I bought The Spectral Link by Thomas Ligotti very recently from friend. Tonight, as I was looking for something new to read, it was staring at me from my shelf. I picked it up and, being short book, finished it very quickly.
The book is comprised of two short stories. The first, "Metaphysica Morum", concerns a man who would like nothing more than to commit suicide. He begins to have dreams in which an entity known as the Dealer appears often. Upon discussing this with his doctor/therapist, the doctor also starts to have these suicidal thoughts.
While I enjoyed the telling of the story, I'm not sure I really understood what it was about. I felt like it was a commentary on society however I may be a little too dumb to understand what exactly that commentary was. I did thoroughly enjoy the backstory of the main character though.
The second story, "The Small People", definitely felt like a commentary on race. It was about a boy who thoroughly despised those only known as the Small People or just Smalls. These were miniature representations of "normal" humans with doll-like features (i.e. smooth skin) who moved from area to area as they saw fit. While they sounded creepy in appearance and manner, it was hard to figure out just why the main character and his friend hated them so much. This feeling was no different than the confusion I feel when wondering why real people hate others just because they are different.
