Arthur Machen

Quote Originally Posted by Druidic

Just curious. What are your favorite Machen influenced stories?

Cwm Garon by L. T. C. Rolt is a good one I forgot to mention.

[Patrick G.P]

Just finished reading The Autobiography of Arthur Machen, thought I would post my review of it here as well as on Goodreads;

Through two volumes, Arthur Machen reminisces about his youth in Gwent, his long mysterious walks through the untamed hills and forests of his native Wales. His love of medievalism and old books that came to him at an early age and his resolve and struggle to become a man of letters and move to London to make it on his own.

To read Machen’s descriptions of Gwent is like reading a fairy-tale or Tolkien’s descriptions of The Shire in The Lord of the Rings. Mystical, with simple folks living off the land and revering God and nature in their own way, it reads like one of the most idyllic places on earth. Machen’s sojourn in London takes on a gloomier note as he finds himself struggling to make ends meet and find his way through the odds and ends of literature. Here he recounts his love for wandering about London during the night, and how his imagination and mysticism colors his long, strange walks through the dim streets of London. “And it is utterly true that he who cannot find wonder, mystery, awe, the sense of a new world and an undiscovered realm in the places by the Gray’s Inn Road will never find those secrets elsewhere, not in the heart of Africa, not in the fabled hidden cities of Tibet. ‘The matters of our work is everywhere present’, wrote the old alchemists, and that is the truth. All the wonders lie within a stone’s throw of King’s Cross Station.”

Machen’s dislike for materialism shines through his prose, and he openly longs for times of the past and denounces both rationalism and logic in later chapters. His views on art, literature and hidden mysticism in our everyday lives are pure bliss to read and I quite concur with his remarks on these. However, as a materialist myself, I find myself hard-pressed to swallow some of his ideas and views, but they are, nonetheless, incredibly interesting to read to gain insight into Machen’s mind.

Machen stands as one of the very finest writers Britain has ever produced, and his prose and language are here every bit as magical and enchanting as in his novels and short stories. A collection of experiences and musings on everything from 1890s London cuisine, mystical philosophy, and how his books were written, The Autobiography of Arthur Machen is a fascinating look into the mind of a literary genius, quite simply a must-read for devotees of Machen’s work

Now go read The London Adventure.

[Patrick G.P]

Quote Originally Posted by James

Now go read The London Adventure.

Yes, the plan is to order it along with either Children of the Pool or The Cosy Room when my paycheck arrives. How is John Gawsworth'sThe Life of Arthur Machen by the way? I have an urge to delve into that tome soon as well.

It's more informative than Machen's own three volumes, which are in hindsight hilariously unhelpful in key areas.

[Patrick G.P]

Quote Originally Posted by James

which are in hindsight hilariously unhelpful in key areas.

Agreed, at least in the two volumes I just read. I love to read Machen’s expanded worldview, philosophy, and musings about his walks around London, but it would have been nice to read his own views on more personal occurrences like his marriage, and subsequent death of his wife. I will make sure to pick up Gawsworth’s book as soon as possible.

[Patrick G.P]

Just finished John Gawsworth's The Life of Arthur Machen and thought I'd post my thoughts on the book:

In The Life of Arthur Machen, John Gawsworth manages to convey the otherworldly nature of Gwent in the late 1800s, that had such a profound effect on the young Arthur Machen. Already from a very young age the landscape spoke to him, and as he felt the call of literature, which Machen describes as fate rather than an occupation, he would spend the rest of his life trying to convey what he felt, saw and heard through the trees, hills, and streams of his native Gwent.

“Machen now spent his days in going for long walks in the strange, beautiful, unknown country about his home, taking in that unfrequented land the most unfrequented ways, finding field paths that had almost gone out of use, ruined chapelries and hermitages of old religion hidden in deep woods, or serving as sheds in lonely fields. He haunted brooks that run secret in enclosed and narrow valleys, under brown hills of autumn bracken; pondering many things always, stirred always by the dream of literature, and by the thought of something in the vague future that was stored up for him to do.”

Passages like this truly convey the sense of wonder and mystery that surrounds not only Machen’s work but his life as well. As the biography progresses beyond the 1890s, however, this keen insight into Machen’s choice of topics and philosophy behind his later books are seldom revealed, and it feels slightly like a missed opportunity not mentioning more of this sort of background information. Gawsworth is adept at mentioning dates, names and publishing processes down to its minutia, and that is all well and fine, but as Machen himself pressed upon Gawsworth, there should have been an element of criticism as well, both at Machen’s life and to his works. Take The Green Round, for example, Machen’s last novel, Gawsworth only mentions it briefly and notes details about its publishing, and never mentions either the contents of the book nor Machen’s ideas behind the novel.

Nonetheless, Gawsworth’s book is a great accomplishment and an indispensable tome for Machen studies written by someone who knew the man and got the delightful anecdotes straight from the source itself. As Machen’s own biographies (Far off Things, Things Near and Far) are more concerned with his philosophy on the mystics of nature and his long walks throughout Gwent and London, it is nice to get some light shed on some of the more “mundane” parts of his life as well.
Gawsworth paints a picture of a jovial, mystical, bookman who spent his life in search of mysteries, long walks, great food and good company and above all a life dedicated to books and literature. Machen was one of the finest authors to grace English soil with his presence and this tome is a testament to his legacy.

This review was written under the influence of strong, black tea and the purple shaded twilight in spring, I think Machen would have approved.

[marioneta]

There is a thread of Ligotti vs Aickman. Why not one of Lovecraft vs Machen. That should provide interesting comments if we can stay clear of politics. We know of how much Lovecraft riffed Machen. There is even the poem of Frank Belknap Long, of the Lovecraft circle, On Reading Arthur Machen.
A good case could be made that Machen was the better stylist or writer. Also both were contemporaries, although Machen outlived Lovecraft by 10 years, and we know that Lovecraft was a keen admirer of Machen. But do we know if Machen was even aware of Lovecraft as he was of other American writers?All food for thought...
Lovecraft was a dedicated letter writer. Being a fan, did he ever write a letter to Machen? It would seem so, but there is no evidence of this having happened. Why wouldn't he write to a writer he greatly admired. It also appears that Algernon Blackwood did not care too much for Lovecraft's fiction.

It's hard to compare their careers because Lovecraft specialised in horror, whereas Machen had a horror phase with The Great God Pan and The Three Impostors, but soon (mostly) moved on to wonder over terror.

[Patrick G.P]

I think Machen and Lovecraft had similar ideas on antiquarianism, passion for books and the written word and both had keen minds towards their obsessions. Both seemed to view books and writing as the most important thing in their lives for a great period. I think the problem that could have arisen in a hypothetical exchange of letters between them, is Lovecraft’s staunch materialism versus Machen’s anti-materialism. Both had a delightful sense of wonder and awe in their stories, but Lovecraft’s worldview was inherently bleaker than Machens.