Hello,

I find it strange how CAS could express such enormously fertile visions; Far exotic lands, often of Eastern origin, or old French, or northern climate Hyperborea. Clear visions of voyages and existence at sea, and isolated jungle islands. Detailed observations of far distant cultures, their clothes, and its often saturated colours and extravagant kingly textures. Opulent abundance of genuine artifacts.

He lived all his early life in a small backwater in the Sierran hills. A culturally very young area. He had full access to studies in Auburn's library, but hardly, as I understand it, to museums or any other richly or ancient cultural sources.

Can his imagination really come purely from the reading of books combined with observations of the Sierra highland scenery and the local citizens? Or can it be that much of these visions can't be practically traced, that they spring from unfathomable depths of soul or devine creativity?
I often wonder about this, if everything that comes out of a person is a remix of elements that have earlier passed in, or if things can come out simply from out of time and space. If everything has a rational cause (even if its sources most often be too complex for us to understand), or if not. Would anyone be willing to explain this in a nonromantic way?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 29 Sep 08 | 06:27PM by Knygatin.

Smith's work is rather well and obviously rooted in the things he read himself---the ARABIAN NIGHTS, the poetry of the French Decadents, the conte cruel, etc. This does not mean that he is unoriginal, of course. Originality is usually the result of some minor, but important, variation on existing themes. It may look like it has simply appeared out of nothing if you are unfamiliar with its proper context. But it really has not.

I would add that even Wordsworth derived some of his famous landscape descriptions from his reading. Wide and deep reading, allied to imagination, has resulted in some of the most original works of literature. Witness Poe, for instance, who (and this is sometimes cause for controversy) was an expert "combiner", yet one whose tales and poems demonstrate, in my opinion, remarkable originality.

Thank you. Yes I agree about those roots being important, and that his writing to a large degree consists of transfomations of impressions from such sources, combined with the details of actual Life observations. This is where the rough foundation blocks and structures in his books come from. But at the same time, many of his exotic creations and environments appear so clearly and fully manifested, that its hard to think that they could stem from secondary sources, like books (or the Sierras).

I think Lovecraft would have agreed with your rational standpoint, however I don't know about Smith.

I'd like to clarify that I did not mean things appearing "out of nothing", but rather from beyond rational explanations. Like spiritual levels, subtly seeding from other time dimensions and locations.
That is far out of course, but I myself am a romantic, and emotionally prefer those perspectives. A believer, not an atheist. However I also think scientifically, and like to analyze and dissect reality as much as possible, to honestly fully understand, since my experience is that this doesn't lead to disillusion but only to deepened and enriched enjoyment. Man need never fear that the magic ever disappears as a result of analyzing too far; it may force you having to let go of earlier cherished notions, but this happily leads to the more profound.

Did he go to San Francisco as a kid? I don't remember it mentioned in his letters. Later he came there, when visiting Sterling. I am sure this gave important impressions, and that he carefully noted the sea and shoreline.

Maybe he visited museums like [www.famsf.org] (the primitive art possibly also being inspiration for his sculptures!), and [www.asianart.org] (did not exist back then, but perhaps there were similar institutions).
Neither the San Fransisco Botanical Garden, nor the Zoo, had opened at the time.
There was the California Academy of Natural Sciences natural history museum.
Between 1873-1890 there was an Aquarium, and another didn't open until 1923. Incidentally I don't remember underwater scenery in Smith's fiction! Except for vague descriptions in a few poems.
I don't think there was a planetarium or public observatory back then.

"The Isle of the Torturers," one of my favorites, has underwater scenery. It also perfectly reflects all the influences I mentioned above---in particular the conte cruel à la Villiers de L'Isle Adam.

Jojo Lapin X Wrote:
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> "The Isle of the Torturers," one of my favorites,
> has underwater scenery. It also perfectly reflects
> all the influences I mentioned above---in
> particular the conte cruel à la Villiers de
> L'Isle Adam.

Mine too! It truly has some nightmarish terrors, with those unspeakably evil inhabitants. And wonderful sea descriptions. An absolute masterpiece. I must read it again.

(I am unfamiliar with conte cruel à la Villiers de L'Isle Adam though. I love wading through Burton's Arabian Nights, but have not read the French Decadents aside from Smith's translations. I remember leafing through a collection of Baudelaire in a bookstore, but my attention wandered elsewhere. Also I was put off by his sloppy drug abuse, which to me reflects lack of creative commitment and focus. Perhaps I was too hasty.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2 Oct 08 | 02:59PM by Knygatin.

Knygatin Wrote:
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> I am unfamiliar with conte cruel à la Villiers
> de L'Isle Adam though.

He is even in print in English. Only 3 left in stock--order soon!

What I find amazing about CAS is his vocabulary. No college and possibly not even finishing High School, yet his vocabulary dwarfs most writers of both his time and today.

He must have had photographic memory!

:)

Clark did indeed have a photographic memory - as I mention in "sword" we used to have a little "game" where someone of the three to five of us would give a first line, and then around the room take turns with the next in sequence - Clark never missed, and when the rest of us hit a lapse, he would fill it in - His voluminous reading at the Carnegie in Auburn, plus his incredible imagination unleashed at such a tender age (10) into the world of books is responsible for what you find in his work - the comment about "Arabian Nights" is quite right, but additionally there were many "travel" books in those days with scenes of "local color" - these were replaced by the movie shorts of the thirties and forties (See Colorful
Rio! I remember well) -- Clark's father had also been a world traveler and endlessly told him tales of the exotic climes where he had adventurd - Gold mining in Auburn was his last adventure, but he had been all over -- and the sickly child that was Clark as a boy, learned early to envision himself in the middle of his Dad's stories - particularly those of the middle East,and South America/Panama.

Thank you. Yes, his memory must have been truly exceptional, remembering all those poetry lines after only having read some of them once in his boyhoood when going through the Carnegie. His sensitive mind sponging (rough word, but I can't think of another) up every impression that passed in through his senses. So when he was older his inner mind carried whole complex landscapes of sights, sounds, smells, as resource material to pick from. Ad to this his particual high-standing personality, selective tastes, and also intense emotional setup; then interesting manifestations could be assembled from all that material.

Mother and father are really important in affecting a child's path. Vital perhaps. His father's storytelling was probably an enormous influence. Also I believe both his parents fully encouraged his artistic poetic interest, instead of telling him that he must grow up and get a "real" job.
I remember when I was a kid, I had those 1960's Aurora model kits of famous monsters. And my father, who really wasn't actively into fantasy or horror, still couldn't keep his hands off them, and took his oil colours and painted a couple of the monsters in his great way. He also helped make papier-mache masks, and when I was really small (3 or 4) he drew pastell trolls in my drawing pad. That was inspiring, and gave an important sense of being accepted, that it is ok to be interested in fantasy. My mother on the other hand, has little such imagination, and has always tried to discourage this interest in me, thinking it is unhealthy; I am still struggling with that. Sometimes it feels like the whole World is working against you.

I reread your Smith memoir in The Sword of Zagan last night. One particular detail amused me, that I didn't connect to in my first reading. When Clark rode the elevator and jumped off at the bottom with a giant leap. This fear of his may have been from a simple distrust in modern mechanical devices, but I like to think that it was more than that. To Clark's rich inner life imagination, and sensitive mind, those stairs disappearing into the ground may actually have opened up vistas of falling into the great jaws of the Abyss. His way of seeing those perspective-twisting elevator stairs, or his terror of cars, may be no less objectively truthful than ordinary people's way of seeing. Our numbed senses passively accept all the gadgets surrounding us in our daily lives as helpful, without question. And still. Take a thing like computors and the internet for instance; whatever your fields of interest, the internet offers enough information about this, including the time searching around and weeding it, to swallow up every minute of your entire life. The internet is really as scary as any nightmare invention in Smith's fiction.

The modern consummation society is a monster, and I think potential young imaginative talents may be devoured in it. In Smith's day there were less distractions, a slower pace, and more room for inner development.
Still I am not completely sure about this. The herd has always found distractions to waste their lives away. An authoritative and creative mind may stand up equally well even today.

I will do that.