Author creates own tarot deck in novel

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ACCORDING to popular belief, the tarot deck was created as a parlour game in 15th-century Europe. But what if the cards were always intended to be used as tools of divination? And what if it they could truly guide us and decide our fate?

Much like his previous works, Don Bapst's fourth novel, published by a Winnipeg-based literary house, shines a light on the darkness that can reside in the human soul.

Known for his edgy material -- his Facebook page lists the infamous Marquis de Sade as an "interest" -- Bapst is an American-born immigrant to Eastern Canada who is clearly intrigued by the supernatural.

In The Hanged Man, he has created an original tarot deck of his own. At less than 200 pages, the novel is a quick read, although not an altogether satisfying one. A genre-crossing thriller/mystery/occult fantasy, it's much closer to Dan Brown than, say, Edgar Allen Poe.

Glen Harrison is an art history student in late-1990s New York. When granted a private viewing of the 300-year-old Visconti-Sforza deck, thought to be one of the oldest surviving tarot decks in the world, he makes a startling discovery. Now convinced that the cards predate the Renaissance and may have their origin in Africa, Glen eagerly begins researching his theory.

Babst tells the story through Glen's journal. Each entry is prefaced with a description of a different card from the Tarot deck and punctuated by a mysterious voice that at turns directs, warns or reassures him. Yet even as Glen becomes more dependent on the cards for guidance, the answers he seeks continue to elude him.

"Ever since I began turning my examination of the cards into a scholarly pursuit, I'm having more and more trouble recognizing the possibilities," Glen writes. "Each new reading seems more confused and directionless than the last. I no longer know which direction to go."

Glen's behaviour becomes increasingly manic; led to believe that the answers he seeks are in Africa, he hops on a plane at a moment's notice. It becomes clear that Glen's own sense of self is crumbling. Caught up in obeying the mysterious voice, he eventually surrenders completely to its power.

"I am closing this journal once and for all," he writes, "as I open the door to meet the force that has come for me."

Did Glen truly did experience supernatural powers? Or did he so desperately want to believe they were there that he willed them into being?

Glen's descent into madness is persuasive, if not predictable, but his character is never fleshed out enough for the reader to feel fully invested in his fate. Bapst himself seems more interested in the tarot's history, devoting lengthy passages to different theories surrounding its origins.

Those with an interest in the esoteric will undoubtedly enjoy The Hanged Man, but the more skeptical reader may not appreciate its somewhat fantastical plot.

Lindsay McKnight lives in Winnipeg, where she works in the arts.

The Hanged Man

By Don Bapst

Signature Editions, 172 pages, $17

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 18, 2012 J8