tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28944274.post835618463682814314..comments2023-08-10T23:28:30.929-04:00Comments on Til the Last Hemlock Dies: Ensconced Scudded Across My FanciesJames Robert Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17281049641681225389noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28944274.post-53983319999234286362010-05-01T12:06:08.317-04:002010-05-01T12:06:08.317-04:00I'm glad you brought up HPL. I have always bee...I'm glad you brought up HPL. I have always been willing to forgive Lovecraft's use of antiquated terminology for the very reason that he used them intentionally as tools to create an atmosphere. Many people lose track of (or aren't aware of) the fact that Lovecraft's work was, in fact, high art. He was always trying to evoke a particular emotion and a specific sense of dread. In his case, the otherwise purple prose was an effective method to do this. In addition, you have to understand that HPL was the quintessential atheist (he referred to himself as a "realist"). He didn't believe in any god, and he need proof, evidence (science, if you will). And supernatural fiction was kind of like a guilty pleasure for him. So he set about creating a kind of horror fiction that had, at its base, a twisted science that would make the seemingly supernatural happenings in his work in a kind of logic.<br /><br />My main point is that when you are writing modern stories for modern readers, you need to use modern language in a modern context.<br /><br />I would also forgive (to a certain extent) poets to tend to the purple for the very reason that most poetry is art (well, I guess all of it is). So I will cut some poets some slack there, too.<br /><br />But my favorite poet these days in Charles Bukowski, and he certainly was not excessive in his use of older, tired, faded terms.James Robert Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17281049641681225389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28944274.post-84459990927456749902010-05-01T00:55:38.545-04:002010-05-01T00:55:38.545-04:00Bob,
This was a particularly interesting column. ...Bob,<br /><br />This was a particularly interesting column. I imagine that Karl Wagner is right about the use antiquated words like ensconced, scudded and thews. He was a professional editor and dealt with stories by the hundreds, likely most of them were pretty badly written. But there is always some lingering disagreement with almost any stricture. You are a writer of fiction, and in these instances short story horror fiction. I wonder about the use of these terms in writing in general. They are commonly seen in poetry, much too often in bad poetry, but still they are present even in the great. <br /><br />The use of words not common in our vocabulary forces you to think about the meaning of the word and the meaning the poet is trying to portray. In some ways the reader is detached from the mundane and can better envision the scenes painted by the poet. It is like a game between the writer and the reader. I see their usage in the writings of many of the famous essayists. I see it scattered among the paragraphs of Edward Abbey, which I am rereading right now. I am somehow drawn to these words and the sounds they make in my mind, much in the same way I a repelled by the drabness of Dickens and pointlessness of Fitzgerald. <br /><br />I see the usage of antique terms in fantasy literature. They are I beleive designed to create a mood of ancient magic and a world different from our own. H. P. Lovecraft used these obscure words and included much purple prose in his tales, yet he is cited by some as the father of modern horror writers. Somehow these overblown descriptions simply added to the mood of the story and under his pen they felt right. <br /><br />Purple prose should not be the goal of course. It easily becomes overdone, heavy, and wearying very quickly, but I don't believe that an occasional ensconced thrown into a story is always a bad thing. It might be exactly the word that is needed at that point. Throw in a crepuscular light here and there if you want also.<br /><br />Ed FrankEdward Forrest Frankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00427281735731972458noreply@blogger.com