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Ornaments in Jade
Long out of print and presented here for the first time in paperback, is Arthur Machen’s classic collection of prose poems. The ten exquisite piees included in this volume The Rose Garden, The Turanians,The Idealist, Witchcraft, The Ceremony, Psychology, Torture, Midsummer, Nature , and The Holy Things.
76 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1997
About the author
Arthur Machen
1,159 books1,062 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 30 reviews
December 20, 2019
I've shouted Machen's praises before, and even the praises of those who successfully evoke his work. I can't seem to get enough of his work. And so, I bought this slim little volume, even though fully half of these tiny postcard stories are collected in the Oxford World's Classics collection. Knowing that this was coming in the mail, I omitted any review of the stories contained in this volume when I reviewed the Oxford book. Call me a tease.
The most difficult thing about telling you about this work is telling you how great I think it is without spoiling anything. Most of these stories are 3, maybe 4 pages long. It was wonderful to read during my lunch breaks at my new job, because I knew I could squeeze one of these ornaments in and still have time for (inspired!) writing of my own. If I had thousands of these jewels, I might never read another thing on my lunch break again.
Yet, despite my fears, I will outline - very, very briefly - my impressions, at least, of the story. Because impressions left in the reader's mind might be the most important aspect of these wee tales. Not every tale can evoke a character's breadth of personality in a sentence or two (though some do) nor can a "satisfying" ending be presented each time when the ending is just a beginning (though, again, some stories do just this). Some of the works here might be considered mere fragments, even. Despite the incomplete jigsaw puzzle that is each story, a more-or-less coherent oeuvre emerges. One might think of each of these stories as "episodes" in Machen's psycho-emotional history of the world - they are "of a piece," though the characters and places are never connected. Here we see Machen's mind working, almost as if we are in his head looking out and exploring, grasping small coincidences and visions, while anticipating what lay before or after (or even during) them, beyond our chronological reach. This anticipation is what makes the collection complete.
"The Rose Garden" is beautiful not because of it's beautiful descriptiveness, but because of its somber, yet hopeful emotional resonance. Five stars. Machen at his poetic best.
"The Turanians" is a brief sketch of the encounter of a young, expressive, imaginative girl on the edge of womanhood. Her mother warns her about being too expressive and arranged for a young gentleman to visit, but not before the girl encounters a young Turanian boy who gives her a wonderful gift. There is so much more roiling under the surface of this story than what is presented, and one can feel it as one reads it, like standing outside of a concert hall and hearing the cadence of the music without being able to hear individual notes in the muddle of sound. But you know there is an intricate structure under that bass thumping. This is what I felt about the protagonist: There was something more about her, her life was on the edge of . . . something. Five stars.
"The Idealist" is a glimpse into a strange inner life of resentment replaced by weird accomplishment. This is a deep dive into the main characters inner thoughts, though there are hints of shadows beyond what is made explicit and it is in that darkness that the readers mind can fester and grow its own imaginings. Five stars.
"Witchcraft" is a tease. All prelude and even the climax and denouement happen offstage, and most of the story consists of decontextualized dialogue. This is one of the most stunning examples of how to evoke - pun intended! If I taught writing, I'd teach this! Five stars.
Another beautiful story, but one that seems less "anchored" in itself, is "The Ceremony". It lacks the depth and twist that Machen has spoilt me with. But still, like the grey stone, beautiful and forbidden. Four stars.
"Psychology" is a prelude without a story appended to it. It's beautiful writing, as you would expect, but it's just a fragment, a jumping off point that doesn't jump. This "worst of" the stories in this collection would probably be among the better stories in most collections. Three stars.
"Torture" is a complete tale, though we only see the outward actions of the young protagonist. But there is much more going on in his head, not made explicit, only inferred. Therein lies the story, in the unseen caverns of the protagonist's heart and mind. Five creepy stars.
Machen shows his fascination with illicit rites carried out by moonlight in his story "Midsummer". I happen to share that fascination with dancing in the groves at midnight, but more as an observer than participant. Though sometimes . . . Four stars
The splendor of "Nature" is carefully poured out, like honey, from the narrator. The trick here is the offstage, implied conversation that happened before the present dialogue, where the listener coaxed the passionate descriptions from the narrator. Five stars
A bored-with-life man (an artist and poet) takes an unexpected turn from ennui to an ecstatic vision of Holborn in "The Holy Things". This feels like the turnabout moment in a story of decadence, but we can only imagine the rest for ourselves. Four stars.
Years ago, in Ellen Datlow's fabulous series of The Years Best Fantasy and Horror, there was a story whose title I can't remember, where redactions (with actual blocks of blackness) "told" a story of sexual abuse and horror. It was a highly disturbing story and has stuck with me for many years now, probably one of the most deeply-affecting stories I have ever read. Ornaments in Jade works in much the same way, but without the disturbing subject matter. It is more eerie (in the sense used by Mark Fisher) than horrific. It is what is missing here that fills the volume beyond the capacity of the pages. We read into the void and hear it speaking back to us in a deep, reverberating voice.
The most difficult thing about telling you about this work is telling you how great I think it is without spoiling anything. Most of these stories are 3, maybe 4 pages long. It was wonderful to read during my lunch breaks at my new job, because I knew I could squeeze one of these ornaments in and still have time for (inspired!) writing of my own. If I had thousands of these jewels, I might never read another thing on my lunch break again.
Yet, despite my fears, I will outline - very, very briefly - my impressions, at least, of the story. Because impressions left in the reader's mind might be the most important aspect of these wee tales. Not every tale can evoke a character's breadth of personality in a sentence or two (though some do) nor can a "satisfying" ending be presented each time when the ending is just a beginning (though, again, some stories do just this). Some of the works here might be considered mere fragments, even. Despite the incomplete jigsaw puzzle that is each story, a more-or-less coherent oeuvre emerges. One might think of each of these stories as "episodes" in Machen's psycho-emotional history of the world - they are "of a piece," though the characters and places are never connected. Here we see Machen's mind working, almost as if we are in his head looking out and exploring, grasping small coincidences and visions, while anticipating what lay before or after (or even during) them, beyond our chronological reach. This anticipation is what makes the collection complete.
"The Rose Garden" is beautiful not because of it's beautiful descriptiveness, but because of its somber, yet hopeful emotional resonance. Five stars. Machen at his poetic best.
"The Turanians" is a brief sketch of the encounter of a young, expressive, imaginative girl on the edge of womanhood. Her mother warns her about being too expressive and arranged for a young gentleman to visit, but not before the girl encounters a young Turanian boy who gives her a wonderful gift. There is so much more roiling under the surface of this story than what is presented, and one can feel it as one reads it, like standing outside of a concert hall and hearing the cadence of the music without being able to hear individual notes in the muddle of sound. But you know there is an intricate structure under that bass thumping. This is what I felt about the protagonist: There was something more about her, her life was on the edge of . . . something. Five stars.
"The Idealist" is a glimpse into a strange inner life of resentment replaced by weird accomplishment. This is a deep dive into the main characters inner thoughts, though there are hints of shadows beyond what is made explicit and it is in that darkness that the readers mind can fester and grow its own imaginings. Five stars.
"Witchcraft" is a tease. All prelude and even the climax and denouement happen offstage, and most of the story consists of decontextualized dialogue. This is one of the most stunning examples of how to evoke - pun intended! If I taught writing, I'd teach this! Five stars.
Another beautiful story, but one that seems less "anchored" in itself, is "The Ceremony". It lacks the depth and twist that Machen has spoilt me with. But still, like the grey stone, beautiful and forbidden. Four stars.
"Psychology" is a prelude without a story appended to it. It's beautiful writing, as you would expect, but it's just a fragment, a jumping off point that doesn't jump. This "worst of" the stories in this collection would probably be among the better stories in most collections. Three stars.
"Torture" is a complete tale, though we only see the outward actions of the young protagonist. But there is much more going on in his head, not made explicit, only inferred. Therein lies the story, in the unseen caverns of the protagonist's heart and mind. Five creepy stars.
Machen shows his fascination with illicit rites carried out by moonlight in his story "Midsummer". I happen to share that fascination with dancing in the groves at midnight, but more as an observer than participant. Though sometimes . . . Four stars
The splendor of "Nature" is carefully poured out, like honey, from the narrator. The trick here is the offstage, implied conversation that happened before the present dialogue, where the listener coaxed the passionate descriptions from the narrator. Five stars
A bored-with-life man (an artist and poet) takes an unexpected turn from ennui to an ecstatic vision of Holborn in "The Holy Things". This feels like the turnabout moment in a story of decadence, but we can only imagine the rest for ourselves. Four stars.
Years ago, in Ellen Datlow's fabulous series of The Years Best Fantasy and Horror, there was a story whose title I can't remember, where redactions (with actual blocks of blackness) "told" a story of sexual abuse and horror. It was a highly disturbing story and has stuck with me for many years now, probably one of the most deeply-affecting stories I have ever read. Ornaments in Jade works in much the same way, but without the disturbing subject matter. It is more eerie (in the sense used by Mark Fisher) than horrific. It is what is missing here that fills the volume beyond the capacity of the pages. We read into the void and hear it speaking back to us in a deep, reverberating voice.
August 28, 2023
little snippets of mysterious shorts, all only a couple of pages long and since this is Machen the writing is meticulously intricate, he gives charm to each sketch hence they all stand out in their own way, as if they were ornate in jade..
From Midsummer:
"The moon was mounting to a throne, in full splendour; below, at a little distance, there seemed the painted scene of a village, and higher, beyond the farm-house, a great wood began. And as he thought of the green retreats he had glanced at in the sunlit evening, he was filled with a longing for the wood-world at night, with a desire for its darkness, for the mystery of it beneath the moon. He followed the path he had noted, till on the wood’s verge he looked back and found that the shape of the farm-house had fallen into the night and vanished."
From Psychology:
“We lead two lives, and the half of our soul is madness, and half heaven is lit by a black sun. I say I am a man, but who is the other that hides in me?”
From Midsummer:
"The moon was mounting to a throne, in full splendour; below, at a little distance, there seemed the painted scene of a village, and higher, beyond the farm-house, a great wood began. And as he thought of the green retreats he had glanced at in the sunlit evening, he was filled with a longing for the wood-world at night, with a desire for its darkness, for the mystery of it beneath the moon. He followed the path he had noted, till on the wood’s verge he looked back and found that the shape of the farm-house had fallen into the night and vanished."
From Psychology:
“We lead two lives, and the half of our soul is madness, and half heaven is lit by a black sun. I say I am a man, but who is the other that hides in me?”
December 16, 2011
I found this book in a second hand shop in the 80s. It was published in 1924 and is number 491 of an edition of 1000, signed by the author. The slipcase was torn and tattered but the book itself was in fairly good condition. The book is only 46 pages long but it collects ten of Machen's very brief stories. They feel like an experiment. The writing is exquisite yet they are mainly atmospheric set-pieces, wonderful to read but not nearly in the class of Machen's great ghost tales. Still it is a fine book to own and gaze at occasionally despite the wear and tear it received before I rescued it. There should be a shelter for abused books.
July 11, 2016
A collection of dreamy little vignettes.
These short, short stories hold all of the power that Machen is known for in his other work, condensed in a form not unlike prose poetry. He explores many of the same themes; decadence, mysticism, contempt for modernity, folklore, the splendor of nature and what lay hidden there. Here too is some of Machen's most meticulously elegant prose. Fantastic and evocative, but perhaps even more-so enigmatic than many of his longer works. They might as well be dreams.
Favorite stories: The Turanians, The Ceremony, Midsummer
These short, short stories hold all of the power that Machen is known for in his other work, condensed in a form not unlike prose poetry. He explores many of the same themes; decadence, mysticism, contempt for modernity, folklore, the splendor of nature and what lay hidden there. Here too is some of Machen's most meticulously elegant prose. Fantastic and evocative, but perhaps even more-so enigmatic than many of his longer works. They might as well be dreams.
Favorite stories: The Turanians, The Ceremony, Midsummer
January 6, 2018
Unjustly unread and one of Machen's essential works – up there with The Hill of Dreams, The White People and A Fragment of Life. Written during his key decade of the 1890s, these prose poems/very short stories each express a powerful lyrical vision of what lies beyond the common vistas of everyday life. Hints of darkness occur within some of them (a personal favourite is the eerie Midsummer), but wonder and ecstasy are the core sensations.
April 12, 2018
'Prose poems' is a mischaracterisation. One or two are short stories. The rest are what happens when you write a few pages of lush prose then realise that as a novel they're going nowhere but since it would be a shame to waste them you have them published in a slim volume with wide margins and a precious title such as 'Ornaments in Jade'.
February 8, 2010
Ornaments in Jade
This volume has ten short prose pieces, midway between story and poem. For the most part, they aren’t successful; they feel like insufficiently developed stories, and Machen did better with the ideas in other (longer) pieces. All of the pieces contain some gorgeous writing. Maybe Machen wanted to show off his strengths as a stylist. Or maybe these are scraps and leftovers. The title is accurate if its means the pieces are pretty but not substantial. I like the gimmick of the collection a lot, even though I didn’t find it successful. And I still love Machen; his failures are more interesting to me than most writers' successes.
Notable pieces in this collection:
The Rose Garden. This just about works on the level of a prose poem. Of all these, it feels most like Poe’s experiments (for example "Silence" and "Shadow"), both in its attempt to delve the psychology of romantic love and in its mythic narrative. It captures subtle emotions in its cadences. It’s a bit too gauzy, though; where Poe’s prose pieces sometimes linger to disturb, this one evaporates.
The Turanians. This is sort of a miniature of his stories of women having intercourse (sexual and otherwise) with some subhuman, faerie-like race.
Witchcraft. A young woman learns something of witchcraft from an older one. The story is so oblique I hardly feel much for it. The ending is nice, in its oblique way—like a lyric poem.
The Ceremony. A fine and dreamy horror story.
Nature. This is only a story by artifice. I think it would be stronger framed as an essay. It’s sort of interesting as a piece of nature writing; of all the writers in the world who wax rhapsodic about nature, Machen may have the best chops.
This volume has ten short prose pieces, midway between story and poem. For the most part, they aren’t successful; they feel like insufficiently developed stories, and Machen did better with the ideas in other (longer) pieces. All of the pieces contain some gorgeous writing. Maybe Machen wanted to show off his strengths as a stylist. Or maybe these are scraps and leftovers. The title is accurate if its means the pieces are pretty but not substantial. I like the gimmick of the collection a lot, even though I didn’t find it successful. And I still love Machen; his failures are more interesting to me than most writers' successes.
Notable pieces in this collection:
The Rose Garden. This just about works on the level of a prose poem. Of all these, it feels most like Poe’s experiments (for example "Silence" and "Shadow"), both in its attempt to delve the psychology of romantic love and in its mythic narrative. It captures subtle emotions in its cadences. It’s a bit too gauzy, though; where Poe’s prose pieces sometimes linger to disturb, this one evaporates.
The Turanians. This is sort of a miniature of his stories of women having intercourse (sexual and otherwise) with some subhuman, faerie-like race.
Witchcraft. A young woman learns something of witchcraft from an older one. The story is so oblique I hardly feel much for it. The ending is nice, in its oblique way—like a lyric poem.
The Ceremony. A fine and dreamy horror story.
Nature. This is only a story by artifice. I think it would be stronger framed as an essay. It’s sort of interesting as a piece of nature writing; of all the writers in the world who wax rhapsodic about nature, Machen may have the best chops.
June 12, 2026
3.5
Enigmatico ma suggestivo!
Letto durante un paio di giorni complicati, lo riprenderò per dargli le attenzioni che, secondo me, merita.
Enigmatico ma suggestivo!
Letto durante un paio di giorni complicati, lo riprenderò per dargli le attenzioni che, secondo me, merita.
July 22, 2026
Un libro di cose appena accennate, lo definisce Cecilia Fabaro nella sua introduzione. Una collana di perle letterarie in cui Machen rinuncia all’ansia dell’epilogo sagace per cedere a un finale sospeso che fa quasi letteratura sperimentale.
Senza l’angoscia di far finire la storia, con la narrazione che sfuma elegantemente, Machen si può concentrare su un lessico elegante che rende il testo evocativo e raffinato.
Una perla, questo volumetto, tra le perle prodotte da ABEditore.
Senza l’angoscia di far finire la storia, con la narrazione che sfuma elegantemente, Machen si può concentrare su un lessico elegante che rende il testo evocativo e raffinato.
Una perla, questo volumetto, tra le perle prodotte da ABEditore.
May 29, 2026
Se si pensa ad Arthur Machen le prime cose che ci vengono in mente (almeno a me) sono sicuramente Il Grande Dio Pan - la sua opera più famosa - e la letteratura weird, di cui ne è in un certo senso il capostipite; non a caso H.P. Lovecraft nel suo celebre saggio “Supernatural Horror in Literature", annovera l'autore gallese tra i quattro maestri moderni del soprannaturale definendolo un "tessitore di terrori".
In questa preziosa e raffinata raccolta (proprio come la pietra citata nel titolo ci suggerisce), troviamo un Machen meno ossessivo e oscuro rispetto a quello della sua opera più famosa; la scrittura qui diventa evocativa e poetica - quasi onirica e a tratti languida - tanto che in alcune di queste dieci brevi storie, a cavallo tra racconto e poema in prosa, sembra quasi di camminare in sogni o visioni, tra folklore e superstizioni; in altre ad essere messo a nudo è l'animo umano e le sue pulsioni, sapientemente nascoste sotto strati di rassicurante normalità, con il protagonista alle prese con la tanto agognata epifania che lo faccia tornare a vivere serenamente la vita, o intento a nascondere - o a soddisfare, a seconda del racconto - la sua vera natura. Ed è proprio la natura, questa volta intesa come boschi, giardini, laghi e montagne, ad essere una delle costanti di questa raccolta, spesso associata a culti e folklore; la maestria con cui Machen descrive il paesaggio mi ha fatto amare proprio quei racconti ambientati in quei verdi luoghi, specialmente il secondo della raccolta, I Turaniani. Un racconto che unisce una poetica descrizione della natura circostante e la fascinazione che la protagonista prova per i misteriosi Turaniani, una popolazione inventata dallo stesso Machen (un espediente, quello di inventare intere civiltà, che diventerà poi una costante anche nella scrittura di Lovecraft e di altri autori weird). Una suggestiva storia che riesce a farti fantasticare sul possibile finale, perché di fatto non ha una vera conclusione (come accade spesso anche per i sogni) comune anche agli altri racconti della raccolta; lo stesso Machen definì questo “un libro di cose appena accennate". Tutti i racconti infatti si chiudono in medias res (locuzione latina che significa "nel mezzo delle cose, dell'argomento”), i finali sono aperti e ambigui e lasciano fantasticare il lettore sul possibile destino dei protagonisti, dando libero sfogo alla propria immaginazione. Una struttura dei testi che potremmo definire quasi sperimentale per l'epoca e che personalmente ho adorato, non vi nascondo infatti che sto ancora fantasticando sul racconto dei Turaniani e sul suo finale (o un possibile seguito della storia), come alle volte mi succede anche con i sogni che faccio - ma soprattutto con gli incubi, spesso degni racconti gotici o fantasy.
Un libricino consigliatissimo specialmente a chi come me ama Machen, la letteratura weird e le raccolte di racconti che si leggono in un attimo ma che ti restano in testa per giorni (o settimane), tutto racchiuso in una delle perfette edizioni Abeditore.
In questa preziosa e raffinata raccolta (proprio come la pietra citata nel titolo ci suggerisce), troviamo un Machen meno ossessivo e oscuro rispetto a quello della sua opera più famosa; la scrittura qui diventa evocativa e poetica - quasi onirica e a tratti languida - tanto che in alcune di queste dieci brevi storie, a cavallo tra racconto e poema in prosa, sembra quasi di camminare in sogni o visioni, tra folklore e superstizioni; in altre ad essere messo a nudo è l'animo umano e le sue pulsioni, sapientemente nascoste sotto strati di rassicurante normalità, con il protagonista alle prese con la tanto agognata epifania che lo faccia tornare a vivere serenamente la vita, o intento a nascondere - o a soddisfare, a seconda del racconto - la sua vera natura. Ed è proprio la natura, questa volta intesa come boschi, giardini, laghi e montagne, ad essere una delle costanti di questa raccolta, spesso associata a culti e folklore; la maestria con cui Machen descrive il paesaggio mi ha fatto amare proprio quei racconti ambientati in quei verdi luoghi, specialmente il secondo della raccolta, I Turaniani. Un racconto che unisce una poetica descrizione della natura circostante e la fascinazione che la protagonista prova per i misteriosi Turaniani, una popolazione inventata dallo stesso Machen (un espediente, quello di inventare intere civiltà, che diventerà poi una costante anche nella scrittura di Lovecraft e di altri autori weird). Una suggestiva storia che riesce a farti fantasticare sul possibile finale, perché di fatto non ha una vera conclusione (come accade spesso anche per i sogni) comune anche agli altri racconti della raccolta; lo stesso Machen definì questo “un libro di cose appena accennate". Tutti i racconti infatti si chiudono in medias res (locuzione latina che significa "nel mezzo delle cose, dell'argomento”), i finali sono aperti e ambigui e lasciano fantasticare il lettore sul possibile destino dei protagonisti, dando libero sfogo alla propria immaginazione. Una struttura dei testi che potremmo definire quasi sperimentale per l'epoca e che personalmente ho adorato, non vi nascondo infatti che sto ancora fantasticando sul racconto dei Turaniani e sul suo finale (o un possibile seguito della storia), come alle volte mi succede anche con i sogni che faccio - ma soprattutto con gli incubi, spesso degni racconti gotici o fantasy.
Un libricino consigliatissimo specialmente a chi come me ama Machen, la letteratura weird e le raccolte di racconti che si leggono in un attimo ma che ti restano in testa per giorni (o settimane), tutto racchiuso in una delle perfette edizioni Abeditore.
May 29, 2026
3 ⭐️
Il roseto ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
I turianani ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
L’idealista ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Stregoneria ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
La cerimonia ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Psicologia ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Tortura ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Mezza estate ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Natura ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
Le cose sacre ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
Il roseto ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
I turianani ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
L’idealista ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Stregoneria ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
La cerimonia ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Psicologia ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Tortura ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Mezza estate ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Natura ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
Le cose sacre ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
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November 9, 2025Spent my summer in Sir Fynwy with beautiful, well-crafted editions, reading them amid the deep, soothing silence of the Welsh forests.
February 22, 2021
This is a wonderful little volume containing ten short pieces that distill the essences that Arthur Machen addressed at greater length in his better-known works of weird fiction ("The Great God Pan", etc). For a reader new to Machen, this isn't the place to start, since these prose poems are something of an alternate approach to his fictional themes, and require some familiarity with those longer stories to really appreciate. That said, this is truly a magical little volume which will be well-loved by those who are already fans of Arthur Machen.
May 22, 2026
Machen, pilastro della narrativa weird e decadente inglese, costruisce in Ornamenti di giada dieci brevi racconti sospesi tra poesia e prosa. I testi si muovono tra culti proibiti, atmosfere gotiche, visioni enigmatiche, desideri repressi e realtà alternative appena intraviste. La sua scrittura è classicheggiante, metaforica ed evocativa.
Centrale è il contrasto tra l’apparenza rassicurante del quotidiano e ciò che si cela appena oltre il velo della realtà.
La raccolta punta sull’allusione, sul non detto: ogni racconto si apre e si chiude in modo ambiguo, lasciando al lettore ampia immaginazione e un senso di wtf. La una scelta stilistica è coerente con il simbolismo di Machen e sicuramente affascinante per chi ama atmosfere sospese, più che trame definite.
Personalmente, però, non sono riuscita ad entrare in sintonia con queste storie. Ho apprezzato l’eleganza della lingua, alcune immagini evocate, ma in diversi racconti ho avuto la sensazione che la narrazione si interrompesse proprio sul più bello. Tortura è forse quello che mi ha colpita maggiormente, pur lasciando il più forte senso di incompiutezza.
Nel complesso, l’ho trovata una lettura interessante soprattutto dal punto di vista stilistico e atmosferico, anche se per i miei gusti è mancata un po’ di sostanza.
Un plauso, come sempre, va alla splendida edizione di Abe.
Il roseto: 🌟4
I turaniani: 🌟2
L’idealista: 🌟3
Stregoneria: 🌟3
La cerimonia: 🌟2
Psicologia: 🌟4
Tortura: 🌟3
Mezza estate: 🌟3
Natura: 🌟4
Le cose sacre: 🌟3
Centrale è il contrasto tra l’apparenza rassicurante del quotidiano e ciò che si cela appena oltre il velo della realtà.
La raccolta punta sull’allusione, sul non detto: ogni racconto si apre e si chiude in modo ambiguo, lasciando al lettore ampia immaginazione e un senso di wtf. La una scelta stilistica è coerente con il simbolismo di Machen e sicuramente affascinante per chi ama atmosfere sospese, più che trame definite.
Personalmente, però, non sono riuscita ad entrare in sintonia con queste storie. Ho apprezzato l’eleganza della lingua, alcune immagini evocate, ma in diversi racconti ho avuto la sensazione che la narrazione si interrompesse proprio sul più bello. Tortura è forse quello che mi ha colpita maggiormente, pur lasciando il più forte senso di incompiutezza.
Nel complesso, l’ho trovata una lettura interessante soprattutto dal punto di vista stilistico e atmosferico, anche se per i miei gusti è mancata un po’ di sostanza.
Un plauso, come sempre, va alla splendida edizione di Abe.
Il roseto: 🌟4
I turaniani: 🌟2
L’idealista: 🌟3
Stregoneria: 🌟3
La cerimonia: 🌟2
Psicologia: 🌟4
Tortura: 🌟3
Mezza estate: 🌟3
Natura: 🌟4
Le cose sacre: 🌟3
November 16, 2022
3.25⭐
These ten literary vignettes are prose poems beginning and ending in medias res which is when a story or scene starts with a character in the middle of the action. Machen uses this overly descriptive prose when magical instances, spiritual experiences, and fleeting moments occur where the veil between worlds becomes thin. A writing technique Machen used extensively in his novel Hill of Dreams. Here the title includes the words ornaments and jade. Ornaments signifying decorative embellishments and jade being a precious green gemstone representing a wealth of virtues, including happiness, courage, purity, longevity, and wisdom. The ancient Chinese believed that Jade protected against death and decay. Ornaments in Jade focuses on moments of high strangeness with encounters that leave the protagonists permanently altered and that serve as a reminder of how the ordinary in everyday life can unexpectedly open up to a strange new reality.
The Rose Garden 3.5⭐
The Turanians 3.25⭐
The Idealist 3.5⭐
Witchcraft 3⭐
The Ceremony 4⭐
Psychology 3⭐
Torture 3.5⭐
Midsummer 3⭐
Nature 3⭐
The Holy Things 3.25⭐
These ten literary vignettes are prose poems beginning and ending in medias res which is when a story or scene starts with a character in the middle of the action. Machen uses this overly descriptive prose when magical instances, spiritual experiences, and fleeting moments occur where the veil between worlds becomes thin. A writing technique Machen used extensively in his novel Hill of Dreams. Here the title includes the words ornaments and jade. Ornaments signifying decorative embellishments and jade being a precious green gemstone representing a wealth of virtues, including happiness, courage, purity, longevity, and wisdom. The ancient Chinese believed that Jade protected against death and decay. Ornaments in Jade focuses on moments of high strangeness with encounters that leave the protagonists permanently altered and that serve as a reminder of how the ordinary in everyday life can unexpectedly open up to a strange new reality.
The Rose Garden 3.5⭐
The Turanians 3.25⭐
The Idealist 3.5⭐
Witchcraft 3⭐
The Ceremony 4⭐
Psychology 3⭐
Torture 3.5⭐
Midsummer 3⭐
Nature 3⭐
The Holy Things 3.25⭐
May 19, 2026
«“E dire che consideriamo assurdi i sogni,” rifletté. “Eppure, questi sono ben più selvaggi delle visioni più sfrenate. E i nostri peccati… ma questi sono peccati nati dagli incubi. E ogni giorno,” continuò, “viviamo due vite, metà della nostra anima è follia, e metà del cielo è illuminato da un sole nero. Dico di essere un uomo, ma chi è l’altro che si nasconde dentro di me?”»
I dieci racconti presentati in questo libricino sono brevissimi e, cosa ancora più rilevante, non hanno una fine. La mancanza di un epilogo potrebbe essere vista come un difetto enorme, ma a mio avviso sono un’esperienza di lettura avvincente proprio perché rimangono un incipit su una realtà sognante in divenire , lasciando al lettore la libertà di immaginare scenari diversi. Per apprezzare questo libro di Machen, ci si deve lasciare cullare dalle atmosfere gotiche e misteriose delle storie, senza pretendere un perché e una fine. Le descrizioni elaborate dei luoghi, delle atmosfere e dei sentimenti che albergano nell’animo della voce narrante di turno, sono il cuore pulsante dei racconti, le sue vere e indiscusse protagoniste.
July 18, 2026
Stories that are as brief as they are bright. Apart from a couple which landed on a rather flat note these are exceptionally lustrous pieces in which Machen seems to come rather close to poetry.
The one concerning a puritanical boy who moonlights as a crossdresser I found to be the weakest. When comparing the short story “Nature” to any of his other writings it is clearly among the best.
None of these tales quite inspire terror in the reader, they are more a celebration of nature and rural life with hints of metaphysical thrills added for good measure. Very much in the vein of The Hill of Dreams, as this was written in the following year.
You can feel Machen’s fascination with paganism and occultism in these stories, he seems most uneasy with these ideas when they involve the mysteries of femininity. “Nature”, which I already mentioned approaches a revelatory experience of nature and describes it in highly symbolic language which seems quite like an invocation.
Those exclusively interested in Machen for his supernatural writing will find some interest here but I would hope that it could also provide them a taste of his abilities in a broader sense.
The one concerning a puritanical boy who moonlights as a crossdresser I found to be the weakest. When comparing the short story “Nature” to any of his other writings it is clearly among the best.
None of these tales quite inspire terror in the reader, they are more a celebration of nature and rural life with hints of metaphysical thrills added for good measure. Very much in the vein of The Hill of Dreams, as this was written in the following year.
You can feel Machen’s fascination with paganism and occultism in these stories, he seems most uneasy with these ideas when they involve the mysteries of femininity. “Nature”, which I already mentioned approaches a revelatory experience of nature and describes it in highly symbolic language which seems quite like an invocation.
Those exclusively interested in Machen for his supernatural writing will find some interest here but I would hope that it could also provide them a taste of his abilities in a broader sense.
July 7, 2026
Non posso dire che Ornamenti di Giada mi sia piaciuto particolarmente. Aveva delle premesse che potevano incuriosirmi, ma durante la lettura ho fatto fatica a sentirmi davvero coinvolto. L’ho trovato piuttosto insipido, con pochi momenti capaci di lasciare qualcosa o di accendere un vero interesse.
Probabilmente, leggendo l’incipit “un libro di cose appena accennate”, avrei dovuto capire che sarebbe stato esattamente così: tante suggestioni lasciate a metà, senza che nessuna riuscisse davvero a prendere forma.
Non è una lettura terribile, ma per me è rimasta abbastanza piatta e dimenticabile. Probabilmente non ero il lettore giusto per questo libro.
Probabilmente, leggendo l’incipit “un libro di cose appena accennate”, avrei dovuto capire che sarebbe stato esattamente così: tante suggestioni lasciate a metà, senza che nessuna riuscisse davvero a prendere forma.
Non è una lettura terribile, ma per me è rimasta abbastanza piatta e dimenticabile. Probabilmente non ero il lettore giusto per questo libro.
June 1, 2026
A delightful collection of very short stories in which you’ll find Machen in all his glory: the creeping, subtle sylvan horror, the panic as in Pan, who barely gets mentioned but whose presence lingers in the midst and in the shades, in the mysterious shape of a standing stone in the woods, in the eyes of women and children met at the wrong hour of twilight.
July 26, 2026
Le dieci storielle sono molto evocative e lasciano spazio all'immaginazione di quello che sta succedendo.
Ho trovate le descrizioni molto ben fatte e giusto un tocco di inquietudine nella maggior parte dei finali.
Roseto: 4⭐
I turaniani: 3⭐
L'idealista: 3⭐
Stregoneria: 3⭐
La cerimonia: 3.5⭐
Psicologia: 3.5⭐
Tortura: 4⭐
Mezza estate: 2.5⭐
Natura: 3.5⭐
Le cose sacre: 2⭐
Ho trovate le descrizioni molto ben fatte e giusto un tocco di inquietudine nella maggior parte dei finali.
Roseto: 4⭐
I turaniani: 3⭐
L'idealista: 3⭐
Stregoneria: 3⭐
La cerimonia: 3.5⭐
Psicologia: 3.5⭐
Tortura: 4⭐
Mezza estate: 2.5⭐
Natura: 3.5⭐
Le cose sacre: 2⭐
December 26, 2024
This short collection of Arthur Machen shows his ability to condense so much foreboding atmosphere into these short weird tales, that highly the uncanny in nature and the still beating heart of the pagan spirt that live with it.
April 22, 2026
Non ho apprezzato quasi nulla di queste storie: la prosa è pomposa e i racconti si interrompono proprio quando diventano interessanti. 'Tortura' è l'unico che si salva, anche se finisce sul più bello. Peccato.
Tre stelle solo perchè l'edizione di ABeditore merita come sempre.
Tre stelle solo perchè l'edizione di ABeditore merita come sempre.
May 6, 2026
“The Idealist”: ⭐️⭐️⭐️: It’s hard to fit-in if you aren’t imbecile.
“Nature”: ⭐️⭐️: A ‘city dweller’ wanders into rurality and comes face-to-face with natural reality. PS: the fires “beneath the oaks” etc. weren’t sacrificial, they were sanitary. Country people don’t have rubbish removal.
Note: the other vignettes are rated separately.
“Nature”: ⭐️⭐️: A ‘city dweller’ wanders into rurality and comes face-to-face with natural reality. PS: the fires “beneath the oaks” etc. weren’t sacrificial, they were sanitary. Country people don’t have rubbish removal.
Note: the other vignettes are rated separately.
May 21, 2026
Più che racconti sono bozzetti, molto evocativi, ma in alcuni sembra che l'autore non sapesse come risolvere le questioni aperte. In più la lettura non è agevole a causa dei caratteri microscopici del testo.
December 3, 2021
Well read but pointless stories.
April 20, 2024
'Torture' was my favorite
January 18, 2025
Sublime, rich, ecstatic imagery.
May 27, 2026
Un breve compendio di suggestioni più che di racconti… Ma che suggestioni! Mi sono innamorata di questo libretto!
July 25, 2026
Una raccolta di storie cupe brevi e suggestive.
May 10, 2025
A lovely collection of quick, ethereal glimpses into a fragmented sort of nightmare interspersed with hazy beauty. Each one is perfectly inconclusive, and there is an excellent tone of yearning running through most of them. I am still very early on in my Machen journey, but these little stories (some of them closer to pieces of prose poetry, really) already feel like a distillation of what he does to its essential elements and nothing else. In that sense it may not have been the best place to start, but I had a really good time regardless.
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