I have just finished Jack Vance's The Blue World. About a society of humans marooned on a planet without land. They live on the surface parts of giant sea plants. And have an unholy alliance with King Kragen (a bizarre Cthulhu-like sea creature, with vanes, moving vaguely like a human swimming breast stroke) who protects them from lesser Kragens, in exchange for eating from their arbours. A conflict starts among the people of whether to continue fawning to King Kragen or not. Interesting. And a great ending. I think CAS would have enjoyed this novel, at least in parts.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 15 Nov 10 | 10:16AM by Knygatin.

After my first initial dissapointment with Fritz Leiber's Our Lady of Darkness and the first Lankhmar book in the late 1980s, I tried again last night with the second Lankhmar book and the story "The Circle Curse".

The beginning episode with sudden thunder and rain, where Sheelba with the Eyeless Face appears in the walking hut (magic as good as anything by Jack Vance), and visions like "... They ventured east past mystic Tisilinilit with its slender, opalescent spires, which always seemed newly crystallized out of its humid, pearly skies, ...", proves a rich, quality imagination. A man to be reckoned with. I can see why CAS enjoyed reading Leiber.

Mention of Otfried Preussler's The Satanic Mill got my attention because it is a familiar phrase. I have not looked into it yet, but I mean to do so now. I never heard of Preussler or his novel, but it echoes a line in Blake's Jerusalem: And did those feet in ancient time walk upon England's mountains green? And was the holy lamb of God on England's pleasant pastures seen? And did the countenance divine shine forth upon our clouded hills? And was Jerusalem builded here among these dark, satantic mills? I have been informed that "satanic mill" refers to a coalsmoke-belching factory that Morris, Ruskin, and Tolkien would have understood as inherently wicked.

Quote:

I have been informed that "satanic mill" refers to a coalsmoke-belching factory

Actually, many commentators seem to think that Blake's lines refer to a steam-powered flour mill that opened near London, and was destroyed in 1791. The lines may also refer to textiles mills.

Preussler's Satanic Mill is being sold here in the Netherlands as a children's book, as it has been for decades. It's quite popular and the sort of thing people tend to remember with great fondness (in this case I think especially so because it's quite suspenseful and scary). It was read to me at school when I was a little kid and I have re-read it with great delight several times since. I believe the story draws on a folk tale of the Wends, a people about whom I know absolutely nothing. It's basically an allegorical coming-of-age story, set in a magic school, disguised in folk and faerie tale trappings. But don't worry if that sounds a bit too much like Harry Potter -- it couldn't be less like it. The story is simple and powerful, and the magic is particularly well done, several instances and manifestations of it having staid with me all my life.

There is also a brilliant animated feature from 1978 by Karel Zeman based on this book called Carodejuv ucen ('The Sorcerer's Apprentice'), usually referred to by its German title, Krabat. It is worth seeking out, especially if you like animation. Again, the magic is handled wonderfully: it's genuinely unsettling in places and features an instance of a shape-shifting magic duel (one of my favourite mythological/fantasy motifs) that still serves as my personal gold standard for depicting magic in animated form. (Yes, I really think it's that good.) There is also a German live-action version from 2008, which I cannot disrecommend strongly enough.

On a side note, many thanks to Kyberean for recommending Uncanny Banquet in this thread for containing Adrian Ross's 'The Hole in the Pit'. I have since bought it and read it. It is indeed a gem.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 29 Dec 10 | 06:22PM by Avoosl Wuthoqquan.

You're welcome, regarding the recommendation for The Hole of the Pit (Shape-shifting can take many forms ;-)). I am glad that you enjoyed it.

As I have mentioned before, The Hole of the Pit deserves its own stand-alone edition, with a good scholarly introduction. I would especially like to know more about the author. Given the excellence of the story, and the author's friendship with M.R. James, one might think that there would be some interest in doing this. But no--it's much more important to re-print every inferior, minor novel that Lovecraft mentions in Supernatural Horror in Literature, isn't it? (insert "sarcasticon" here)

There is also a live-action film of "Krabat," which so far has not had an English release. I picked up the Thai DVD (with English subtitles) on eBay, and it's quite good.

Scott

I can recommend the following titles to one and all, as I think that they deserve greater recognition for their sheer (and quite different) brilliance:
Smallcreep's Day, by Peter C. Brown
Meanwhile, by Max Handley
Good hunting - they're out there somewhere

Another one to add to the list is Brian Mcnaughton's "Throne of Bones". It's a collection of short stories that are all interrelated and center around the concept of the "ghoul." A friend recently gave this to me, and though I didn't have high hopes at first, I have to say that it turned out to be quite first rate.

Forgive me if this isn't as "unfamiliar" to you as it was to me! But the tales are so striking and well-wrought that I figured I'd mention it just in case.

That being said, does anyone have any other Mcnaughton recommendations? I'd love to read more of his work!

I tried E. F. Benson's most famous story, The Room in the Tower, and didn't enjoy it very much. The Man Who Went Too Far was better. From the title I had expected the main character would wander off and loose himself deeper and deeper into the forest, but this was different. It has some really good elements and insights of Pan. A worthwhile story. (Be aware though that the story contains homosexual insinuations, Benson sometimes loosing his artistic focus, with out of context silly drooling over pretty boys with "wet curly hair".)

My first reading of Le Fanu, Wicked Captain Walshawe, of Wauling, was a pleasant experience. Compared to the academic M. R. James, Le Fanu is less stylistically refined. More of a natural. His description of the ghost is delicious and effective, very convincing. First class. Perhaps even more than James he appears to know what he is talking about in supernatural matters.
The Child that went with the Fairies was also quite good, perhaps a bit uneven. Much symbolic wisdom, of the ever going opposing conflict between Man's desire for control over his destiny and Nature's luring dissolving force, seems embedded in the tale.

I have been reading some Poe for the first time since my early teens. I can understand why CAS and Lovecraft worshipped him. He is the foundation of ecstasy, and pain. The groundwork essence. Purified clean vision. As good as it can get. Absolutely grand. Some of his poetry is staggeringly magnificient. To me some of it also fumbles, being unclear, as if he didn't have access to sufficient scientific tools of knowledge to be specific (an inevitable effect of the age he lived in), like when his longing reaches for the stars.
The Narrative of Authur Gordon Pym was good, with several memorable passages. I'll never forget the gruesome cannibal episode. And the stream of pearly water that could be divided, was fanciful and remarkable, and I wonder how he ever could come up with such a genuine and feverish idea... it seemed ahead of its time, sounding more like science fiction or 1920's-30's weird tale.

"The Blessing of Pan", a wonderful mellow book, displaying Dunsany's insightful inspired voice in top form, capturing hints of the mysteries and hidden meanings in Nature that can't be described through the communication of words and human reasoning. Tempting guidelines to paths of discovery. And it efficiently tears down the tawdry illusions of "civilised" man. Recommended for anyone who desires to come closer to Nature and Pan, and wants to learn how to "talk" to trees.

The Women of the Wood is another nugget. A bit too spectacular to be seriously believable, but with Merritt's shamelessly rich imagination it is sure to be good fun, and with fine insights on top. If you enjoy Merritt, the collection "The Fox Woman & Other Stories" has several readable ones.

E.F. Benson, for my taste, is one of the great wasted talents in weird fiction. Even his best story, "Negotium Perambulans", nearly shoots itself in the foot by rushing its ending, and "The Caterpillars", after a superb start, degenerates into one of the stupidest endings in "classic horror" history.

Interesting remarks about the respective styles of LeFanu and M.R. James. I think that LeFanu is a much more elegant stylist, myself, and I find James's style often clumsy, although it rarely interferes with the power of his stories.

For those minoritarians who take the perspective that Dunsany is really not very good, Gary Lachman offers trenchant commentary here.

Absquatch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Interesting remarks about the respective styles of
> LeFanu and M.R. James. I think that LeFanu is a
> much more elegant stylist, myself, and I find
> James's style often clumsy, although it rarely
> interferes with the power of his stories.


I was probably premature in my judgment after only two stories read. And "style" wasn't perhaps the right word to use. I meant that I found Le Fanu's stories a little more loose in construction, while James's are more precise with every sentence and part locking perfectly into all other parts, building up striking culmination of exact climax.

Le Fanu perhaps is better at hiding overt style, making his writing seem more casual and natural, and therefore being a more elegant stylist? Isn't it true that the best style in art doesn't show or draw too much attention to itself, but rather focus all attention to the subject matter.

Absquatch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For those minoritarians who take the perspective
> that Dunsany is really not very good, Gary Lachman
> offers trenchant commentary here.

Hmm... I see that his research is a bit stale. He claims that Dunsany was born in Ireland (he wasn't), that he was "more at home as a soldier" (he wasn't; he went into the military because his father wanted him to and, during WWI, because he saw it as his duty), and he uses Amory's singularly insightless biography as his prime source on Dunsany's writings.

Yes, I am afraid that Lachman does lack the consistently unerring factual accuracy of, say, an S. T. Joshi...oops, wait a minute.... ;-)

As for the comments on Dunsany's weaknesses, Lachman's source seems to be primarily his own reading of the stories, which is dead on the mark, so far as I am concerned. To each his own, of course. As I mentioned, I am a minoritarian in this matter.

He certainly didn't bother to read properly the book he is quoting, because Amory certainly gets Dunsany's place of birth right.