Post by David Kartos on Nov 23, 2008 21:39:40 GMT
LBL Review # 8-Cold Harbour by Francis Brett Young
Literary criticism often does not do a good job at eithr staying consistent or by judging up a book corectly.The contemporary reviews of Francis Brett Young's "Cold Harbour" (1924) fail on both theese fronts.
John W. Crawford and Hershell Brickell may have made interesting neighbours- because their ideas,at the very last on litrature,in whose reviewing they were both employed,and on this book spcificaly are so fundamentaly diferent it is striking-and a person reading literary reviews in both the Now York Evening Post and Literary Digest may have been at an utter loss as what to think.In a nutshell-
Mr. Brickell claims this work is is "inferior" to everything else Young wrote and Crawford said it opens up "new spiritual horizons".
Whatever the (in)validity of theese remarks it is of note that Cold Harbour , unlike other works cited by Lovecraft in his "Supernatural Horror in Literature" has actualy been in a somewhat obtainable reprint-run-after its initial publication in 1924,it was reprinted in 1968,in 2002,for the well to do and lonesome collector,there was the 2007 reprint by Ash Tree,at the usual abysmall price,and finaly in 2008,the work was reprinted in 2008 together with Leland Halls's "Sinister House".
The novel is one of the most capturing works of "modern" supernatural literature.The country,potrayed in dark hints and touches to a form of a grotesque smudge of a nation,horribly isolated,within circles of woods dusted by the decade-long fumes of the fires of the Black Country, with the sky itself apearing like a greasy glass-pane,is mastered so briliantly that only a few,such as Clark Ashton Smith or Lord Dunsany could have created a vision more unreal and yet so tangible.
Furnival ,whose array of powers we are at a real loss how to judge,as all the "explanations" of the phenomena come from outside and not while anywhere near him-(it leads one to think there may have been,as Ronald Wak originaly sugested,some REAL "haunting" going on in that house, only magnified by Humprey Furnival's presence) is a strikingly horrible cynic and we arent at all confused by his wifes loyal bablings on his inner niceness to note his true character-horrible,exploiting,knowledgable.
Supernatural fiction doesnt,in my view,fare well with the adversary being primarily human and doing primarily human things.However,this argument falls aside in this case.
In fact,one could say Furnival may be the only character in the book.It is he upon whom all relatively important talk is held.He whose views are the most profound to be established-he whose personality is the only one truly developed-if one could,one would call his wife but his own projection,a mirror of fear to try and win over the victims if not with charm,then with pitty.Besides him,all the characters are cardboards ,empty picture panes, bland sculptures for him to gash and beat whenever he passes them.
Ronald Wake and his wife are nothing but "victims"-they are,not unlike certain supernatural fiction protagonists,not realy there to fill a role, but only to tell us what WE should feel were we there,what that man radiates of himself to the world around him.What is saved by actual character striving in the case of the Pierre and Julia staring "Sinister House" is not there at all for these two.And what more to say of the "company" to whom this tale is tolled,Harley,the nameless narrator and the others?
Strangely,that doesnt affect the novel in any way,as was the "difusion" of the supernatural only a slight fall-if the novel would have fared diferently at the end,it would have been another novel.And im not sure if it would bea beter one.
So ,Mr. Crawford,I say "yes" to that!
Literary criticism often does not do a good job at eithr staying consistent or by judging up a book corectly.The contemporary reviews of Francis Brett Young's "Cold Harbour" (1924) fail on both theese fronts.
John W. Crawford and Hershell Brickell may have made interesting neighbours- because their ideas,at the very last on litrature,in whose reviewing they were both employed,and on this book spcificaly are so fundamentaly diferent it is striking-and a person reading literary reviews in both the Now York Evening Post and Literary Digest may have been at an utter loss as what to think.In a nutshell-
Mr. Brickell claims this work is is "inferior" to everything else Young wrote and Crawford said it opens up "new spiritual horizons".
Whatever the (in)validity of theese remarks it is of note that Cold Harbour , unlike other works cited by Lovecraft in his "Supernatural Horror in Literature" has actualy been in a somewhat obtainable reprint-run-after its initial publication in 1924,it was reprinted in 1968,in 2002,for the well to do and lonesome collector,there was the 2007 reprint by Ash Tree,at the usual abysmall price,and finaly in 2008,the work was reprinted in 2008 together with Leland Halls's "Sinister House".
The novel is one of the most capturing works of "modern" supernatural literature.The country,potrayed in dark hints and touches to a form of a grotesque smudge of a nation,horribly isolated,within circles of woods dusted by the decade-long fumes of the fires of the Black Country, with the sky itself apearing like a greasy glass-pane,is mastered so briliantly that only a few,such as Clark Ashton Smith or Lord Dunsany could have created a vision more unreal and yet so tangible.
Furnival ,whose array of powers we are at a real loss how to judge,as all the "explanations" of the phenomena come from outside and not while anywhere near him-(it leads one to think there may have been,as Ronald Wak originaly sugested,some REAL "haunting" going on in that house, only magnified by Humprey Furnival's presence) is a strikingly horrible cynic and we arent at all confused by his wifes loyal bablings on his inner niceness to note his true character-horrible,exploiting,knowledgable.
Supernatural fiction doesnt,in my view,fare well with the adversary being primarily human and doing primarily human things.However,this argument falls aside in this case.
In fact,one could say Furnival may be the only character in the book.It is he upon whom all relatively important talk is held.He whose views are the most profound to be established-he whose personality is the only one truly developed-if one could,one would call his wife but his own projection,a mirror of fear to try and win over the victims if not with charm,then with pitty.Besides him,all the characters are cardboards ,empty picture panes, bland sculptures for him to gash and beat whenever he passes them.
Ronald Wake and his wife are nothing but "victims"-they are,not unlike certain supernatural fiction protagonists,not realy there to fill a role, but only to tell us what WE should feel were we there,what that man radiates of himself to the world around him.What is saved by actual character striving in the case of the Pierre and Julia staring "Sinister House" is not there at all for these two.And what more to say of the "company" to whom this tale is tolled,Harley,the nameless narrator and the others?
Strangely,that doesnt affect the novel in any way,as was the "difusion" of the supernatural only a slight fall-if the novel would have fared diferently at the end,it would have been another novel.And im not sure if it would bea beter one.
So ,Mr. Crawford,I say "yes" to that!