Re: Arthur Machen
 

I love (and frequently reread) both authors for different reasons. But I agree with James that they are difficult to compare, with one issue the vast differences in their worldviews.

Lovecraft believed in an impersonal and often chaotic universe, while Machen (to me at least) shows the influence of an older view, a natural order that obeys its own rules and displays an inherent harmony and "rightness" to things (even if ocaasionally inimical to humanity). Humans participate in Machen's natural world without losing their essential being and in fact may even discover their souls through immersion in it. The fact that some of these souls may be "stolen" along the way is perhaps humanity's required sacrifice or payment to entry into this world, (see Tolkien's "Faerie?"). Machen's "psychogeographic" works, including "The London Adventure," demonstrate the joy of following the meandering flow of nature to a sense of deeper inhabitation and purpose.

While in Lovecraft's works, often the most "successful" humans (those with the greatest agency) are not the protagonists but the sorcerers who abandoned their humanity to pursue an alien agenda for the sake of personal power, immortality or to merge with an Other race. Unlike Machen's characters, these individuals never really "belong" anywhere. I suspect that this perspective is now more familiar than Machen's to many modern readers.

For those interested in popular occulture, it might be worth noting that Machen was influenced by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which included the study and practice of Renaissance magic, Solomonic magic, astrological magic and Graeco-Egyptian theurgy, all rooted in an orderly universe. These systems purport to work according to natural laws, with angelic /demonic hierarchies with Rules.

While Lovecraft was not himself a member of any magical groups, a number of nontraditional modern occult orders and authors have been influenced by his works, including members of the Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis, the Ordo Templi Orientis Antiqua, Ordo Dracconis et Atri Adamantis, the Temple of Ascending Flame and some chaos magic orders including the Temple ov Psychick Youth. Less nature-based than earlier traditions, each of these antinomian groups mention Lovecraft as a source of inspiration and include aspects of non-human "alien" symbolism in their practice.

Re: Arthur Machen
 

...which, interestingly enough, results, for me, in Lovecraft's tales seeming less bleak than their author's worldview; in an indifferent universe, nothing matters anyway-not even the horror.
But taking Machen's worldview in account when reading Machen's tales really heightens the terror; in Machen's universe, the horror is meaningful because there is a counterweight to it.

Re: Arthur Machen
 

I received Snuggly Books recent printing of Arthur Machen's 'N' in the mail about five minutes ago, which I'm greatly looking forward to reading, having adored the other recent Machen release from Snuggly Books, 'Ornaments in Jade'.

Re: Arthur Machen
 

I read The Green Round some months ago and found it much better than its reputation as a failure on Machen's part to return to his former glory. I was able to purchase an Arkham House 1968 edition for a reasonable price. Stewart Lee, British comedian and Machen fan, has said that one of his favorite Machen works is The Green Round.

Re: Arthur Machen
 

It is also interesting to note that in The Green Round is a dwarfish man who haunts the protagonist. Machen's biographers mention that in his later years Machen became persuaded that there was something in his room, was reluctant to sleep at night because of it, and once even called out of the window for help. In his work Machen would point to an "other-consciousness",..."that shadowy, unknown, or half-known Companion who walks beside each one of us all our days."

Re: Arthur Machen
 

Just saw one of the few movies based on an Arthur Machen short story, The Islington Mystery. The film is El esqueleto de la senora morales/The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales. It's a Mexican black and white flick from 1960. It follows the story quite closely and is an enjoyable black comedy. It's in Spanish.
Machen is quite popular in Latin America. Jorge Luis Borges was a fan.

Re: Arthur Machen
 

Re: Arthur Machen
 

Tartarus Press has announced that they are publishing, "Arthur Machen's 1890s Notebook," edited by The Friends of Arthur Machen.

Arthur Machen’s 1890s notebook, now kept at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, provides an insight into the mind of Machen during what was arguably the most creative decade of his career as an author.

In the notebook Machen contemplated and abandoned ideas for the novel that was to become The Hill of Dreams, and he also made notes towards the composition of fiction that was eventually to be published as Ornaments in Jade, The White People and A Fragment of Life. In the notebook one may also encounter ideas towards what was to become the novel The Secret Glory.

Machen also made intriguing notes for fiction that was never finished, and explored what constituted Great Literature, a process that contributed towards the composition of Hieroglyphics, his very personal and idiosyncratic book of literary criticism. One can see that this process also helped Machen shape and criticise his own fiction.

http://www.tartaruspress.com/machen-1890s-notebook.html

Re: Arthur Machen
 

I could be tempted by this release at some point. I imagine being a paperback re-print that there will be more copies published than the original hardback release?

Re: Arthur Machen
 

YES! YES! YES!

My collection is now as complete as it is ever liable to be. Thrilled.