In Search of the Unknown

A search for the great auk opens In Search of the Unknown, then the boundaries of natural history grow progressively less dependable. Robert W. Chambers links stories through an amusing young man whose curiosity and susceptibility to romance repeatedly draw him toward improbable discoveries. Mammoths, invisible people, and other disruptions turn scientific pursuit into comic fantasy and mystery. The sequence gains coherence from escalation rather than a single continuous plot. Each encounter makes the next departure from ordinary life easier to accept, and dry wit prevents the romantic elements from becoming purely sentimental. The women involved in these adventures are notably capable and self-possessed; they confront danger and absurdity with initiative of their own. Vivid settings give the strange events a physical stage, even when descriptive detail slows the pace.

Chambers uses the linked form to play with the authority of the explorer's report. Observation, desire, and exaggeration become difficult to separate once the unknown appears in increasingly extravagant shapes. The collection remains light on its feet because the narrator's vulnerability to both wonder and attraction is part of the joke. Its distinctive appeal comes from the meeting of speculative creatures, adventurous courtship, and a tone dry enough to recognize how ridiculous discovery can become.