Arthur Machen
Mar. 24th, 2022 11:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
x_losAfter having some issues with The Great God Pan, I went on to read three more Machen novellas in quick succession.
The White People: It seems I can only listen to even quite restrained vintage horror when I'm feeling physically well, which is odd. Somehow it's too stressful for a sick morning.
The White People (retrospectively unfortunate name, I know) does some of the same stuff as Great God in terms of generating atmosphere and concealing information, but employs similar strategies significantly better. The Vibes were very successful, here. Perhaps the story's strongest conceit is its young female narrator in the key section, and how her perspective shapes the story and governs the sharing and withholding of information. The nurse choosing to share her old religion with the girl is interesting, and almost suggests a fear of class contamination. The passage along the old brook is HIGH KEY modelled after medieval romance journeys to the fairy realm.
A lot of post-colonial hay could be productively made out of the fear of the demonic 'black man' ravaging a girl on her wedding night in the first of the novella's medieval vignettes.
The Red Hand: A quasi murder-mystery that's nominally about cavemen and actually about exactly the preoccupations of the previous two novellas I read. (Also, I believed the murdered man struck out because he'd already claimed the treasure and was trying to conceal his crime. Was that wrong? If so, why did he attack his former friend?)
The Angels of Mons: Opens with a really interesting chronicle on how the urban legends surrounding divine intervention in favour of the British during WWI developed and spread based off Machen's short story. The actual "Bowman", which gave rise of the myth, is less emotionally affecting than the two successive stories. All are propaganda, but the latter two are quite well-executed, even if you have no investment in the long-ended conflict. It's surprising how bald they feel, but then I'm sure 'get Covid for capitalism' looks equally nude and dubious to anyone in saner environs.
The White People: It seems I can only listen to even quite restrained vintage horror when I'm feeling physically well, which is odd. Somehow it's too stressful for a sick morning.
The White People (retrospectively unfortunate name, I know) does some of the same stuff as Great God in terms of generating atmosphere and concealing information, but employs similar strategies significantly better. The Vibes were very successful, here. Perhaps the story's strongest conceit is its young female narrator in the key section, and how her perspective shapes the story and governs the sharing and withholding of information. The nurse choosing to share her old religion with the girl is interesting, and almost suggests a fear of class contamination. The passage along the old brook is HIGH KEY modelled after medieval romance journeys to the fairy realm.
A lot of post-colonial hay could be productively made out of the fear of the demonic 'black man' ravaging a girl on her wedding night in the first of the novella's medieval vignettes.
The Red Hand: A quasi murder-mystery that's nominally about cavemen and actually about exactly the preoccupations of the previous two novellas I read. (Also, I believed the murdered man struck out because he'd already claimed the treasure and was trying to conceal his crime. Was that wrong? If so, why did he attack his former friend?)
The Angels of Mons: Opens with a really interesting chronicle on how the urban legends surrounding divine intervention in favour of the British during WWI developed and spread based off Machen's short story. The actual "Bowman", which gave rise of the myth, is less emotionally affecting than the two successive stories. All are propaganda, but the latter two are quite well-executed, even if you have no investment in the long-ended conflict. It's surprising how bald they feel, but then I'm sure 'get Covid for capitalism' looks equally nude and dubious to anyone in saner environs.
