j d worthington
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- Joined
- May 9, 2006
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- 13,889
I am wondering if there is anyone here who has read this odd little novel? I know it was (as was common with various other of Dr. Holmes' works) many times reprinted in the nineteenth and perhaps the early twentieth centuries, but I don't recall ever seeing it in print in my lifetime. Nor am I terribly surprised at that, following my own reading of it. It is just not the sort of thing to appeal to most modern readers, I think; yet for those who can enjoy the literature of that period, it does has much to offer.
Holmes' manner in this, at least in the earlier portions and the final chapter, are something of a cross between that of Washington Irving and Nathaniel Hawthorne; and he certainly uses his theme to explore what is essentially a theological question, much as the latter tended to to; yet there are some finely weird effects in the novel as well, not to mention some fine character sketches and a truly memorable figure in Elsie herself... who is somewhat enigmatic, being at times menacing, at others outright fearsome, and at still others one deserving the reader's sympathy and pity. The landscape touches are very finely chosen to emphasize the action of the novel, and "The Mountain" is itself a character which looms over the whole from the time Mr. Langdon goes to the small town to teach, until the final pages of the novel.
I must admit that I am a bit surprized that Lovecraft thought so highly of this one, given its at times humorous tone, the theological concerns, and its attention to character to (at times) the cost of the atmosphere; yet there are things there which I can easily see appealing to him; and "The Mountain" apparently made so much of an impression that he himself thought it might have been responsible for his later writing of "Zaman's Hill", one of the Fungi from Yuggoth sonnet-sequence. I would also contend that this may have influenced his use of dialect even more than Lowell's Biglow Papers, which has for some time been considered the source of the peculiar manner of speech of his New England rustics. It seems to me that the particular attempt at capturing the phonetics of that speech -- the manner of spelling as well as the elisions and syntax used -- are extremely similar to that used in Dr. Holmes' novel; at times quite remarkably so.
At any rate, I found myself quite pleased with the experience, and am almost certain to return to this one again over the years; but I would like to hear from anyone else who has read this one and is willing to share their own thoughts and opinions....
Holmes' manner in this, at least in the earlier portions and the final chapter, are something of a cross between that of Washington Irving and Nathaniel Hawthorne; and he certainly uses his theme to explore what is essentially a theological question, much as the latter tended to to; yet there are some finely weird effects in the novel as well, not to mention some fine character sketches and a truly memorable figure in Elsie herself... who is somewhat enigmatic, being at times menacing, at others outright fearsome, and at still others one deserving the reader's sympathy and pity. The landscape touches are very finely chosen to emphasize the action of the novel, and "The Mountain" is itself a character which looms over the whole from the time Mr. Langdon goes to the small town to teach, until the final pages of the novel.
I must admit that I am a bit surprized that Lovecraft thought so highly of this one, given its at times humorous tone, the theological concerns, and its attention to character to (at times) the cost of the atmosphere; yet there are things there which I can easily see appealing to him; and "The Mountain" apparently made so much of an impression that he himself thought it might have been responsible for his later writing of "Zaman's Hill", one of the Fungi from Yuggoth sonnet-sequence. I would also contend that this may have influenced his use of dialect even more than Lowell's Biglow Papers, which has for some time been considered the source of the peculiar manner of speech of his New England rustics. It seems to me that the particular attempt at capturing the phonetics of that speech -- the manner of spelling as well as the elisions and syntax used -- are extremely similar to that used in Dr. Holmes' novel; at times quite remarkably so.
At any rate, I found myself quite pleased with the experience, and am almost certain to return to this one again over the years; but I would like to hear from anyone else who has read this one and is willing to share their own thoughts and opinions....