Criticism of Joshi's Unutterable Horror

[Extollager]

http://wormwoodiana.blogspot.com/2013/07/s-t-joshis-unutterable-horror-and-its.html

I don't know this reviewer, but his criticisms sound plausible, given, for example, that Joshi has been reported here at Chrons as regarding Machen's "N" as crap. A remark such as that on that story, assuming it has been fairly reported, does more to give the measure of the critic than of the story.

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/foru...achen-thoughts-527916/index2.html#post1459986

 

[j d worthington]

I would have to dig out my copies of the Chaosium set to check what he said about this, but it isn't usual for Joshi to be that dismissive. When he has objections to a piece, he generally lays out those objections and the reasoning behind them, though I will admit that on occasion, when covering a great deal of material, he can sometimes issue an overly brief statement which really does require clarification, such as his recent reaction to Le Fanu's non-ghostly tales.

Still, I would caution against the similar reaction to Joshi's reviews because of his own materialistic philosophical stance. He has quite often praised work which is distinctly mystical; what he has little patience with is the more simplistic religiosity which has simply not held up under scrutiny for a very, very long time.

In the case of Machen, he made it clear as early as The Weird Tale that he had strong objections to Machen's worldview, but also praised him highly for his various strengths as a writer, particularly the beauty of his language and its efficacy in weaving a sense of the otherworldly (horrific or not). He has also had high praise for Blackwood, despite strong objections to "the ghost man's" mystical and at times overtly religious approach.

However... there is, I think, some justice to some of the remarks made in the review; Joshi does have a tendency to be overly caustic at times, in my opinion; he also does ride his hobby-horse a bit more than is good for the work he is writing now and again. And certainly I think STJ (as well as HPL) has his blind spots (as do we all). On the other hand, I also think he is one of the most widely-read and informative commentators/editors in the field; something which will, I think, make this book one of the more valuable in any collection covering the subject, whatever faults it may contain.

 

[Fried Egg]

Hmmm...I'd not heard about these books. Sounds interesting. Has anyone here have a copy of these yet?

 

[Ningauble]

Hmmm...I'd not heard about these books. Sounds interesting. Has anyone here have a copy of these yet?

Yes, I got mine on December 28 and finished them in January. They're really excellent, but yes, very opinionated.

 

[nerd literature]

These volumes sound rather interesting. Are they worth getting? Just curious. I plan on buying them but are they something I need to drop what I am reading now and pick up

Thanks, Rob