-Author: Arthur MachenAuthor -Legal Name: Jones, Arthur Llewellyn-Birthplace: Caerleon on Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK-Birthdate: 3 March 1863-Deathdate: 15 December 1947-Language: English-Used These Alternate Names: Gervase Perrot-Author Tags: horror (9), fantasy (8), Bleiler78 (6), Librivox (5), weird (2), Horror: 100 Best Books (1), Internet Archive (1), transcendence (1), angels (1), supernatural (1), Witches' Sabbath (1), body degeneration (1), physical horror (1), drug (1), first person point of view (1)Arthur ...
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-Author: Arthur MachenAuthor -Legal Name: Jones, Arthur Llewellyn-Birthplace: Caerleon on Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK-Birthdate: 3 March 1863-Deathdate: 15 December 1947-Language: English-Used These Alternate Names: Gervase Perrot-Author Tags: horror (9), fantasy (8), Bleiler78 (6), Librivox (5), weird (2), Horror: 100 Best Books (1), Internet Archive (1), transcendence (1), angels (1), supernatural (1), Witches' Sabbath (1), body degeneration (1), physical horror (1), drug (1), first person point of view (1)Arthur MachenWELSH WRITERArthur Machen, pseudonym of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, (born March 3, 1863, Caerleon, Monmouthshire, Eng.-died Dec. 15, 1947, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire), Welsh novelist and essayist, a forerunner of 20th-century Gothic science fiction.Machen's work was deeply influenced by his childhood in Wales and his readings in the occult and metaphysics. He lived most of his life in poverty as a clerk, teacher, and translator. In 1902 he became an actor with Benson's Shakespearean Repertory Company. And, in 1912, approaching his 50th birthday, he joined the staff of the London Evening News.The quality of Machen's writing was demonstrated early in World War I when the newspaper published the short story "The Angel of Mons" from The Bowmen and Other Legends of War (1915), which circulated widely as a true story and gave hope to thousands of soldiers in battle. Like Thomas Hardy, Machen responded to the spiritual power and antiquity of the British countryside. His fantasies are often set in medieval England or Wales, as in the autobiographical The Hill of Dreams (1907), which evokes ancient Roman forts and Welsh mysteries. Even his stories set in London are deeply romantic and nostalgic for a pre-industrial era. Other works include The Terror (1917), The Great God Pan and the Inmost Light (1894), Far Off Things (1922), and Things Near and Far (1923). Machen also translated Casanova's Memoirs (12 vol., 1930).Lucian Taylor, son of an Anglican rector in a rural parish, was an extraordinary lad, even before he went to school. He was both studious and reflective, so much so that he was not accepted readily by the boys of the neighborhood. When Lucian went away to school, he did very well in his studies, but he formed an acute dislike for athletics and for social life with his fellow students. In his studies, he turned toward the less material and preferred to learn of the dim Celtic and Roman days of Britain, of medieval church history, and of works in magic.Story.Lucian Taylor, son of an Anglican rector in a rural parish, was an extraordinary lad, even before he went to school. He was both studious and reflective, so much so that he was not accepted readily by the boys of the neighborhood. When Lucian went away to school, he did very well in his studies, but he formed an acute dislike for athletics and for social life with his fellow students. In his studies, he turned toward the less material and preferred to learn of the dim Celtic and Roman days of Britain, of medieval church history, and of works in magic.When he was fifteen years old, Lucian returned to his home during the August holidays and found it quite changed. His mother had died during the previous year, and his father's fortunes had sunk lower and lower. As a result, his father had become exceedingly moody, and Lucian spent much of his time away from the house. His habit was to wander through the rolling countryside by himself.One bright summer afternoon, he climbed up a steep hillside to the site of an old Roman fort. The site was at some distance from any human habitation, and Lucian felt quite alone. Because of the heat, he had an impulse to strip off his sweaty clothing and take a nap. He did, only to be awakened by someone kissing him. By the time he had fully regained his senses, the unknown person had disappeared.
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Arthur Machen, one of the 20th Century?s most talented writers of supernatural horror fiction, wrote Hill of Dreams, his autobiographic novel, in 1922. The novel concerns a gifted young writer, Lucien Taylor, whose calling to write great (not just good) works of literature dooms him to self-destruction. The novel follows Lucien?s life from boyhood until his mid-twenties. Lucien grows up in a rural village in Wales near the ruins of an ancient Roman fortress (Machen himself grew up in Caerleon, Wales near the ruins of the Roman citadel, Isca Silurum). While exploring these ruins, Lucien undergoes a mystical awakening and becomes fascinated with ancient Roman culture, paganism and the supernatural. His imagination is so captured, it is only a matter of time until he starts to write fiction with supernatural and pagan themes. While still in his teens, Lucien sends a manuscript to a publishing firm. The publisher rejects the manuscript. A few months later, Lucien purchases a newly-published novel which contains entire chapters lifted from his ?rejected? manuscript. Saddened and angered, Lucien again wanders to the Roman ruins. There, he happens to meet a neighbor girl and has a sexual encounter which he associates with the fauns and nymphs of Roman mythology. Lucien?s imagination is so active that the border between reality and fantasy is sometimes blurred. In an effort to reach new heights of imagination and expression, Lucien begins to induce mystic experiences and trances. He dabbles in the occult, engages in masochistic rituals and starves himself to induce visions. His neighbors and relatives notice the changes in Lucien and encourage him to eat, to get plenty of rest, to give up writing and to pursue a real occupation. Unexpectedly, Lucien receives an inheritance which enables him to move to London and devote himself to writing full time. By this time, Lucien is caught in a downward spiral of increasingly disturbing visions, induced by a number of unhealthy methods. He manages to completely erase the border between fantasy and reality, but ironically, he has so disabled himself that he can no longer write coherently. Machen?s story reads almost like poetry and is told in an artful, subtle fashion. The imagery of the first chapter is indescribably beautiful. The final four chapters, detailing his character?s descent into insanity, are vivid and horrific. Machen describes the final sensations of a dying brain so vividly and in such detail that I cannot help but wonder how close Machen came to the same fate. Hill of Dreams is among the finest portrayals of the self-destructive artist, ranking with Coleridge?s Kubla Khan, Mann?s Doctor Faustus and Berlioz?s Symphonie Fantasique. Through repeated allusions to Poe, Coleridge and DeQuincey, Machen pays tribute to other great writers who have tried the same path to greatness. Although Machen has achieved cult icon status (due, in part, to his role in the creation of the Angel of Mons legend), he is underrated as an author. I am greatly impressed with all of his works that I?ve read thus far. Hill of Dreams is the most impressive of his works.
