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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2018 16:26:33 GMT -5
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Post by Von K on Jan 7, 2018 15:10:37 GMT -5
Thanks Hun. I was trying to track down the Scarlet Citadel one on John's blog awhile back.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2018 15:57:08 GMT -5
Thanks Hun. I was trying to track down the Scarlet Citadel one on John's blog awhile back. Thanks Von K. I think there will be 1 review a week - don't quote me on that one Since reading the Wandering Star editions I still have a certain desire to read the Conan yarns from Weird Tales in their original publication order (preferably in 4 glorious leather-bound volumes with the good ol' Frazetta covers). I think it would kinda give you a feel of what it must have been like to read them for the first time in the 1930's.
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Post by Von K on Oct 2, 2018 23:29:07 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2018 0:32:12 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2018 1:04:19 GMT -5
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Post by Von K on May 27, 2019 12:20:34 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2019 15:32:33 GMT -5
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Post by Von K on Aug 15, 2019 15:41:48 GMT -5
Great one Hun, thanks.
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Post by sorcerer on Aug 15, 2019 17:28:48 GMT -5
By Ibis, I cannot say which I enjoyed more, Xuthal of the Dusk, or this fellow's review of Xuthal of the Dusk. This is an absolutely brilliant piece. Though Wright relies on incisive wit rather than primal imagination, I doubt I will forget his review any more easily than the tale itself.
Older puritans were repelled by sex, because the carnal nature pulls the soul away from more wholesome, higher, lovely, supernatural things where their attention was fixed; whereas modern puritans are repelled by masculinity and femininity, because carnal nature pulls the soul up and away from the more unwholesome, lower, ugly, unnatural things where they prefer our attention be fixed.
Opinions surely differ as to which type of puritanism is to be preferred. Such is not the discussion now. Instead, it is worthy to note that the story has not changed. Like a distant, eldritch, timeless city, the work of Robert E. Howard stands where it is. But the river of time has moved the popular opinion from one horizon to the opposite, and now the towers and ramparts are seen from another angle.
Reading older stories allow a mind to leave the cramped quarters of its own presuppositions, as see things as if through fresh eyes from fresh angles. Not that older generations, when fads were different, did not have infelicities and even obsessions of their own, that marked or even marred their art and literature.
But their fads are not the same as ours: even if their assumptions are those easily-offended moderns find offensive, nonetheless, the temptation to regard the current fads of one’s own little island of familiarity as the unquestionable laws of the world is avoided when one reads writers who stand outside the fad.
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Post by sorcerer on Aug 19, 2019 9:28:28 GMT -5
After rereading Xuthal of the Dusk I'm less taken by this review, for two reasons.
In the first place, John Wright's handling of the god of Xuthal is strange, and in some cases simply wrong. He aptly praises Howard's skill at choosing names: "the chthonic death-god of the outer pits should not be named Sfanomoë." Yet he has picked the one Conan story where Howard has been least successful at choosing names - the chthonic death-god of the outer pits should not be named Thog, either. In the confrontation between Thog and Conan, Wright claims Thog is not defeated, but "perhaps wounded, perhaps merely irked, retreats down a dark well" and that Conan was "simply overmatched" by it. But the passage itself reads otherwise: Hilt-deep the saber sank, somewhere below the grisly face, and a convulsive shudder heaved the vast bulk that half enveloped the Cimmerian. With a volcanic burst of contraction and expansion, it tumbled backward, rolling now with frantic haste down the corridor. Conan went with it, bruised, battered, invincible, hanging on like a bulldog to the hilt of his saber which he could not withdraw, tearing and ripping at the shuddering bulk with the poniard in his left hand, goring it to ribbons.
Thog is not merely wandering away, but is in "frantic haste" to escape. It has most definitely not overmatched Conan. Indeed, this is one of the aspects of Robert Howard's writing I find most disappointing, as Conan's ability to defeat anything he comes across, including interdimensional god-things, elevates Conan to superhero status while reducing the world around him to card-board. It is not believable that a bravo out of Cimmeria should be able to win out against Lovecraftian powers, yet Conan does - not only in Vale of Lost Women, but here in Xuthal, with no more than sandals and a sword.
Secondly, Wright's politics compromise his reading of the piece. Though everyone will enjoy different aspects of someone's writing to different degrees, I most value those moments when we are given a glimpse into what might be termed the philosophy of Conan (and through Conan, the attitudes of his creator). These passages are rare, and many Conan stories are to me unmemorable because they lack this perspective on morality, society, or man's place in the universe.
Here Wright concludes his review with a comment on a casual quip:
“… They live only for sensual joys. Dreaming or waking, their lives are filled with exotic ecstasies, beyond the ken of ordinary men.”
“Damned degenerates!” growled Conan.
Wright's reading is that "in that one curt line, we see a condemnation of the doctrines poisoning the modern world more damning than a dozen sermons or ethical theories could muster." But this oath from the Cimmerian is not damning at all; he has by now become deeply irritated with the city, and may well be merely growling about people who annoy him. I say this because his positive attitude toward the pursuit of pleasure is amply demonstrated across his entire life of eating, drinking, gambling, loving, and slaying. Even in this story he devours a meal set out by someone else with wolfish relish, and then stretches out for a nap.
Though we might merely chalk that scene up to the need to establish that the characters are no longer starving, in discussing it after the fact we have one of those rare passages where Conan really does give us his perspective:
"We came from the desert," Conan growled. "We wandered into the city at dusk, famishing. We found a feast set for some one, and we ate it. I have no money to pay for it. In my country, no starving man is denied food, but you civilized people must have your recompense—if you are like all I ever met. We have done no harm..."
This attitude is well grounded in history, as Tacitus tells us the Germanic barbarians Howard so loved would never refuse to feed a hungry guest. Yet before reading this, it is not at all obvious that Howard might actually think this way, since his ideology tends in most cases toward libertarianism. Yet, a libertarian purist would take the Cimmerian's trespassing and thievery as aggression answerable by force. Instead we see Howard's barbarian expressing an attitude at home with socialism, and with a general disregard for civilized conceptions of ownership, hard work, and the value of material things.
Since Wright's views are broadly those of a Christian conservative, it comes as no surprise that he read much into a short line seeming to echo his sentiments, and little into a longer passage that might challenge them. I have often found that conservative Christians have trouble reading Howard clearly, so in a way I am still very impressed that Wright sees as much as he does. Yet Robert Howard's values are neither those of a restrained traditionalist, nor of a sensitive liberal, but rather, those of a man true at all times to his own primal emotions.
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Post by Char-Vell on Aug 19, 2019 9:53:33 GMT -5
My perspective differs from yours.
Conan hurt Thog's earthly avatar enough to send him temporarily packing, at the cost of his life. Conan is dying and would have expired had Natala not hooked him up with a "potion of healing" in the form of the Golden wine. Natala saves his ass.
Conan doesn't come across as unbeatable here.
Also, Thog is a kick ass name for a chthonic death-god.
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Post by Von K on Aug 19, 2019 11:02:54 GMT -5
The name Thog is possibly a contraction of Tsathoggua. Deuce observed that REH likely plays on the name in several places in the Conan yarns including with Zogar Sag (with Sag as another possible contraction of Tsathoggua?) Long time since I read this yarn but Thog seems to be a spawn of the greater one?
Conan comes the closest to actually dying here and is essentially saved only by the obscure science of the founders of Xuthal, the effects of which were prefigured by REH earlier in the yarn. Conan wounded Thog severely and broke his morale, but I got the impression that Thog would heal up and eventually return after some time.
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Post by sorcerer on Aug 19, 2019 11:47:06 GMT -5
A battle is decided by who holds the contested land and spoils afterwards. Conan conquered Thog's sacrificial chamber, took Thog's prize, and walked out. Far from his morale being broken,* Conan remained psychologically ready to continue fighting afterwards:
"Open the door, girl," he muttered thickly. "The men of Xuthal will be waiting for us, and I would not disappoint them. By Crom, the city has not seen such a sacrifice as I will make!"
Incidentally, though, there is something insightful about drawing a connection to Lovecraft's Tsathoggua. The link is tenuous, but possible. Still, Thoggua or Tsathog have a much better ring than Thog.
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Post by Char-Vell on Aug 19, 2019 12:26:46 GMT -5
The name Thog is possibly a contraction of Tsathoggua. .... I like this. I figure Thog recovered to plague humanity again and again throughout the eons.
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