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Boats of the Glen Carrig by William Hope Hodgson
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Jordan
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Aug 09, 2015 09:12AM
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That's the one thing I love about this group, Sarah, is that we can bring these new finds to one another that we may not have had the chance or thought to experience on our own...I'm very pleased that you enjoyed it so much. Now, on to my own review:I picked this book on an indirect recommendation by my boy Mike Mignola (creator/writer and most-of-the-time artist of the Hellboy comics) from an introduction he did in the collection "Strange Places" (volume six of Hellboy) for the two-issue run called "The Island." He cited Willam Hope Hodgkettle as his greatest influence for that story, with "The Boats of the Glen Carrig" being the specific source for the idea. As I've been burning through the Hellboy volumes, I thought that this could potentially be a fun read for the group, especially since I really just wanted to read the novel and find out what all the fuss was about.
Overall, I thought this was a great piece of prose for its time. It was very reminiscent of Lovecraftian horror, especially with its continued use of tentacled monsters popping up all over the place, and I've always been a huge fan of pulp-esque weird horror tales like Lovecraft, so this was one of those reads where I felt I was right at home with the story, as if it was written just for me. The horror was filled with adventure and I think the lack of overt description worked well with the material (though Sarah, myself, and critics alike seem to wish for more information on where these creatures came from, how they existed, and so on), as it let my imagination run as wild as the continued succession of events in the story, and I enjoyed making my own internal movie for this one.
Something I noticed that kind of set it apart for me in terms of a personal narrative, was the lack of any actual dialogue in the story. To a great degree, this was written in such a way that I can imagine these events being a "true account" through the style and tone, as it would be read to a person in the same way in which one reads it. I give it some credit for that, because I think that would be hard to pull off, and it was done so wonderfully by the author.
I, too, rated this one four stars, and it was missing that fifth star because of the episodic nature (I felt it could have been much longer with greater detail given to character development and creature origins). I still thoroughly enjoyed this story, and it is one of those few gems that I know I'll read again in the years to come, which I always say is the best praise you can given a piece of writing. To further this: Hodgkettle wrote several of these sea-faring horror/adventure stories set in what was called the Sargasso Sea Stories, of which "The Boats of the Glen Carrig" is just one of many in his loose, unrelated series. Knowing this, I know I will find myself visiting this Sargasso Sea in the future, as this foray into horrific adventure was too good not to revisit with a new crew and a new adventure.
*slowly backs out of the virtual door of the thread muttering, "It's happened, they've lost their blooming minds"*
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Since I listen to the audiobook I never got to to see the actual spelling of the character known as "bosun," but I had to look it up while reading and discovered that its "boatswain" in our modern dialect. This apparently means "An experienced member of the crew." Seems most fitting for our guy.
Garret, I agree that this definitely felt like we were being told the story in person. The audiobook I listened to was a Librivox recording, which is a collection of audiobooks that are free due to being in the public domain. The narrator was (what my untrained American ears believe was) Scottish and he sounded young. It really helped add to the story-teller vibe. It was a positive experience.
I will disagree with you both in terms of detail and my overall score. I thought this book gave me exactly enough detail to keep me interested and excited without boring me. I want more and I would gladly read a second book with these same characters returning to those same locations. I want more and in my opinion that it among the highest praise that can be given a book. Not that "Jordan wants more!" but that anyone wants more. I love that there are more books set in this fantastical land, but I wish they were related.
Hodgeskin found a blend of old-timey charm, creative settings and creatures, engaging characters, and brevity that really glazed my donuts.
Something else I thought was neat and unusual for a novel of its time: the narrator was not really the "astute hero" in this tale, but it was more so the entirety of the crew seemed in part equal measure as an almost survival horror type nature...anyone else have thoughts on this?
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Ha...just kidding...but no, I really did watch movies as a child. I do think it would be neat to see this filmed if done right (obviously). I think the imagery alone invokes the need to be more fully realized and I'd love for a tale such as this to have a chance to go mainstream versus its indie status. I'd want something like a cross between the ridiculousness of Evil Dead and the seriousness of Pan's Labyrinth...which I know is a wide gap, but makes sense in my tired mind. Let's have Sam Raimi direct it, but Guillermo del Toro write and design it with Bruce Campbell as the "narrator" and Ron Perlman as the great and powerful bo'sun. Scored by some Swedish nu metal band with an affinity for Cthulhu rising up in their album art.
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Sorry, I am behind schedule. I will have the book finished tomorrow. I imagine the bo'sun in the style of Washington crossing the Delaware. However personally resembling a pirate. So far I am enjoying the story. Does the narrator ever reveal his name? Perhaps he did at the beginning and I forget.
Finished and I really enjoyed it. Great selection Garret! I imagined the devilfish as albino Zoibergs(without his exoskeleton) with squid-like tentacles in place of claws.
