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Post by dem bones on Mar 16, 2018 14:43:30 GMT
Still, for all their faults I love the de Grandin stories - so long as I don't read more than about one a month. Mark So true, Mark, and I believe this is where friend Justin Fanatic came a cropper. Speed-read one after another they're too much of a muchness. Quinn was ideally suited to Weird Tales where the readers had at least a month between issues to recover.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Mar 16, 2018 20:20:22 GMT
This is all true about Trowbridge - even if I shudder to think about the competence of your typical country doctor ca. 1930 considering the state of the medical sciences -, still I like this portrait of a friendship. Maybe he is too simple to be irked by de Grandin's behavior. Or he is just a true friend. Reading back over "The House of Horrors," I was surprised to see that both de Grandin and Trowbridge are rather callous in that story. De Grandin's reaction to the drowning of the boneless girls at the end of the story is as follows: "Mary have pity," de Grandin exclaimed. "Like rats in a trap, they did die. God rest their tired souls"--he shrugged his shoulders as he turned to retrace his steps--"it is better so. Now, Friend Trowbridge, do you hasten aloft and bring down that young girl from the room above."And that's the end of any concern about the hapless victims, just as I remembered. But at the beginning of the story, de Grandin and Trowbridge get lost on their way to treat "an Italian laborer's child who lay, choking with diphtheria, in a hut at the workman's settlement." The pair of them get lost "as futilely as a lost child wandering in the woods" (but not a child with diphtheria, one assumes). And then, when they see a building with a light in the window, de Grandin suggests they give up and stop for the night. Trowbridge goes along with this plan without protest: "All right," I acquiesced, climbing from the car, "we've lost so much time already we probably couldn't do anything for the Vivianti child."Probably?! Too bad for you, Italian laborer's child choking with diphtheria! So Andy is right--Trowbridge may not exactly be the best country doctor out there. Despite all this, I'll probably end up buying the complete Night Shade series.
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Post by dem bones on Apr 5, 2018 21:17:07 GMT
Seabury Quinn - The Great God Pan: "Jules de Grandin throws a wrench into the schemesof the pagan high priest of a new kind of Pan-worship.". (Weird Tales, Oct. 1926).
Trowbridge and de Grandin are hiking in the New Jersey woods when they chance upon the obligatory beautiful young woman in distress.
"Oh, sirs, run, run for your lives ... I tell you Pan - the Great God Pan himself - is in those bushes. I went to bathe in the fountain a few minutes ago, and as I came from the water I - I saw his face grinning at me between the rhododendron bushes."
Our gallant friends escort the girl safely home to a convenient mansion, where she rejoins ten fellow OBYWID's and no harm done. A podgy fellow, dressed in a purple tunic and head wreathed with laurel leaves, demands to know their business. We learn that Professor Herman Judson has established a private girls' school devoted to the worship of ancient Greek deities. de Grandin sweet talks/ bribes this seemingly harmless eccentric into allowing them to say the night, albeit in the wide open and well away from the girls.
Jules de Grandin smells a rat when he discovers that the pupils have one thing in common. "They have no parents or other near relatives, but much money." On enrolling at the school, they are obliged to write their last will and testament, with Judson standing to profit should anything unfortunate happen to them. And young Chloe has a weak heart! Could it be that someone is masquerading as Pan to scare her to death?
Things liven up when Judson bids one of his nymphs sacrifice a goat, sending her colleagues into such a frenzy that they are helpless but to tear off their robes and carry on something terrible, by which time de Grandin has seen enough. Time to expose this pretend 'Pan' and bring down the curtain on his bogus neo-Pagan circus before someone gets seriously hurt!
Far from the best of the 'twenties de Grandin's but historically significant in that it anticipates the spicy and shudder pulps by the best part of a decade. On it's original publication, the story was illustrated by G. O. Olinick though, sadly, at time of writing, have yet to see the results.
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Post by mcannon on Apr 6, 2018 0:10:09 GMT
Seabury Quinn - The Great God Pan: "Jules de Grandin throws a wrench into the schemesof the pagan high priest of a new kind of Pan-worship.". ( Weird Tales, Oct. 1926). Trowbridge and de Grandin are hiking in the New Jersey woods when they chance upon the obligatory beautiful young woman in distress. "Oh, sirs, run, run for your lives ... I tell you Pan - the Great God Pan himself - is in those bushes. I went to bathe in the fountain a few minutes ago, and as I came from the water I - I saw his face grinning at me between the rhododendron bushes." Our gallant friends escort the girl safely home to a convenient mansion, where she rejoins ten fellow OBYWID's and no harm done. A podgy fellow, dressed in a purple tunic and head wreathed with laurel leaves, demands to know their business. We learn that Professor Herman Judson has established a private girls' school devoted to the worship of ancient Greek deities. de Grandin sweet talks/ bribes this seemingly harmless eccentric into allowing them to say the night, albeit in the wide open and well away from the girls. Jules de Grandin smells a rat when he discovers that the pupils have one thing in common. "They have no parents or other near relatives, but much money." On enrolling at the school, they are obliged to write their last will and testament, with Judson standing to profit should anything unfortunate happen to them. And young Chloe has a weak heart! Could it be that someone is masquerading as Pan to scare her to death? Things liven up when Judson bids one of his nymphs sacrifice a goat, sending her colleagues into such a frenzy that they are helpless but to tear off their robes and carry on something terrible, by which time de Grandin has seen enough. Time to expose this pretend 'Pan' and bring down the curtain on his bogus neo-Pagan circus before someone gets seriously hurt! Far from the best of the 'twenties de Grandin's but historically significant in that it anticipates the spicy and shudder pulps by the best part of a decade. On it's original publication, the story was illustrated by G. O. Olinick though, sadly, at time of writing, have yet to see the results. Thanks, Dem. I haven't read this story for quite a few years, but I remember it being a bit out of the ordinary for a de Grandin in that the foe turned out to be non-supernatural in nature. Good point that this approach could be seen as a forerunner of the Weird Menace approach - that hadn't occurred to me. BTW, for those interested, the third volume of the Nightshade Books de Grandin reprints, "The Dark Angel" is now out; my copy arrived yesterday. It covers 1931-33 stories, and includes both the novella "Satan's Stepson" and the novel "The Devil's Bride". It's interesting that these were published sequentially - it's almost as though they exhausted Quinn's capacity for - or perhaps interest in - longer De Grandin adventures, as afterwards he returned to producing stories that were at most of novelette length. I suspect it may have been simpler and more profitable for him to write in that format. Mark
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Post by dem bones on Apr 6, 2018 14:45:05 GMT
Thanks, Dem. I haven't read this story for quite a few years, but I remember it being a bit out of the ordinary for a de Grandin in that the foe turned out to be non-supernatural in nature. Good point that this approach could be seen as a forerunner of the Weird Menace approach - that hadn't occurred to me. Mark The Great God Pan lacks the gratuitous whipping interludes - he'd have them in place by the end of the decade (e.g., The House Of Golden Masks) - but otherwise a near enough a prototype of the Shudder/ Spicy range. BTW, for those interested, the third volume of the Nightshade Books de Grandin reprints, "The Dark Angel" is now out; my copy arrived yesterday. It covers 1931-33 stories, and includes both the novella "Satan's Stepson" and the novel "The Devil's Bride". It's interesting that these were published sequentially - it's almost as though they exhausted Quinn's capacity for - or perhaps interest in - longer De Grandin adventures, as afterwards he returned to producing stories that were at most of novelette length. I suspect it may have been simpler and more profitable for him to write in that format. Mark I'm glad he attempted the longer works but just as grateful he didn't persevere with them. From memory, The Devil's Bride is a thing of fits and starts. Satan's Stepson is over-long, though I appreciated it far more this second time around. It doesn't help that the best moments in both - for me, at least - occur early on (the crucifixion scene in Bride, the live burial in Stepson). Seabury Quinn - Satan's Stepson: ( Weird Tales, Sept 1931). The eeriest and most thrilling of all Jules de Grandin's adventures - a tale of the Black MassC. C. Senf "I humbly beg your pardon, Madame Tanis. It was most unconventional to set on you and tear your gown to shreds the way I did ..."- Jules de Grandin apologises to Sonia for adopting desperate measures during a phosgene gas attack. The bull-like Mr. Konsantin is a Callicantzaos, or half man, half demon, obliged to perform the Black Mass annually to renew his immortality. The altar on such occasions is the nude body of one free of sin who must give herself willingly to sacrifice. Sonia Tanis, whose father was driven to suicide by Konsantin, is this year's volunteer. Sonia is prepared to trade her life to spare husband, Donald , from the evil Russian's vengeance. Needless to say, when Jules de Grandin learns of Sonia's plight, he throws himself into the fray on her behalf. Sonia's tale is notable for several non-fatal deaths . She was once buried alive while in a cataleptic trance (the sexton Donald bribed to dig up the corpse of his beloved, mistook her for a vampire and had to be dissuaded from driving a stake through her heart ). Konsantin survived a firing squad - and therein lies the clue. de Grandin realises that the only way to destroy him is with a single shot to the head. To repeat the action is to revive the monster and [his] "power for wickedness." As the Black Mass reaches it's gory climax, de Grandin lands the fatal blow, Konsantin having been betrayed at the last by his sidekick, Dr. Sun Ah Poy. As de Grandin explains to terminally perplexed Dr. Trowbridge, Cambodians loath and fear the demon Ch'ing Shih and his ghostly brethren, who approximate the Western vampire. When Sun Ah Poy learns the Russian's is of the same stripe he is compelled to rid the world of him. Detective Sergeant Jeremiah Costello makes an appearance during the gas attack, but with the war against prohibition long won, the whole gang seem to have lost a little of their sparkle (the aforementioned The Great God Pan sees de Grandin cursing "that so entirely detestable Monsieur Volstead.")
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Post by andydecker on Apr 7, 2018 18:51:20 GMT
When writing something about The Devil's Bride I stumbled about this nice short review by Grady Hendrix on Goodreads. I guess this is the Grady Hendrix of "Paperbacks from Hell" fame.
Jules de Grandin, the Weekly World News's version of Hercule Poirot, must fight against the forces of the ethnic other in order to preserve the purity of white brides about to have fabulous flapper weddings in Connecticut. No matter how many girdles made of human skin these young, privileged ladies wear (they are, after all, family heirlooms) even a surrender monkey like Grandin knows that they represent the best America has to offer and their hymens must be protected with machine gun fire and mass murder
I thought it a bit too harsh and too PC for my taste, if you want to swing the PC cudgel there are better parts one could use. I liked one observation in Jim Rockhill's foreword better. "People never forgave Quinn that he was more popular and financial successful then Lovecraft, Howard and Smith.
I am looking forward to vol 3 of the Complete Tales.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Apr 7, 2018 19:40:59 GMT
I am looking forward to vol 3 of the Complete Tales. I am still working on volume one. It is slow going. Sometimes I think it will end up driving me crazy. By the way---are we meant to think that de Grandin is homosexual? There are what seem to me to be some not so subtle hints to this effect.
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Post by jamesdoig on Apr 8, 2018 8:17:06 GMT
Don't know if anyone else else likes reading old reviews, but here's a couple of the Popular Library Jules de Grandin paperbacks from Delap's F&SF Review in 1976. They didn't scan particularly well, unfortunately:
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Post by dem bones on Apr 9, 2018 16:29:52 GMT
I am still working on volume one. It is slow going. Sometimes I think it will end up driving me crazy. By the way---are we meant to think that de Grandin is homosexual? There are what seem to me to be some not so subtle hints to this effect. I'd not considered that - wonder if Seabury Quinn ever did? I always had Jules de G. figured for a celibate admirer of BYWID's. A passage at close of The Bride Of Dewer ( WT, July 1930) suggests he's long carried a torch for unidentified lover lost to the convent. "Satisfied?" - he murmured almost dreamily. 'Ha - yes. I wonder if she sometimes thinks of me within the quiet of her cloister, and of the days we wandered hand in hand beside the River Loire."
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Apr 9, 2018 17:18:10 GMT
But then there is this exchange with a young delivery boy in "The Grinning Mummy":
'“Ah, my excellent one, my incomparable little cabbage!” de Grandin restrained himself from kissing the white-aproned youth with the utmost difficulty. “My Napoleon among épiciers—behold, I shall make restitution for the fright these miscreants have given you!” From his trousers pocket he produced a billfold and extracted a five-dollar note, which he pressed into the delivery boy’s hand. “Take it, my wise one,” he urged, quite unnecessarily—“Take it and buy a plaything for one of your numerous sweethearts. Pardieu, such a well-favored youth must play the devil with the maidens’ hearts, n’est-ce-pas?” He thrust a playful finger into the astonished youngster’s ribs. “Sure,” the other responded, pocketing the bill and backing away rather hastily. “Sure, I gotta jane; d’ye think I’m a dead one?” “Nom d’un coq, quite otherwise [. . .]'
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Apr 9, 2018 17:36:07 GMT
It also strikes me that having the love of one's life be someone who has taken the veil might easily be code for something else. But I may be reading too much into this, and shall stop now. Nevertheless, it should now have been established beyond any reasonable doubt that de Grandin is a self-confessed player of the pink oboe---a man, or woman, who by his or her own admission chews pillows.
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Post by andydecker on Apr 9, 2018 18:23:24 GMT
It also strikes me that having the love of one's life be someone who has taken the veil might easily be code for something else. But I may be reading too much into this, and shall stop now. . I guess at the time this was a popular trope. Didn't loose Poirot also his love in the youth? On the other hand, this is very Dumas. The fair maidens there always were in danger to get thrown into a convent by the nefarious villians. On the other hand, I don't think Quinn's fans wanted to read about De Grandin chasing the ladies. Compared to the shudder pulps relationsships never were a big thing in Weird Tales. Also De Grandin was rather old. Love seemed to be only for the young in these tales. With 40 you were already standing with one foot in the grave
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Post by helrunar on Apr 9, 2018 19:32:11 GMT
JoJo, that dialogue passage is almost literally incredible. My jaw is dropping.
I think as others have said that the Quinn stories were supernatural/suspense themed expansions of "boys own" type yarns--"dames" existed to be rescued, and that was it.
I haven't read very many de Grandin tales. But a friend of mine tells me his wife loves to have him read aloud from the stories at bedtime. And according to her, the series is extremely slashy. I think various flamboyant items of wardrobe flaunted by old de Grandin may have something to do with this. She loves the Raffles tales for the same reason. The stories so often end with some version of Raffles telling Bunny to "admire how handsome I am right now." Or so they've told me.
cheers, H.
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Post by dem bones on Apr 9, 2018 20:09:55 GMT
JoJo, that dialogue passage is almost literally incredible. My jaw is dropping. I think as others have said that the Quinn stories were supernatural/suspense themed expansions of "boys own" type yarns--"dames" existed to be rescued, and that was it. I haven't read very many de Grandin tales. But a friend of mine tells me his wife loves to have him read aloud from the stories at bedtime. And according to her, the series is extremely slashy. I think various flamboyant items of wardrobe flaunted by old de Grandin may have something to do with this. So I just made a start on Body And Soul, ( Weird Tales, Sept. 1928), and two pages in; It also strikes me that having the love of one's life be someone who has taken the veil might easily be code for something else. But I may be reading too much into this, and shall stop now. Nevertheless, it should now have been established beyond any reasonable doubt that de Grandin is a self-confessed player of the pink oboe---a man, or woman, who by his or her own admission chews pillows. What the ..... "a self-confessed player of the pink oboe."? Are you calling Jules de Grandin a wanker?
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Apr 9, 2018 20:28:13 GMT
What the ..... "a self-confessed player of the pink oboe."? Are you calling Jules de Grandin a wanker? I was quoting something famous and important! Have you no culture, then?
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