I would be curious as to others' thoughts regarding the interpretation of the following observation by CAS:

Quote:

It has often occurred to me that the interest in tales of horror and weirdness is a manifestation of the adventure impulse so thoroughly curbed in most of us by physical circumstances. In particular, it evinces a desire--perhaps a deep-lying spiritual need--to transcend the common limitations of time, space, and matter.

The second sentence seems straightforward enough, but I am curious to see how others interpret the first sentence. What do you think?

Upon a cursory read, I take it to mean that the majority of us simply can't go on an adventure every evening--that it is much more practical to simply read a fine CAS tale. Most people, I think, have some interest in adventure--in escape from the tyranny of the the quotidian--but daily responsibilities, finances, physical location in places of supreme mundanity--these factors conspire against us. Just as with all human desires, when the need for adventure is physically blocked, it will manifest in other ways--such as interest in weird stories, movies, video-games, etc.

Yes, I think I'd concur with KAO, or possibly, at the risk of sounding like a hippy (and I'm only really suggesting this as a possible alternative, as I think KAO's interpretation is likely to be the most accurate), he might mean, if the second sentence is to be read as a clarification of the first, that supernatural fiction functions as a means of "spiritually" exploring the underlying paradoxes of reality. By "physical circumstances" he could mean the material limitations of our mundane existence and not the circumstantial limitations imposed by a poor man's life or modernity or whatever, as otherwise would not Westerns and other mundane pulp "manifestations of the adventure impulse" be equally satisfying to CAS and others? I'd suggest that maybe CAS is saying that he and other readers who share an "interest in tales of horror and weirdness" are exploring (adventuring) the existential or "spiritual" terrain that exists in the paradoxical borderland between the obvious material limitations of our animal existence and our intangible imaginary conciousness... I say this as the following sentence certainly implies that he is not just talking about a desire to slip the shackles and see the world on the high seas as a whaler, but that maybe the "adventure" he is talking about is a more philosophical one... Maybe CAS believes that there is more truth in imaginary tales than there is in the material sciences, philosophy and/or theology... Or maybe not truth as such, as I doubt CAS (or anybody) would believe that anything definite could be found in fiction, but maybe in our shared imaginary tales there is a place where our "desires" for something more or just something other can be explored...

However, I'd suggest that there is quite a bit of extrapolation in this interpretation and these are more off the cuff thoughts than anything I'd stake my life on - so be kind! :)

It is of course also possibly that he means both explanations to varying degrees or that he doesn't really know what he means...

Where is the quote from and is there any other contextual text associated with it?

Thanks for the interesting replies. More later, but for now, I'll answer English Assassin's question. The entire passage is found here. It's quite brief. I originally read it in the Planets and Dimensions collection.

Absquatch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks for the interesting replies. More later,
> but for now, I'll answer English Assassin's
> question. The entire passage is found here. It's
> quite brief. I originally read it in the Planets
> and Dimensions collection.

For all CAS' brevity, as ever he usually hits the nail firmly on the head...

Thank you for bring this slender piece to my attention. I must trawl through the non-fiction bits and bobs of CAS found on this site more often...

A question for Scott, will some/all of these pieces be included in the proposed Centipede collection?

You're welcome. I have always found CAS's short philosophical statements and aperçus very stimulating. I also hope that these pieces will be reprinted, as the Planets and Dimensions volume is becoming ever more scarce and expensive. Most of those texts are available on this site, though, I think.

As to the rest, I would agree with both respondents. I think that CAS has in mind both mundane impediments and also the more "metaphysical" (for lack of a better term) implications that English Assassin mentions.

All of which bodes the question: what drives our own interests in horror and weird fiction?

I'm guessing few of us would have many disagreements with CAS, but any other thoughts?

"The true function of phantasy is to give the imagination a ground for limitless expansion, & to satisfy aesthetically the sincere & burning curiosity & sense of awe which a sensitive minority of mankind feel toward the alluring & provocative abysses of unplumbed space & unguessed entity which press in upon the known world from unknown infinities & in unknown relationships of time, space, matter, force, dimensionality, & consciousness. This curiosity & sense of awe, I believe, are quite basic amongst the sensitive minority in question; & I see no reason to think that they will decline in the future—for as you point out, the frontier of the unknown can never do more than scratch the surface of eternally unknowable infinity.

[...]

In fact I know that my most poignant emotional experiences are those which concern the lure of unplumbed space, the terror of the encroaching outer void, & the struggle of the ego to transcend the known & established order of time, (time, indeed, above all else, & nearly always in a backward direction) space, matter, force, geometry, & natural law in general".


--H.P. Lovecraft, letter to Clark Ashton Smith, October 17, 1930