An excerpt from The Bookman , Vol. 48: WHEN the earth is apportioned to the novelists, yielding to each his own chosen territory, then certainly to Algernon Blackwood must be given undisputed right to the territory of the occult. Hovering ever, in form, on the border-land between fiction and prose fantasy, so does he hover ever in content on that vague border-land between the actual and the unseen. But there is a great difference between the Blackwood of "John Silence" and the other earlier works, and the Blackwood of ...
Read More
An excerpt from The Bookman , Vol. 48: WHEN the earth is apportioned to the novelists, yielding to each his own chosen territory, then certainly to Algernon Blackwood must be given undisputed right to the territory of the occult. Hovering ever, in form, on the border-land between fiction and prose fantasy, so does he hover ever in content on that vague border-land between the actual and the unseen. But there is a great difference between the Blackwood of "John Silence" and the other earlier works, and the Blackwood of today as we learn to know him in "The Garden of Survival." The forces of the world around and beyond the known world, of the Unknown-always the true protagonist of a Blackwood story- were, in the earlier works that brought fame to their creator, forces either directly inimical or at least cruelly indifferent to man. Here, in this exquisite tale, we find a force emanating from the Unknown which strives benevolently for man's good. And, again a difference, it is not some primitive force that was before man, and will be after man has passed from the earth, but it is a force which exerts itself through the souls of those who have gone before. It is an eternal force, the force of love, but it works through the reawakened memory of the lost ones. It was not easy to tell in cold words the "plot" of this least definite in action and most charmingly simple in style of all Blackwood stories. It is told in the first person, by an Englishman of position, a soldier and later the governor of an African colony. He tells us that he is, or was before the awakening came, very much the average Englishman of good family- a healthy, clean-minded, physically strong and active male animal, satisfied with things as they are and not at all inclined to searchings of the spirit. His tale is told to a twin brother, a creative writer, who, we realize as the story nears its close, has gone beyond. The soldier tells of his marriage with a beautiful girl whose love he did not return, although carried away physically by her charm, and also, more spiritually, by some strange element in her singing. She is killed by an accident a short month after marriage, and the husband feels almost a relief following his remorse at the realization that he could not give her what she gave him. Her strange parting words, explained by nothing in their known lives, follow him long in memory, then are forgotten in the press of worldly affairs. But finally, some years later, he comes to see that some good influence follows close on his footsteps, guiding him to decisions that are always the right ones, decisions that bring him responsibility, confidence from those around him, name, and fortune. Through moments of recognition of natural beauty-the only avenue of his spirit that is open, he modestly confesses-the "guidance" comes. It brings a searching of the spirit strange to this man, as to all of his species. But slowly out of it his soul awakens to a sense, piercing, overwhelming, and almost unendurably sweet, of the great beauty of life and of all created things, the force of love and beauty that is back and beyond and above all things. Through the all-abiding love of the woman he has lost, working after her death, this force is revealed to him. The beauty of the thought and the writing in this simple tale is exquisite exceedingly. It is like the mother-of-pearl flush on a cloud at sunrise in comparison to the lurid strength of Blackwood's earlier works. But, although it purports to be a man's belated understanding of a woman's love, it is in reality a man's understanding of the love and the soul of his lost brother. In this it is a true Blackwood book. The love of man for man he can beautifully depict. The love of man for woman, or woman for man, in its human side, is a sealed page to him.
Read Less
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
