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The Collected Connoisseur
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February 2021 monthly read: Mark Valentine/John Howard's The Collected Connoisseur
Lovely! I've had this collection on my bookshelf for a while. Being able to discuss it with a group makes it even more appealing!
There was a poll? Oh yeah. Five people voted in it too. I had no horse in this race. Maybe next month. Thanks for letting me know though.
I also had no idea this was in the mix. Excited though! I've been meaning to read this one for a while and it has been on the shelf waiting. Looking forward to the discussion.
Thank you for taking a look at our book! I won't participate in the discussion, but am willing to answer any questions if I can. It's due to the characteristic generosity of Mark Valentine that my name has received equal treatment to his on the book: the bulk of the stories (up to and including "The Mist on the Mere") are by Mark alone. The Connoisseur was his invention. Then Mark, who is one of my oldest friends, invited me to collaborate - and the stories from "The White Solander" onwards are by us both.
I hope you enjoy the adventures of The Connoisseur!
I rarely do group reads these days (or much group participation for that matter), but for this one I've made an exception. I'm a huge fan of the work of both Mark Valentine and John Howard so I'm sure this is going to be great.
Thus far I've read the Introduction by Mark Valentine, 'The Effigies', 'After the Darkness', and 'The Paravine Cries.'Supernatural stories set in the Edwardian Era. There is a sadness in these stories, tragic loss is described.
Wikipedia says: ...The Edwardian period is sometimes portrayed as a romantic golden age of long summer afternoons and garden parties, basking in a sun that never sets on the British Empire. This perception was created in the 1920s and later by those who remembered the Edwardian age with nostalgia, looking back to their childhoods across the abyss of the Great War....
The Connoisseur is an appealing character--he seeks the betterment of the other characters. I'm not quite sure if The Connoisseur has supernatural powers himself.
So far I'm only reading this at night, so I'm not as far along as I'd like to be at the moment. I'm concurrently reading Piranesi which is demanding my full daytime-reading attention.
Nancy wrote: "So far I'm only reading this at night, so I'm not as far along as I'd like to be at the moment."The plan I proposed was to start the conversations around the weekend. So there's no hurry.
Bill wrote: "Nancy wrote: "So far I'm only reading this at night, so I'm not as far along as I'd like to be at the moment."The plan I proposed was to start the conversations around the weekend. So there's no ..."
I missed that, so thanks. It's not that I'm needing to get through more of this book for the sake of this discussion -- it goes on over the month so that doesn't worry me. It's more about having a full slate readingwise for the rest of February.
Because I wasn't sure what my schedule would be this month, I chose not to vote in the poll, but I do have this volume and started reading it last night and am already enjoying it greatly. So far, I've found these tales to be situated somewhere between late Victorian decadence and a sort of gently Symbolist sensibility. A faint odour of Parma violets and incense, absinthe and the musk of soft yellow kid leather gloves, hangs over the stories but there's a faint astringency in the narrative that speaks of a more modern mind behind them. Each so far is really lovely-just long enough to be involving and evocative without being so involved or elaborate that one begins to question the premises or participants. The tone and language is spot on and I come away from each eager to move on to the next.
I am very curious to see how these evolve into longer stories. The Connoisseur himself is such an intriguing character that I'd like to see him fleshed out a bit and I am certain that Valentine and Howard are fully capable of giving the reader deeper mysteries than those proffered in the early short vignettes.
Nancy wrote: "So far I'm only reading this at night, so I'm not as far along as I'd like to be at the moment. I'm concurrently reading Piranesi which is demanding my full daytime-reading attention."I do hope you like 'Piranesi'. I thought it was superb, probably the best thing I've read so far this year.
Marie-Therese wrote: "Nancy wrote: "So far I'm only reading this at night, so I'm not as far along as I'd like to be at the moment. I'm concurrently reading Piranesi which is demanding my full daytime-re..."I finished it late yesterday, and yes, I loved it.
Marie-Therese wrote: "Because I wasn't sure what my schedule would be this month, I chose not to vote in the poll, but I do have this volume and started reading it last night and am already enjoying it greatly. So far..."
To me, especially the further I get into it, it's almost like reading Arthur Machen.
So far, my favorite story is "Sea Citadels." About to start "The Last Archipelago."
I just finished all the stories up to "Pale Roses". I find them a bit slight, but charming. I'm not always in the mood for this sort of writing, but Valentine is skillful at evoking a good balance of decadence and uncanniness.I will pour myself a glass of madeira to accompany the next story, to help get me into the mood.
Some of the stories in the book I would call fiction about the arcane.Which is one of my reading interests.
One of the stories is about an artifact made by a Saturn cult.
‘ “Oh, it is a relic, nothing more. As you correctly assumed, it was founded in the 18th century; and it was favoured by those who preferred to work on—” he fidgeted —“shall we say, the edges of the sciences and at the places where the higher arts and sciences meet?”
Ronald wrote: "Some of the stories in the book I would call fiction about the arcane.Which is one of my reading interests.
One of the stories is about an artifact made by a Saturn cult.
‘ “Oh, it is a relic..."
I enjoy those too. Very much so. I'm one of those readers referred to on the blurb on the back cover: "the lover of esoteric mystery and adventure fiction."
So far, I'm with Bill Hsu, I find the stories I have read up to this point a bit slight. However, I love Valentine's style and I especially like his more arcane stories.
Adriane wrote: "So far, I'm with Bill Hsu, I find the stories I have read up to this point a bit slight. However, I love Valentine's style and I especially like his more arcane stories."I don't see them as "slight" so much -- I don't think he needs to go into great detail as he manages to portray his ideas very well and very clearly in a short space. It's a hard thing to manage but he does pull it off.
Nancy wrote: "I don't see them as "slight" so much -- I don't think he needs to go into great detail."I'm not sure whether Adriane and I consider these "slight" in the same way. But I certainly don't think Valentine gives too little detail. In fact, I feel he gives a little too much detail sometimes.
In the stories I've read so far, I'm not finding much beyond some charming events and surfaces. I too love to have some of the objects in the Connoisseur's collection. And I would certainly be tempted to kiss a beautiful boy who happens to be death (as in "In Violet Veil"). But I don't find the events and characters to be particularly surprising or memorable. Charming yes, and quite enjoyable with a glass of madeira, but not much beyond that for me.
I finished Cafe Lucifer. I kept wondering if that was a version of the Shining Trapezohedron? I hope the later stories have more oomph, but I will keep the madeira close at hand, just in case.
Yes, Bill, that is how I feel as well. He is definitely able to pull it off, but as much as I find these stories enjoyable, I do not find them all that memorable. Up to this point, "Violet Veils" is my favorite. I am looking forward to the longer stories.
I'm about a quarter of the way through and I love it. I'm reading a few other short story collections right now and some of them are pretty heavy, Behold the Void by Philip Fracassi is particularly visceral and I am finding The Connoisseur to be a nice counterbalance. I have to cop to not being terribly familiar with Machen and Blackwood et al. But this book makes me want to wander further down that ancient path...
I'm about 50 pages in, 6 stories. really enjoying it. I love the rarified atmosphere and the elegant prose that's not shy of using near-purple words to give the tales that old school touch. I particularly enjoyed "In Violet Veils" and the idea of tableaux depicting Mysteries inadvertedly conjuring up boy-god Thanatos. and in "The Lost Moon" I was really enchanted by the concept of the anti-orrery.
I was getting a little bored with the sameness of the early tales. "The Hesperian Dragon" breaks things up a bit, with several connected segments that support each other. It's still a light confection like the others, but fun. And this crusty old-fashioned English gentleman thing, "I fear for Gabriel Larkland etc etc", is that self-parodic?
I think more pastiche than parody?
mark wrote: "I'm about 50 pages in, 6 stories. really enjoying it. I love the rarified atmosphere and the elegant prose that's not shy of using near-purple words to give the tales that old school touch. I parti..."I love this book. "Violet Veils" is an awesome story.
Bill wrote: "I was getting a little bored with the sameness of the early tales. "The Hesperian Dragon" breaks things up a bit, with several connected segments that support each other. It's still a light confect..."That particular story, I think, is a play on Machen. And when he says "I fear for Gabriel Larkin...." that actually made me laugh.
I'm all for lounging around in beautiful rooms with charming intelligent men, admiring strange objects and sipping Keemun tea. But I can't say the next two stories had any success speeding up my heartrate. (Maybe it's because I really prefer a malty full-bodied Assam.) "The Lighting of the Vial" at least had an intriguing idea, though little seemed to be done with it at the end. And I found "The Nephoseum" to be, shall we say, pale.
Bill wrote: "I'm all for lounging around in beautiful rooms with charming intelligent men, admiring strange objects and sipping Keemun tea. But I can't say the next two stories had any success speeding up my he..."I enjoyed "The Nephoseum," actually -- it seemed to more than verge on the Gnostic with the idea of "shedding of all the grosser encumbrances of earthly life" and the "route to the higher reaches of consciousness."
I read the first two stories yesterday and enjoyed them (the first more than the second.) First time I heard of the author(s) and this press, looks like their limited physical editions would fit nicely with other possessions of the Connisseur. I feel like I'd get more enjoyment reading 1 or 2 stories a week vs reading them all in February. interesting conversation so far, will be curious to see what people think after finishing the collection.
I would say that this book is a pastiche of Arthur Machen's writings, especially of The Three Imposters. The Collected Connoisseur, like Arthur Machen's writings, has humor too. (1)
Some of the stories in The Collected Connoisseur are not about a conflict. Perhaps that is why some have called the stories slight. And I get that, I really do. For example, there is a story about a ghost from the House of Stuart. This ghost is not really a menace.
(1) I submit that there is humor in The Three Imposters and in one of Machen's autobiographies, The London Adventure https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
Ronald wrote: "I would say that this book is a pastiche of Arthur Machen's writings, especially of The Three Imposters. The Collected Connoisseur, like Arthur Machen's writings,..."
Good point, Ronald. I hadn't considered that when I read these, but now that you bring it up, I can see a definite similarity to the point of pastiche.
I can't say the restoration of the Stuarts sets my heart a-flutter. But if I see an inexpensive hound's head walking stick with red-tipped ears on Ebay, I might be tempted to bid for it.
I've been deliberately spacing the reading of these stories out as I feel they benefit from a bit of air between them. They're like feather-light pastries: eat one and you marvel at the lightness of texture, the delicacy of flavour, and the baker's skill, but eat too many one after the other and the pleasure recedes as the accumulated dough sits heavy in the stomach and the palate dulls. So far, at 45% into the volume, I've found that I like the tales that feature art or artists the best. "The Effigies", "In Violet Veils", "The Craft of Arioch", "Cafe Lucifer", and especially "The Hesperian Dragon" are all stories that I found had more than just atmosphere and lovely language to recommend them. The last, one of the longer stories in the book, is particularly well done; the group of young artistic rebels featured, with their symphonies of light and improvisatory masques, really do seem like the sort of forward-thinking artists that might have made their way through London's unofficial art scene in the late Edwardian period, and the use of a rather staid but unexpectedly plucky foil adds not just humour but a little heart. It's a lovely story, well-plotted, and a lot of fun to read.
Unfortunately I can't say the same for everything in the book. The occult stuff mostly just puts me to sleep (literally-I dozed off three times reading "The Nephoseum", which I found unutterably dull, even more so than "The Secret Stars", which, at least, was mercifully brief). Stories like "The Sea Citadel" likely hold great charm for others but for me they are just incredibly boring. I think I'm missing the gene that finds any and all talk of ancient England and Arthurian romance spellbinding and I can't say I care much about the Jacobites and their enthusiasms either. I do have high hopes for "The Prince of Barlocco", the story I've just started though and I imagine I'm sure to find more than a few more gems before I finish the volume.
Bill wrote: "I can't say the restoration of the Stuarts sets my heart a-flutter. But if I see an inexpensive hound's head walking stick with red-tipped ears on Ebay, I might be tempted to bid for it."Haha! Yes, the Jacobite thing is an enthusiasm I find a bit difficult to comprehend. But I'm sure you'd look dashing with that cane!
Marie-Therese wrote: "I think I'm missing the gene that finds any and all talk of ancient England and Arthurian romance spellbinding and I can't say I care much about the Jacobites and their enthusiasms either."I think I have an overabundance of that gene. And ever since I read The Hill of Dreams last year, I can't seem to get enough of stories like these which, as the back-cover blurb of the book I'm currently reading ( Inner Europe, also by Howard and Valentine) says, somehow lead the characters to "mysterious overlapping otherworlds."
Nancy wrote: "... the back-cover blurb of the book I'm currently reading ( Inner Europe, also by Howard and Valentine) says, somehow lead the characters to 'mysterious overlapping otherworlds.'"I actually quite enjoyed Inner Europe. Based on that, I'd nominated The Connoisseur.
The stories in Inner Europe are longer and more developed than most in The Connoisseur. The more turbulent historical events in Europe cast darker shadows, and the characters' engagement with uncanny locales and events are more extended than here.
The Connoisseur actually reminds me more of the earlier Secret Europe, with shorter, less developed stories that share the concerns of Inner Europe, but in my opinion are less successful.
I'm sure it comes down to personal preference. I don't really mind the less-developed stories, because as I said earlier, if I can see where they're going and they evoke a reaction, then to me the author's done his job. And yes, the stories in Inner Europe have a great deal more depth and demand much more concentration, which is also a good thing. I'm just about to finish that one, and I will say that I've loved every second of it. Another thing: every time I sit down with a book by Mark Valentine, my tbr list grows and not just with other Valentine books. The man is a library in human form and so incredibly knowledgeable.
Nancy wrote: "I don't really mind the less-developed stories..."I've certainly enjoyed less-developed stories. But I need more than (say) a guy who spends a lot of time staring at clouds, and then disappears. Even if he sounds like somebody I'd ask out on a date.
Bill wrote: "Nancy wrote: "I don't really mind the less-developed stories..."I've certainly enjoyed less-developed stories. But I need more than (say) a guy who spends a lot of time staring at clouds, and the..."
I can see that. Again, personal preference; a matter of interpretation. For me that story was somewhat open-ended, and left me with the question of whether or not he'd actually achieved the "shedding of all the grosser encumbrances of earthly life" and had found the "route to the higher reaches of consciousness."
Nancy wrote: "Another thing: every time I sit down with a book by Mark Valentine, my tbr list grows and not just with other Valentine books. The man is a library in human form and so incredibly knowledgeable."I definitely agree with this. Valentine is not only remarkably erudite but in sympathy enough with the authors he loves to invent charming, pitch-perfect pastiches in their style. In one of the stories I read last night, "The Mad Lutanist", a character discourses at length on a purely invented work by Thomas Love Peacock, a favourite author of mine, which sounds so Peacockian I long to read it, and in another, "The Black Eros", mention is made of one Michael Casparian and his "enormous success with 'The Green Aigrette'. This Casparian must surely be a sly reference to Michael Arlen (born Dikran Kouyoumdjian) and his runaway hit of 1924, The Green Hat. Having read Arlen's Hell! Said the Duchess a while back and thoroughly enjoying it, I've been meaning to read more by him and Valentine's little homage was an excellent reminder to do so soon.
It's been an age since I read 'The Hill of Dreams' (something like 30 years ago while in my teens) but I do remember enjoying it greatly and I've liked other Machen works I've read over the years. I'm not sure I remember them being quite so nebulous as some of these tales, but neither were they so brief, so that likely accounts for some of the perceived density in the Machen. I do agree that most of this is simply a matter of personal taste and everything in this volume is exceptionally well done and the kind of thing one might like if one likes that kind of thing ;-)
Inner Europe sounds like something I'd very much enjoy, so that goes on to the list to be read sometime later this year.
Marie-Therese wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Another thing: every time I sit down with a book by Mark Valentine, my tbr list grows and not just with other Valentine books. The man is a library in human form and so incredibly kno..."I figured out the Arlen immediately (my thoughts: "that sounds like Michael Arlen!") and then had to laugh when he directly referenced it later. Okay, and a little self pride when he acknowledged my initial thoughts.
You will love Inner Europe. Then read Howard's Buried Shadows -- a thoroughly OMG read. (I have to reread it here shortly, actually).
Nancy wrote: "You will love Inner Europe. Then read Howard's Buried Shadows -- a thoroughly OMG read. (I have to reread it here shortly, actually)."Thanks for the recommendation! I have added 'Buried Shadows' to my TBR list.
"The White Solander" is a rollicking old-fashioned adventure yarn, quite different from most of the earlier pieces. From John Howard's note earlier, this is the first of his collaborations with Mark Valentine in the collection. I'm looking forward to the later pieces.
"The Mist on the Mere" is a fine contribution to the ghost story genre, in my opinion. Here, the spirits seem to be a existential threat:‘Row!’ he demanded again, and in a daze, I mechanically pulled upon the wooden spar, glad to have the feel of something solid on my palms. We pulled away with all our energy, artlessly, making a little distance, but also at times working against each other, my friend gazing around to try to make out the shore. And all the while the white figure, the woman of the mists in her sombre craft, was reaching, reaching out: and around her a tumult of shapes swirled and squirmed....
I liked the “The White Solander” too. A supernatural conflict between two occult groups.While reading the story, I thought of Ioan Culianu, a brilliant University of Chicago scholar of religion, the Renaissance, and the occult whose murder on campus had occult overtones.
I would be interested if John Howard or Mark Valentine are familiar with Culianu.
"The Descent of the Fire" is a rather pulp-y take on folk horror. I could certainly make room in my house for some of those matchboxes. Good fun conclusion to the collection.
Literary Horror
Books mentioned in this topic
Buried Shadows (other topics)Buried Shadows (other topics)
The Green Hat (other topics)
Hell! Said the Duchess (other topics)
Inner Europe (other topics)
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There are many effusive reviews online. Here are a couple:
http://www.horla.org/the-collected-co...
https://dflewisreviews.wordpress.com/...
The Collected Connoisseur is available on paper and as an e-book.
Let's start around the weekend!