BOOK REVIEWS: The Great When: Alan Moore

Published 7:08 am Monday, March 24, 2025

The Great When: Alan Moore

Within London lies another London. An older London. A paradigm London. A Long London.

Long London is a shadow city within the city. Or is the London we know a pale reflection of the other London? Long London exists parallel to the London filled with double-decker buses and tourists. An older London filled with fantastical creatures, giants and the embodiment of ideas.

Young Dennis Knuckleyard, orphaned during World War II, lives a life of meager servitude in a small backroom of a book store ran by a harsh woman known as Coffin Ada.

During what should be a routine purchase of valuable books, Dennis comes into possession of a different kind of fictional book. A book that is supposed to exist only in a novel has become an actual book filled with words and pages and trouble for Dennis.

The book belongs in Long London but Dennis has been tricked into possessing it in post-World War II London. Unless he can negotiate the book’s return to the other London, Dennis faces a gruesome fate.

In Alan Moore’s “The Great When,” Dennis travels to and from the surreal world of Long London. In his adventures, he encounters a coterie of odd and wonderful characters from both the known London and the unknown London: an artistic sorcerer, a regal horse race touter, a young prostitute, a man made of wood and sap, an iron-footed fellow, a notorious gangster, etc.

The question is can Dennis keep his life by keeping with the rules of returning the book to Long London, without offending its denizens, while not breaking the rule of keeping Long London a secret from the citizens of the known London?

Moore is best known for penning renowned comic books and graphic novels: “Swamp Thing,” “V for Vendetta,” “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,” “Watchmen,” etc.

More recently, Moore has penned prose books such as the staggering epic “Jerusalem” and the short-story collection “Illuminations.”

Moore has a tremendous knack for storytelling, imagery, characterizations. His full talents are on display in “The Great When.” So are some of his flaws. While the writing is undeniable, it is often overwhelming. The italicized journeys into Long London are a swirling whirl of imagery and hammer-blow sentences. The descriptions are so strong, readers run the risk of getting lost in the maelstrom of words. Still, it is an effective approach that could have readers feeling like Dennis, unbalanced and stunned, by the surreality of Long London.

For readers who feel lost in the early pages of “The Great When,” who may question if the book is overwritten, who may be confused by the early adventures into Long London, hang in there. Moore makes this a book worth reading.

Readers unfamiliar with the hardships of post-World War II London may have to often remind themselves that “The Great When” is set in the late 1940s; at times, it feels like our imagined perception of the 19th century London of Charles Dickens.

“The Great When” is reportedly the first book in a “Long London” series of books. “The Great When” answers a lot of questions in Dennis Knuckleyard’s story but it leaves several questions about Long London and some other characters to be answered, too.

Hopefully, Moore will roll out these answers in several books to come.

On Writing: Stephen King

Twenty-five years ago, Stephen King wrote something different.

Not surprising, really. He made a career of writing something different, something horrifying, something interesting, something that goes bump in the night.

“On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft” was different than his regular different. He penned an autobiography of himself so readers better understood the life and events that led to a kid named Steve becoming not only a writer but Stephen King. King then leaps into offering thoughts on writing to other writers or readers who want to become writers.

He tells stories of being a writer through stories he’s written. To make a point on character, he may share a story about his characters from “Misery.” To help readers better understand dealing with writer’s block on a novel, he shares an experience from writing “The Stand.”

For writers, “On Writing” offers insights into work habits, developing ideas, putting story and character above plot, returning to the first-draft manuscript, rewriting a second draft, etc.

For Stephen King fans, “On Writing” provides a look into his life and pulls back the curtain on how some of his dozens of books were created.

For writers who are Stephen King fans, “On Writing” is an absolute treat.

A new edition was released in 2020 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of “On Writing.” It includes new pages with materials from his writer sons, Joe Hill and Owen King.

While I regularly read Stephen King novels, and I have made a career out of writing for my supper, the idea of reading “On Writing” never interested me. Who wanted to read about writing after a long day of writing and editing? Not this guy.

Things change. I’m semi-retired now. I write some but not like the past. I often think about writing more. Writing something different.

In February, I met a student writer who mentioned reading “On Writing.” We discussed it briefly. A couple of weeks later, I saw a paperback edition of “On Writing” at Books-A-Million. Here we are. I’m glad I read it.

King is straight-forward but friendly in his advice. “On Writing” is like having the coolest teacher in school teaching a class on your favorite subject.