I Found A Charming Cemetery In A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE

A Fine and Private Place
Written by Peter S. Beagle
Published by ROC
May 23, 1960
Paperback, 290 pgs.

As usual, I needed to go to a doc-in-a-box to have a checkup after a fall. I realized I had forgotten a book in case there was a wait. So when I was told that the next appointment was going to be an hour and a half later, I made the decision to go to a used bookstore to get something to read while I waited. I went to the science fiction and fantasy section. To my delight they had two short Peter S Beagle books. I have been a fan of The Last Unicorn and had recently read it. So I decided to pick one books to see if I would like his other work. I choose A Fine and Private Place.

This is Beagle’s debut novel, which he wrote at the young age of 19. I knew it was his first book, but didn’t find out how old he was when he wrote it will after I finished. I was shocked. The level of depth and insight Beagle has on life, death, and love at this age makes it more intriguing and possibly youthfully charming.

The story takes place in a cemetery in one of the boroughs of New York City. Mr. Rebeck has lived in one of the mausoleums for nineteen years. Over time, the idea of leaving and going back into the real world creates such an internal anxiety he made it permanent home.  In his mind, he failed as a pharmacist and with that, withdrew from human interaction. The cemetery is a safe place for him to avoid human contact. His one consistent companion is a raven who steals food and other necessities for him. His other companions… well, they’re the newly dead until they finally completely die. When a person dies, their spirit remains until they forget anything about being alive and simply fall asleep into a void — an easy way to put it. But as long as they remember and hold onto for that last remaining real memory of living, their ghost remains. He has the ability to see and talk to them until then. He knows that his companions are temporary, but he makes the most of it to help them – and himself. He befriends Michael, newly deceased, not ready to die and desperate to remember so he can stay “alive”. Soon Laura joins them with a different attitude – ready to rest and sleep and be done with any sort of life. Then, in a twist for Mr. Rebeck, he strikes up a friendship with Mrs. Clapper, a widow visiting her husband’s mausoleum.

The characters in this book remind me of Brooks and Red from The Shawshank Redemption. The speech Red gives when Brooks is released from prison and then retold when he himself was released; “the walls change a man, at first you hate them, then you get use to them. Enough time passes, you depend on them. That’s institutionalized. They send you for life. That’s what they take from you, the part that counts, anyway.”

That is what A Fine and Private Place is about. The life (and death) of these four characters within the cemetery walls.

Mr. Rebeck has given up on living and chosen a life of solitude in the cemetery. At first, it was to hide from his life’s failures, but as the years have passed, it’s become a fear of everything past the gates of the cemetery. The walls protect him and he doesn’t have to live up to anyone else’s expectations. When Mrs. Clapper tries to convince him to go past the gate, his anxiety gets the better of him. He can’t get past his head.

But for the first time in his nineteen years at the cemetery, it’s Mrs. Clapper that makes him question his reasons for hiding. They meet by accident while she visits her deceased husband, who had passed the previous year. Mr. Rebeck claims he’s visiting a friend in the cemetery. They strike up a friendship as they discover a common awkwardness. Her life has been of routine and Mr. Rebeck is strange and doesn’t quite easily fit into the repetitiveness she’s created for herself. It takes a while before he tells her the truth about living in the cemetery and is surprised she accepts it, as strange as it is. But the truth gives her a reason to try to take care of him in little ways, like a wife for her husband.

When Michael appears and learns of his fate, he becomes determined to not forget living. He’s constantly finding memories from his life to cling to, especially his wife, who may or may not have killed him. He rambles on about all the great experiences he had, his knowledge from being a scholar. So when Laura comes and wants to just have it all to stop, he doesn’t understand. Why would you want to forget living?

Laura is disappointed that her “life” didn’t stop with her death. But once she got past it, she discovered she was more alive dead. And falling in love. She knew that there would be no chance for her and Michael until he could have closure on his own death. And he does find that closure. Michael then realizes that any amount of time he and Laura may have left is enough because they love each other. It wouldn’t matter if they forgot life in 30 minutes and disappeared, they still have those 30 minutes.

Their desire to love is a reason to have life in their death.

But what end for Mr. Rebeck? Due to events that happen in the living world, he’s asked to do something for the love ghosts but won’t because it would cause him to leave and lose the comfort of the prison he has created for himself. However, he has a change of heart, realizing his own fondness for Laura and wanting to do good for her and make her happy.

Like any relationship: it’s complicated.

A Fine and Private Place may be a simple story but the complexity of the characters and their interactions are far from simple. It looks past the facades people hide behind like many other stories but when you live in a cemetery, it’s hard to know who’s really alive or dead. We become dependent on the walls that we create for ourselves. We institutionalize ourselves. Peter S. Beagle beautifully wrote our flaws before saying “Stop and go Live.”