"Inspired by the life of pulp writer Robert E. Howard"

[Extollager]

http://www.mupress.org/productdetails.cfm?sku=H905

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I think I'll stick with the original.
Anyway most review / publisher claims about novel X is a great new imaginative <Classic novel A> are dubious.

 

[j d worthington]

I was completely unimpressed until I saw that one of the blurbs was by Laird Barron. Now I need to find out the context of that quote. If the rest is as favorable... then this may be worth looking into. If it is, as is so often the case, the one sentence which favors the writer or work out of a generally negative review... well......

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Still, it needs to be fabulous indeed to be $24.

 

[Connavar]

Sounds like another one making a buck of the tragic end to life of an important, talented writer. Write about how good he was in many fields and who he was and not the way he died.

JD: Laird Barron wouldnt the first hailed writer to sell his name for a blurb.

 

[j d worthington]

Sounds like another one making a buck of the tragic end to life of an important, talented writer. Write about how good he was in many fields and who he was and not the way he died.

JD: Laird Barron wouldnt the first hailed writer to sell his name for a blurb.

By no means. On the other hand, a lot of times it is simply a matter of the publisher skillfully editing an honest quote which was even harshly critical to reflect the single "positive" thing said; sort of a "So-and-so is an incredibly skillful writer whose prose is an exquisite use of the language" which continues on to add: "it is such a shame that their time and effort was wasted on this piece of dreck." THAT happens more than you might think, and writers either accept it as one of the pitfalls of the game, or tear their hair out over it. That's why I say what I do about it: I want the full context, before I go either way.

As for the work itself: as I said, I wasn't at all impressed until that point, and even then I'm only cautiously curious. But the subject matter itself isn't the problem -- ANYTHING can be turned into great art in the right hands. My problem is that I doubt these are the right hands. I'd be very pleased to be proven wrong, but for the time being, I remain skeptical....

 

[Extollager]

I should be able to get back to you-all, since the library here will be ordering the book and I'm quite interested in getting my hands on it.

 

[Randy M.]

[...]But the subject matter itself isn't the problem -- ANYTHING can be turned into great art in the right hands.

Bingo!

I was dubious about a novel written from the point of view of Dr. Jekyll's maid until I read Mary Reilly. That turned out to be one of my favorite novels from the '90s.

Barron's quote caught my eye, too. Might be interested once it goes to paperback, if ever.

Randy M.

 

[Connavar]

Bingo!

I was dubious about a novel written from the point of view of Dr. Jekyll's maid until I read Mary Reilly. That turned out to be one of my favorite novels from the '90s.

Barron's quote caught my eye, too. Might be interested once it goes to paperback, if ever.

Randy M.

Is Dr Jekyll a real person who was a modern great in writing whose death is sickly used by publishers, desperate authors? It would be like taking Stevenson personal life and writing about his sexual issues or his death or something.

I think its a disgrace that you use a suicide to sell books and i hope the author fails and the book is forgotten. The legacy of a modern pioneer of fantasy should not be his death. Usually i dont care but this time i will hope this book fades from memory fast and its small print nobody type author anyway.....

 

[Connavar]

By no means. On the other hand, a lot of times it is simply a matter of the publisher skillfully editing an honest quote which was even harshly critical to reflect the single "positive" thing said; sort of a "So-and-so is an incredibly skillful writer whose prose is an exquisite use of the language" which continues on to add: "it is such a shame that their time and effort was wasted on this piece of dreck." THAT happens more than you might think, and writers either accept it as one of the pitfalls of the game, or tear their hair out over it. That's why I say what I do about it: I want the full context, before I go either way.

As for the work itself: as I said, I wasn't at all impressed until that point, and even then I'm only cautiously curious. But the subject matter itself isn't the problem -- ANYTHING can be turned into great art in the right hands. My problem is that I doubt these are the right hands. I'd be very pleased to be proven wrong, but for the time being, I remain skeptical....

The subject matter is a problem to me i would be annoyed even if it was written by Toni Morrrison herself but im glad the author doesnt seem like the right hands. I think it would be little many classic authors if we focused too much on their death like non-fans do to REH. I mean i admire Sylvia Plath alot but i dont try think about her young life, her tragic death.

 

[Randy M.]

I see your point, Connavar, and you're right, Mary Reilly isn't an exact parallel, I was using as an example of unpromising material when heard in outline. But I respectfully disagree with your position.

I don't deny writers any subject matter. Some very distasteful subject matter has lead to insightful fiction as the writer tries to understand and convey the events and motives behind the subject. And this is not the first time that Howard's life has been used in fiction: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118163/

Poe has been the subject of literary exploration rather than the explorer, Lovecraft has been the hero of several stories ("Weird Tales" by Fred Chappell, for instance) and there was even a series of crime novels featuring Ambrose Bierce as the detective. Bierce was also at the center of Carlos Fuentes' The Old Gringo. Once you become a public figure, even one who was as minor a public figure in his lifetime as Howard, you open yourself to this kind of scrutiny.


Randy M.

 

[Extollager]

I like The Whole Wide World while realizing it's not to be taken as an accurate biography of Howard. It did help to prompt my interest in Howard as one of those writers (like Jack Williamson) who influenced the development of imaginative fiction in America, and who wrote some stories that are remembered by many -- while living in remote Southwestern places. It's intriguing to think of them out there, their imaginations captivated by sf and/or fantasy, with maybe no friends or acquaintances nearby who would have much interest in those genres. Of course, it can be interesting also to read about the writers who did have fellow fans/aspirant writers, etc. on hand, like Asimov, Pohl, Knight, Merril, Wollheim, Kornbluth, etc.

 

[j d worthington]

I think Randy has said most of what I would have said about the appropriateness of the subject matter; I will simply reaffirm that no subject matter, just because of its nature, should be off-limits to any writer. A lot of them are going to botch it, but there are always those who can take the same material and create a lasting masterpiece which provides great insight into the human condition. When it comes to dealing with Howard's tragic death, I think this is a perfect opening to examine Howard as a person and through that lens to say something meaningful about what it means to be human. I long ago learned that, if I have a gut reaction against something, it says one hell of a lot more about me than about that subject, especially where an artistic exploration of said subject is concerned, and I've yet to meet a person where this didn't prove to be the case.

So, while I am naturally skeptical and cautious, I am open to finding out where this piece lands on the spectrum. If it is simply a cheap swipe at Howard (something which, even at my most skeptical, I sincerely doubt), then I will be happy to excoriate the writer for being a cheap-jack s.o.b. who deserves absolutely no consideration. If it is an honest, but flawed effort, I will give the writer credit for that while noting the faults. If, on the other hand, the universe rears back and delivers a miracle and it proves to be that rara avis posited above... then I will frankly celebrate the fact we have someone who could take such problematic material and create something great with it.

For the moment, however, I'm going to have to hear a lot more positive about it before my skepticism begins to wane....

 

[Connavar]

I agree with Randy about the fact when you become a public figure, you open yourself to this kind of scrutiny and i really i have no trouble with that. There are many literary examples built on fictionalized life of authors. My trouble is only the never-ending focus on the way he died and that is the interest here too. His tragic death is not all there is to examining Howard as a person. I have never seen them focus on anything else about him as a person. Its always he died young, tragic suicide like it is cheap Hollywood melodrama.

There are only good biographies by scholar who are fans too.

 

[j d worthington]

I agree with Randy about the fact when you become a public figure, you open yourself to this kind of scrutiny and i really i have no trouble with that. There are many literary examples built on fictionalized life of authors. My trouble is only the never-ending focus on the way he died and that is the interest here too. His tragic death is not all there is to examining Howard as a person. I have never seen them focus on anything else about him as a person. Its always he died young, tragic suicide like it is cheap Hollywood melodrama.

There are only good biographies by scholar who are fans too.

If the focus of a work of fiction remains on the suicide (rather than, for instance, having that be a recurring moment or motif which resonates with multiple meanings as it casts new reflections on other aspects of the character) then that would definitely be something worthy of harsh criticism. Whether or not that is the case here I do not know, but I rather doubt it. Time will tell.

I understand your complaint, and even sympathize with it -- and certainly I prefer Howard's suicide be seen in context rather than as the defining point of his life. No single point of anyone's life is "the" defining moment; it is at most one of many, and REH was much too complex a person to be reduced to such simple terms.

I don't know as anyone would have to be a fan to write a good scholarly biography of REH; in fact, being a "fan" in the genuine sense might well impede such an attempt. A certain distance is necessary, to allow a degree of objectivity where one can examine the subject critically, both pro and con. This is not to say that a fan who was also a scholar couldn't do such (Joshi certainly did so with HPL, for instance), but that in most cases it is an uphill battle.

I will admit that one of the things I would like to see when it comes to an examination of Howard -- in fiction or fact -- is his love of his region and its folklore; of history and the romantic view of certain aspects of same; of his intense commitment to the sort of ideals often exhibited in the ancient sagas and eddas (as well as such works as Beowulf or The Battle of Malden -- which brings up a question as to what he would have thought of Tolkien's examination of the idea of ofermōd in that poem -- see "The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorthelm's Son"). etc., and the relation of these aspects to his life and work. I think there is a tremendous field of study open for both lovers of Howard's work and for those who are simply interested in the lives of interesting people, particularly those who have been influential on others in or out of literature....

 

[Ray McCarthy]

No single point of anyone's life is "the" defining moment;

Especially the end of it.

 

[Extollager]

Ray and J. D., you might get a disagreement from Sophocles on that one... see the conclusion of Oedipus the King.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

see the conclusion of Oedipus the King.

It's a story and hardly typical.

What I meant is that by definition someone's life can't whatsoever be defined by their death, their death means their life is over.

 

[Extollager]

I was referring to the lines of the Chorus, when they say, Count no one happy (or unhappy) till you see how his life ends.

Sure, that's different from modern sentiment, which perhaps would tend eventually (as it so often does) to a quantification of the human, and would wish that one could say: Well, he had a good life because out of a possible score of 100, he scored 87% -- or that one could somehow say: Assuming 100 defining events scattered throughout his life, he had more "positive" than "negative" (?!) ones, so, yeah, a good life.

But I am coming to think that, where the pre-modern world differs from the modern, I think it's worth giving the pre-modern quite serious consideration as possibly right, except where it is obvious that the modern must be favored (e.g. the always-invoked antibiotics and anaesthetics). Thus I am prejudiced in favor of the pre-modern, which across societies with important differences, does still (so far as I know) generally agree that a good life is a life that ends well.* That is what I take the Chorus to be saying, and I have little doubt that statements similar, thought differing perhaps in important ways, could be found in other pre-modern societies.

*And that would be true whether the dying process is relatively swift, as it often was in pre-modern societies, or slow, as it often is today.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

But I am coming to think that, where the pre-modern world differs from the modern, I think it's worth giving the pre-modern quite serious consideration as possibly right,

Ethics, Morality etc you could be right.
Perhaps someone can redefine their life by their Will, or a death bed repentance, but I fail to see how any sudden death can define or redefine a life. I think perhaps we are thinking or talking about the same thing. Howard's Suicide was a tragedy, but his life up till then, his relationships and his writing surely both defines his life and his legacy. The ending of it was an interruption, a tragedy, not a defining moment.