_John the Balladeer_ by Manly Wade Wellman
Chad R. Orzel
I found this last weekend in Schuylerville, New York, which is just
about the last place you'd expect to find a really good used book
store. There is, however, a really good used book store there...
This is a collection of Wellman's Appalachian fantasy stories,
featuring the eponymous John:
Where I've been is places, and what I've seen is things, and
there've been times I've run off from seeing them, off to other
places and things. I keep moving, me and this guitar with the
silver strings to it, slung behind my shoulder. Sometimes I've got
food with me and an extra shirt maybe, but most times just the
guitar, and trust to God for what I need else.
I don't claim much. John's my name, and about that I'll only say I
hope I've got some of the goodness of good men who've been named
it. I'm no more than just a natural man; well, maybe taller than
some. [...]
Up these heights and down these hollows you'd best go expecting
anything. Maybe everything. What's long time ago left off happening
outside still goes on here, and the tales the mountain folk tell
sound truer here than outside. About what I tell, if you believe it
you might could get some good thing out of it. If you don't believe
it, well, I don't have a gun out to you to make you stop and hark
at it.
(Taken from "Farther Down the Trail", a collection of little vignettes
that were used as filler in some earlier collection, and are clumsily
thrown together here).
These are stories rooted in folklore and folk music, of a guitar
player wandering the back woods of North Carolina looking for and
singing old folk tunes, and encountering magic good and ill. In the
various stories collected here (spanning some thirty-five years of
writing), John encounters all manner of odd monsters and folkloric
beasts, from undead witches to animated skeltons, to giants out of the
book of Genesis. Christianity is also critically important in this
world, with Bible verses having real power to ward off harm, and Jesus
Himself makes an appearance (in one of the weaker stories).
It's hard to say exactly why I like these stories (I own four of the
five Silver John novels, too, and they haven't been easy to locate),
seeing how I'm not particularly religious, and I'm a Yankee to the
core. There's just a simple sort of charm to the whole thing-- the
narrative voice is engaging (all but one of the stories are told in
first person by John), and for all the Southern-fried Lovecraft
character of the villains, these are upbeat and hopeful tales. John
encounters all manner of curses and witchery, and eons-old creeping
terrors from the depths of nightmare, but every one of them can be
turned aside with sturdy Christian faith and a few hymns picked out on
a guitar with silver strings.
These are great comfort reading, in their way. I think the novels
actually work slightly better than the short stories, as the narration
has the unhurried flow characteristic of the region, which makes the
short stories feel a little cramped. Still, stories like "Nine Yards
of Other Cloth" (in which John meets his beloved Evadare), "Trill
Coster's Burden", "The Little Black Train", and "Shiver in the Pines"
are well worth reading. The "American Tolkien" claims floated in the
introduction and cover copy are a little overblown, but John's an
enjoyable character to spend some time with, and Wellman has created a
uniquely American fantasy landscape that's a nice change of pace from
most modern fantasy.
--
Chad Orzel
Book Log: http://home.earthlink.net/~orzelc/booklog.html
Reviews: http://home.earthlink.net/~orzelc/Reviews.html
djinn
news:qvarau8p3fhc7n0dl...@4ax.com:
> John's an
> enjoyable character to spend some time with, and Wellman has created a
> uniquely American fantasy landscape that's a nice change of pace from
> most modern fantasy.
>
I first read Wellmans's stories while I was living in North Carolina and he
got the people and places just right. His fantasy is always personal, too.
Instead of charging armies John meets the bad guys in person.
now that songs repeating in my head
"I'll weave nine yards of other cloth, to make a shroud for John"
@hotmail.com.invalid Eric D. Berge
See http://www.locksley.com/whofears.htm for Joe Bethancourt's musical
settings of the songs from the Silver John stories; very well done
stuff - I have the tape myself.
--
------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric D. Berge
(remove spaces for valid address)
Clay lies still, but blood's a rover
Breath's a ware that will not keep
Up, lad! When the journey's over
There'll be time enough to sleep.
- A.E.Housman, "Reveille"
------------------------------------------------------------------
Vlatko Juric-Kokic
wrote:
>but every one of them can be
>turned aside with sturdy Christian faith and a few hymns picked out on
>a guitar with silver strings.
I agree with your assessment of Wellman, but this one is not true.
Remember George Washington?
Or the desrick?
vlatko
--
_Neither Fish Nor Fowl_
http://www.webart.hr/nrnm/eng/
http://www.michaelswanwick.com/
vlatko.ju...@zg.hinet.hr
Chad R. Orzel
<vlatko.ju...@zg.hinet.hr> wrote:
>On Fri, 05 Apr 2002 13:54:26 GMT, Chad R. Orzel <orz...@earthlink.net>
>wrote:
>
>>but every one of them can be
>>turned aside with sturdy Christian faith and a few hymns picked out on
>>a guitar with silver strings.
>
>I agree with your assessment of Wellman, but this one is not true.
>
>Remember George Washington?
>
>Or the desrick?
If I wanted to nit-pick, I'd argue that faith and the guitar were
instrumental in letting John survive both of those encounters (he used
a charm from _The Long Lost Friend_ to regain enough freedom of
movement to throw the quarter which conjured George Washington, and
the guitar helped shield him from the monsters around the desrick on
Yandro).
But really, I was just waxing poetic.
Eric Walker
[...]
>The "American Tolkien" claims floated in the introduction and
>cover copy are a little overblown, but John's an enjoyable
>character to spend some time with, and Wellman has created a
>uniquely American fantasy landscape that's a nice change of
>pace from most modern fantasy.
I have yet to sit down and read the things in their right
order, end to end, but my feeling is that the earlier ones are
much better than the later ones, which seem to be forced rather
than to flow freely from Wellman's imagination.
My sense is that the character jumped the shark, as one
apparently says these days, when he became a sort of occult
G-Man, working for the gummint.
--
Cordially,
Eric Walker, webmaster
Great Science-Fiction & Fantasy Works
http://sfandf.owlcroft.com/
Chad R. Orzel
<ra...@owlcroft.com> wrote:
>On Fri, 05 Apr 2002 13:54:26 GMT, Chad R. Orzel wrote:
>
>[...]
>
>>The "American Tolkien" claims floated in the introduction and
>>cover copy are a little overblown, but John's an enjoyable
>>character to spend some time with, and Wellman has created a
>>uniquely American fantasy landscape that's a nice change of
>>pace from most modern fantasy.
>
>I have yet to sit down and read the things in their right
>order, end to end, but my feeling is that the earlier ones are
>much better than the later ones, which seem to be forced rather
>than to flow freely from Wellman's imagination.
I thought the earliest of the stories were a little weak, with the
best stuff coming sort of in the middle of the run. Of course, there's
a twenty-year gap between the publication of "Nine Yards of Other
Cloth" and "Trill Coster's Burden" which complicates things a bit...
>My sense is that the character jumped the shark, as one
>apparently says these days, when he became a sort of occult
>G-Man, working for the gummint.
As far as I know, that only happens once, in one of the novels (though
there's one novel I haven't read, so there might be two "psychic
G-man" stories...). None of the stories in this book use that gimmick.
Ashland Henderson
Wellman was an interesting writer. I just picked up the first three
volumes of a planned 5 volume collection of his work that Nightshade
Books is putting up. While I've read, and love, the John stories,
these books have a lot of his other work I hadn't encountered. And
it's good. The stories are all from the pulp school of writing but
he transcended the genre. Some are downright scary and some aren't but
most of them can raise a good set of goosebumps even when you aren't
scared. A highly recommended writer.
Ashland Henderson
I have all of them and it only happens once.
Eric Walker
[...]
>> >My sense is that the character jumped the shark, as one
>> >apparently says these days, when he became a sort of occult
>> >G-Man, working for the gummint.
>>
>> As far as I know, that only happens once, in one of the
>> novels (though there's one novel I haven't read, so there
>> might be two "psychic G-man" stories...). None of the
>> stories in this book use that gimmick.
>
>I have all of them and it only happens once.
I _know_ that there is a minimum of one short story, and I am
fairly sure more, in which that is his status.
Liz Broadwell
: On 8 Apr 2002 13:42:56 -0700, Ashland Henderson wrote:
: [...]
: >> >My sense is that the character jumped the shark, as one
: >> >apparently says these days, when he became a sort of occult
: >> >G-Man, working for the gummint.
: >>
: >> As far as I know, that only happens once, in one of the
: >> novels (though there's one novel I haven't read, so there
: >> might be two "psychic G-man" stories...). None of the
: >> stories in this book use that gimmick.
: >
: >I have all of them and it only happens once.
: I _know_ that there is a minimum of one short story, and I am
: fairly sure more, in which that is his status.
Does _John the Balladeer_ include all the John short stories? <checks
copy> It doesn't include any John-as-G-man ones. I only have the
novel _The Old Gods Waken_, which doesn't use this trope either. (I
find the short stories interesting, but the novels repetitive. Of
those I've read, _Old Gods_ is by far the most compelling.)
Peace,
Liz
--
Elizabeth Broadwell, or, ebroadwe at | "I've been beaten by things that,
dept dot english dot upenn dot edu, | that, uh, that were pretty -- that
of the Department of English | weren't -- that stunk."
at the University of Pennsylvania | -- Randy Newman on the Oscars
Chad R. Orzel
<ra...@owlcroft.com> wrote:
>On 8 Apr 2002 13:42:56 -0700, Ashland Henderson wrote:
>[...]
>>> >My sense is that the character jumped the shark, as one
>>> >apparently says these days, when he became a sort of occult
>>> >G-Man, working for the gummint.
>>>
>>> As far as I know, that only happens once, in one of the
>>> novels (though there's one novel I haven't read, so there
>>> might be two "psychic G-man" stories...). None of the
>>> stories in this book use that gimmick.
>>
>>I have all of them and it only happens once.
>
>I _know_ that there is a minimum of one short story, and I am
>fairly sure more, in which that is his status.
<shrug>
The collection I have claims to be complete, and none of the stories
seems to have him as a government agent. He's asked once (in "Can
These Bones Live?") whether he is a G-man, and halfway ducks the
question (stating that he's not looking for illicit stills), but
that's as close as it comes.
There's one novel where he's asked to look into something by the
government (either _The Lost and the Lurking_ or _The Hanging Stones_,
and I'm too lazy to go check which), but that's the extent of it. And
even in that one, it looked like a special request, not a regular job.
Ashland Henderson
> On 8 Apr 2002 13:42:56 -0700, Ashland Henderson wrote:
>
> [...]
>
> >> >My sense is that the character jumped the shark, as one
> >> >apparently says these days, when he became a sort of occult
> >> >G-Man, working for the gummint.
> >>
> >> As far as I know, that only happens once, in one of the
> >> novels (though there's one novel I haven't read, so there
> >> might be two "psychic G-man" stories...). None of the
> >> stories in this book use that gimmick.
> >
> >I have all of them and it only happens once.
>
> I _know_ that there is a minimum of one short story, and I am
> fairly sure more, in which that is his status.
My fairly undependable memory says one of the novels, not any
of the short stories. Given time this evening I will try to
flip through them and check.
Eric Walker
[...]
>There's one novel where he's asked to look into something by
>the government (either _The Lost and the Lurking_ or _The
>Hanging Stones_, and I'm too lazy to go check which), but
>that's the extent of it. And even in that one, it looked like
>a special request, not a regular job.
The novel is indeed _The Lost and the Lurking_. The short
story, which I have not yet determined to comb the books for,
seems to me _very_ vaguely to involve some happenings that are
either ESP or close to it, and I even more vaguely *seem* to
recall that it ends with John steering one of the "talented"
into some gummint program.
I have a notoriously leaky and defective memory, but I am
awfully sure about this one.
Chad R. Orzel
<ra...@owlcroft.com> wrote:
>On Tue, 09 Apr 2002 13:19:13 GMT, Chad R. Orzel wrote:
>
>[...]
>
>>There's one novel where he's asked to look into something by
>>the government (either _The Lost and the Lurking_ or _The
>>Hanging Stones_, and I'm too lazy to go check which), but
>>that's the extent of it. And even in that one, it looked like
>>a special request, not a regular job.
>
>The novel is indeed _The Lost and the Lurking_. The short
>story, which I have not yet determined to comb the books for,
>seems to me _very_ vaguely to involve some happenings that are
>either ESP or close to it, and I even more vaguely *seem* to
>recall that it ends with John steering one of the "talented"
>into some gummint program.
The preface to the story collection mentions an earlier series of
stories by Wellman involving a sort of psychic detective named John
Thunstone. Perhaps you're thinking of one of those?
Nothing in the story collection I have really matches your
description.
Ashland Henderson
I went through the John short stories last night and found no reference
to any sort of psychic G-man concept. In one of the novels, possibly
"The Lost and the Lurking", John mentions having been asked by the
president to look into something in a particular location, but I don't
think it occurs anywhere else in the series.
Ashland Henderson
> On Wed, 10 Apr 2002 01:39:51 -0700 (PDT), "Eric Walker"
> <ra...@owlcroft.com> wrote:
>
> >On Tue, 09 Apr 2002 13:19:13 GMT, Chad R. Orzel wrote:
> >
> >[...]
> >
> >>There's one novel where he's asked to look into something by
> >>the government (either _The Lost and the Lurking_ or _The
> >>Hanging Stones_, and I'm too lazy to go check which), but
> >>that's the extent of it. And even in that one, it looked like
> >>a special request, not a regular job.
> >
> >The novel is indeed _The Lost and the Lurking_. The short
> >story, which I have not yet determined to comb the books for,
> >seems to me _very_ vaguely to involve some happenings that are
> >either ESP or close to it, and I even more vaguely *seem* to
> >recall that it ends with John steering one of the "talented"
> >into some gummint program.
>
> The preface to the story collection mentions an earlier series of
> stories by Wellman involving a sort of psychic detective named John
> Thunstone. Perhaps you're thinking of one of those?
I just reread the Thunstone short stories in the Nightshade Books
collection "The Third Cry to Legba". While Thunstone was a dedicated
spook hunter, I wouldn't quite class him as a psychic detective. He
was more in the style of Jules de Grandin as a gifted dealer with
evil things, not a professional.
cd skogsberg
>On Tue, 09 Apr 2002 13:19:13 GMT, Chad R. Orzel wrote:
>
>[...]
>
>>There's one novel where he's asked to look into something by
>>the government (either _The Lost and the Lurking_ or _The
>>Hanging Stones_, and I'm too lazy to go check which), but
>>that's the extent of it. And even in that one, it looked like
>>a special request, not a regular job.
>The novel is indeed _The Lost and the Lurking_. The short
>story, which I have not yet determined to comb the books for,
>seems to me _very_ vaguely to involve some happenings that are
>either ESP or close to it, and I even more vaguely *seem* to
>recall that it ends with John steering one of the "talented"
>into some gummint program.
That sounds a lot like "Old Devlins Was A-Waiting", though from a
quick browse-through it doesn't end with the "talented" steered into a
government program - there was some mention of Rhine's work at Duke,
as I recall, but that's about it.
/cd
--
Proof is knowing God exists because He ripped a hole in your wall, entered
with a sounding of horns and flashing of lights, and said howdy. Faith is
seeing God in the world around you. -- R. James Coleman
Dorothy J Heydt
cd skogsberg <d97...@dtek.chalmers.se> wrote:
>Eric Walker <ra...@owlcroft.com> wrote:
>
>>The novel is indeed _The Lost and the Lurking_. The short
>>story, which I have not yet determined to comb the books for,
>>seems to me _very_ vaguely to involve some happenings that are
>>either ESP or close to it, and I even more vaguely *seem* to
>>recall that it ends with John steering one of the "talented"
>>into some gummint program.
>
>That sounds a lot like "Old Devlins Was A-Waiting", though from a
>quick browse-through it doesn't end with the "talented" steered into a
>government program - there was some mention of Rhine's work at Duke,
>as I recall, but that's about it.
No, "Old Devlins" takes place at a small, very good, and
mostly-locally-bootstrapped college up in the hills.
Considering its size and orientation, and the fact that
this was all happening back in the 1950s, I bet the
place doesn't even have any gummit funding. Yes, there
is some mention of Rhine's work, but mostly in
connection with summoning up the dead. If you can make
a connection between those two topics. John's friends
do, and it works....
Dorothy J. Heydt
Albany, California
djh...@kithrup.com
http://www.kithrup.com/~djheydt
Eric Walker
[...]
>The preface to the story collection mentions an earlier series
>of stories by Wellman involving a sort of psychic detective
>named John Thunstone. Perhaps you're thinking of one of
>those?
Nope. I see I will, sooner or later, have to dig into the
books again, but this is not that time.
Thunstone, if I recall after lo these many years, turns out to
be Saint Dunston(?) hanging about past his time, so to speak.
Dorothy J Heydt
Eric Walker <ra...@owlcroft.com> wrote:
>
>Thunstone, if I recall after lo these many years, turns out to
>be Saint Dunston(?) hanging about past his time, so to speak.
St. Dunstan, patron of goldsmiths, who took the Devil by
the nose with his tongs? Hmmmmm. Was Thunstone very tall,
blonde, and good-looking?
We actually have a picture of St. Dunstan, I could
probably find my copy of the _Regularis Concordia_ if I
looked hard enough.
John C Fiala
> From the book log:
>
> I found this last weekend in Schuylerville, New York, which is just
> about the last place you'd expect to find a really good used book
> store. There is, however, a really good used book store there...
I've long been a fan of the Silver John stories, starting from when I
got a collection of early 'Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'
stories. (It was/is a great collection - not only does it collect a
number of really interesting early stories, but it also includes a lot
of the correspondance between the editor (Boucher) and the authors.)
I was flabbergasted several years later when I learned there were
*more* short stories, and even novels.
I've been enjoying the series of collected stories by Night Shade
Books, at http://www.nightshadebooks.com/ . Each volume is $35, but
the quality of the binding and the stories make them well worth it. I
had no idea he'd done so many Indian/African stories, and wouldn't
have known to look for them, but these guys found them for me.
There's a pretty good Manly Wade Wellman fan site, including a message
board, at http://www.manlywadewellman.com/ .
-john, unspeakable toad
John M. Gamble
John C Fiala <John....@csssoftware.com> wrote:
>
>I've long been a fan of the Silver John stories, starting from when I
>got a collection of early 'Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'
>stories. (It was/is a great collection - not only does it collect a
>number of really interesting early stories, but it also includes a lot
>of the correspondance between the editor (Boucher) and the authors.)
The Eureka Years. Yes, a terrifically good anthology - the letters
between Boucher/McComas and Bradbury alone are worth the price.
-john
February 28 1997: Last day libraries could order catalogue cards
from the Library of Congress.