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The Secret Glory by Arthur Machen, Fiction, Fantasy, Classics, Horror
It is probable that all through those early years Ambrose's father had been charming his son's heart, drawing him forth from the gehenna-valley of this life into which he had fallen, as one draws forth a beast that has fallen into some deep and dreadful place. Various are the methods recommended. There is the way of what is called moral teaching, the way of physiology and the way of a masterly silence; but Mr. Meyrick's was the strange way of incantation. He had, in a certain manner, drawn the boy aside from that evil traffic of the valley, from the stench of the turmoil, from the blows and the black lechery, from the ugly fight in the poisonous smoke, from all the amazing and hideous folly that practical men call life, and had set him in that endless procession that forever and forever sings its litanies in the mountains, going from height to height on its great quest. Ambrose's soul had been caught in the sweet thickets of the woods; it had been bathed in the pure water of blessed fountains; it had knelt before the altars of the old saints, till all the earth was become a sanctuary, all life was a rite and ceremony, the end of which was the attainment of the mystic sanctity -- the achieving of the Graal. For this -- for what else? -- were all things made. It was this that the little bird sang of in the bush, piping a few feeble, plaintive notes of dusky evenings, as if his tiny heart were sad that it could utter nothing better than such sorry praises. This also celebrated the awe of the white morning on the hills, the breath of the woods at dawn. This was figured in the red ceremony of sunset, when flames shone over the dome of the great mountain, and roses blossomed in the far plains of the sky. This was the secret of the dark places in the heart of the woods. This the mystery of the sunlight on the height; and every little flower, every delicate fern, and every reed and rush was entrusted with the hidden declaration of this sacrament. For this end, final and perfect rites had been given to men to execute; and these were all the arts, all the far-lifted splendor of the great cathedral; all rich carven work and all glowing colors; all magical utterance of word and tones: all these things were the witnesses that consented in the One Offering, in the high service of the Graal. Machen was investigating Celtic Christianity, the Holy Grail and King Arthur. Publishing his views in Lord Alfred Douglas's The Academy, for which he wrote regularly, Machen concluded that the legends of the Grail actually were based on dim recollections of the rites of the Celtic Church. These ideas also featured strongly in the novel The Secret Glory.
148 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1922
About the author
Arthur Machen
1,164 books1,031 followersArthur Machen was a leading Welsh author of the 1890s. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His long story The Great God Pan made him famous and controversial in his lifetime, but The Hill of Dreams is generally considered his masterpiece. He also is well known for his leading role in creating the legend of the Angels of Mons.
At the age of eleven, Machen boarded at Hereford Cathedral School, where he received an excellent classical education. Family poverty ruled out attendance at university, and Machen was sent to London, where he sat exams to attend medical school but failed to get in. Machen, however, showed literary promise, publishing in 1881 a long poem "Eleusinia" on the subject of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Returning to London, he lived in relative poverty, attempting to work as a journalist, as a publisher's clerk, and as a children's tutor while writing in the evening and going on long rambling walks across London.
In 1884 he published his second work, the pastiche The Anatomy of Tobacco, and secured work with the publisher and bookseller George Redway as a cataloguer and magazine editor. This led to further work as a translator from French, translating the Heptameron of Marguerite de Navarre, Le Moyen de Parvenir (Fantastic Tales) of Béroalde de Verville, and the Memoirs of Casanova. Machen's translations in a spirited English style became standard ones for many years.
Around 1890 Machen began to publish in literary magazines, writing stories influenced by the works of Robert Louis Stevenson, some of which used gothic or fantastic themes. This led to his first major success, The Great God Pan. It was published in 1894 by John Lane in the noted Keynotes Series, which was part of the growing aesthetic movement of the time. Machen's story was widely denounced for its sexual and horrific content and subsequently sold well, going into a second edition.
Machen next produced The Three Impostors, a novel composed of a number of interwoven tales, in 1895. The novel and the stories within it were eventually to be regarded as among Machen's best works. However, following the scandal surrounding Oscar Wilde later that year, Machen's association with works of decadent horror made it difficult for him to find a publisher for new works. Thus, though he would write some of his greatest works over the next few years, some were published much later. These included The Hill of Dreams, Hieroglyphics, A Fragment of Life, the story The White People, and the stories which make up Ornaments in Jade.
At the age of eleven, Machen boarded at Hereford Cathedral School, where he received an excellent classical education. Family poverty ruled out attendance at university, and Machen was sent to London, where he sat exams to attend medical school but failed to get in. Machen, however, showed literary promise, publishing in 1881 a long poem "Eleusinia" on the subject of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Returning to London, he lived in relative poverty, attempting to work as a journalist, as a publisher's clerk, and as a children's tutor while writing in the evening and going on long rambling walks across London.
In 1884 he published his second work, the pastiche The Anatomy of Tobacco, and secured work with the publisher and bookseller George Redway as a cataloguer and magazine editor. This led to further work as a translator from French, translating the Heptameron of Marguerite de Navarre, Le Moyen de Parvenir (Fantastic Tales) of Béroalde de Verville, and the Memoirs of Casanova. Machen's translations in a spirited English style became standard ones for many years.
Around 1890 Machen began to publish in literary magazines, writing stories influenced by the works of Robert Louis Stevenson, some of which used gothic or fantastic themes. This led to his first major success, The Great God Pan. It was published in 1894 by John Lane in the noted Keynotes Series, which was part of the growing aesthetic movement of the time. Machen's story was widely denounced for its sexual and horrific content and subsequently sold well, going into a second edition.
Machen next produced The Three Impostors, a novel composed of a number of interwoven tales, in 1895. The novel and the stories within it were eventually to be regarded as among Machen's best works. However, following the scandal surrounding Oscar Wilde later that year, Machen's association with works of decadent horror made it difficult for him to find a publisher for new works. Thus, though he would write some of his greatest works over the next few years, some were published much later. These included The Hill of Dreams, Hieroglyphics, A Fragment of Life, the story The White People, and the stories which make up Ornaments in Jade.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
November 24, 2019
True Arthur Machen lovers know he wrote his best stuff before WW I began, so, if you are one of us, don't be put off by the fact that The Secret Glory was first published in 1922. It was actually written in 1907, and this first literary use of the theme of the Holy Grail surviving into modern times bears the mark of Machen's best literary style on every page.
This strange little book depicts the ghastly utilitarian world of the pompous, ostentatiously Christian public school, obsessed with team spirit and spiced with sadism, and contrasts it with true spirituality, exemplified by the voices of nature and the survival of ancient traditions in the obscure hill of Wales. The school boy Andrew finds himself intensely drawn toward the old traditions, and we follow him on his journey toward a spiritual coming of age.
The ending of the book comes suddenly, with a hint of ritual sacrifice, and, although this suddenness may intensify the narrative's power, it also mars its completeness. Nonetheless, although it never quite equals The Hill of Dreams, it is still a worthy companion to that great work, for it is written in Machen's finest style.
May 30, 2019
Arthur Machen’s The Secret Glory follows the life of the young man Ambrose Meyrick, who at a young age is exposed to the strange, hidden mysticism of the San Graal by his father. We follow Ambrose through a hard, conventional public-school life, a life that tries to stifle his creativity and mysticism. But deep within himself, Ambrose has heard his calling in life, and the ineffable enigmas, boundless imagination and a profound appreciation for the arts lie ever dormant in his heart.
The Secret Glory bears more than a little resemblance to Machen’s masterpiece The Hill of Dreams, whereas the latter book concerns Lucian’s descent into a fevered mysticism of his own mind, Ambrose’s quest is of a slightly more tangible sort. The strange Celtic pre-reformation Christianity that Ambrose embraces and seeks in his life consumes him, as he has given his life to the mystery of the San Graal and the occulted beauty of art and architecture.
The novel reads semi-autobiographic with several episodes that can be directly linked to Machen’s own life and experiences. The scathing depictions of the British public schools are harrowing, and it is indeed disturbing to think of entire institutions devoted to stifling the creativity and individuality of a young person. The hidden mysteries of art and nature are prominent in the book as they are in several of Machen’s short stories and The Hill of Dreams where several of the arguments linger on about common man’s inability to understand and appreciate art, literature and even religious secrets, which seems to be arguments that were heavily used in fin de siècle literature as well.
The novel is unfortunately not as effective or evocative as The Hill of Dreams, the later chapters being somewhat unstructured and abrupt. Nonetheless, The Secret Glory reads as a stirring account of spiritualism, individuality, and non-conformism. Machen’s prose shines through the novel as he has a gift unlike few other authors to truly define the undefinable, to describe hidden beauty and the subtlety of nature, art, and religion.
The Secret Glory bears more than a little resemblance to Machen’s masterpiece The Hill of Dreams, whereas the latter book concerns Lucian’s descent into a fevered mysticism of his own mind, Ambrose’s quest is of a slightly more tangible sort. The strange Celtic pre-reformation Christianity that Ambrose embraces and seeks in his life consumes him, as he has given his life to the mystery of the San Graal and the occulted beauty of art and architecture.
The novel reads semi-autobiographic with several episodes that can be directly linked to Machen’s own life and experiences. The scathing depictions of the British public schools are harrowing, and it is indeed disturbing to think of entire institutions devoted to stifling the creativity and individuality of a young person. The hidden mysteries of art and nature are prominent in the book as they are in several of Machen’s short stories and The Hill of Dreams where several of the arguments linger on about common man’s inability to understand and appreciate art, literature and even religious secrets, which seems to be arguments that were heavily used in fin de siècle literature as well.
The novel is unfortunately not as effective or evocative as The Hill of Dreams, the later chapters being somewhat unstructured and abrupt. Nonetheless, The Secret Glory reads as a stirring account of spiritualism, individuality, and non-conformism. Machen’s prose shines through the novel as he has a gift unlike few other authors to truly define the undefinable, to describe hidden beauty and the subtlety of nature, art, and religion.
July 14, 2019
Ambrose Meyrick is a student at odds with his peers and, more generally, the entire English public school system. In this novel Machen condemns mindless conformity and the hypocrisy of a rigidly 'moral' society, which routinely violates its own code behind closed doors, twisting its biblical principles to justify the indulgence in behavior that it outwardly condemns as base perversion. While I was totally on board with all of this, Machen gets bogged down in his critiques at times, belaboring his points to the detriment of the narrative. As a result, this lacks the sustained fervor and consistent excellence of Machen's novel The Hill of Dreams. Still, it has its moments. (3.5)
Suppose that the people that they speak of now as 'superstitious' and 'half-savages' should turn out to be in the right, and very wise, while we are all wrong and great fools! It would be something like the man who lived in the Bright Palace. The Palace had a hundred and one doors. A hundred of them opened into gardens of delight, pleasure-houses, beautiful bowers, wonderful countries, fairy seas, caves of gold and hills of diamonds, into all the most splendid places. But one door led into a cesspool, and that was the only door that the man ever opened. It may be that his sons and his grandsons have been opening that one door ever since, till they have forgotten that there are any others, so if anyone dares to speak of the ways to the garden of delight or the hills of gold he is called a madman, or a very wicked person.
August 9, 2016
A surprise that this book is so obscure. The writing and the story were magnificent. Machen may be the Welsh Poe.
Was Ambrose Meyrick insane or born in the wrong millennium?
A Welsh orphan, he went to live with his uncle at a public school in the industrialized midlands, where he was seen as a lazy, idle, unrealistic and impractical dreamer. So he was caned by the teachers, bullied by his classmates, and bored by his classes.
His father, before his death, had developed an enthusiasm in him for antiquities, especially the ancient Celtic branch of Christianity, taking him to desolate places in Wales, to the remnants of saint's wells and ruins of ancient buildings and holy sites, telling him stories of them and the saints and heroes of an almost forgotten era. But his father told him to conceal his interests from the world, which would not understand.
Ambrose found out the hard way that his father had been right, and that he had to hide this fascination in order to conform to the expectations of his classmates and teachers. After all, they would never believe that he had seen the Holy Grail. And the school and its teachers had no interest in developing a mystic.
He became a model student and athlete, and got admitted to Oxford. Meanwhile, at night he meditated and had dreams and visions. His uncle's young Irish maid, also an orphan, developed an interest in him, although she had doubts about his sanity. A couple of chance encounters with strangers suggested that he has a destiny of being an unappreciated outsider and a martyr.
He eventually rebelled against the hypocrisy around him, but then discovered that he, too, had been a hypocrite, and must change himself.
Was Ambrose Meyrick insane or born in the wrong millennium?
A Welsh orphan, he went to live with his uncle at a public school in the industrialized midlands, where he was seen as a lazy, idle, unrealistic and impractical dreamer. So he was caned by the teachers, bullied by his classmates, and bored by his classes.
His father, before his death, had developed an enthusiasm in him for antiquities, especially the ancient Celtic branch of Christianity, taking him to desolate places in Wales, to the remnants of saint's wells and ruins of ancient buildings and holy sites, telling him stories of them and the saints and heroes of an almost forgotten era. But his father told him to conceal his interests from the world, which would not understand.
Ambrose found out the hard way that his father had been right, and that he had to hide this fascination in order to conform to the expectations of his classmates and teachers. After all, they would never believe that he had seen the Holy Grail. And the school and its teachers had no interest in developing a mystic.
He became a model student and athlete, and got admitted to Oxford. Meanwhile, at night he meditated and had dreams and visions. His uncle's young Irish maid, also an orphan, developed an interest in him, although she had doubts about his sanity. A couple of chance encounters with strangers suggested that he has a destiny of being an unappreciated outsider and a martyr.
He eventually rebelled against the hypocrisy around him, but then discovered that he, too, had been a hypocrite, and must change himself.
November 6, 2017
Not as perfect as The Hill of Dreams, but no less powerful and evocative a journey of mystical discovery. One of Machen's final great works (most fans agree he wrote the majority of his best material before World War 1) and only let down by a somewhat abrupt ending.
At this point in Machen's career the dark obsessive paganism and supernatural horror he is best known for had evolved into a purer wonderment and positive ecstasy, which would also be delicately handled in such strong later works as The Great Return, N and Opening the Door. The only nightmare here is the nightmare of material modernity stifling the author surrogate's spirit, but the exploration of the supernatural is just as dazzling and palpable.
Note: be sure to pick up the Tartarus Press edition with the missing two chapters.
At this point in Machen's career the dark obsessive paganism and supernatural horror he is best known for had evolved into a purer wonderment and positive ecstasy, which would also be delicately handled in such strong later works as The Great Return, N and Opening the Door. The only nightmare here is the nightmare of material modernity stifling the author surrogate's spirit, but the exploration of the supernatural is just as dazzling and palpable.
Note: be sure to pick up the Tartarus Press edition with the missing two chapters.
July 9, 2024
Though Machen finished this novel in 1907 it didn't appear in its full form until 1922. Previously odd chapters had appeared serialised in magazines, and even in 1922 it was without it last two chapters. It is still, strangely incomplete. Machen did write an Epilogue, which is included in this edition, but it doesn't explain very much.
Summarised, this is a gothic coming-of-age novel about noncomformity, critical of orgainsed religion and education in particular.
15 year old Ambrose Meyrick is at a Christian boarding public school after the death of his father. His uncle is a senior master their, and becomes his housemaster. Young Meyrick is different to other boys though, uninterested by sport, spending his days exploring ancient ruins and nature. He becomes preoccupied with a search for the Holy Grail.
Late to return to school one afternoon, his uncle / housemaster does not believe his story of searching a local old ruin, and brutally beats him.
Machen's own upbringing is mirrored to an extent, he was also a non-conformist, not a sportsman, and something of a loner. From his writing it is clear he has no respect for such public schools and the muscular chistianity theory that they bought into.
The masters at the school discuss how such a beating will bring the best out of a boy, quoting one example of an alumni who within months of his punishment went on to become a fast bowler who played for his county.
No spoilers of course, but its not that sort of novel anyway.. suffice to say Ambrose's behaviour does not alter in the way his uncle hopes, and his strange habits are just encouraged.
This is anything but a regular gothic fantasy, and pleasingly, quite difficult to describe. Its weird fiction that is a blend of gothic satire and mysticism. And there remains a question, is it unfinished, and if so, is that intentional?
Interestingly, it is considered the first work of literature to bring the Holy Grail into a contemporary setting.
Summarised, this is a gothic coming-of-age novel about noncomformity, critical of orgainsed religion and education in particular.
15 year old Ambrose Meyrick is at a Christian boarding public school after the death of his father. His uncle is a senior master their, and becomes his housemaster. Young Meyrick is different to other boys though, uninterested by sport, spending his days exploring ancient ruins and nature. He becomes preoccupied with a search for the Holy Grail.
Late to return to school one afternoon, his uncle / housemaster does not believe his story of searching a local old ruin, and brutally beats him.
Machen's own upbringing is mirrored to an extent, he was also a non-conformist, not a sportsman, and something of a loner. From his writing it is clear he has no respect for such public schools and the muscular chistianity theory that they bought into.
The masters at the school discuss how such a beating will bring the best out of a boy, quoting one example of an alumni who within months of his punishment went on to become a fast bowler who played for his county.
No spoilers of course, but its not that sort of novel anyway.. suffice to say Ambrose's behaviour does not alter in the way his uncle hopes, and his strange habits are just encouraged.
This is anything but a regular gothic fantasy, and pleasingly, quite difficult to describe. Its weird fiction that is a blend of gothic satire and mysticism. And there remains a question, is it unfinished, and if so, is that intentional?
Interestingly, it is considered the first work of literature to bring the Holy Grail into a contemporary setting.
July 13, 2025
I'm not gonna pretend that the five stars here are in any way objective--they're not. Probably this isn't even one of the great novels by any means, aesthetically speaking, but its subject matter just so thrilled me, was so completely me, and even more me than I knew was me, that I couldn't help but love this book with all my heart.
In its introduction, Machen explains that he'd read a book, a popular biography of a public schoolmaster and also studied up on the history of the suppressed Catholic church in England, particularly its Gaelic roots, its saints, and connection to the Holy Grail story. Thus this novel is an amalgam of the bio and the history of pre-Anglo-Saxon Catholic mysticism.
Now, I've gone on record many a time here I suppose as an anarchist and, consequentially given the amassed power of every religion in their various church establishments and/or theocracies, my general disgust with religions of all types. The only place where I can really enjoy or even abide spiritual writing is when it hits my sweet spot, touches on my own obsession, the one thing I think has a chance of saving humanity from its absurd and inhuman economic structures and oppressive governments, from itself basically, and that is the cognates to spirituality in art, music, literature, ecstatic experience, love, the imagination, etc. Thus Machen's spirituality here, tied in as it is with those things (primarily writing, music, and alcohol) reads fine to me and of course read perfectly to me as the antidote to the poisonous and deadly staid Middle-Class post-puritan protestant "way of life" against which we thinking people, artists, and punk rockers (among other subcultures of protest) have been struggling forever.
This is where the schoolmaster bio comes in. Obviously the conformity and hypocrisy necessary to create this wholly backward capitalist WASP pseudo-Christianity + white supremacist culture currently holding sway in the USA and Great Britain, one needs indoctrinate the youth. Thus this novel forms itself as the sketchy portrait of a boy being horrifically indoctrinated in one of England's most conservative public (what we in the USA call private, upper-class prep) schools while living a dual mystical life of art, imagination, and free spirituality. The satirical attack on the conservative "ideas" (I've long held that all conservatives have, really, is an anti-ideology, a denial of rational thought in favor of superstition and superstitious racism) of the schoolmaster, his accent on violence and sport (humankind's most primitive instincts surely), as well as bogus "art" in the form of inane school songs, pride, patriotism, xenophobia, etc etc. are all perfectly on point in the novel. It was all so true, even nearly a century on and depicted in the USA's parent country, to my own struggling though the patriotic indoctrination of the US public school system and my own negotiating capitalism gaslighting, conformity, and anti-intellectualism to try to become and remain a thinking human being and an artist in a world that values these things about as high as common dirt, that it thrilled and heartened me. I'm not alone. Others have thought and struggled against the suits, all forms of power, and conformity; others have read Rabelais with glee, have wanted to write books of outrage against all the dumb, the wrong, and the smug certainly that dumb and wrong, if strong and violent and amoral enough, will crush all thought and empathy and humanity, the rich and dead inside will inherit the Earth, etc. etc.
Well, what can I say. I wish I'd written this but am also very, very glad Machen was a comrade in arms. I do wish I'd read this back in high school--it would have helped immensely.
In its introduction, Machen explains that he'd read a book, a popular biography of a public schoolmaster and also studied up on the history of the suppressed Catholic church in England, particularly its Gaelic roots, its saints, and connection to the Holy Grail story. Thus this novel is an amalgam of the bio and the history of pre-Anglo-Saxon Catholic mysticism.
Now, I've gone on record many a time here I suppose as an anarchist and, consequentially given the amassed power of every religion in their various church establishments and/or theocracies, my general disgust with religions of all types. The only place where I can really enjoy or even abide spiritual writing is when it hits my sweet spot, touches on my own obsession, the one thing I think has a chance of saving humanity from its absurd and inhuman economic structures and oppressive governments, from itself basically, and that is the cognates to spirituality in art, music, literature, ecstatic experience, love, the imagination, etc. Thus Machen's spirituality here, tied in as it is with those things (primarily writing, music, and alcohol) reads fine to me and of course read perfectly to me as the antidote to the poisonous and deadly staid Middle-Class post-puritan protestant "way of life" against which we thinking people, artists, and punk rockers (among other subcultures of protest) have been struggling forever.
This is where the schoolmaster bio comes in. Obviously the conformity and hypocrisy necessary to create this wholly backward capitalist WASP pseudo-Christianity + white supremacist culture currently holding sway in the USA and Great Britain, one needs indoctrinate the youth. Thus this novel forms itself as the sketchy portrait of a boy being horrifically indoctrinated in one of England's most conservative public (what we in the USA call private, upper-class prep) schools while living a dual mystical life of art, imagination, and free spirituality. The satirical attack on the conservative "ideas" (I've long held that all conservatives have, really, is an anti-ideology, a denial of rational thought in favor of superstition and superstitious racism) of the schoolmaster, his accent on violence and sport (humankind's most primitive instincts surely), as well as bogus "art" in the form of inane school songs, pride, patriotism, xenophobia, etc etc. are all perfectly on point in the novel. It was all so true, even nearly a century on and depicted in the USA's parent country, to my own struggling though the patriotic indoctrination of the US public school system and my own negotiating capitalism gaslighting, conformity, and anti-intellectualism to try to become and remain a thinking human being and an artist in a world that values these things about as high as common dirt, that it thrilled and heartened me. I'm not alone. Others have thought and struggled against the suits, all forms of power, and conformity; others have read Rabelais with glee, have wanted to write books of outrage against all the dumb, the wrong, and the smug certainly that dumb and wrong, if strong and violent and amoral enough, will crush all thought and empathy and humanity, the rich and dead inside will inherit the Earth, etc. etc.
Well, what can I say. I wish I'd written this but am also very, very glad Machen was a comrade in arms. I do wish I'd read this back in high school--it would have helped immensely.
February 7, 2025
I cannot praise this rocky and inconsistent novel highly enough. Rockiness and inconsistency are pitched at the level of sublime narrative complication, demonstrating Machen's zest for war against bourgeois complacency and satisfaction -- and against the huckstering ethos of public school morality. Indeed, Machen's coruscating depiction of public school life survived by his protagonist, Ambrose Meyrick, ignites reader anger before Machen serves up the just desserts.
Excerpts:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/12J1...
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19cp...
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15CC...
Excerpts:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/12J1...
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19cp...
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15CC...
March 15, 2017
An interesting novel, though I wasn't as crazy about it as I was with The Hill of Dreams. I felt this novel lacked the focus of that other work, and felt a bit rambling and unstructured (though that was, at the same time, part of its charm). One of the most interesting aspects of the book was the final fate of the main character, but it was very undeveloped (Machen literally summarizes it in half a page): would have liked to see more pages devoted to that rather than endless discursions on the importance of taverns/alcohol or faux-Swiftian essays on why people should abandon eating and drinking.
June 13, 2024
Es el primer libro que leo de Machen y me ha dejado una sensación de efervescencia en la cabeza. ¿Por qué? Bueno, básicamente porque adentrarme en él es como leer un nexo perdido necesario para entender el paso del paganismo y las tradiciones ocultistas que provenían de siglos atrás (y que conviven aún en el folklore) con lo que fue el Weird de principios de siglo XX, en especial Lovecraft y Chambers. Claro que sé que hay que sumar a Algernon Blackwood a la lista, pero aún no pude leerlo, así que me detendré en esta ocasión en Machen.
La gloria secreta es un libro que funciona casi como un antecedente de La tierra hundida vuelve a levantarse, de M. John Harrison, porque en ambos lo que se narra oculta lo que ocurre detrás, lo que se presiente, pero no se deja ver del todo. El protagonista de La gloria secreta, Aleister Meyrick, es un estudiante gris de bachillerato, torturado por el estricto régimen educativo inglés de fines del siglo XIX. Partiendo de un castigo excesivo de un profesor (y tío suyo) elabora una venganza, o un anhelo de venganza, contra esa figura.
Allí comienza a entretejerse una trama mística que tiene conexiones fuertes con el paganismo celta y sus primeros nexos con el cristianismo, en la figura de los mitos artúricos y la búsqueda del Santo Grial. Pero ningún poder es gratuito, y pedir la desgracia efectiva de alguien demanda una ofrenda. Y hacia allí va la historia, dando (poco), mostrando (casi nada) y narrando pensamientos y vivencias que tranquilamente podrían haber sido malos sueños. Pero detrás de toda la simbología y los paisajes oníricos, se encuentra el destino final de ambos personajes, tanto el docente deseoso de impartir castigos, como del atribulado estudiante que elabora una venganza para el resto de los días.
La gloria secreta no es una novela que contenga acción y linealidad como podría pretenderse. Repito, el nexo hay que buscarlo en el fuera de campo, en lo que no se narra y que se deja entrever. Y también hay que buscarlo en textos como el de M John Harrison, en el que las páginas pasan sin que ocurra aparentemente nada mientras por detrás la acción regurgita.
Entiendo por qué gustó tanto a Borges este autor: tiene una delicadeza clásica en su prosa, pero conectada con los secretos paganos de la isla. No es casualidad que haya sido parte del Golden Dawn, la secta de Aleister Crowley. Este último dato, si se tiene en cuenta lo que se ha leído, enriquece aún más todo el libro y su final terrible.
La gloria secreta es un libro que funciona casi como un antecedente de La tierra hundida vuelve a levantarse, de M. John Harrison, porque en ambos lo que se narra oculta lo que ocurre detrás, lo que se presiente, pero no se deja ver del todo. El protagonista de La gloria secreta, Aleister Meyrick, es un estudiante gris de bachillerato, torturado por el estricto régimen educativo inglés de fines del siglo XIX. Partiendo de un castigo excesivo de un profesor (y tío suyo) elabora una venganza, o un anhelo de venganza, contra esa figura.
Allí comienza a entretejerse una trama mística que tiene conexiones fuertes con el paganismo celta y sus primeros nexos con el cristianismo, en la figura de los mitos artúricos y la búsqueda del Santo Grial. Pero ningún poder es gratuito, y pedir la desgracia efectiva de alguien demanda una ofrenda. Y hacia allí va la historia, dando (poco), mostrando (casi nada) y narrando pensamientos y vivencias que tranquilamente podrían haber sido malos sueños. Pero detrás de toda la simbología y los paisajes oníricos, se encuentra el destino final de ambos personajes, tanto el docente deseoso de impartir castigos, como del atribulado estudiante que elabora una venganza para el resto de los días.
La gloria secreta no es una novela que contenga acción y linealidad como podría pretenderse. Repito, el nexo hay que buscarlo en el fuera de campo, en lo que no se narra y que se deja entrever. Y también hay que buscarlo en textos como el de M John Harrison, en el que las páginas pasan sin que ocurra aparentemente nada mientras por detrás la acción regurgita.
Entiendo por qué gustó tanto a Borges este autor: tiene una delicadeza clásica en su prosa, pero conectada con los secretos paganos de la isla. No es casualidad que haya sido parte del Golden Dawn, la secta de Aleister Crowley. Este último dato, si se tiene en cuenta lo que se ha leído, enriquece aún más todo el libro y su final terrible.
April 28, 2018
Fabulous piece of writing. It is really quite astounding that Machen is largely forgotten as a writer. In The Secret Glory, I particularly loved Machen's satirical social comments about the class system, Christian hypocrisy and the sadistic puritanism of English Public Schools. This isn't always an easy book to read but it is very rewarding, and after reading, like the best literary works, carves out a place for itself in one's psyche.
January 14, 2024
Keşke daha iyi bir çevirisi olsaydı!
March 17, 2021
I read this book hoping for a chilling and perverse supernatural horror. God bless me for I found a new joy.
This book have nothing like horror, is more in the vein of another Machen's book: ''The Hill of Dreams''. While that book deals with the coming of ages of a would-be-writer, Lucian Taylor and his struggle to fit in a world full of idiosyncracies that he doesn't share, ''The Secret Glory'', almost verbatim, tells the story of Ambrose Meyrick, a daydreaming boy who more than once gets reprended by his abusive uncle-teacher just for chase his interest in Architecture and the legends of the Holy Grail, instead of following the norm (sport, business, etc.), as every other boy in the school do.
If that were all the book had to offer, well I would be very unsatisfied, but no, theres much more to look into this book.
Its a satire of how violent and rude was the education in the old days (althought some passages resonates vividly into this days), how all the teachers were ''don't be yourself, be what the others expect you to be'', how the adolescence can be full of pain just for being different.
Well, our would-be-hero, Ambrose, take the easy way out of this. After a few slaps in the ass and a fights with his schoolmates, he suddenly tranforms in the perfect student of the school, aceing in every class, smartly playing the school's favorite sport and being a well regarded ''good fella'' for all his schoolmates and teachers.
Yes, Ambrose did it. He becomes a totally normal jerk. Or that what everybody thinks. In secret, he still dreams about what his father teaches him about the Holy Grail, and also still chase his love for architecture.
is that bad?
Not at all. Arthur Machen gives us all his experiencec during childhood in this book. How hard was for him during college, and how he had a ''secret love'' that really makes him happy.
If anybody wonders what this ''secret love'' is, well it is very obvious if you doesn't skimmed all the pages. Yes, the secret is in there for all to witness. Its his love for Poetry. Arthur Machen loves Poetry more than anything. His first publication was a very long poem titled ''Eleusinia''. Don't ask me if I read it because its very hard to find out there, but i'm dying to read it.
As everybody can guess by now, ''The Secret Glory'', the whole book, is the metaforical retelling of Arthur Machen's childhood and his love. This book, probably, is his ''secret masterpiece''. I don't know if anybody out there thinks this way, but surely more people than me also look it like this.
All in all, Arthur Machen gives us a book where different opinions clashes, a book where differents points of view look themselves and gets questioned, a book with a lot of meanings and differents ways to read them. Its a Menippean Satire at its best. So, Arthur Machen, i take my hat off and applaud you. You really make my day with this book.
This book have nothing like horror, is more in the vein of another Machen's book: ''The Hill of Dreams''. While that book deals with the coming of ages of a would-be-writer, Lucian Taylor and his struggle to fit in a world full of idiosyncracies that he doesn't share, ''The Secret Glory'', almost verbatim, tells the story of Ambrose Meyrick, a daydreaming boy who more than once gets reprended by his abusive uncle-teacher just for chase his interest in Architecture and the legends of the Holy Grail, instead of following the norm (sport, business, etc.), as every other boy in the school do.
If that were all the book had to offer, well I would be very unsatisfied, but no, theres much more to look into this book.
Its a satire of how violent and rude was the education in the old days (althought some passages resonates vividly into this days), how all the teachers were ''don't be yourself, be what the others expect you to be'', how the adolescence can be full of pain just for being different.
Well, our would-be-hero, Ambrose, take the easy way out of this. After a few slaps in the ass and a fights with his schoolmates, he suddenly tranforms in the perfect student of the school, aceing in every class, smartly playing the school's favorite sport and being a well regarded ''good fella'' for all his schoolmates and teachers.
Yes, Ambrose did it. He becomes a totally normal jerk. Or that what everybody thinks. In secret, he still dreams about what his father teaches him about the Holy Grail, and also still chase his love for architecture.
is that bad?
Not at all. Arthur Machen gives us all his experiencec during childhood in this book. How hard was for him during college, and how he had a ''secret love'' that really makes him happy.
If anybody wonders what this ''secret love'' is, well it is very obvious if you doesn't skimmed all the pages. Yes, the secret is in there for all to witness. Its his love for Poetry. Arthur Machen loves Poetry more than anything. His first publication was a very long poem titled ''Eleusinia''. Don't ask me if I read it because its very hard to find out there, but i'm dying to read it.
As everybody can guess by now, ''The Secret Glory'', the whole book, is the metaforical retelling of Arthur Machen's childhood and his love. This book, probably, is his ''secret masterpiece''. I don't know if anybody out there thinks this way, but surely more people than me also look it like this.
All in all, Arthur Machen gives us a book where different opinions clashes, a book where differents points of view look themselves and gets questioned, a book with a lot of meanings and differents ways to read them. Its a Menippean Satire at its best. So, Arthur Machen, i take my hat off and applaud you. You really make my day with this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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January 1, 2019Interesting, but very repetitive. Abandoned at 70%.
May 16, 2020
I am a big fan of Arthur Machen and one of the biggest assets that he has, are the unsuspected endings to all of his stories, almost all of his stories, the last pages always give a 180° turn to what you've been reading. This is no exception in the Secret Glory. In fact, this novel affected me profoundly related to one particular moment in my life that has been kept untill now as a veil of mystery for me, but, as this story felt so personal, the ending left me with a sorrowfull taste in my mouth and struck a personal nerve, therefore I can't rate it higher. As I mention, it is something personal that hurt me as I read the ending. Now: regarding the structure and the narrative of the story I have to say it is very slow paced, very encripted with hidden esoteric allusions that many times I had to stop reading and try to interpret through knowledge of initiation rites, alchemy and even traditional gaelic and irish lore. Frankly, if you want to read and follow the sarcarm and toung in cheek references to secret knowledge, you should be quite versed in esoteric symbolism and rites in paganism. Else, you won't have a damn clue what Ambrose Meyrick (the main character) is talking about and you will get bored soon and get a feeling of reading a bunch of incoprehensible babble. Although it is important to know that this book is not for the common human, it is a revelation of sanctity hidden to the common eyes. I will read it again someday when I'm more spiritually prepared. But as for now, I have to say that I didn't enjoy reading it in this time of my life, I had to stop reading many times, and the only reason I kept reading was just because for the sake that it was a Machen novel. At this point I would have rate it two stars, but because it touched a personal aspect of my life I gave it three stars. Maybe in a future reading I will understand the "secret glory" that hides inside; something similar as reading Steppenwolf of Hermann Hesse.
October 25, 2017
As is the case with many of Machens fuller length novels, this can be a challenge to read. Possibly because his comfort zone is in short stories, thus he felt a need to 'pad' in his longer works. That being said, waffle aside, it's a good read.
Without going into detail and spoiling the plot, it has a real 'Catcher in the Rye' feel about it, coupled with hints of the supernatural and Arthurian legend. For the most part this is presented well but has aged a little more than Machen would have liked. It also ends absolutely beautifully and reminds you of why Machen is a master of the macabre.
His use of language places challenges on the modern reader, so in some respects it's something only for the more die hard Arthur Machen fan. And as a die hard Arthur Machen fan, I felt this was very much worth my while :)
Without going into detail and spoiling the plot, it has a real 'Catcher in the Rye' feel about it, coupled with hints of the supernatural and Arthurian legend. For the most part this is presented well but has aged a little more than Machen would have liked. It also ends absolutely beautifully and reminds you of why Machen is a master of the macabre.
His use of language places challenges on the modern reader, so in some respects it's something only for the more die hard Arthur Machen fan. And as a die hard Arthur Machen fan, I felt this was very much worth my while :)
July 19, 2020
Me quedo con la sensación de que tiene más chicha de la que he podido rascar, que quizás una segunda lectura más detenida y más bagaje esotérico mejorarían mi impresión, pero se me ha hecho bastante pesado así que dudo que tal ocasión llegue alguna vez. Si te gusta el Machen de La colina de los sueños, lánzate a este, pues va en la misma línea; pero si (como yo) lo que buscas es algo más como Los tres impostores este no es tu libro.
November 2, 2022
Vive la différence! and down with cookie cutter conformity espoused by British Public Schools in the early 20th century. "The Secret Glory is an unorthodox, spiritual coming-of-age story which contains elements of Machen’s own upbringing, making it a semi-autobiographical narrative which displays an outsider’s perspective on a conformist society. . . . Machen’s novel gives an unpleasant insight into the reality of Christian public schools in the early twentieth century and presents a disillusionment with uniformed religion." https://newwelshreview.com/the-secret...
Overall, I found the story although written with grandiloquent prose tended not to flow smoothly with the story sometimes difficult to follow.
Overall, I found the story although written with grandiloquent prose tended not to flow smoothly with the story sometimes difficult to follow.
October 6, 2024
It's possible this wasn't the best first choice to read when exploring Machen. I found this to be a rather dull read, the story itself was pretty straightforward and easy to consume, just not very entertaining. I suppose what I enjoyed most was the vivid depictions of the time, Machin made it very easy to picture what he was penning. I found it very interesting some of the issues he mentions about human trajectory that we still discuss today.
February 4, 2025
Bello libro, q se mueve entre los remanentes celticos presentes en el paisaje y la sangre del protagonista y la educacion anglo protestante, su rigurosidad y cinismo. Muestra interesantes acercamientos a los mitos de la gran betaña arturica. Sin embargo se diluye al final la historia. Deviene en una historia de amor no del todo clara y lo mas interesante, q seria la vida del protagonista y su busqueda por los misterios, queda relegado a un brevisimo epilogo
April 1, 2018
It was an intriguing story, particularly the parts about Ambrose's mystical experiences. His character was finely drawn, and his intimations of reality behind and beyond the mundanities of common life, represented by the school where he was imprisoned, very attractive. However, I wish that the last two chapters, later excluded by the author's wish, had been included.
May 28, 2022
OK listening 🎶🔰
Another will written fantasy adventure thriller short story by Arthur Machen about education and schools. This novella was not what I expected but give it a try it may work for you. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do because of health issues. 2022
Another will written fantasy adventure thriller short story by Arthur Machen about education and schools. This novella was not what I expected but give it a try it may work for you. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do because of health issues. 2022
September 27, 2022
Mutilated on its original publication, The Secret Glory demands to be read in its restored form, in which it magnificently blends a vivid condemnation of the stupefyingly unimaginative British school system with an evocation of entire philosophical realms beyond its reach. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/202...
August 2, 2023
Es sin duda un libro que merece más estrellas, pero hay partes que no conseguí entender, en las que me perdía, y no por la lectura, sino por no saber con exactitud hacia dónde apuntaba el libro. Fuera de eso, que es error mío, está muy bien escrito, y la información es contundente.
May 31, 2019
What was that?
March 3, 2020
No pasa nada con tintes fantásticos.
January 25, 2025
Tiene algunos pasajes hilarantes pero el resto nada interesante.
November 3, 2025
I loved the Celtic mystery vibe, but the writer tends to go off at tangents for too long. The San-graal quest/Sag gets completely lost in the minutiae
September 1, 2016
I'm gonna just straight up confess that I didn't really get this book. I was given a lot of Machen books a while back and they were all up there under fiction "M", and the first book I pulled out was "Hieroglyphics" which is non-fiction; I had a sense that maybe I should've read that before this, since a lot of the mysticism was not something I could relate to. It reminded me, in that sense, of The Wild Ass's Skin, although Balzac's philosophy was more pseudo-scientific than mystical and more explicitly exposited so I could follow the hero's rantings a bit better.
At times I thought, this is "Harry Potter in the Matrix", and it was interesting to read this so closely on the heels of The Republic because it's very much a realization of the idea that what we see isn't what is real, and what is real is much more true and beautiful.
But the actual story is something like I don't actually consider this plot description a spoiler, because the action could fit easily into ten pages and is not the point (but courtesy demands I not impose this on you, dear reader).
The point is thousands and thousands of words on mystical revelation (again, reminding of Balzac) which can never be too much of a revelation because, y'know, mysticism needs mystery.
I find it...odd.
Not unpleasant. Not unworthy. Just odd. Some would say that our hero is insane, but the author's sympathies are clearly with the hero, belying that as a true possibility. This again hearkens but to Plato, as our hero is the fellow who sees reality and is therefore considered insane by those who do not. Even more allusion, come to think of it, as the protagonist is described (at first especially) as, if I recall correctly, experiencing the sort of discomfort one feels coming out of a darkened cave and into the light. (And then, toward the end, Machen actually explicitly references Plato, so.)
For such a ponderous subject as mysticism, the writing is actually not heavy, which I think salvages the endeavor. A few things kicked my ass: Early on, especially, there is a heavy use of vocabulary steeped in turn-of-the-20th-century English Boarding School terminology. I was particularly troubled by "rocker" until (after using it dozens of times), Machen lets slip that it's a rugy/soccer-ish game peculiar to that school. (I'm sure that would be obvious to someone versed in the period, though.)
There is also frequent, casual and not-easily-Googled Latin phrases which often reinforce something said in English (but sometimes offer a counterpoint). And, at one point in the book, the author drops in an entire paragraph of French. I may have to learn Latin and French before I pick up another Machen book. (Poe does this, too, a lot.) Apart from this, it's actually a fairly easy read.
Anyway, as I say, I don't really get this, but even if it presented no reading difficulty, I would probably still not get it because mystery, in the mysticism sense, strikes me as nonsense. And while I can appreciate a hatred for utilitarianism, I find Ambrose's rejection of industry, the suburbs, and people, generally, to be in some ways as shallow as Holden Caulfield's. The only real difference—and to be fair, it is a big one—is aspirational: Ambrose seeks beauty and truth above all, and he believes in it.
But the telling thing is that he sees it where others don't, without realizing that maybe—just maybe—others see it where he doesn't.
At times I thought, this is "Harry Potter in the Matrix", and it was interesting to read this so closely on the heels of The Republic because it's very much a realization of the idea that what we see isn't what is real, and what is real is much more true and beautiful.
But the actual story is something like I don't actually consider this plot description a spoiler, because the action could fit easily into ten pages and is not the point (but courtesy demands I not impose this on you, dear reader).
The point is thousands and thousands of words on mystical revelation (again, reminding of Balzac) which can never be too much of a revelation because, y'know, mysticism needs mystery.
I find it...odd.
Not unpleasant. Not unworthy. Just odd. Some would say that our hero is insane, but the author's sympathies are clearly with the hero, belying that as a true possibility. This again hearkens but to Plato, as our hero is the fellow who sees reality and is therefore considered insane by those who do not. Even more allusion, come to think of it, as the protagonist is described (at first especially) as, if I recall correctly, experiencing the sort of discomfort one feels coming out of a darkened cave and into the light. (And then, toward the end, Machen actually explicitly references Plato, so.)
For such a ponderous subject as mysticism, the writing is actually not heavy, which I think salvages the endeavor. A few things kicked my ass: Early on, especially, there is a heavy use of vocabulary steeped in turn-of-the-20th-century English Boarding School terminology. I was particularly troubled by "rocker" until (after using it dozens of times), Machen lets slip that it's a rugy/soccer-ish game peculiar to that school. (I'm sure that would be obvious to someone versed in the period, though.)
There is also frequent, casual and not-easily-Googled Latin phrases which often reinforce something said in English (but sometimes offer a counterpoint). And, at one point in the book, the author drops in an entire paragraph of French. I may have to learn Latin and French before I pick up another Machen book. (Poe does this, too, a lot.) Apart from this, it's actually a fairly easy read.
Anyway, as I say, I don't really get this, but even if it presented no reading difficulty, I would probably still not get it because mystery, in the mysticism sense, strikes me as nonsense. And while I can appreciate a hatred for utilitarianism, I find Ambrose's rejection of industry, the suburbs, and people, generally, to be in some ways as shallow as Holden Caulfield's. The only real difference—and to be fair, it is a big one—is aspirational: Ambrose seeks beauty and truth above all, and he believes in it.
But the telling thing is that he sees it where others don't, without realizing that maybe—just maybe—others see it where he doesn't.
January 19, 2015
Zoals in veel werk van Machen zitten in deze roman originele ideeën en een gevoel van typische Macheniaanse mystiek, maar ook veel slecht geschreven te lange stukken tekst die de plot vaak rommelig maken en waarin de journalistische stijl van Machen op een wat irritante manier naar voren komt.
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