The Individual Heart

Bill Brydon was a librarian/journalist in Toronto.

The author of these stories and poems, William Callaghan, Jr., was a 27-year-old Albertan who died of chronic asthma in 1974. His book was published after years of effort by David Schleich, who reminisces about his friend in the introduction, describing in blunt terms his unfulfilled genius. This earnestness is touching, if a little embarrassing. Callaghan’s writing comes on very strong as well. His short stories are styled on the writing of Joseph Conrad. Like Typhoon and The Nigger of the Narcissus, the longest story in this collection is a sea story. As in these two books, rapid events and sudden actions are described in meticulous detail to create a curious feeling of stasis. Unlike Conrad’s, however, Callaghan’s symbolism is bulky and obtrusive.

Throughout The Individual Heart, there is a preoccupation with death, and with the psychological suffering that precedes it. Callaghan strove courageously to be meaningful and serious, at the risk of mockery. His strange and sometimes obscure ideas are put forward in strange and unlikely dialogue and narrative comment. Such writing can be off-puttingly self-indulgent, but these stories were carefully edited and crafted.

The best of the stories is “The Zoo,” which is a love story about two disturbed and lonely people. It is straightforward and simple. On the other hand, the 20 pages of poetry offer little. These poems are brief imagist glimpses, a kind of writing that has long been too abundant.

I feel that this was a talented writer, but one who still lacked technical control. Despite its shortcomings, the prose is strong in personality and atmosphere. With it, he might have made his future.