What do you think?
Rate this book
A Fragment of Life
All day long a fierce and heavy heat had brooded Over the City, and as Darnell neared home he saw the mist lying on all the damp lowlands, wreathed in coils about Bedford Park to the south and mounting to the West, so that the tower of Acton Church loomed out of a grey lake. He lived in the grey phantasmal world, akin to death, that has, somehow, with most of us, made good its claim to be called life. But so went forth Darnell, strangely mistaking death for life, madness for sanity and purposeless and wandering phantoms for true beings. He was sincerely of opinion that he was a City clerk, living in Shepherd's Bush -- having forgotten the mysteries and the far-shining glories of the kingdom which was his by legitimate inheritance. . . .
120 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1904
About the author
Arthur Machen
1,227 books1,080 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
Want to Read
July 4, 2019Contains:
003 - "A Fragment of Life"
123 - "The White People"
003 - "A Fragment of Life"
123 - "The White People"
August 1, 2014
El galés Arthur Machen (1863-1947) fue periodista, traductor e incluso actor, pero la fama le vino con sus escritos de corte fantástico, que son por los que siempre será recordado. Su estilo destaca por el lirismo y un anhelo por lo místico y folclórico, con ciertos tintes esotéricos. Su influencia abarca a escritores como H.P. Lovecraft y Jorge Luis Borges.
‘Un fragmento de vida’ (A Fragment of Life, 1906) tiene como protagonista al matrimonio Darnell, Edward y Mary, un matrimonio convencional y juicioso, que toma las decisiones desde la sensatez. Su vida transcurre de forma tranquila y monótona, atrapado por un trabajo en la City insatisfactorio, ahorros, precios, compras, problemas con la servidumbre, la familia y amistades previsibles. Parece que viven a gusto, pero hay una cierta amargura y tedio en Edward, cuya vía de escape son unos sueños recurrentes sobre un lugar maravilloso de bellos jardines y paisajes. Así, la novela transcurre con un tono realista, en el que Edward le cuenta sus sueños a su esposa, entre ellos cierta experiencia que tuvo antes de casarse en la que emprendía paseos por Londres y alrededores, en los que se olvidaba del tiempo y el espacio, y que para mí es una parte brillante, memorable.
Machen nos alienta a descubrir el otro lado de la monotonía diaria, a buscar más allá de lo que tenemos a simple vista. Magnífica novela, de las que hay que leer y releer.
‘Un fragmento de vida’ (A Fragment of Life, 1906) tiene como protagonista al matrimonio Darnell, Edward y Mary, un matrimonio convencional y juicioso, que toma las decisiones desde la sensatez. Su vida transcurre de forma tranquila y monótona, atrapado por un trabajo en la City insatisfactorio, ahorros, precios, compras, problemas con la servidumbre, la familia y amistades previsibles. Parece que viven a gusto, pero hay una cierta amargura y tedio en Edward, cuya vía de escape son unos sueños recurrentes sobre un lugar maravilloso de bellos jardines y paisajes. Así, la novela transcurre con un tono realista, en el que Edward le cuenta sus sueños a su esposa, entre ellos cierta experiencia que tuvo antes de casarse en la que emprendía paseos por Londres y alrededores, en los que se olvidaba del tiempo y el espacio, y que para mí es una parte brillante, memorable.
Machen nos alienta a descubrir el otro lado de la monotonía diaria, a buscar más allá de lo que tenemos a simple vista. Magnífica novela, de las que hay que leer y releer.
June 30, 2018
Underrated and underrepresented in anthologies in favour of his novella The Terror, this is a quintessential revelatory Machen narrative. Its lack of popularity partly comes down to its existence just on the fringes of genre writing. Indeed, much of the first half is deliberately banal and frustrating, which is a risky move from any writer and one sure to put off some readers, but as it goes on this deliberately punishing and minute account of everyday quibbles subtly and tentatively pierces through the veil as the narrative irrupts into the fantastic and unclassifiable.
My own tastes run more in line with the darker 'The White People' and The Hill of Dreams, but this is a delicate, eerie and moving apotheosis of Machen's artistic creed from towards the end of his great period of writing.
My own tastes run more in line with the darker 'The White People' and The Hill of Dreams, but this is a delicate, eerie and moving apotheosis of Machen's artistic creed from towards the end of his great period of writing.
December 10, 2023
Machen tiene una forma especial de escribir, no es para nada concreto en sus historias pero logra transmitir sensaciones de desapego como ninguno, en atmósferas espectrales soberbias. A veces recrea ambientes ominosos y opresivos, de donde surgen sus mejores relatos de terror; mientras que otras veces recrea paraísos terrenales, de donde surgen novelas idealistas, bucólicamente esotéricas.
Dentro de estas últimas, brilla por sí sola "Un fragmento de vida", más corta que otras novelas suyas, pero que cala más hondo en el corazón. Al terminar dan ganas de dejar botado todo y partir por el sendero entre las colinas, buscando que se abran las puertas de tus sueños. Nada terrorífico, pero singularmente hermoso.
Personalmente, uno de los libros más importantes de mi juventud.
21.4.2005
Dentro de estas últimas, brilla por sí sola "Un fragmento de vida", más corta que otras novelas suyas, pero que cala más hondo en el corazón. Al terminar dan ganas de dejar botado todo y partir por el sendero entre las colinas, buscando que se abran las puertas de tus sueños. Nada terrorífico, pero singularmente hermoso.
Personalmente, uno de los libros más importantes de mi juventud.
21.4.2005
July 3, 2025
De Machen se puede aprender una lección de escritura: si ya tienes una idea abstracta, no es imprescindible que escribas siguiendo un plan pero siempre, siempre escribe como si tuvieses un plan.
July 25, 2008
An elusive book written with great delicacy, part of the magnum opus Machen abandoned, despairing that he had "dreamt in fire but worked in clay". The other surviving portions of this work are the brilliant supernatural novella "The White People" - widely acknowledged as one of the greatest works of weird fiction ever penned - and the beautifully written tragic novel THE HILL OF DREAMS.
This work is not truly supernatural, but a study in finding religious ecstasy in one's own environment and the activities of daily living. In a way this makes the work the only happy portion in the trilogy of works written at this time, each depicting the fate of a person striving towards something beyond the limits of his or her vision.
This work is not truly supernatural, but a study in finding religious ecstasy in one's own environment and the activities of daily living. In a way this makes the work the only happy portion in the trilogy of works written at this time, each depicting the fate of a person striving towards something beyond the limits of his or her vision.
October 31, 2026
This novella from 1904 shows a lighter Machen.. surely there’s no such thing.. but this is more philosophical, gentler than the likes of The Great God Pan and eerie rather than pitch black. And, shock horror, it has a happy ending.
The first half is the slow burn. Edward Darnell, an ordinary City clerk living a dull, ordinary life in the London suburbs with his ordinary wife, Mary. They bicker over household budgets, stoves, and room refurbishments.
Edward begins experiencing strange, vivid dreams which seem like memories of ancient Wales. Welsh folklore is something you can rely on with Machen, as are its faeries, and they duly make an appearance.
Things begin to change when, one night, Edward tells Mary for the first time of the wonderful time when he first came to London and walked its streets and the wonderful and magical things he saw but cannot adequately describe. Edward begins to regain that feeling and transmits it to Mary. It’s a typical Machen theme of everyday commercial life being a form of living death and a call to see the mystery and wonder of life.
It ends abruptly, though that is with intention, as the revelation Edward stumbles upon, is followed up in Machen’s next novel, The Secret Glory.
The first half is the slow burn. Edward Darnell, an ordinary City clerk living a dull, ordinary life in the London suburbs with his ordinary wife, Mary. They bicker over household budgets, stoves, and room refurbishments.
Edward begins experiencing strange, vivid dreams which seem like memories of ancient Wales. Welsh folklore is something you can rely on with Machen, as are its faeries, and they duly make an appearance.
Things begin to change when, one night, Edward tells Mary for the first time of the wonderful time when he first came to London and walked its streets and the wonderful and magical things he saw but cannot adequately describe. Edward begins to regain that feeling and transmits it to Mary. It’s a typical Machen theme of everyday commercial life being a form of living death and a call to see the mystery and wonder of life.
It ends abruptly, though that is with intention, as the revelation Edward stumbles upon, is followed up in Machen’s next novel, The Secret Glory.
November 19, 2018
Another one of Machen's supernatural stories with lesser components of horror than a version of 1990 movie Ghost! Read it if you have oodles of time to kill.
My Rating - 2/5
My Rating - 2/5
November 18, 2014
If this is your first book of Machen's it could put you off. But if you know him and his books then this novella is a gem. I really loved the atmosphere throughout the text, a really example of Machen's best writing. Nothing much happens actually, but it doesn't really matter, I've paid attention and enjoyed other aspects.
"A Fragment of Life" and "Far Off Things" are two Machenian masterpieces.
Here's a sentence that has struck me, a perfect example of the atmosphere I've mentioned:
«She was half dreaming as she listened for the servant's footsteps, and the faint shadow of a shade of a thought came over her, and she imagined dimly, for the quick moment of a dream, another world where rapture was wine, where one wandered in a deep and happy valley, and the moon was always rising red above the trees».
"A Fragment of Life" and "Far Off Things" are two Machenian masterpieces.
Here's a sentence that has struck me, a perfect example of the atmosphere I've mentioned:
«She was half dreaming as she listened for the servant's footsteps, and the faint shadow of a shade of a thought came over her, and she imagined dimly, for the quick moment of a dream, another world where rapture was wine, where one wandered in a deep and happy valley, and the moon was always rising red above the trees».
April 22, 2021
UN FRAMMENTO DI VITA è sì quello che il titolo suggerisce, cioè uno spaccato della vita quotidiana di una coppia di Londra sul finire del 1800. Il marito impiegato nella City e lei casalinga, affrontano le piccole cose di ogni giorno: il voler arredare una stanza di casa propria e la mancanza dei fondi, il fornello della cucina che da problemi, le vicende di vicini e familiari. Pian piano però il signor Darrell sblocca alcuni ricordi e come un incantesimo lo riportano ai tempi di quando era bambino e viveva in una regione selvaggia, fatta di natura incontaminata, credenze oscure e strani riti.
La scrittura di Machen è talmente fluida e il passo dalla vita quotidiana ai sogni ad occhi aperti talmente trasparente che non ci si accorge di essere arrivati alla fine.
VOTO: 2/5
---
IL POPOLO BIANCO è un racconto quasi onirico all'interno dei remoti e selvaggi paesaggi gallesi, raccontato come un diario di una ragazza sedicenne. Scopriamo le favole, i racconti e i riti che le vengono insegnati dalla bambinaia, che a sua volta li ha appresi dalla vecchissima bisnonna e leggiamo del lungo viaggio della ragazza tra i miti e i luoghi del fatato Popolo Bianco.
VOTO: 3/5
---
In aggiunta il volume edito da Hypnos inserisce la riscrittura dell'ultimo capitolo de Un frammento di vita fatta successivamente dall'autore e il racconto breve Un doppio ritorno.
COSA MI È PIACIUTO
- Stile scorrevole
COSA NON MI È PIACIUTO
- Non è propriamente weird (forse solo il secondo racconto)
- Mi ha lasciato poco
La scrittura di Machen è talmente fluida e il passo dalla vita quotidiana ai sogni ad occhi aperti talmente trasparente che non ci si accorge di essere arrivati alla fine.
VOTO: 2/5
---
IL POPOLO BIANCO è un racconto quasi onirico all'interno dei remoti e selvaggi paesaggi gallesi, raccontato come un diario di una ragazza sedicenne. Scopriamo le favole, i racconti e i riti che le vengono insegnati dalla bambinaia, che a sua volta li ha appresi dalla vecchissima bisnonna e leggiamo del lungo viaggio della ragazza tra i miti e i luoghi del fatato Popolo Bianco.
VOTO: 3/5
---
In aggiunta il volume edito da Hypnos inserisce la riscrittura dell'ultimo capitolo de Un frammento di vita fatta successivamente dall'autore e il racconto breve Un doppio ritorno.
COSA MI È PIACIUTO
- Stile scorrevole
COSA NON MI È PIACIUTO
- Non è propriamente weird (forse solo il secondo racconto)
- Mi ha lasciato poco
July 9, 2019
In spite the fact that it starts with almost meaningless day to day topics, you will understand the purpose of this beginning, as it turns into an incredible awakening of the soul for the Protagonist. It left me with that "American Beauty" or "Little Miss Sunshine" movie feeling but with a Machen sort of "The Matrix" signature twist. It is truly an underrated work of Machen. I've read untill now from his novels: Great God Pan, Novel of the White Powder (from Three Impostors), Novel of the Black Seal (Three Impostors), Hill of Dreams, this one, and The Secret Glory. But as I rated lately Secret Glory, I had to re-rate this one and qualify it as my favorite novel of Machen. Got nostalgia of this Fragment of Life and will re-read it again.
July 31, 2015
Maybe I'm just having a bad day, but all I can say is that had this been the first book by Machen I ever read - I would not have bothered to read more. So, if you've never read any of his work, choose a different story. If you're thinking of reading Machen, skip this one. Or if you have read it, but haven't picked up any of his other work - don't judge him by this story alone, because it is singularly one of the most disappointing beginnings you could start with. Altogether banal and forcefully anticlimactic, I definitely got the sense it had been written with greater, but ultimately unrealized, intentions... And I rate it at two stars because I can't bear the idea of giving Machen less.
March 21, 2016
Sería una buena novela si el desarrollo de la historia hubiese sido más extenso. En las últimas veinte páginas hay condensada tanta información, contada de una forma poética y rimbombante, con la que el lector no sabe a qué atenerse. Consigue que ese incipiente cariño que se le cobra a los personajes desaparezca, los convierte en espectros, personas totalmente desdibujadas. Y qué quieres que te diga, me ha apenado un poco.
En fin, me ha gustado la idea y cómo esta escrito pero, querido Machen, daba para más y no lo has sabido aprovechar.
En fin, me ha gustado la idea y cómo esta escrito pero, querido Machen, daba para más y no lo has sabido aprovechar.
March 2, 2014
Here is a narrative that totally sucks you in but just at the moment of the big reveal leaves you hanging. I could not get over the abrupt end. It seemed as if Mr. Machen got bored writing this novel (it took him from 1895 to 1897 to complete). I can say that this is one of those novels that leaves you bereft not because of a tragedy in the story but outside of it. In this case, the incompleteness. After finishing the novel, I felt angry at Machen for many days.
June 6, 2012
Está muy bien escrito pero yo no le he encontrado la gracia :(
July 8, 2012
The note I wrote to myself after reading this book was: Now what is going on here? I didn't understand it!
September 10, 2020
Begins in the quotidian. Ends in the exalted.
November 23, 2023
Ci sono sentieri nascosti tutto intorno a noi. Percorsi che attraversano miti, e speranze. Ci sono periferie nelle quali il tessuto della realtà si assottiglia a tal punto da diventare trasparente. Quando questo succede possiamo guardare oltre quella soglia, possiamo sbirciare le ombre di un mondo che pensavamo dimenticato. E se siamo fortunati, poi, quella membrana di impalpabile realtà possiamo attraversarla.
Questo ci racconta Arthur Machen in "Un frammento di vita" e ne "Il popolo bianco". Racconta di vite ordinarie di fine '800 e inizio '900 che sfiorano o si immergono completamente in un modo 'altro', parallelo ma completamente diverso dalla realtà meccanica nella quale i protagonisti - così come noi - sono intrappolati.
"Lo spirito delle sciocchezze che erano state impiantate in lui come nei suoi compagni lo assicurava in continuazione che il vero mondo era quello visibile e tangibile, il mondo in cui un solido e onesto lavoro di copista poteva essere barattato con una certa quantità di pane, manzo e spazio abitabile, e che l'uomo che copiava bene le lettere, non picchiava sua moglie e non perdeva denaro in maniera sciocca, era un uomo buono, che adempiva al fine per cui era stato creato. Ma a dispetto di queste argomentazioni, a dispetto del fatto che tutti attorno taluni le accettavano, ebbe la grazia di percepire la totale falsità e assurdità di quella posizione."
Si oppongono all'ordinario, i personaggi di Machen. Scappano dalla falsità, dal precostituito, dalla lenta entropia della realtà che a poco a poco smembra le esistenze allineandole una all'altra fino a renderle quasi indistinguibili tra loro. L'Inghilterra di Machen è ricca di sentieri invisibili che conducono a una felicità differente, possibile. A mondi magici. Sono gli stessi sentieri che poi Susanna Clarke ci mostrerà nel suo "Jonathan Strange e il Signor Norrell" e che attingono dallo stesso desiderio di magia che tutti speriamo di incontrare anche solo per "un frammento di vita".
"Il materialismo di quest'epoca, che ha fatto molto per sopprimere la santità, ha fatto forse di più per sopprimere il male. Troviamo la terra talmente confortevole che non abbiamo inclinazione per ascese o discese. Si ha l'impressione che lo studioso che decidesse di 'specializzarsi' in Tofet sarebbe ridotto unicamente a ricerche antiquarie. Nessun paleontologo potrebbe mostrarle uno pterodattilo vivo."
E poi ci sono il bene e il male che il filosofo Ambrose dettaglia a Cotgrave (e a noi) con sorprendente arguzia ne "Il popolo bianco". Un bene e un male che intrecciano la loro essenza con i sentieri nascosti che conducono a mondi antichi e magici. Un bene e un male che la nostra meccanica, la nostra scienza, la nostra perniciosa 'realtà' hanno deformato nell'ossessiva umanizzazione di tutto, rendendoci incapaci di riconoscere davvero cosa sia il bene e cosa sia il male.
Perciò Machen, attraverso il diario di una ragazza senza nome, ci conduce tra gli abitanti del Popolo Bianco. Sono le esperienze della giovane a raccontarci di un magia antica e di rituali sorprendenti che spesso confondono sogni e memoria.
L'autore ci offre questo viaggio con uno scopo: rieducare la nostra anima al vero male e alla vera santità.
Questo ci racconta Arthur Machen in "Un frammento di vita" e ne "Il popolo bianco". Racconta di vite ordinarie di fine '800 e inizio '900 che sfiorano o si immergono completamente in un modo 'altro', parallelo ma completamente diverso dalla realtà meccanica nella quale i protagonisti - così come noi - sono intrappolati.
"Lo spirito delle sciocchezze che erano state impiantate in lui come nei suoi compagni lo assicurava in continuazione che il vero mondo era quello visibile e tangibile, il mondo in cui un solido e onesto lavoro di copista poteva essere barattato con una certa quantità di pane, manzo e spazio abitabile, e che l'uomo che copiava bene le lettere, non picchiava sua moglie e non perdeva denaro in maniera sciocca, era un uomo buono, che adempiva al fine per cui era stato creato. Ma a dispetto di queste argomentazioni, a dispetto del fatto che tutti attorno taluni le accettavano, ebbe la grazia di percepire la totale falsità e assurdità di quella posizione."
Si oppongono all'ordinario, i personaggi di Machen. Scappano dalla falsità, dal precostituito, dalla lenta entropia della realtà che a poco a poco smembra le esistenze allineandole una all'altra fino a renderle quasi indistinguibili tra loro. L'Inghilterra di Machen è ricca di sentieri invisibili che conducono a una felicità differente, possibile. A mondi magici. Sono gli stessi sentieri che poi Susanna Clarke ci mostrerà nel suo "Jonathan Strange e il Signor Norrell" e che attingono dallo stesso desiderio di magia che tutti speriamo di incontrare anche solo per "un frammento di vita".
"Il materialismo di quest'epoca, che ha fatto molto per sopprimere la santità, ha fatto forse di più per sopprimere il male. Troviamo la terra talmente confortevole che non abbiamo inclinazione per ascese o discese. Si ha l'impressione che lo studioso che decidesse di 'specializzarsi' in Tofet sarebbe ridotto unicamente a ricerche antiquarie. Nessun paleontologo potrebbe mostrarle uno pterodattilo vivo."
E poi ci sono il bene e il male che il filosofo Ambrose dettaglia a Cotgrave (e a noi) con sorprendente arguzia ne "Il popolo bianco". Un bene e un male che intrecciano la loro essenza con i sentieri nascosti che conducono a mondi antichi e magici. Un bene e un male che la nostra meccanica, la nostra scienza, la nostra perniciosa 'realtà' hanno deformato nell'ossessiva umanizzazione di tutto, rendendoci incapaci di riconoscere davvero cosa sia il bene e cosa sia il male.
Perciò Machen, attraverso il diario di una ragazza senza nome, ci conduce tra gli abitanti del Popolo Bianco. Sono le esperienze della giovane a raccontarci di un magia antica e di rituali sorprendenti che spesso confondono sogni e memoria.
L'autore ci offre questo viaggio con uno scopo: rieducare la nostra anima al vero male e alla vera santità.
January 27, 2021
Librito curioso, un tanto desconcertante, a medio camino entre el Machen abiertamente fantástico de El gran Dios Pan y el más comedido de La colina de los sueños, quizás más cercano al segundo, pero con trazos obvios del primero.
Gran parte de la narración viene a ser lo del título, unos días cualesquiera en la vida de un matrimonio, con conversaciones acerca de cómo amueblar una habitación, los precios de tal o cual cosa, o cotilleos sobre la mala relación de la criada con su futura suegra. Me recordaba un poco a la escena de la película Cómo ser John Malkovich en la que un extraño se mete en la cabeza de Malkovich, probablemente esperando experimentar algo de la emocionante vida del actor, y éste está simplemente en su casa encargando una toalla de baño por teléfono. Sin embargo, de vez en cuando hay algunos fogonazos de la idea recurrente en Machen acerca de otra realidad que no vemos, sea bien con un par de párrafos al final de un capítulo, bien en una larga conversación de la pareja recordando una vivencia extraña de un lejano día de verano. Hacia el final este cambio se hace más permanente y acaba quizás de una forma un tanto brusca, pero a la vez que puede chocar no deja de tener sentido: al fin y al cabo no es más que un fragmento extraído con un corte limpio.
Sea como sea, no se llega a hacer aburrido (tampoco es muy largo) y me deja la sensación de que, del mismo modo en que bajo la realidad del señor Darnell hay mucho más que ver, bajo la apariencia corriente de esta novelita hay mucho más que rascar en una futura relectura.
Gran parte de la narración viene a ser lo del título, unos días cualesquiera en la vida de un matrimonio, con conversaciones acerca de cómo amueblar una habitación, los precios de tal o cual cosa, o cotilleos sobre la mala relación de la criada con su futura suegra. Me recordaba un poco a la escena de la película Cómo ser John Malkovich en la que un extraño se mete en la cabeza de Malkovich, probablemente esperando experimentar algo de la emocionante vida del actor, y éste está simplemente en su casa encargando una toalla de baño por teléfono. Sin embargo, de vez en cuando hay algunos fogonazos de la idea recurrente en Machen acerca de otra realidad que no vemos, sea bien con un par de párrafos al final de un capítulo, bien en una larga conversación de la pareja recordando una vivencia extraña de un lejano día de verano. Hacia el final este cambio se hace más permanente y acaba quizás de una forma un tanto brusca, pero a la vez que puede chocar no deja de tener sentido: al fin y al cabo no es más que un fragmento extraído con un corte limpio.
Sea como sea, no se llega a hacer aburrido (tampoco es muy largo) y me deja la sensación de que, del mismo modo en que bajo la realidad del señor Darnell hay mucho más que ver, bajo la apariencia corriente de esta novelita hay mucho más que rascar en una futura relectura.
June 18, 2023
UN FRAGMENTO DE VIDA (1906) del autor galés Arthur Machen es una nouvelle de corte fantástico cuya historia se enfoca en la vida de un prudente matrimonio londinense, los Darnell, cuyo marido, Edward, trabaja en la City ejerciendo un puesto administrativo, y su mujer, Mary, pese a realizar tareas del hogar, también goza de unas rentas que había heredado e invertido en hipotecas. Por lo tanto y como lo plantea el autor se trata de un joven matrimonio sin hijos cuya vida en el aspecto social transcurre entre problemáticas corrientes como cambiarse la cocina (cap. I); conflictos con la chica del servicio Alice (cap. II); o el posible traslado de la tía Marian a su casa, debido a las supuestas infidelidades del tío Nixon (cap. III).
Vista así la historia cabría preguntarse dónde se halla el elemento fantástico. Pues bien Machen irá lentamente ofreciéndonos una serie de pasajes evocadores y extraños entreverados a lo cotidiano, pasajes de corte onírico y llenos de claroscuros, y que suceden siempre que la narración se focaliza en Edward. Por ejemplo, desde el inicio vamos a toparnos con umbrales de lo fantástico que no se resolverán hasta el capítulo cuarto: «En el momento de despertar, Edward Darnell estaba soñando con un bosque arcaico y un límpido manantial que se alzaba en nieblas y vapores bajo un calor que volvía trémulo el paisaje; y, al abrir los ojos, vio que la habitación estaba inundada de sol y que la luz centelleaba en los muebles nuevos recién barnizados» (p. 1).
Estas marcas o señales que advierten de 'algo más' se irán apareciendo a lo largo de los tres primeros capítulos por medio de recuerdos, duermevelas, sensaciones percibidas por largos paseos que invitan a soñar despierto; porque queda claro que Edward tiende a romper la cotidianidad de sus problemas 'reales' por medio de una suerte de evasiones donde la percepción espacio-temporal se diluye, y muy especialmente a partir de la irrupción de un objeto en particular: un libro que perteneció a su padre lleno de extrañas descripciones y latines, y que lo animarán junto con otras reliquias familiares a seguir investigando sobre su pasado, porque ahí está la clave del porqué de esas extrañas sensaciones en los vagabundeos y sus sueños agrestes.
El narrador por otro lado en ningún momento se muestra neutral, y se encarga de hacernos ver que la vida de Edward en su reglada cotidianidad es «un mundo gris y fantasmal, análogo a la muerte, que de algún modo ha conseguido que le llamemos vida la mayoría de nosotros» (p. 53); o «Así seguía Darnell un día tras otro, tomando por la muerte por vida, la locura por cordura y a fantasmas vagos y errabundos por seres reales» (p. 54).
Destacaríamos de los tres primeros capítulos el largo relato confesional que hace el protagonista a su mujer; relato donde da cuenta de sus errabundeos secretos impelidos por la esfera de una trascedendente y luminosa contemplación (pp. 67-84). Veamos algunos fragmentos:
«Durante unos instantes sentí que aquel mísero callejón era bellísimo y que las voces de los niños y los hombres de la taberna armonizaban con el del cielo y formaban parte de él […], como si la calle fuera de terciopelo o tuviera una alfombra suavísima. Y entonces (supongo serían fantasías mías ) pareció como si el aire se hubiera perfumado, como si oliera a incienso, y la respiración se me volvió anhelante, como cuando está uno excitado por algo» (p. 69).
«Me parecía como si yo ya no fuese el hombre de iba a la City todas las mañanas y regresaba por las tardes después de haber escrito un montón de cartas aburridísimas. Era como si, de pronto, me hubieran metido de un empujón en otro mundo» (p. 71).
«Aquella mañana yo las veía como iluminadas por una luz nueva, como si llevara puestas las gafas mágicas del cuento. Y, justo como el personaje del cuento, yo seguí avanzando y adentrándome en esa nueva luz» (p. 77).
Aunque no será hasta el capítulo cuarto cuando descubramos el secreto familiar, un secreto que se remontará hasta la época romana; años donde el primitivo cristianismo y el declinante paganismo galés se entremezclarían aún, y donde el mundo resultaba como «una inmensa ceremonia, un inmenso sacramento que muestra, en formas visibles, una doctrina oculta y trascendente» (p. 145).
Sin querer desvelar mucho más, Machen con esta obra viene a vindicar el conocimiento por medio de la contemplación, de lo espiritual frente a aquellos que prefieren estudiar libros científicos y manipular tubos de ensayo para explicar los misterios de la vida, esos que para ellos suceden si ningún propósito. Es decir, Machen se posiciona en una tesis espiritualista y trascendental que confronta con el cientifismo imperante. De hecho si no fuera por los últimos pasajes donde sí se traspasa claramente el umbral de lo fantástico para relatar hechos relacionados con la magia, y que «parecen adquirir la semblanza de los relatos del Grial» (pp. 114-115), ni siquiera cabría catalogar a la obra de tal, sino tal vez de filosófica o estética.
En conclusión estamos, en nuestra opinión, con una obra hermosa donde lo cotidiano es confrontado y superpuesto a 'lo Otro' y viceversa; donde una atmósfera de ancestrales fuerzas elementales se va desenvolviendo poco a poco entre la tracería del quehacer corriente.
Como único hándicap, cabría advertir que por el ritmo lento en el desarrollo de los acontecimientos fantásticos, notamos cierta falta de tensión narrativa; quizá el argumento hubiera funcionado mejor eliminando o resumiendo algún capítulo para acercarlo al género del cuento, y por ello no recomendaríamos UN FRAGMENTO DE VIDA a aquellos que gusten realizar lecturas rápidas sin detenerse a profundizar en sus entresijos; porque esta nouvelle nos invita a ser cautelosos, a releer incluso ciertas partes para exprimir notablemente su poética, y, en definitiva, para aprender como hiciera Edward, a observar nuestro entorno con esas «gafas mágicas» que nos transportan de lo ordinario hasta aquella esfera luminosa de la contemplación; desde el agujero espiritual que deja la ciencia a lo maravilloso y oculto que no necesita de mayor explicación que la de sentirlo vivamente.
Porque al final el escribiente de la City Edward Darnell -trasunto del propio Arthur Machen-, nos revela que «el hombre es un misterio hecho para misterios y visiones» (p. 124).
Vista así la historia cabría preguntarse dónde se halla el elemento fantástico. Pues bien Machen irá lentamente ofreciéndonos una serie de pasajes evocadores y extraños entreverados a lo cotidiano, pasajes de corte onírico y llenos de claroscuros, y que suceden siempre que la narración se focaliza en Edward. Por ejemplo, desde el inicio vamos a toparnos con umbrales de lo fantástico que no se resolverán hasta el capítulo cuarto: «En el momento de despertar, Edward Darnell estaba soñando con un bosque arcaico y un límpido manantial que se alzaba en nieblas y vapores bajo un calor que volvía trémulo el paisaje; y, al abrir los ojos, vio que la habitación estaba inundada de sol y que la luz centelleaba en los muebles nuevos recién barnizados» (p. 1).
Estas marcas o señales que advierten de 'algo más' se irán apareciendo a lo largo de los tres primeros capítulos por medio de recuerdos, duermevelas, sensaciones percibidas por largos paseos que invitan a soñar despierto; porque queda claro que Edward tiende a romper la cotidianidad de sus problemas 'reales' por medio de una suerte de evasiones donde la percepción espacio-temporal se diluye, y muy especialmente a partir de la irrupción de un objeto en particular: un libro que perteneció a su padre lleno de extrañas descripciones y latines, y que lo animarán junto con otras reliquias familiares a seguir investigando sobre su pasado, porque ahí está la clave del porqué de esas extrañas sensaciones en los vagabundeos y sus sueños agrestes.
El narrador por otro lado en ningún momento se muestra neutral, y se encarga de hacernos ver que la vida de Edward en su reglada cotidianidad es «un mundo gris y fantasmal, análogo a la muerte, que de algún modo ha conseguido que le llamemos vida la mayoría de nosotros» (p. 53); o «Así seguía Darnell un día tras otro, tomando por la muerte por vida, la locura por cordura y a fantasmas vagos y errabundos por seres reales» (p. 54).
Destacaríamos de los tres primeros capítulos el largo relato confesional que hace el protagonista a su mujer; relato donde da cuenta de sus errabundeos secretos impelidos por la esfera de una trascedendente y luminosa contemplación (pp. 67-84). Veamos algunos fragmentos:
«Durante unos instantes sentí que aquel mísero callejón era bellísimo y que las voces de los niños y los hombres de la taberna armonizaban con el del cielo y formaban parte de él […], como si la calle fuera de terciopelo o tuviera una alfombra suavísima. Y entonces (supongo serían fantasías mías ) pareció como si el aire se hubiera perfumado, como si oliera a incienso, y la respiración se me volvió anhelante, como cuando está uno excitado por algo» (p. 69).
«Me parecía como si yo ya no fuese el hombre de iba a la City todas las mañanas y regresaba por las tardes después de haber escrito un montón de cartas aburridísimas. Era como si, de pronto, me hubieran metido de un empujón en otro mundo» (p. 71).
«Aquella mañana yo las veía como iluminadas por una luz nueva, como si llevara puestas las gafas mágicas del cuento. Y, justo como el personaje del cuento, yo seguí avanzando y adentrándome en esa nueva luz» (p. 77).
Aunque no será hasta el capítulo cuarto cuando descubramos el secreto familiar, un secreto que se remontará hasta la época romana; años donde el primitivo cristianismo y el declinante paganismo galés se entremezclarían aún, y donde el mundo resultaba como «una inmensa ceremonia, un inmenso sacramento que muestra, en formas visibles, una doctrina oculta y trascendente» (p. 145).
Sin querer desvelar mucho más, Machen con esta obra viene a vindicar el conocimiento por medio de la contemplación, de lo espiritual frente a aquellos que prefieren estudiar libros científicos y manipular tubos de ensayo para explicar los misterios de la vida, esos que para ellos suceden si ningún propósito. Es decir, Machen se posiciona en una tesis espiritualista y trascendental que confronta con el cientifismo imperante. De hecho si no fuera por los últimos pasajes donde sí se traspasa claramente el umbral de lo fantástico para relatar hechos relacionados con la magia, y que «parecen adquirir la semblanza de los relatos del Grial» (pp. 114-115), ni siquiera cabría catalogar a la obra de tal, sino tal vez de filosófica o estética.
En conclusión estamos, en nuestra opinión, con una obra hermosa donde lo cotidiano es confrontado y superpuesto a 'lo Otro' y viceversa; donde una atmósfera de ancestrales fuerzas elementales se va desenvolviendo poco a poco entre la tracería del quehacer corriente.
Como único hándicap, cabría advertir que por el ritmo lento en el desarrollo de los acontecimientos fantásticos, notamos cierta falta de tensión narrativa; quizá el argumento hubiera funcionado mejor eliminando o resumiendo algún capítulo para acercarlo al género del cuento, y por ello no recomendaríamos UN FRAGMENTO DE VIDA a aquellos que gusten realizar lecturas rápidas sin detenerse a profundizar en sus entresijos; porque esta nouvelle nos invita a ser cautelosos, a releer incluso ciertas partes para exprimir notablemente su poética, y, en definitiva, para aprender como hiciera Edward, a observar nuestro entorno con esas «gafas mágicas» que nos transportan de lo ordinario hasta aquella esfera luminosa de la contemplación; desde el agujero espiritual que deja la ciencia a lo maravilloso y oculto que no necesita de mayor explicación que la de sentirlo vivamente.
Porque al final el escribiente de la City Edward Darnell -trasunto del propio Arthur Machen-, nos revela que «el hombre es un misterio hecho para misterios y visiones» (p. 124).
July 18, 2026
Beautiful, lush prose. I love the first half of the story, taking this stuffy, childless middle class couple who are so used to routines, manners, and appearances, that their daily life is a swamp of the mundane, only for flickers of connection, attraction, even eroticism to start surfacing, and the two learning how to reconnect over several nights of alternating monologues. I like that story and what it felt it was building toward as a couple learning how to fall in love again, even as it explores their shifting perceptions to a broader scale of increased awareness and curiosity with the world around them. Alas, it's that angle which suddenly explodes, as it becomes an almost cosmic and ancient connection with ancestral rights and magical beliefs, which is beautifully written, but never circles back to culminate the story it had previously been telling, before then abruptly ending. Not a bad read at all, but definitely equal parts frustrating and fascinating.
December 2, 2019
The House of Souls by Arthur Machen contains four novellas: A Fragment of Life, The White People, The Great God Pan and The Inmost Light. Machen was a Welsh author and renowned mystic during the 1990’s and early 20th century. I’ll comment on the novellas separately.
A Fragment of Life was written in 1899 and was first published in 1904. Edward Darnell, a suburb-dwelling clerk, and his wife are a young, newly-wedded couple unsatisfied with their banal life. They turn to spirituality for fulfillment and attempt to penetrate the cloud of illusion of their so-called reality. They make an inward journey towards mysticism and an outward journey to the land of his birth, Wales. What they find in the end isn't exactly what they were looking for. Join them on their eerie, mystical and macabre ride, but leave the lights on.
A Fragment of Life was written in 1899 and was first published in 1904. Edward Darnell, a suburb-dwelling clerk, and his wife are a young, newly-wedded couple unsatisfied with their banal life. They turn to spirituality for fulfillment and attempt to penetrate the cloud of illusion of their so-called reality. They make an inward journey towards mysticism and an outward journey to the land of his birth, Wales. What they find in the end isn't exactly what they were looking for. Join them on their eerie, mystical and macabre ride, but leave the lights on.
January 18, 2021
I'm not a Machen scholar, so maybe this is common knowledge, but this story felt unfinished, or maybe it was an early draft for something much longer.
As it stands the story spends so much time setting up the characters and the scene only to end extremely abruptly and without much explanation. I think I can even mark the break where the main story ends and the slapped-on ending starts.
Still, it's pretty interesting. Even though it starts so slow I ended up warming up to the quirky characters and their daily life, and even found some humour in the way their day-to-day is narrated. There's even a very relatable part where Machen talks about the absurdity of the common worker's life in a modern city, and this was written more than 100 years ago! Fantastic.
This story might not be everyone's cup of tea but there are things to be enjoyed here.
As it stands the story spends so much time setting up the characters and the scene only to end extremely abruptly and without much explanation. I think I can even mark the break where the main story ends and the slapped-on ending starts.
Still, it's pretty interesting. Even though it starts so slow I ended up warming up to the quirky characters and their daily life, and even found some humour in the way their day-to-day is narrated. There's even a very relatable part where Machen talks about the absurdity of the common worker's life in a modern city, and this was written more than 100 years ago! Fantastic.
This story might not be everyone's cup of tea but there are things to be enjoyed here.
July 27, 2026
I think this story excels at expressing a feeling of awakening to enchantment, but suffers from its vagueness about what truth underlies enchantment. I'm of two minds about it. On the one hand, it has a very slow, subtle buildup for a fascinating but narratively unfulfilling payoff. On the other, I suspect that Machen wrote himself into a situation like, for instance, the end of Till We Have Faces by CS Lewis--the protagonist has reached such a level of spiritual profundity that words become inadequate. But I find Till We Have Faces much more satisfying, in part because, without preaching it gives us more of a sense of what God requires from us. A Fragment of Life expresses the experience of spirituality without giving any real sense of what we must do in response, which I think is why it feels unfulfilling.
March 23, 2022
Leído en febrero de 2022.
—
Y me daba un gusto enorme pensar que nadie sabía nada de aquello, que era un secreto sólo mío, y que, viera lo que viera, no se lo contaría a nadie. Con los libros siempre había tenido la misma sensación. Disfrutaba muchísimo leyéndolos, desde luego, pero me parecía que, si yo hubiera sido explorador, habría guardado mis descubrimientos en secreto. Si yo hubiera sido Colón, y si me hubiera sido posible, habría descubierto América yo solo y nunca se lo habría contado a nadie. ¡Imagínate qué maravilla, ir por la propia ciudad, pasear, hablar con la gente, y durante todo el tiempo saber que conoces un mundo inmenso que se extiende más allá de los mares y que nadie sospecha ni que existe! ¡Cómo me habría gustado!
—
Y me daba un gusto enorme pensar que nadie sabía nada de aquello, que era un secreto sólo mío, y que, viera lo que viera, no se lo contaría a nadie. Con los libros siempre había tenido la misma sensación. Disfrutaba muchísimo leyéndolos, desde luego, pero me parecía que, si yo hubiera sido explorador, habría guardado mis descubrimientos en secreto. Si yo hubiera sido Colón, y si me hubiera sido posible, habría descubierto América yo solo y nunca se lo habría contado a nadie. ¡Imagínate qué maravilla, ir por la propia ciudad, pasear, hablar con la gente, y durante todo el tiempo saber que conoces un mundo inmenso que se extiende más allá de los mares y que nadie sospecha ni que existe! ¡Cómo me habría gustado!
April 7, 2026
A boring man has a very boring life until maybe half way through this story…
and oddly, there is no real ending…
he is seeing a different world below / behind the boring real world, and it is implied that he has some kind of regal heritage or ‘great manifest destiny’ which basically never happens… we are told they were very good but the story just tails off before he embraces his huge destiny.
But it seems odd to suggest that the aunt is insane and is institutionalised for her imagined visions and yet Darnell is having similar ones… in between worrying about what gas stove they should get.
A fragment indeed. And not really what I would tag as horror.
3 stars
and oddly, there is no real ending…
he is seeing a different world below / behind the boring real world, and it is implied that he has some kind of regal heritage or ‘great manifest destiny’ which basically never happens… we are told they were very good but the story just tails off before he embraces his huge destiny.
But it seems odd to suggest that the aunt is insane and is institutionalised for her imagined visions and yet Darnell is having similar ones… in between worrying about what gas stove they should get.
A fragment indeed. And not really what I would tag as horror.
3 stars
May 28, 2026
The tone of this was so flawlessly balanced between the quotidian and the exalted, like an explorer teetering on a precipice. Beautiful imagery all throughout, with enough characterization to keep me compelled. The notes of esoteric and mysterious lore sprinkled throughout were just enough to hint at larger mysteries without overwhelming, as HP Lovecraft is wont to do. I also appreciated the stories told by characters in the story, always a favorite trope.
April 24, 2025
I just finished listening to this story on spotify. Dramatised by 'minimum labriynth.'
I found it very engaging. The voice work was great. This is a particularly poetic work by Machen. Combined with the music, I found it very moving, while still with a nice dose of errieness. It also paints a nice picture of the doldrums of contemporary life in London circa 1900.
I found it very engaging. The voice work was great. This is a particularly poetic work by Machen. Combined with the music, I found it very moving, while still with a nice dose of errieness. It also paints a nice picture of the doldrums of contemporary life in London circa 1900.
November 22, 2019
Bab 1-3 bikin bosen tapi tetap sabar menanti kapan adegan horornya muncul. Masuk bab 4 cerita mulai mistis tapi tata bahasa dan ilmu semantisnya semakin tinggi sampai akhirnya saya berpikir "Opo iki?"
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews