"It's like there's this
stranger deep inside of you, sharing space in your mind, whispering, sabotaging
everything."
Insanity by Increments is a collection
of nine short stories, each filled with progressively ascending tension; each
walks the fine line between reason and the dark impulsive tendencies of the
human mind.
While the novel takes the title of
the final story, the stories prior are the build up. In the opening story,
"Once Found, Once More Forsaken," the image of the dead swans in the
forest thrusts the reader into a somber mood and ensures that there will be no
fitting, happy end. "The Illusion of Progress," paints a grim, albeit
real portrait of life: marriages fail, accidents happen, and even when one
might think they've hit rock bottom, there's still further down to go.
Cabiling does an incredible job of
using the setting to depict the ominous mood of his narrative. Examples include
phrases like, "furniture would sit somberly like tombstones."
"Winter’s Eden," is the
story that stands out. The phrase Eden plants the forbidden fruit idea into the
audience's mind. Whether it's the tension between Amy and her Uncle Henry, or
Henry's reluctant fulfillment of his obligations to his paraplegic wife,
Leticia, this story pushes the envelope.
To have a collection that repeatedly
trumps predictable behavior is refreshingly original. "Frailty" toys
with the macabre and will certainly get a gasp from its readers as the story
spirals into a darkening world.
Interestingly, sexual tension is
almost ubiquitous. However, the story with the least is possibly the most
depressing: "Omens of Winter." Set in Scuttlefield, Cabiling shines
light on a painstaking life of toiling the farm and resigning one's self to a
lifetime of despair.
Overall, the simple structure makes
for an easy read. The content, at times, resembles a fusion of Poe and Gabriel
Garcia Marquez. Other times, it shatters the barriers of reason and lets
readers dive into the horrific reality that is depression.
RECOMMENDED by the USR
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