What I'm reading: Fungus the Bogeyman
Far more than a horribly enjoyable tale for children, this book is a masterpiece of complex nihilism.
Raymond Briggs's Fungus the Bogeyman is the current bedtime reading for my kids, and I'd forgotten what a rich, imaginative and complex philosophical work it is. Far from being a simple celebration of all things wet and slimy, Briggs' book creates an upside-down underworld where a gloomy nihilism is the order of the day, and with whose attitudes Briggs clearly has some sympathy. The book was first published in 1977 and has a definite punky, "no future", Sex Pistols quality.
The Bogeymen have something of the grumpy old man about them. They abhor anything new, and for that reason do not buy newspapers, but rather oldspapers. Posters on the walls advertise events long since passed.
It is an appealingly slow world. Bicycle tyres are filled with goo and sailboats are square-fronted to ensure slow sailing. Their games, such as pig-sticking and tiddlywinks, are non-competitive and can last for days. In Bogeyball, there is no cheering or shouting and the players glide dreamily around in the thick mud, with a grace, Briggs says, "which makes the fussy scrurrying around of Surface footballers appear slightly ridiculous". The purpose of angling is to avoid catching fish, and any Bogey who does so will retire shamefacedly to a bar.
Bogeys love sleep and the outdoors is dotted with dreamholes, whey they will retire for a nap. When their problems appear insurmountable, they simply retreat form the world and may go to sleep for up to a year in specially created graveyard-like zones called "interests".
The book masterfully combines a thorough anatomy of Bogeyworld with a meditation on the futility of existence. As Fungus moves slowly through his day (or, I should say, his night, since Bogeys are nocturnal), he is given to such reflections as "Not to reason why... not ask questions... just keep bogling away".
And that brings us to the vexed question of the Bogeyman's job: frightening humans. In the book, it is Bogeys like Fungus who spend their nights separating socks, kicking tiles off the roof, creaking the stairs and banging the dustbin lids. They also press their green fingers on the necks of sleeping humans in order to create boils. Why?
All of Briggs's work is great but I think Fungus is his masterpiece.
The Bogeymen have something of the grumpy old man about them. They abhor anything new, and for that reason do not buy newspapers, but rather oldspapers. Posters on the walls advertise events long since passed.
It is an appealingly slow world. Bicycle tyres are filled with goo and sailboats are square-fronted to ensure slow sailing. Their games, such as pig-sticking and tiddlywinks, are non-competitive and can last for days. In Bogeyball, there is no cheering or shouting and the players glide dreamily around in the thick mud, with a grace, Briggs says, "which makes the fussy scrurrying around of Surface footballers appear slightly ridiculous". The purpose of angling is to avoid catching fish, and any Bogey who does so will retire shamefacedly to a bar.
Bogeys love sleep and the outdoors is dotted with dreamholes, whey they will retire for a nap. When their problems appear insurmountable, they simply retreat form the world and may go to sleep for up to a year in specially created graveyard-like zones called "interests".
The book masterfully combines a thorough anatomy of Bogeyworld with a meditation on the futility of existence. As Fungus moves slowly through his day (or, I should say, his night, since Bogeys are nocturnal), he is given to such reflections as "Not to reason why... not ask questions... just keep bogling away".
And that brings us to the vexed question of the Bogeyman's job: frightening humans. In the book, it is Bogeys like Fungus who spend their nights separating socks, kicking tiles off the roof, creaking the stairs and banging the dustbin lids. They also press their green fingers on the necks of sleeping humans in order to create boils. Why?
All of Briggs's work is great but I think Fungus is his masterpiece.
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