It's always a pleasure having a calm but enthusiastic discussion. :) Most places aimed at people my age tend to be vapid and boring, and full of those who are obsessed with this or that interest without actually being passionate or thoughtful.
Regarding characterization, I think it's true that Smith largely focuses on wild, imaginative phenomena, but he also explores the emotional impact of such things, and makes his characters just engaging enough to -want- to follow into these feelings. "A Voyage to Sfanamoë" is one of my favorite Smith stories of all time, not only for its amazing visions but also for its rich and empathetic view of its characters. The two brothers aren't immensely fleshed out, being perhaps just above the category of fairy-tale protagonists, but their plight, their glory, and their varied emotions are clearly there for me to connect with, which is what adds an engaging layer to the phantasmic phenomena. I could say the same for such stories as "The Planet of the Dead" and "The Last Hieroglyph", among many others. Even "The Tale of Satampra Zeiros", while not exactly "caring" of its protagonists' safety, still makes them memorable and slightly funny characters (compared to generic thieves), whose fates are treated with a strange mixture of sardonic understanding.
To sum it all up, I think Smith, at his best (he's written less engaging things too), offers subtle opportunities to connect with his characters in one way or another, whether it's sharing in their wonder, sharing in their yearning, feeling moved in some way by their demise, or understanding their motivations and desires even when they are dark or foolish. I've read that Smith admired William Beckford, whose small body of fiction is comprised entirely of humans whose journeys and aspirations are soulfully grand, and whose tragedy is in their hubris, greed, and unrestrained passion, dragging them down bitterly, mournfully, sardonically, and ecstatically to the Palace of Subterranean Fire. I can see some of that same influence, as if granted by a similar yet darker Jinn (perhaps by Omoultakos?), in Smith's stories.
In regard to "Nyarlathotep", I can absolutely see how the story would unsettle people. And on top of that, it's not really usual for Lovecraft's fiction, feeling more like an anxiety-evoking dream rather than a narrative in a world we understand. Perhaps I'll have to re-read that along with "Pictures."
In regard to Dunsany, here's a link to that story for you!
The House of the Sphinx
And finally, in regard to Charles Williams, I've read "Et in Sempiternum Pereant" and am now a third of the way through "The Place of the Lion." So far I'm glad to have learned about this author, and I'm impressed by his vivid descriptions of otherworldly powers! I'm no Christian, but I still admire the mystical yearning and overwhelming forces of these tales. I was also glad that "The Place of the Lion" was all about Archetypes, because for many years I wondered about Smith's own Archetypes, from his Cavern of Archetypes, a subterranean world full of nebulous, semi-material plants and animals that are the primordial ancestors of all earthly life, which play only a small role in his "Seven Geases." I always wanted to write a story inspired by the spirits of archetypes, so it was nice to find the Williams story. Such a shame Smith never wrote a whole tale about his own Archetypes, though I suppose he explores them in another way in "The Last Hieroglyph."
Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 12 Dec 19 | 02:06PM by kojootti.