"The Strange High House in the Mist"

[Extollager]

Just reread this one, after many years. Lovecraft seeks to create an eerie "faerie"/mythological atmosphere and explores some properties of an invented realm.

I've read a lot of Tolkien, but still before me are the two Book of Lost Tales volumes, with Tolkien's early "Cottage of Lost Play." I think the idea of the latter is of a house where humans and Elves may encounter one another, and humans may learn of the history of the Elves. If I'm correct about this very early Tolkien work, then Tolkien and Lovecraft were somewhat alike, in having an early phase of fantasy-world invention in which a human may visit a strange cottage and there learn of, or even experience, the other world. Of course, HPL being HPL, the overtones are more sinister than in Tolkien.

But if there is a parallel between the two works (Cottage of Lost Play, Strange High House), then there is also a parallel in that both authors had to move beyond these early notions in order to develop the much more realized "ancient history" etc. that they set out in better-known, later work. Perhaps someone who's read the early Tolkien work can advise me as to whether this parallel that I'm wondering about is worth considering.

I was also reminded, faintly, of Clifford Simak's Way Station.

 

[j d worthington]

I would not have thought of Way Station myself; though, now that you've mentioned it, I think I can see such a connection albeit (as you mention) a faint one.

"The Strange High House in the Mist" was written around the same period he wrote both "The Silver Key" and began work on The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, the latter of which was his Dunsanian "swan song", while the former was, in many ways, a repudiation of the Dunsanian vein, even though much of the language is strongly reminiscent of those tales.

Yet "The Strange High House..." retains considerable power in its own right, as well as being something of a link with the later Mythos tales which were to come. It isn't so much that Lovecraft had to leave behind the materials he was using, but the manner in which he was using them; instead weaving them into that blurring between the boundaries of reality and dream (or, as he often hints, "super-reality", a reality which is a larger realm than our earth-besotted senses are normally capable of perceiving). Hence the mentions of Kadath in At the Mountains of Madness, or of Carter and the Sign of Koth in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. These are never entirely explained, and in the latter case form a minor element in the tale (the former actually has a very significant thematic and philosophical role to play); yet I really don't think they are either random or simply intended for effect but, rather, form an aspect of that part of the mythology which deals with the intrusions into the real world of the dream realm (and vice versa). I have always found the way the same language and manner in this story moves from the dreamlike to the nightmarish implications in reality to be one of his most skillful bits of writing; the tone both remains the same and takes on such vaster implications... much as is the case, really, with "Polaris" or the poem "Nemesis"....

As for the Tolkien... I'm rather surprised you've not read those two volumes, as they form a substantial foundation for the later volumes in the series. Yes, there are some interesting similarities, especially in the way each writer wove elements of these early works into their later, more developed, productions. Eärendil, for instance, making his first appearance here in a rather different, yet strangely related, role. (That is, one which has some of the same significance, yet quite a different feel to it.) There are several other instances which I think you'll find quite interesting. This is much like Lovecraft's continuing allusions to elements invented during his "Dunsanian" period, which take on a different yet strongly related significance as his own conceptions grew and put forth strange branchings. In both cases, we see the glimpses through the gates of dream, and are only gradually ushered through them into the wonders (and, even in Tolkien, terrors) which lie beyond....

I will also add that, despite a certain tendency toward the childish end of the fairy tale at times (especially in the earlier portions), some of Tolkien's loveliest writings can also be found in these books. It isn't consistent, by any means; but now and again there are flashes of beauty and pure magic which are, to me, very close to what "fantasy" is really all about....

 

[Extollager]

JD wrote, "As for the Tolkien... I'm rather surprised you've not read those two volumes."

Yes -- I have owned the two volumes of The Book of Lost Tales, and it is about time for me to make a serious start on them. I'm currently "fasting" from book buying so that I can make a better effort with my many years' backlog, including these (bought 13 years ago!).

 

[j d worthington]

JD wrote, "As for the Tolkien... I'm rather surprised you've not read those two volumes."

Yes -- I have owned the two volumes of The Book of Lost Tales, and it is about time for me to make a serious start on them. I'm currently "fasting" from book buying so that I can make a better effort with my many years' backlog, including these (bought 13 years ago!).

*chuckle* I know the feeling. I have things I bought much further back than that which I've still not read... though now and again, when time permits, I do make inroads on such....

However, as I said, I think you'll enjoy these, once you begin to get into them. Aside from the points I addressed above, they have their own charm as well, and are actually quite a delightful read....

 

[Extollager]

*chuckle* I know the feeling. I have things I bought much further back than that which I've still not read... though now and again, when time permits, I do make inroads on such....

However, as I said, I think you'll enjoy these, once you begin to get into them. Aside from the points I addressed above, they have their own charm as well, and are actually quite a delightful read....

Your comment inspires me to start a thread at the General Discussion zone, on From Way, Way Back in Your Book Backlog.

 

[Extollager]

As for the Tolkien... I'm rather surprised you've not read those two volumes, as they form a substantial foundation for the later volumes in the series. Yes, there are some interesting similarities, especially in the way each writer wove elements of these early works into their later, more developed, productions. Eärendil, for instance, making his first appearance here in a rather different, yet strangely related, role. (That is, one which has some of the same significance, yet quite a different feel to it.) There are several other instances which I think you'll find quite interesting. ....
I will also add that, despite a certain tendency toward the childish end of the fairy tale at times (especially in the earlier portions), some of Tolkien's loveliest writings can also be found in these books. It isn't consistent, by any means; but now and again there are flashes of beauty and pure magic which are, to me, very close to what "fantasy" is really all about....

I made a good start on The Book of Lost Tales, Part One yesterday, and while I don't have the book at hand and can't cite the place, I felt that there was a little bit of an affinity between what Tolkien was writing and what Lovecraft wrote in, maybe, Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath in places where the focus is on the lovely rather than the sinister. It's interesting to think of the two writers toiling at their relatively early fantasy at about the same time; of course, there's only a two-year difference in their birth-dates.

I read an excellent essay yesterday by John Rateliff, "'A Kind of Elvish Craft': Tolkien as Literary Craftsman," from Tolkien Studies #6, published a few years ago. Rateliff argues that Tolkien describes a scene "not as you would experience it but as you would remember it afterwards." I thought that was interesting as regards Lovecraft since so often his stories are told by narrators remembering things, and, unless they took measurements etc. at the time, the descriptions may be couched "in general terms with just enought specific detail to bring the scene home, to guide the reader's imagination, to drawn on our own memories... a relatively few vivid images, such as would linger in the memory long after the event. After you have read these passages and think back on them, they very strongly resemble your actual memories of similar events." Tolkien's "usual style" is one in which "he sets up a framework then leaves most details to the reader's imagining."

I would have to test this on some of HPL's more mature writing, but I wonder if it wouldn't prove to apply to some of it. Rateliff contends that JRRT "painstakingly developed" this style "over several decades" so as to "spark reader participation. That many readers do get drawn in is witnesses by the intense investment so many people have in these books, the strong personal connection they form with the story, the almost visceral rejection of illustrations or dramatizations that do not fit their own inner vision of the characters, the returning to reread the books again and again to renew our acquaintance with the imaginary world."

Rateliff is thinking, of course, of LOTR, though I started out writing about Book of Lost Tales. Well, I'm wondering if it would prove to be the case that as HPL matured as a writer, he was feeling his way to a style along these lines.