TSOU - Medusa's Coil
Jeffery
On Tue, 23 Jun 1998 03:49:01 GMT, vonj...@hotmail.com wrote:
>"Medusa's Coil"
>Comments: Hardly Lovecraft's best piece. I agree with S. T. Joshi that it
>includes too many supernatural elements - the painting, the hair, and the
>ghostly origin of the house. The motivations of the love triangle are
>somewhat murky - and it's hard for anyone of our time to react favorably to a
>story that ends with the mind-shattering revelation that the woman in the
>tale was part black.
>
On the whole, this story is terrible, and I agree with all of the
points listed above. The tale is cluttered with spooky bits that
don't fit together well. What really hurts is the fact that some of
those bits are very good; there are chunks of this story that are
truly worth reading, and which stack up against Lovecraft's best work.
Other elements are absurd: "Reason deserted me altogether, and before
I knew what I was doing I drew my automatic and sent a shower of
twelve steel-jacketed bullets through the shocking canvas". Did the
Master really write that?
Concerning the love triangle, the less said the better. That
segment illustrates Lovecraft's inability, or unwillingness, to create
believable human characterizations and interactions. Also, note the
shallow presentation of Marceline. She is never sufficiently
developed to be scary. So much more could have been made of her
scenes! I presume that Marceline is supposed to be a fascinating
creature, just as Asenath Waite is supposed to be. The author's
life-long terror of women here gets in the way of his art.
The final, shocking revelation is asinine, even by Lovecraft's
standards. At least he didn't use italics!
>In re-reading this story, I was struck by its similarity to another tale by
>William Faulkner, whose name I cannot recall at the moment.
>
Most interesting; my curiosity is peaked. I hope someone knows
the title.
>The Mythos content of the story is sparse; Cthulhu, R'lyeh, and
>Shub-Niggurath are all mentioned, but none plays any important role in the
>tale.
>
I respectfully beg to differ. I find this content the most
interesting part of the story. The Mythos element, while buried under
the other horrors, is woven into the whole, more so than that business
about the snaky hair and the burned mansion. It is made clear that
Marceline represents an age-old, pre-human evil-- "the frightful
secret that has come down from the days of Cthulhu and the Elder
Ones"-- which has as its focus lost R'lyeh, "the ultimate fountainhead
of all horror on this earth". Such statements, and the weird
background details of Marsh's painting, offer another glimpse of the
nightmares we first saw in "The Call of Cthulhu". There is the Mythos
tie-in to Zimbabwe and its supposed ancient civilization, also hinted
at, though less effectively, in "The Winged Death". Finally, there is
the delightful reference to "Marse Clooloo"! This story has many
weaknesses, but I give it credit for amplifying the Lovecraftian
themes utilized in better known tales.
Jeffery
Aurictouch
(Jeffery) writes:
>On Tue, 23 Jun 1998 03:49:01 GMT, vonj...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
>>"Medusa's Coil"
>>Comments: Hardly Lovecraft's best piece. I agree with S. T. Joshi that it
>>includes too many supernatural elements - the painting, the hair, and the
>>ghostly origin of the house. The motivations of the love triangle are
>>somewhat murky - and it's hard for anyone of our time to react favorably to a
>>story that ends with the mind-shattering revelation that the woman in the
>>tale was part black.
>>
> On the whole, this story is terrible, and I agree with all of the
>points listed above. T
<<SNIP>>
> The final, shocking revelation is asinine, even by Lovecraft's
>standards. At least he didn't use italics!
<<SNIP>>
>>The Mythos content of the story is sparse; Cthulhu, R'lyeh, and
>>Shub-Niggurath are all mentioned, but none plays any important role in the
tale.
>>
> I respectfully beg to differ. I find this content the most
>interesting part of the story. The Mythos element, while buried under
>the other horrors, is woven into the whole, more so than that business
>about the snaky hair and the burned mansion. It is made clear that
>Marceline represents an age-old, pre-human evil--
I agree. "Asinine" was the single one word discription that I gave to this
story years ago, when I first read it.
However, reading this thread has me wondering one thing: The girl was part
black...
<<Insert Lovecratian italics here>>
but what was the *other* part??
Midas