazi.” Chatham Bear was based on actual events while Arnold’s Father was written in 1991, before he became Governor of California.

“Alabaster” is a about a concentration camp survivor, and “Juan Peron’s Hands” is about a psychotic and how he has regained himself. “Little Errands” was scary; it was easy to see how a person can become neurotic. “Echo” ends with “What a lethally fascinating if not insular experience it must be to value one’s own self above all others and not fully realize that narcissistic attraction for most of one’s life.” “Young Man” had emotionally died a long time before his actual death “Nicholas,” who is in high-school, is a commentary about our educational system.

“Billy’s Mirrored Wall” shows how easy is for parents to instill their dysfunctional behavior in children. Another in this vein is “Mortise and Tenon”, which make you wonder if this is another serial killer in the making. “Unanswerable” uses a lesson from a father to a son to illustrate the unanswerable – what ignites human beings to hate feverishly, kill wantonly in huge numbers, and revel in genocide and final solutions.

Each of these short stories ignited in me despair, or pity, or anger. I look on these characters and feel compassion and understanding, while being a little repulsed of them or their situation. Regardless, each leads to reflective thought and a bit more insight into me.

DOWN TO A SUNLESS SEA is a great collection of dark, offbeat stories by the gifted and award winning author, Mathias B. Freese. While this might not be everyone’s type of read, for those of you that like it or want to expand your reading, I highly recommend it. To learn more, visit the author’s website at mathiasbfreese.com/.

Until Next Review,

Happy Reading!




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DOWN TO A SUNLESS SEA by Mathias Freese

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