The Purple Cloud By M.P. Shiel Classic Weird Fiction The story, a recording of a medium's meditation over the future writing of the text, details the narrator, Adam Jeffson, on an expedition to the North Pole during the 20th century on board the Boreal. Jeffson's fiancee, the Countess Clodagh, poisons her own cousin in order to secure a place on the ship for Jeffson, because the expedition was known to be one of the best ever planned. A millionaire who died some years previously had provided in his will for the ...
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The Purple Cloud By M.P. Shiel Classic Weird Fiction The story, a recording of a medium's meditation over the future writing of the text, details the narrator, Adam Jeffson, on an expedition to the North Pole during the 20th century on board the Boreal. Jeffson's fiancee, the Countess Clodagh, poisons her own cousin in order to secure a place on the ship for Jeffson, because the expedition was known to be one of the best ever planned. A millionaire who died some years previously had provided in his will for the payment of $175,000,000 to the first person to stand at the North Pole. Before Jeffson leaves, he hears a sermon by a Scottish priest, named Mackay, speaking against Polar research, calling the failure of all previous expeditions the will of God, and prophesying a terrible fate for those who attempt to go against God's will. Jeffson at the same time remembers his meeting with a man who claimed that the universe is a place of strife between vague "powers," "The White" and "The Black," for dominance.
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Great book of another story about the end of the world (reccurent to this period of time ~1930)
I just finished reading Earth abides and it is as good as this one, though different.
klarkash
Feb 19, 2008
Mind-bending Prose at the End of the World
This flawed but still magnificent 1901 work was an early "end of the world" novel, exerting an influence on Stephen King's "The Stand" among many others. Shiel's work is distinguished by indescribably ornate prose and a wide range of erudite references. The power of "The Purple Cloud" is also its downfall; the last third of the novel can't match the first sections, in which Shiel paints, with insane visionary power, the enduring modern fantasy of finding oneself the last man alive on earth. The protagonist Adam Jeffson is the first to reach the North Pole, where his presence seems to trigger a bizarre phenomenon of natural vengeance for his hubris- descending by ship from the pole, he finds not a single soul alive, as a lethal cloud of purple poison has spread over the earth, obliterating all life in its path. Jeffson, borne on waves of Shiel's billowing, decadent poetry of the damned, begins his own campaign of obliteration, burning the dead cities of the earth. Shiel achieves a heightened, widescreen glory unencumbered by plausibility- you will love or hate this book depending on your appreciation for verbal audacity and 50-cent words. Fans of Poe, Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith will find much to appreciate here.
