Re: Clumsy descriptions in weird fiction
Posted by:
Sawfish (IP Logged)
Date: 18 June, 2021 02:38PM
Hespire Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Some of the things CAS described in his "Eternal
> World" were too much or too vague to wrap my mind
> around. I'm not sure if it counts as clumsy
> writing or if I simply lack the imagination
> everyone else has, but everything in this story
> looks blurred in my mind, like this description of
> a world beyond space and time:
>
> "It was only afterwards that Chandon could figure
> out what had occurred, and divine the nature and
> laws of the new environment into which he had been
> projected. At the time (if one can use a word so
> inaccurate as time) he was wholly incapable of
> anything but a single contemplative visual
> impression — the strange world upon which he
> looked through the clear wall of the cylinder: a
> world that might have been the dream of some
> geometrician mad with infinity.
>
> It was like some planetary glacier, fretted into
> shapes of ordered grotesquery, filled with a
> white, unglittering light, and obeying the laws of
> other perspectives than those of our own world.
> The distances on which he gazed were literally
> interminable; there was no horizon; and yet
> nothing seemed to dwindle in size or definitude,
> whatever its remoteness. Part of the impression
> received by Chandon was that this world arched
> back upon itself, like the interior surface of a
> hollow sphere; that the pale vistas returned
> overhead after they had vanisbed from his view."
>
> Or this description of its inhabitants:
>
> "The foreground beyond the planking was thronged
> by innumerable rows of objects that were
> suggestive both of statues and of crystalloid
> formations. Wan as marble or alabaster, each of
> them presented a mélange of simple curves and
> symmetric angles, which somehow seemed to include
> the latency of almost endless geometrical
> development; They were gigantic, with a
> rudimentary division into head, limbs and body, as
> if they were living things."
>
> Or this description of the inhabitants'
> transformation:
>
> "Pondering, he turned to the giant things that
> were his companions. He could scarcely recognize
> them in the red glow: their pallid planes and
> angles seemed to have undergone a subtle
> rearrangement; and the light quivered upon them in
> bloody lustres, conferring an odd warmth, a
> suggestion of awaking life. More than ever, they
> gave the impression of latent power, of frozen
> dynamism.
>
> Then, suddenly, he saw an unmistakable movement
> from one of the statue-like entities, and realized
> that the thing had begun to alter its shape! The
> cold, marble substance seemed to flow like
> quicksilver. The rudimentary head assumed a stern,
> many-featured form, such as might belong to the
> demi-god of some foreign world. The limbs
> lightened, and new members of indeterminate use
> were put forth. The simple curves and angles
> multiplied themselves with mysterious complexity.
> [...] The geometric facets began to swell like
> opening buds, and flowed into lines of celestial
> beauty and grandeur. The boreal pallor was
> suffused with unearthly iridescence, with opal
> tones that raced and trembled in ever-living
> patterns, in belted arabesques, in rainbow
> hieroglyphs."
To my "ear" this does not read like CAS--stylistically feels different.
Other opinions/observations?
--Sawfish
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~