Robert E. Howard and Materialism

[Ancient History]

Quote Originally Posted by cannibal cop

But I would recommend paying a little extra for a hardcover, if there is one.

The hardcover editions of the Del Rey paperbacks were published by Wandering Star - very nice, but also really expensive (hundreds of dollars) limited editions. And some of the texts were corrected when the Del Rey paperbacks were published.

The non-Conan stories are available from the Robert E. Howard Foundation Press as a series of attractive hardbacks, but again, limited edition so not all are readily available.

[Knygathin]

Interesting that Robert E. Howard didn't seem to have any particular belief system, neither religious/spiritual nor materialistic. And did not push or pretend to understand more than he really did, forthright admitting to be of a simple barbarian mindset. And thus, allowing his particular artistic perspective absolutely free reins to fully do what he did.

Last night I read an interesting and little known tale (at least to a novice like me) called "The Cairn on the Headland". It does not belong in any of his well known series. But it is one of his reincarnation tales, that start in the present and slip over into memories of a past life. It features some wonderful and effective weird descriptions. At its core is a struggle of the "light" and "good" of Christianity against the "dark" powers of the North; the Irish fighting the Vikings.

I find it hard to believe that Howard was actually an active follower of meek Christianity. Does anyone know if he was raised and indoctrinated that way? I always pictured him as pagan. But him stating emphatically that he did not adhere to any belief system (at least admitting as much to Lovecraft, whom he trusted and respected), the Christian standpoint in "The Cairn on the Headland", although possibly detached, was perhaps taken temporarily, simply because this story needed it to click.

[Knygathin]

I also read "The Horror from the Mound", a worthwhile story, which is very similar in structure and seems like a previous training piece for "The Cairn on the Headland". But a little more generic, not quite as original in vision. A vampire tale.

[Knygathin]

I read two tales I found very atypical in style for Howard.

"People of the Black Coast" is a lost race story, featuring highly intelligent giant crab-monsters, and has a retiring reflectiveness that reminds me of Lovecraft.

"The Haunter of the Ring" is a modern tale of reincarnation and karma, and the angst of a man having to repay for the sins of his great grandfather. It is written with a seemingly serious inner spiritual conviction and pathos, bordering on realism, that I have not met in Howard before.

[Knygathin]

Quote Originally Posted by Robert Adam Gilmour

Personally I find the illustrations in the Del Rey books to be annoyingly frequent. ...

Yes, they are on almost every page. I find that they disrupt the reader's own imagination.

[Knygathin]

Quote Originally Posted by Ancient History

Quote Originally Posted by Zaharoff Most of my R E Howard books are from Donald M Grant, and they are still titles I read and enjoy. I am aware of Wildside Press, and the series of Howard works they have released, but I have not bought any yet. Has anyone thoughts about their books? How well edited? Typos, fonts? Have stores been corrected? The Grant editions were chopped to pieces; many paragraphs were removed, and text altered to avoid some unpleasant 1930s racist language.

I have the hardcover Wildside Press editions of William Hope Hodsgon's The House on the Borderland and The Ghost Pirates; the most immediate copies I could find, at the time I collected Hodgson. These are decent looking, except for some odd typography with the title and author name set in bold print at the bottom of each page, which is distracting.

But does anyone know if the Wildside texts of Hodgson have been meddled with, chopped or censored? That would sadden me, because it means I have to start looking again for other editions. That is just the way I am, I prefer to read the complete texts. Because that text must be the truth, at least from this particular author's perspective. I don't like to be told arbitrarily by some smug publisher or politician what is right and wrong and acceptable. No thank you, I go to the great philosophers and scientists, and life, and find that out for myself.

From what I remember, Hodgson did not mention race in particular in his books. But there are other things contemporary publishers would find unacceptable, and will want to remove. Concerning gender, for example. In The Night Land the relationship between the man and woman is sometimes rugged, not equalized, or feminist as by today's officially set standards; I have the Night Shade Books edition of this, which appears to be literary serious in its approach, so therefore I trust the text is sound.

Looking at other authors, ... Roald Dahl ..., I understand that his children's books have recently been re-written and gender neutralized, "mother" and "father" having been removed from his family constellations. So there are various points in old and stuffy books that can be changed and made fresh by editors, improved to suit everyone, depending on the latest ideals and agendas.

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

I was dismayed to find out (a couple of years after I'd read it) that the Wordsworth collection Haunter Of The Ring was apparently censored, there is no note of this at all and I guess maybe they used the Donald M. Grant books as source texts without knowing they were not complete? I've never heard of Wordsworth doing this with other books.

[Knygathin]

Quote Originally Posted by Robert Adam Gilmour

I was dismayed to find out (a couple of years after I'd read it) that the Wordsworth collection Haunter Of The Ring was apparently censored, there is no note of this at all and I guess maybe they used the Donald M. Grant books as source texts without knowing they were not complete? I've never heard of Wordsworth doing this with other books.

I have the Wordsworth collection The Right Hand of Doom. It was also censored. Del Rey seems to be the only available edition of Howard that is not censored; if one tolerates that almost every page has an illustration.

[Lichen]

Quote Originally Posted by Robert Adam Gilmour

I've never heard of Wordsworth doing this with other books.

They did this with Stokers "Lair of the White worm & The Lady of the Shroud" as well. After the introduction text there is a publishers note stating:

While some of the views displayed in this book, particularly on racial issues, are regarded as unacceptable today, it is important that the reader should bear in mind that the stories reflect the attitudes of their times. However, even after taking this factor into consideration, we have amended certain words that we feel would give particular offence.

On top of that the White Worm is abridged, so it's worthless anyhow.

[Knygathin]

Quote Originally Posted by Robert Adam Gilmour

I was dismayed to find out (a couple of years after I'd read it) that the Wordsworth collection Haunter Of The Ring was apparently censored, ...

I read the whole Gollancz collection The Complete Chronicles of Conan: Centenary Edition, from cover to cover, and then found out that it was censored! I hope I will find time eventually to re-read most of the stories in a true edition.