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Post by Dr Strange on Jun 30, 2010 14:11:20 GMT
I wonder if there are any recordings somewhere of his radio and TV broadcasts. Doubtful, I suppose, but that would be something if they could be unearthed. There is a recording of him reading one of his stories on this British Library CD (Disc 1, Track 5: "Pistol Against A Ghost") - tinyurl.com/362d53cIt's not a story I know, but if there is one then there could be be others. A bit more searching suggests it might be from "Queer Stories" broadcast on BBC radio in 1934.
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Post by Knygathin on Jul 2, 2010 0:14:29 GMT
Hello,
I am especially fond of Blackwood's nature tales. Is The Trod a worthwhile story to pursue? I understand it is about the "little people". Does it have interesting fairy or weird elements?
I also wonder if The Pikestaff Case is good.
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Post by Dr Strange on Jul 2, 2010 10:12:38 GMT
Hello, I am especially fond of Blackwood's nature tales. Is The Trod a worthwhile story to pursue? I understand it is about the "little people". Does it have interesting fairy or weird elements? I also wonder if The Pikestaff Case is good. I haven't read either of those (as far as I can remember), but it's a pretty safe bet that someone here has. "The Trod" does appear to be about "fairy" folklore (something about women disappearing when they follow a particular path through the hills, apparently) and seems to have quite a good rep - in fact it sounds like just the sort of thing I would like.
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Post by Knygathin on Jul 3, 2010 20:02:42 GMT
There is something about his eyes. He must have looked into the Abyss. Attachments:
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Post by Knygathin on Jul 3, 2010 20:08:02 GMT
But otherwise, if one wants to help open up the consciousness to awareness of Panistic forces, and free oneself from the psychological shackles of semitic religion, I can't think of a better writer than Blackwood. I think his writings hold a key, and I couldn't say that for any other weird tales writer I have read.
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Post by Dr Strange on Jul 4, 2010 13:32:50 GMT
But otherwise, if one wants to help open up the consciousness to awareness of Panistic forces, and free oneself from the psychological shackles of semitic religion, I can't think of a better writer than Blackwood. I think his writings hold a key, and I couldn't say that for any other weird tales writer I have read. I fear you may have confused the freedom to choose your own shackles with actual freedom. Anyway, there was quite a fashion for the nature/pagan/fairy-folk weird story at one time: Arthur Machen (at his best - e.g. "The Great God Pan", "The White People", "The Novel of the Black Seal", "The Red Hand") is quite as good as Blackwood, and others have written the occasional story in the same vein (e.g. E.M. Forster's "Story of a Panic", John Buchan's "No Man's Land", Grant Allen's "Pallinghurst Barrow", etc). I am sure there are more modern authors that could be included, but they aren't really my strong point - but T.E.D. Klein is often mentioned as in the same sort of "tradition" as Machen and Blackwood.
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Post by Knygathin on Jul 4, 2010 15:07:35 GMT
I fear you may have confused the freedom to choose your own shackles with actual freedom... Why do you say that? Don't you believe there are energies in Nature (as symbolized by Pan) that our senses have become too numbed to take in and appreciate? Or do you mean that I can't make my own choice whether I want to experience those energies or not? I believe that if you spend enough time in a certain environment, whether in a city or out in the wilds, it will eventually transform you. Especially if you are willing, and have open senses. That is my experience. Arthur Machen (at his best - e.g. "The Great God Pan", "The White People", "The Novel of the Black Seal", "The Red Hand") is quite as good as Blackwood... Machen is a great writer and exquisite artist. But, for me at least, he doesn't really open up and lead you into those nature forces as much as Blackwood does; I read somewhere that Machen was a Christian, and regarded Panistic forces as terror, and thus morally rejected them, and that may be one reason his stories don't stir in the same manner. Blackwood on the other hand was a pagan and welcomed those forces.
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Post by Knygathin on Jul 4, 2010 17:08:05 GMT
In old books with Blackwood stories, there are spaces between words and exclamation marks, quotation marks, and semicolons, (and sometimes single quotation marks are used instead of double for ordinary conversation). Like this:
“ I must face it alone ! ”
He measured the bed with his eye ;
Is this likely to be the publisher's encroachment? Or did Blackwood actually write this way, to get a sense of space and pause in the reading?
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Jul 4, 2010 17:12:19 GMT
It is a peculiar French affectation, actually.
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Post by cw67q on Jul 6, 2010 21:15:25 GMT
Jonathan, I belong to a small minority of readers who actually likes Sand. Yes it is drawn out and repetitive in a similar manner to The Damned which I disparage above. But I find both Sand and A Descent into Egypt hypnotic. Reading these two long Egyptian tales almost feels like participating in a rite of cermonial magic. I can sypathise with those who find them prolix and static though. - Chris I should probably give it another go... If nothing else, it seems bad form to disparage a story that I didn't even finish. Do you have any views on "The Regeneration of Lord Ernie", from Incredible Adventures? That was the other well-regarded Blackwood tale that I just couldn't finish. I take your point about the hypnotic effect of much of Blackwood's work - I must confess, I very rarely find his stories dull whilst I'm actually reading them, but if I get to a point where I set them to one side, I find it very hard to come back. That's probably why I tend to prefer the stories which can be finished in one sitting. Hi Jonathan, Sorry to take so long to reply, I've been caught up in other (real life) things. I do like "Regeneration" but with some reservations. It does start, and continue, very slow, but much of Blackwood does the same, you have to buy into that approach for most of his longer pieces and in this case it does build the ground for both the character of Lord E and the relationship he has with his tutor (the narrator). The scenes on the mountain work well, I think Blackwood is difficult to outdo at creating scenes of awe and making scenes of spiritual revelation/conversion convincing rather than risible or smug. Unfortunately the tale then rather undoes itself for this reader with the short summary of Lord E's subsequent off-stage achievements. IIRC Clark Ashton Smith questioned HPL's enthusiasm for Blackwood after reading this collection, singlinmg out this tale (without, I think naming for it) as being of particular annoyance as exposure to the numinous, ineffable forces that underlie nature turn the delinquent Lord E into a true imperial son of England: Huzzah! (or otherwise). And the powerful mood created by the evokations of the mountain top are lost in disillusionment . I hate it when a story undermines itself in this way. I have a similar problem with the same author's "A Garden of Survival", but fortunately (?) that is such a drag of a reading experience on so many other levels that little is lost Having wandered somewhat OT: I'm a fan of Dion Fortune's fiction, but "the Winged Bull" was somewhat soured for me by the Jolly Hockeysticks attitude towards fighting the hun in the (then ended) first world war. I'm glad I read that book last as the attitudes that Ms Fortune reveals there largely undermined the power of her philosophy as expressed in her other works. They's have been less effective for me, and I'd have taken Fortune's credentials much less seriously, had I been aware of her attitude towards the violence of the first world war from the outset. She appears to see something godlike in the main character's ability to superhuman capacity for violence against the hun, that regrettably (!) is left unchanelled in peacetime. Thus just when the spooks and spirits started to sound appealing I'm suddenly firmly back in the "Away with all your Supertsitions" camp (you old charlatan, Fortune!) I shouldn't start typing when I'm tired, I always run away with myself, and from the topic. - Chris
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jul 15, 2010 21:19:14 GMT
Accessory Before The Fact - So far the shorter Blackwood stories in this collection have been the lesser efforts, and this is a decidedly minor one as well, which seems to deal with a vision of a crime committed a short time in the future. Much is made of the two perpetrators being tramps who speak German, but I wasn't sure of the significance of this, or indeed if it's significant at all! The Listener - Back to a longer length and Algy's on form again! This is a splendidly creepy ghost story, with a great sense of claustrophobic foreboding, encroaching insanity and a properly monstrous ghost. It would also make a great performance piece as it's told first person in the form of a diary. Quiet possibly my favourite Blackwood after The Willows and The Wendigo & highly recommended as a first class ghost story.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jul 18, 2010 19:06:23 GMT
The Empty House- It's an empty house. It's got a ghost. An old lady and her son spend the night there. That's it, which is a shame because the opening couple of sentences are worthy of a Hill House precursor so what ensues is all the more disappointing.
Keeping His Promise - The pact between two schoolboys that one will visit the other upon his death is upheld. Again, a very ordinary story with little of the atmosphere of Blackwood's better tales
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Post by monker on Jul 22, 2010 1:54:34 GMT
I fear you may have confused the freedom to choose your own shackles with actual freedom... Why do you say that? Don't you believe there are energies in Nature (as symbolized by Pan) that our senses have become too numbed to take in and appreciate? Or do you mean that I can't make my own choice whether I want to experience those energies or not? I believe that if you spend enough time in a certain environment, whether in a city or out in the wilds, it will eventually transform you. Especially if you are willing, and have open senses. That is my experience. Arthur Machen (at his best - e.g. "The Great God Pan", "The White People", "The Novel of the Black Seal", "The Red Hand") is quite as good as Blackwood... Machen is a great writer and exquisite artist. But, for me at least, he doesn't really open up and lead you into those nature forces as much as Blackwood does; I read somewhere that Machen was a Christian, and regarded Panistic forces as terror, and thus morally rejected them, and that may be one reason his stories don't stir in the same manner. Blackwood on the other hand was a pagan and welcomed those forces. That last bit can be both a blessing and a curse; anyway - have you read Machen's "N"? That may not be 'Panistic', exactly, but it has a distinct effect of its own that may be related.
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Post by Dr Strange on Jul 22, 2010 10:38:44 GMT
Don't you believe there are energies in Nature (as symbolized by Pan) that our senses have become too numbed to take in and appreciate? No. And I am not sure that "energies" is a real word. I believe that if you spend enough time in a certain environment, whether in a city or out in the wilds, it will eventually transform you. Of course the environment impacts on the development of the individual - I don't know anyone who doesn't believe that. I read somewhere that Machen was a Christian, and regarded Panistic forces as terror, and thus morally rejected them... Blackwood on the other hand was a pagan and welcomed those forces. Hmmm... Since we are discussing horror stories here, that could imply that Machen is a more effective horror writer than Blackwood (and if you prefer Blackwood because he doesn't portray these things as horrific, then maybe you are not really a horror fan at all). Anyway, here's a couple more stories with a "Panistic" theme for you to check out - "The Man Who Went Too Far" by EF Benson, and "The Music On The Hill" by Saki.
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Post by monker on Jul 22, 2010 12:56:46 GMT
Yes, very interesting, there is a fine line between evoking 'awe', a more positive emotion, and evoking 'terror' or horror. I suppose a problem with some of Blackwood's lesser work is not that it isn't horrific, per se, but that he fails to exploit the full significance or implications of his plots. Like I said before, the opposite of Lovecraft, but for me, the effect is strangely the same. Writers at their best have a subtly persuasive quality, neither melodramatic at one extreme nor humdrum at the other. Then you get those that can have a smug tone at times that creates it's own incredulity. I prefer to think of Blackwood and Machen to be equals, in the main, rather than argue what one has over the other. Just to even the ledger, I found the female protagonist's early plight in Machen's 'Novel of the Black Seal' to be a little dated and unbelievable.
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