Line #19 Literature/Others


1	[[quoteright:339:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2018_05_17_at_174534.png]]
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3	A 1999 novel by Creator/JamesHerbert.
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5	Alone in a murky, otherworldly cell, a deceased, unnamed man contemplates the depraved past life for which this "existence without hope" is his punishment. Two celestial visitors, dubbed Angel 1 and Angel 2, suddenly arrive with a proposition. He, and "one or two [[TitleDrop others]]" have qualified for a second chance at earthly life. Overcome, he tearfully accepts...
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7	Thirty-two year-old Brighton-based private investigator Nick Dismas, "Dis" to his friends, is offered a case concerning a missing person; a baby who eighteen years ago apparently died, but whose mother, Shelly Ripstone, now intuitively believes him to be alive, a suspicion endorsed by local clairvoyant Louise Broomfield. Dis, deformed from birth with spinal curvature, an overlapping brow and a withered leg, as well as a missing eye lost in a childhood incident, goes about sundry duties with unflinching reflection on his lifelong rejection and humiliation.
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9	Viciously mugged on the way home, a desolate Dis later sees in his mirror the reflection of a long-dead movie star whose name he can't quite place. A sudden visit from Louise Broomfield, who briefly takes away the pain of his mugging-induced headache, persuades him to consider the Ripstone case. The name of the missing boy's midwife, Hildegarde Vogel, leads Dis to Perfect Rest, a residential care home, one of whose carers, delicate-featured yet similarly deformed Constance Bell, seems strangely intimidated by the home's director, the coolly condescending Dr Leonard K Wisbeech. A nightly visit from numerous severely deformed apparitions heralds a shocking turning point in the troubled life of Nick Dismas…
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11	The book closes with a note from the author of its inspiration by a true story, concerning a London children’s hospital.
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13	!! "''Well, who the fuck needs the tropes!''":
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15	* AmbiguouslyGay: Henry Solomon, bookkeeper for Dismas Investigations.
16	* AnAesop: "Learn to see with generous eyes."
17	* AngelicBeauty: The two angels who briefly visit the deceased actor in Hell have movingly "serene" and "pure" countenances.
18	* TheApprentice: Nineteen-year-old Philo Churchill, Dis's newest recruit.
19	* TheAtoner: [[spoiler: Dis comes to realise his impediments, and implicitly, Constance’s]], to be a redemptive “test,” as part of a mission to atone for the iniquities of a past life.
20	* ArousedByTheirVoice: On first hearing it over the phone, Dis is entranced by Constance's voice.
21	* AnAstralProjectionNotAGhost: The deformed apparitions who visit Dis [[spoiler: are mental projections of living people, sent by a psychic amongst them]].
22	* AuraVision: In Dis's aura, Louise senses the residual shock from when he lost an eye.
23	* AxeCrazy: Beneath the wing of Perfect Rest which holds numerous [[spoiler: severely deformed youths and children]] are inmates known simply as "[[TitleDrop others]]": [[spoiler: severely deformed people who also happen to be homicidally insane]].
24	* BarBrawl: On search of a gay bar for traces of a missing youth, several patrons took offence at Dis's appearance. Timely intervention from part-time bouncer Ida averted a two-on-one brawl.
25	* BattleAmongstTheFlames: In the rear wing of Perfect Rest, a studio in which Dr Wisbeech allows [[spoiler: production of lavish pornographic films of copulation between his deformed test subjects]], catches fire. On defensive eye injury from Dis, [[spoiler: Wisbeech's ferociously powerful, insanely vicious "beast"]] seeks revenge, and hinders the escape of Dis and Constance.
26	* BigFun: Theresa, a jolly nurse.
27	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Sharply dressed, impeccably cordial Dr Leonard Wisbeech, with calm callousness, probes Dis's life perspective, [[spoiler: and conducts brutally unethical studies in deformity]].
28	* BlackSite: A secret wing of secluded retirement home Perfect Rest houses [[spoiler: numerous children with extreme deformities]], on whom Dr Wisbeech [[spoiler: conducts brutally inhumane tests]].
29	* BloodyHorror: In the agency office, Dis finds [[spoiler: Henry]]'s eyeless, castrated corpse.
30	* BornInTheWrongCentury: Dis has a comprehensive affinity with films from before 1950.
31	* BrokenTears: After his mugging on the beach, Dis, bruised, bloodied and devastated with humiliation, returns to his basement flat and sobs.
32	* BruiserWithASoftCentre: Ida, whose [[StoutStrength formidable bulk]] once aided an outnumbered and very grateful Dis.
33	* TheBrute:
34	** Perfect Rest orderly Bruce.
35	** A ferociously powerful, insanely vicious deformed man, known only as "the beast," is directed by [[spoiler: Wisbeech]] to scare off [[spoiler: Dis]], but instead finds [[spoiler: Henry]].
36	* ChildProdigy: Twelve-year-old Joseph, born with progeria, has a precocious vocabulary and grasps Dr Wisbeech's studies.
37	* ClosetGay: Henry, seemingly terrified of upsetting his loving yet overbearing mother, refuses to openly admit his homosexuality. Under the pretence of working late, he secretly meets a rent boy in the agency building.
38	* CouncilOfAngels: "[[{{Heaven}} The Uppermost Level]]" apparently hosts discussion, with "[[{{God}} The Final Arbiter]]" having made the decision to give several damned souls a second chance.
39	* CrusadingLawyer: Etta Kaesbach, having helped Dis set up office, consistently supplies the agency with work.
40	* DisabledSnarker: Dis's first person narration is replete with witheringly grim witticisms. With the bruises of his mugging still in evidence...
41	-->'''Shelly Ripstone:''' Your poor face!
42	-->'''Dis:''' Kind of spoils my looks, doesn't it?
43	* DontYouDarePityMe: Dis laments his reception of conspicuous gestures of acceptance or sympathy.
44	* DoorstepBaby: Shortly after birth, Dis was left on the steps of a convent.
45	* TheDragon: Brusquely supercilious senior nurse Rachel Fletcher, whose loyalty to Wisbeech extends to complicity in [[spoiler: funding his inhumane researches by allowing [[SnuffFilm snuff films]] to be made of his test subjects]].
46	* DrowningMySorrows: Dis does so keenly.
47	* EyeScream: Quite a bit of this. Aged eleven, Dis accidentally stabbed himself in the eye in self-defence against an attempted molestation, [[spoiler: Henry's strangled corpse is found with the eyes gouged out, mercifully after strangulation,]] and the culprit, [[spoiler: Dr Wisbeech's "beast," gets a bit of this from Dis.]]
48	* FriendOnTheForce: Dis and Detective Chief Superintendent Oliver Macaroon, having helped occasionally helped each other on their respective cases, share a mutual respect.
49	* FriendToAllChildren: Deformed babies secretly brought to Perfect Rest were devotedly cared for by midwife Hildegarde Vogel. Constance later took up the position.
50	* TheGrotesque: The severely deformed apparitions initially terrify Dis [[spoiler: until they're revealed to be psychically projected images of harmless people who desperately need his help.]]
51	* HandicappedBadass: Despite appearances, Dis can handle himself, as [[TheBrute Bruce]] learns the [[FingerPokeOfDoom hard way]].
52	* HealingHands: As well as clairvoyant reception of distant thoughts, Louise Broomfield can psychically relieve pain.
53	* {{Hell}}: A murky, timeless realm of solitary remorse.
54	* HeKnowsTooMuch: [[spoiler: Elderly midwife Hildegarde Vogel, as well as Dis, although in his absence, Wisbeech’s “beast” brutally murders Henry instead.]]
55	* HolyHalo: "Interesting how the ancient artists intuitively got it right when they depicted bright auras enveloping the holy spirits on their sojourns into the infectious world of mankind."
56	* IHatePastMe: [[spoiler: Dis]], in a near-death vision, is appalled by the deeds of his previous incarnation, though recognises his occasional redeeming features.
57	* JewishAndNerdy: Henry Solomon, bookkeeper for Dismas Investigations, is jealously proud of his authority on movie trivia.
58	* KnightTemplar: Dr Wisbeech takes great pride in his study of bodily deformity. Having covertly [[spoiler: stolen severely deformed newborn babies]], he justifies his [[spoiler: incarceration and brutal study of them]] by having [[spoiler: saved them from early death]], and seems to have no qualms about using [[spoiler: coercively produced porn films and murder]] to finance and protect his studies.
59	* MamaBear: Despite [[spoiler: a fire raging through the secret wing of Perfect Rest]], Constance is determined to save Michael, a deformed patient in her care; Dis just as much so.
60	* MeaningfulName: Nick Dismas was named after the caretaker who found him as a baby on the steps of a convent, and after Saint Dismas, the crucified thief who repented to Christ.
61	* MirrorScare: Investigating a vandalised house, Dis hears a suspicious sound from upstairs, where, in a heavily cracked mirror, he sees the anachronistic reflections of numerous people with facial deformities.
62	* MyBelovedSmother: Henry's mother, Evie Solomon, to whom he's very close, is protectively possessive of him.
63	* NiceCharacterMeanActor: [[spoiler: Dis's]] previous incarnation, to tragic extremes.
64	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: On a walk home via the beach, a gang of drugged up teenage girls hurl pebbles and insults at Dis, knock him to the ground, relentlessly kick and punch him, and steal his cash.
65	* OceanAwe: An evening walk home past crowds of staring, taunting revellers drives Dis to the solitude of the beach.
66	* PetTheDog: The unnamed movie star, from whom [[spoiler: Dis]] is reincarnated, while an unashamedly ruthless, selfish, unscrupulous hedonist, had a blindness-threatened young boy flown to New York for surgery.
67	* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Henry is known for petty, institutionalised but ultimately harmless bigotries.
68	* PsychicPowers:
69	** Clairvoyant faith healer Louise Broomfield.
70	** [[spoiler: Michael, the deformed lost son of Shelly Ripstone]], whose mental projections reach Louise and Dis.
71	* RapeAsDrama:
72	** When Dis was eleven, a "pervert, who wanted sex with a freak" tried to molest him.
73	** In the secret wing of Perfect Rest, [[spoiler: Dr Wisbeech, to fund his studies, oversees lavishly produced footage of drug-coerced copulation between deformed test subjects. In these, he includes his ward Constance.]]
74	* {{Reincarnation}}: The Five Hundred Year Plenary Indulgence offers earthly rebirth into circumstances to morally test the participant.
75	* ShoutOut:
76	** An epigraph from ''Literature/TheIslandOfDoctorMoreau''.
77	** Dis's muggers spitefully address him as "[[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney Quozzie]]".
78	** Dr Wisbeech is said to resemble a bearded Michael Rennie.
79	** A director of big-budgeted pornographic SnuffFilm is wryly called a "[[Creator/JamesCameron Cameron]] of filth''.
80	* SnuffFilm: [[spoiler: Secretly filmed footage of copulation between severely deformed patients is used to fund Dr Wisbeech’s studies in deformity. They occasionally include Snuff.]]
81	* SocialClimber: Shelly Ripstone, bereaved of wealthy fridge exporter Gerald Ripstone, tries to disguise her estuary accent. Dis finds the gesture endearingly vulnerable.
82	* StepfordSuburbia: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. In Ramble Avenue, which Dis finds pleasantly relaxing, widower George Wilkins, while somewhat bluff, is genuinely helpful, and, in memory of his wayward son, sports a "[[Music/TheSexPistols Never Mind the Bollocks]]" tee-shirt.
83	* TeensAreMonsters: The girl-gang who rain physical and verbal abuse on Dis.
84	* ThereAreNoCoincidences: In Shelley's recommendation to Dismas Investigations, Louise apprehends Dis's innate vocation to take the case. On so doing, he reveals [[spoiler: Perfect Rest's inhumane confinement of numerous severely deformed people]]. On a near-drowning in the nearby river, a sudden memory of his previous life indicates [[spoiler: his bodily inhibitions, and rescue of others with similar affliction, to be part of a redemptive test]].
85	* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler: Having completed his life's mission of atonement, Dis, on discovery of a brain tumour, is overjoyed soon to be reunited with the recently deceased Constance.]]
86	* TrueCompanions: Dis and friends, particularly Henry, who lends a sober ear to Dis's unique isolation.
87	* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: When several "others" escape into the studio where Dr Wisbeech and Head Nurse Rachel plan to oversee production of a SnuffFilm, [[spoiler: the two meet a sticky end.]]

Context Literature / Others