Beyond Words, Beyond Silence

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Zine
Title: Beyond Words, Beyond Silence
Publisher: Cinemaker Press
Editor:
Author(s): Nan Dibble
Cover Artist(s): Kevin Barnes
Illustrator(s):
Date(s): 1992
Series?: yes
Medium: print
Genre: het
Fandom: Beauty and the Beast (TV)
Language: English
External Links: online here
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.
cover by Kevin Barnes

Beyond Words, Beyond Silence is a het Beauty and the Beast 193-page novel by Nan Dibble. Cover by Kevin Barnes with interior art by inside art is by Barbara Gipson.

It is a sequel to Bright Spirit Descending, also written by Nan Dibble.

Both novelizations straddle the line between fan fiction and commercial tie-in fiction. According to the writer's website:

Commissioned by Cinemaker Press and approved by Republic....Cinemaker relinquished its license to publish fiction based on Beauty and the Beast so the book was not professionally issued. Instead, zine bound but with the original cover and art, is has been published in a limited edition within the fandom.....these novelizations are based on certain episodes of Beauty and the Beast...as scripted and as performed. In addition to trying to render the meanings and the impact of the episodes themselves, as scripted by the series' many fine writers, the books expand the scripts with substantial additional material -- including such romantic interludes as Catherine inviting Vincent to lay his head in her lap, Vincent catching a drifting balloon for Catherine, and a picnic for two on the Outlook overlooking the Great Falls -- to convert them into full scale novels.

Publisher's Description

Beyond Words, Beyond Silence is based on "What Rough Beast," "Ceremony of Innocence," and "The Rest Is Silence" -- the powerful conclusion of Second Season. Unlike those episodes, this novel does not end on a cliffhanger, with Catherine's distant voice, from the cave, screaming Vincent's name. It goes beyond, into the opening moments of "Though Lovers Be Lost," the opening of Third Season, to dramatize how Catherine brought Vincent back from death through their becoming "truly one." No lava and roses here, folks.

Additional scenes answer other questions the episodes only implied or left tantalizingly unresolved.

The running theme of these episodes is the emergence of "the Other" (as Vincent calls him): the Beast, and Vincent's failing attempts to suppress this vital, primal, yet destructive side of his nature. Paracelsus attempts to liberate the Beast...and succeeds, though that success is through his own death at Vincent's hands. Its emergence is the greatest threat the relationship of Vincent and Catherine has ever faced ...counterpointed against the investigations of a reporter, Bernie Spirko, who threatens to disclose the secret of Vincent's existence and destroy the lovers, apparently set on the hunt by magnate builder Elliot Burch--Vincent's most dangerous rival for Catherine's love.

The pivotal moment is Vincent crouching in his chamber and demanding of Catherine, "Look at me!" Catherine steadfastly sees what she must, and says what she must, and the insoluable conflict between Vincent and his forbidden "Other" finally comes to a head...and to a resolution. [1]

Gallery

Sample of the interior art by Barbara Gipson

References

  1. ^ "About Beyond Words, Beyond Silence". Archived from the original on 2002-03-08.