Walter de la Mare Strangers and Pilgrims

[Al de Baran]

I recently came again upon a remark about de la Mare by Lovecraft that I'd forgotten, and that is germane to the thread, I think:

"De la Mare can be exceedingly powerful when he chooses, and I only wish he'd choose oftener. Don't miss the volume of short stories entitled The Return, and especially 'Seaton's Aunt', 'The Tree', and 'Out of the Depths'".

(Letter, H. P. Lovecraft to Frank Belknap Long, June 11, 1926)

Note that Lovecraft offers another vote for "The Tree".

[Druidic]

Yes, I always felt the omission of "The Tree" was a great mistake . It always reminded me a bit of "The Colour out of Space." The date of the letter is interesting. I wonder if de la Mare's tale was an influence on HPL?

[Druidic]

James, I hope "The Tree" is in one of those collections! I'm beginning to suspect it may have been buzzing around at the back of Lovecraft's brain when he wrote a certain tale. "A"B:O." is also an amazing de la Mare tale. But then there are more than a few.

This is the best thread I ever had the honor of starting. If not for the omission of "The Tree" this thread would not exist.

[Al de Baran]

That's an intriguing notion about a possible influence of "The Tree" on Lovecraft's "Colour Out of Space". I re-read the former tale recently, and I can certainly see the possibility. I'd be interested to read what the Lovecraft specialists (of which I am not one) might think.

I also hope that this thread continues in its modest way to inspire others who are new to de la Mare to read and appreciate him. He has played second-fiddle to too many lesser talents among the weirdists for far too long.

[qcrisp]

I'm reading this at present, and enjoying it hugely. I might write more about it when I've finished, or even before I have.

I'm still haunted by Seaton's Aunt. I actually didn't find it overrated at all and appreciated its clear influence on Aickman.

[qcrisp]

Quote Originally Posted by James Sucellus

I'm still haunted by Seaton's Aunt. I actually didn't find it overrated at all and appreciated its clear influence on Aickman.

The first one I read. I agree. I found it to have the kind of effects that Aickman strives for, and produces, but more immediately and lyrically.

[qcrisp]

I have now read:

'Seaton's Aunt'
'The Vats'
'Promise at Dusk'
'The Pear-Tree'
'The Bird of Travel'
'The Creatures'
'All Hallows'
'Crewe'
'The House'

'Seaton's Aunt' is still the best I have read so far (it was the first). It gives the impression of great brooding depth. One aspect of its triumph as a story - the prime aspect, I suppose - is that the disturbing atmosphere comes almost entirely from the two main characters - Seaton and his aunt. That is, among other things, the story is proof that the uncanny (or horror, if you like) can come precisely from character study.

Of the others, 'The Bird of Travel' and 'The Creatures' especially stood out for me. Like any poet worth his salt, de la Mare is aware of, and clearly seriously interested in, the otherworldly, and any such awareness naturally overlaps with what tends to be called mysticism, so that many of his observations and insights may also be taken as a substantial contribution to the written record of human experience of the mystical.

I read 'The House' this evening - finished it, I should say, as I started it the other day. I had a feeling it was going to be disappointing, but subtle threads were, for me, bound together at the end, and I think this might end up being something of a favourite for me, too.

In the introduction, Mark Valentine writes, "His stories reward attentiveness", and that certainly seems to be the case. I think I could easily have missed the point of 'The House' if I'd read it carelessly or in any kind of haste.

There are a number of phrases, and, I assume, allusions, scattered through the stories, that I don't understand, and which seem perhaps, of the period. For instance, I couldn't make out this sentence from 'The House':

Quote

One is so seldom in retrospect a Child of the World.

Why the capitals? Is this a particular phrase that I don't know?

I actually find this more intriguing than anything else - it reminds me that language is very much an artefact dependent on time, as it is on geography.

Here's an exchange, from 'Crewe', that is perhaps meant to be incoherent:

Quote

' "What I am asking is this," says our friend, "have you ever seen me the worse for liquor? Answer me that!" ' "If I liked your tone better," I said, "I wouldn't say how I don't see why -- it would be necessarily the worse." ' "Ehh? You mean, Yes, then?" he said.

That does seem to be de la Mare playing with the variability of dialect and idiolect in language to arrive at something that seems like it might be possible to untangle, but which, in fact, isn't (I've tried). But presumably some of the language I find peculiar was not rendered so deliberately, and reading it is the equivalent of visiting an out-of-the-way corner of the world linguistically, though the corner is not as separated from us in time as some more frequented corners, less interestingly overgrown.

[qcrisp]

P.S. It occurred to me that "triumph" might be an odd way to describe 'Seaton's Aunt' since its mood is anything but triumphant.

[Al de Baran]

From Jack G. Voller's late and lamented litgothic.com:

"Although a fairly gifted prose stylist, [de la Mare's] style is, to put it mildly, elliptical at times, and he relies rather heavily on language, much of it colloquial, that will not be familiar to most readers today, especially American readers.

Even once you've figured out what he's saying, De La Mare can be hard to make sense of. His works are often thematically indirect; he directly says very little (fittingly enough for an early Modern writer); there is much ambiguity and (deliberate) vagueness, leaving much of the 'theme' of his works up to us to determine. This demand placed upon the reader makes him unlikely to make any best-seller lists anytime soon, which is a shame."

Aside from the odd and incorrect qualifier "fairly", these are perceptive observations, and should serve as warnings above the gateway to those who approach de la Mare for the first time.