In reading H. P. Lovecraft's selected letters, I am struck by Lovecraft's rather low regard for his own stories. In his final years, only "The Colour out of Space" and (to a less extent) "The Music of Erich Zann" met with his approval. Further, Lovecraft held that none of the Weird Tales crowd (in which group, I assume, Lovecraft included CAS) were even in the same league with writers of the weird such as M. R. James, Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, Lord Dunsany, etc.

What did Clark Ashton Smith (especially in his later years) think of his own stories? Which ones did he most esteem? And what were his thoughts regarding his own poetry?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 21 Apr 11 | 03:27PM by Geoffrey.

Geoffrey,

The info you seek can be found in "An Annotated Chronology of the Fiction of Clark Ashton Smith," by Steve Behrends, which is collected in The Freedom of Fantastic Things: Selected Criticism on Clark Aston Smith, edited by Scott Connors, published by Hippocampus Press.

Rgrds,
Noivilbo

Lovecraft considered CAS the best writer of the day - and said so - Clark himself knew of course that, as it is with all writers, some works outshine others, but he was very proud of his body of work overall, and was deeply grateful to see it understood and appreciated by a younger generation - which is part of the chemistry that made He and I such close friends - I loved reading his stuff aloud, and he loved hearing it filtered through another mind -

Brief added note - it is my opinion that all of Clark's work is best and most fully understood when read aloud -
This was brought home to me when Scott and Ron read their favorites in an evening celebration at my home when we were transcribing "The Sword of Zagan" from manuscript - and again when Don and I worked on the recordings - Clark was first a poet - and the sounds aloud are part of the meaning - As my old friend John Ciardi wrote (and a superb book of similar name) the issue is not "what" a poem means for the writer, but "how" it means.

Fascinating notes, calonlan. Did CAS have a favorite (or perhaps a small handful of favorites) amongst his stories?

CAS's preferences among his own stories seem to have changed over time, at least, as I hazily recall from his letters and from Planets and Dimensions. What I don't remember, however, is ever seeing anything in which CAS discusses his favorites from his body of poetry. Many commentators refer to The Hashish-Eater as CAS's greatest poem, or masterwork, but this is silly and superficial, to my mind ("It was his longest poem, so he must have considered it his masterpiece", seems to be the thinking involved). CAS himself had better sense, I hope.

As to Lovecraft and CAS, to Calonlan's note I would add the following. Lovecraft's first exposure to CAS was as a poet, via The Star-Treader and Ebony and Crystal, and he was indeed in ecstasy over CAS's work. While Lovecraft also gives CAS's fiction a rave-up in Supernatural Horror in Literature, as was his custom, he showed a bit more reserve in private. Perhaps someone can help me here, but I recall a letter in which Lovecraft discusses contemporary writers, including CAS, and states something along the lines of their having the potential someday to create genuine art. Lovecraft rightly admired CAS's fiction, but I think he also rightly had reservations about it which he did not have about CAS's poetry.

Of course, if others here are aware of primary source references that amend, supplement, or contradict these observations, then I hope that they will add them.

Geoffrey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Fascinating notes, calonlan. Did CAS have a
> favorite (or perhaps a small handful of favorites)
> amongst his stories?

Among his favorites that I know of are all those in "The Double Shadow" collection that was published by the Auburn Journal - He was also very fond of "Xeethra", "Schizoid Creator", "Mother of Toads", "Genius Loci", and his play, "the Dead will Cuckold You" - which he and I and Carol performed one evening at the Pacific Grove house. I am sure there were many others, but those come to mind - however, I must tell you, while he appreciated his tales being "appreciated", he was much happier talking about and sharing insights on his poetic works - how others reacted to his work was of great interest to him - he most certainly did not consider "Hashish Eater" his best poem - besides which, the poems fall into different styles and genres - from love poetry (his favorite form) to satirical works (his second favorite form) to those with epic vision (though not necessarily epic size) - He was less self oriented as regards his work, other than in the sense of seeking to learn the affect of his work - the issue for the poet always is - did it communicate? or, more accurately recognizing the highly esoteric nature of his work, did this or that person "get it"? For to him, a kindred spirit that could hear his music was a resource to be mined - Clark often observed in one way or another, that once a poem is launched others may find meaning that the poet was unaware of - that is, in fact, one of the distinguishing characteristics of those poets who have found the few unmuddied fountains (to make variance upon an old observation regarding the "backwoods poets").

Calonian,

I just wanted to comment how right I think you are on the value of
reading Smith's works aloud. Reading the opening paragraphs of his,
"Master of Crabs" last night I had to put a big whoa! on while I hit
the dictionary for four words peppered through the first three para-
graphs. If you silent read those para's in the usual speedy manner than
words like "inspissation" and "shagreen" can sound a little pretentious.
But if you take the time to *slow* down and read aloud you find those
same words contribute to the overall cadence (my word choice) of the piece.

In fact, I could stick my neck out some and dare to suggest that this
sense of rhythm was very important to CAS in the composition and so his
use of arcane or exotic words was deliberate and was meant to force the
Reader to slow down, *think* about why such choices were made in the first
place, and nudge the Reader into an oral reading to deepen the enjoyment.
Like the way CAS savored a nice glass of Red on a summer's eve, perhaps ?

FWIW,

Cathexis

Yes, indeed - the sound is part of the meaning - mood - ambiance - whatever

It is essential for reading Clark intelligently - random choices are few and rare, - check how disturbed he was by the butchery of editors.

cathexis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Calonian,
>
> I just wanted to comment how right I think you are
> on the value of
> reading Smith's works aloud. Reading the opening
> paragraphs of his,
> "Master of Crabs" last night I had to put a big
> whoa! on while I hit
> the dictionary for four words peppered through the
> first three para-
> graphs. If you silent read those para's in the
> usual speedy manner than
> words like "inspissation" and "shagreen" can sound
> a little pretentious.
> But if you take the time to *slow* down and read
> aloud you find those
> same words contribute to the overall cadence (my
> word choice) of the piece.
>
> In fact, I could stick my neck out some and dare
> to suggest that this
> sense of rhythm was very important to CAS in the
> composition and so his
> use of arcane or exotic words was deliberate and
> was meant to force the
> Reader to slow down, *think* about why such
> choices were made in the first
> place, and nudge the Reader into an oral reading
> to deepen the enjoyment.
> Like the way CAS savored a nice glass of Red on a
> summer's eve, perhaps ?
>
> FWIW,
>
> Cathexis

See [www.eldritchdark.com] : "As to my own employment of an ornate style, using many words of classic origin and exotic color, I can only say that [it] is designed to produce effects of language and rhythm which could not possibly be achieved by a vocabulary restricted to what is known as "basic English". As Strachey points out, a style composed largely of words of Anglo-Saxon origin tends to a spondaic rhythm, "which by some mysterious law, reproduces the atmosphere of ordinary life." An atmosphere of remoteness, vastness, mystery and exoticism is more naturally evoked by a style with an admixture of Latinity, lending it self to more varied and sonorous rhythms, as well as to subtler shades, tints and nuances of meaning all of which, of course, are wasted or worse than wasted on the average reader, even if presumably literate."

Scott

Spot on, Scott!

Thank you very much,

Cathexis

Nonetheless, it's amusing that Lovecraft had to correct CAS's pronunciation of "Uranus".

Remember, Smith learned all his words from encyclopedias and dictionaries---much like Tarzan, I might add---so he only knew what they looked like, not how they sounded.

Quote:

Smith learned all his words from encyclopedias and dictionaries [...] so he only knew what they looked like, not how they sounded.

Surely, though, CAS could read diacritical markings, especially simple ones, such as accent marks?

Anyway, it's a minor point of amusement, as I mentioned.

I sincerely hope CAS didn't strain his Uranus too much in the ennunciation.


Cathexis

Jojo Lapin X Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Remember, Smith learned all his words from
> encyclopedias and dictionaries---much like Tarzan,
> I might add---so he only knew what they looked
> like, not how they sounded.

In this you are entirely wrong - Clark's Father was, however much an adventurer, an extremely well-read and sophisticated man - remember he was named for the most controversial of Plato's dialogues which contradicts the things he said in "the Republic" - parents who knew this work could hardly have raised a dummy - and his mother, an authentic "Southern Belle" whose youthful rebellion contracted her to the dashing world traveler and gold-seeker, was an equally well-read and articulate lady, capable, by the accounts of those who knew her,of witty and scintillating conversation with a bit of an edge to it if needed - Clark's "home schooling" was amply edited and enlarged upon around the family wood-stove - where, I might add, the recitation from memory of Wordsworth and Byron et al (the common fodder of all education appropriate to the youth of Clark's parent's ages) was commonly expressed - might account for the "Latinity" in his verse - Read the Letters home of boy's from the front in the civil war to realize how deeply an accomplished style was valued in the 19th century -