joscelynhe's review against another edition
Not as scary as I thought it would be.
jimmypat's review against another edition
2.0
The stories I read were generally okay, but I finally gave up after finishing "The Three Imposters." Machen is a better writer than Lovecraft, but doesn't structure his stories very well and they often end in a dissatisfactory manner. There is much better writing from this time period and Machen can easily be forgotten - he seems to be only important in the development of horror as a genre, but not much else.
vince_m's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
The Great God Pan was a fascinating story. The rest in the collection not so much. Boring plots, tedious descriptions and card board cut-out characters. I'd recommend reading the title story and ignore the rest.
lrichar's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I picked up this book because I read Great God Pan and wanted to explore more of Machine's work. I think it's interesting as a historical/contextual book for understanding the evolution of modern weird fiction/horror. However, Machen can be very one note, such that by the time you get through the hits (Pan, Three Imposters) the rest of the stories get boring and predictable fast.
breadandmushrooms's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
sunn_bleach's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
An extremely influential series of stories that is at the curious spot of history where perhaps their influence is better than their content. The main stories are great gothic horror, though “The White People” was utterly interminable. Still, cool to see where began cosmic horror in Western literature, even from a more horrifying modernity.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism and Racism
Minor: Violence
morafresa's review against another edition
4.0
Me puse a leer este libro porque Stephen King (amado) encuentra que El Gran Dios Pan es uno de los relatos más aterradores de la vida y la verdad no me gustó tanto u_u
Este libro trae cuatro relatos: El Gran Dios Pan, La Luz Interior, La Novela del Sello Negro y La Novela del Polvo Blanco. De todos estos, los que más me gustaron fueron los dos últimos, en especial La Novela del Sello Negro. Me gustó mucho como Machen utiliza la mitología celta de su natal Gales y nos cuenta sobre lo siniestras que siempre fueron las hadas para la tradición de ese pueblo, no como la versión edulcorada que tenemos en estos tiempos.
También me gusta que todos los relatos tienen finales terribles xDDD me siento mala persona, pero todos los personajes lo pasan pésimo cuando se dan cuenta de que la realidad que conocen no es tal y en verdad hay un delgado velo separándola de un mundo desconocido y aterrador. No por nada don Lovecraft se inspiró en Machen uwu
Fue una buena lectura, mi primer acercamiento a la obra de Machen y sin duda seguiré leyendo más de él uwu
Este libro trae cuatro relatos: El Gran Dios Pan, La Luz Interior, La Novela del Sello Negro y La Novela del Polvo Blanco. De todos estos, los que más me gustaron fueron los dos últimos, en especial La Novela del Sello Negro. Me gustó mucho como Machen utiliza la mitología celta de su natal Gales y nos cuenta sobre lo siniestras que siempre fueron las hadas para la tradición de ese pueblo, no como la versión edulcorada que tenemos en estos tiempos.
También me gusta que todos los relatos tienen finales terribles xDDD me siento mala persona, pero todos los personajes lo pasan pésimo cuando se dan cuenta de que la realidad que conocen no es tal y en verdad hay un delgado velo separándola de un mundo desconocido y aterrador. No por nada don Lovecraft se inspiró en Machen uwu
Fue una buena lectura, mi primer acercamiento a la obra de Machen y sin duda seguiré leyendo más de él uwu
kms1878's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
tashaw's review against another edition
slow-paced
2.0
It's hard to rate it so low when it's a classic, but it doesn't make me feel much of anything.
fictionfan's review against another edition
5.0
Weird and wonderful...
This is a collection of those stories of Arthur Machen that fit into what would now be thought of as 'weird' tales. Normally when a book is titled after one story with the rest lumped under “and other”, my expectation would be that the title story would be the best of them. And indeed, I loved The Great God Pan. But I was thrilled to find that many of the other stories in this book are at least as good, and some are even better. I've discovered a new favourite horror writer!
The book is edited by Aaron Worth, Associate Professor of Rhetoric at Boston University. He provides an informative introduction, which gives a brief biography of Machen's literary life along with a discussion of his influences and themes, and of his own influence on later generations of writers. Worth also provides copious notes to explain any unfamiliar terms, or allusions within the text to other works, to mythologies, or to the preoccupations of Machen's society. All of this richly enhanced my reading experience, reminding me once again that, great though it is to be able to download so many old stories, a well-edited volume is still a major pleasure.
Machen's stories are set mainly in two locations, both of which he evokes brilliantly. His native Monmouthshire, in Wales, is depicted as a place with connections to its deep past, where ancient beliefs and rituals are hidden just under the surface of civilised life. His London is a place of dark alleys and hidden evils, with a kind of degenerate race living side by side with the respectable people, and often stretching out a corrupting hand towards them. Worth tells us that Machen was sometimes considered to be connected to the Decadent movement – Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley, et al – although Machen himself disputed this. But there is a definite air of decadence with a small 'd' about the stories. Many have strong sexual undercurrents (never overtly spelled out – it's the Victorian era) and paganism is a recurring feature. There's also a frequent suggestion that the morally deficient are most likely to succumb to the forces of evil, and will often pay a horrible price for their weakness.
The quality of the writing is excellent – stylistically it compares to the likes of Conan Doyle or HG Wells. There's a good deal of humour in it alongside some effective and occasionally gruesome horror and he's a great storyteller. His descriptive writing is also very good. I particularly liked how he used London pollution effectively to give a strangeness to the city – his skies are purple, grey, dark, red, and the street lamps have to fight to shed their light through the dirty air. His Wales is equally good in what feels like a deliberately contrasting way. There, the air is clear but there are hidden things behind ancient rock formations – old symbols, and sometimes new symbols placed by ancient races.
The Welsh parts have a very similar feel to Lovecraft's ruins – Lovecraft acknowledged his influence – but where Lovecraft opted for ancient malign aliens, Machen's evil is all of earth, earthly. Worth reminds us that this was at a time when Victorian society was having to get used to the ideas that man had evolved from the beast and that the world was far, far more ancient than had previously been thought. Where Wells takes evolution far into the future in The Time Machine, Machen instead suggests that some of the ancient things of earth are still here, unevolved and unchanging. And that sometimes they might even live within us...
The stories range in length from a couple of pages to well over a hundred. I gave every one individually either 4 or 5 stars – I think that's a first for me in any collection. Some of the very short ones are a little fragmentary, but each either tells a tale on its own or adds depth to the world Machen has created. Some are outright horror, some more an evocation of a kind of witchy paganism, some based more in reality. If, like me, you've managed to miss out on Machen up till now, I strongly recommend you make his acquaintance – a great collection.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Oxford World's Classics.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
This is a collection of those stories of Arthur Machen that fit into what would now be thought of as 'weird' tales. Normally when a book is titled after one story with the rest lumped under “and other”, my expectation would be that the title story would be the best of them. And indeed, I loved The Great God Pan. But I was thrilled to find that many of the other stories in this book are at least as good, and some are even better. I've discovered a new favourite horror writer!
The book is edited by Aaron Worth, Associate Professor of Rhetoric at Boston University. He provides an informative introduction, which gives a brief biography of Machen's literary life along with a discussion of his influences and themes, and of his own influence on later generations of writers. Worth also provides copious notes to explain any unfamiliar terms, or allusions within the text to other works, to mythologies, or to the preoccupations of Machen's society. All of this richly enhanced my reading experience, reminding me once again that, great though it is to be able to download so many old stories, a well-edited volume is still a major pleasure.
Machen's stories are set mainly in two locations, both of which he evokes brilliantly. His native Monmouthshire, in Wales, is depicted as a place with connections to its deep past, where ancient beliefs and rituals are hidden just under the surface of civilised life. His London is a place of dark alleys and hidden evils, with a kind of degenerate race living side by side with the respectable people, and often stretching out a corrupting hand towards them. Worth tells us that Machen was sometimes considered to be connected to the Decadent movement – Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley, et al – although Machen himself disputed this. But there is a definite air of decadence with a small 'd' about the stories. Many have strong sexual undercurrents (never overtly spelled out – it's the Victorian era) and paganism is a recurring feature. There's also a frequent suggestion that the morally deficient are most likely to succumb to the forces of evil, and will often pay a horrible price for their weakness.
The quality of the writing is excellent – stylistically it compares to the likes of Conan Doyle or HG Wells. There's a good deal of humour in it alongside some effective and occasionally gruesome horror and he's a great storyteller. His descriptive writing is also very good. I particularly liked how he used London pollution effectively to give a strangeness to the city – his skies are purple, grey, dark, red, and the street lamps have to fight to shed their light through the dirty air. His Wales is equally good in what feels like a deliberately contrasting way. There, the air is clear but there are hidden things behind ancient rock formations – old symbols, and sometimes new symbols placed by ancient races.
The Welsh parts have a very similar feel to Lovecraft's ruins – Lovecraft acknowledged his influence – but where Lovecraft opted for ancient malign aliens, Machen's evil is all of earth, earthly. Worth reminds us that this was at a time when Victorian society was having to get used to the ideas that man had evolved from the beast and that the world was far, far more ancient than had previously been thought. Where Wells takes evolution far into the future in The Time Machine, Machen instead suggests that some of the ancient things of earth are still here, unevolved and unchanging. And that sometimes they might even live within us...
The stories range in length from a couple of pages to well over a hundred. I gave every one individually either 4 or 5 stars – I think that's a first for me in any collection. Some of the very short ones are a little fragmentary, but each either tells a tale on its own or adds depth to the world Machen has created. Some are outright horror, some more an evocation of a kind of witchy paganism, some based more in reality. If, like me, you've managed to miss out on Machen up till now, I strongly recommend you make his acquaintance – a great collection.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Oxford World's Classics.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com