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A Wild Tumultory Library
Read about the most dangerous man in the West; the poem written by a stuffed crocodile; the alchemist called the great-nephew to the Queen of Faerie; aesthetes, dandies, visionaries, antiquaries, fortune tellers and fakirs, forgotten writers and much more.
Mark Valentine’s third collection of essays explores the curious byways of literature and lore in a similar manner to his earlier volumes Haunted by Books and A Country Still All Mystery.
Taking its title from an encounter in Thomas De Quincey’s youthful wanderings, Valentine’s writing shares that author’s delight in the arcane, the recondite and the obscure.
Mark Valentine’s third collection of essays explores the curious byways of literature and lore in a similar manner to his earlier volumes Haunted by Books and A Country Still All Mystery.
Taking its title from an encounter in Thomas De Quincey’s youthful wanderings, Valentine’s writing shares that author’s delight in the arcane, the recondite and the obscure.
290 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2019
5 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Mark Valentine
269 books138 followersMark Valentine is an English author, biographer and editor.
Valentine’s short stories have been published by a number of small presses and in anthologies since the 1980s, and the exploits of his series character, "The Connoisseur", an occult detective, were published as The Collected Connoisseur in 2010.
As a biographer, Valentine has published a life of Arthur Machen in 1985 (Seren Press), and a study of Sarban, Time, A Falconer (Tartarus Press), is published in 2010. He has also written numerous articles for the Book and Magazine Collector magazine, and introductions for various books, including editions of work by Walter de la Mare, Robert Louis Stevenson, Saki, J. Meade Falkner and others.
Valentine also edits Wormwood (Tartarus Press), a journal dedicated to fantastic, supernatural and decadent literature, and has also edited anthologies, including The Werewolf Pack (Wordsworth, 2008) and The Black Veil (Wordsworth, 2008).
Valentine’s short stories have been published by a number of small presses and in anthologies since the 1980s, and the exploits of his series character, "The Connoisseur", an occult detective, were published as The Collected Connoisseur in 2010.
As a biographer, Valentine has published a life of Arthur Machen in 1985 (Seren Press), and a study of Sarban, Time, A Falconer (Tartarus Press), is published in 2010. He has also written numerous articles for the Book and Magazine Collector magazine, and introductions for various books, including editions of work by Walter de la Mare, Robert Louis Stevenson, Saki, J. Meade Falkner and others.
Valentine also edits Wormwood (Tartarus Press), a journal dedicated to fantastic, supernatural and decadent literature, and has also edited anthologies, including The Werewolf Pack (Wordsworth, 2008) and The Black Veil (Wordsworth, 2008).
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 7, 2019
One of my great pleasures is to peer at the titles ranged along a bookshelf whether that be a shop, a friends or a pub nook. Most of the authors and titles are unknown to me and occasionally I wonder if there is some gem lurking that a more astute literary magpie would pluck out and reveal to me.
These essays are rather akin to that, as Valentine plucks out obscure authors to reveal their literary merit (or perhaps lack of) or reveals a hitherto observation on an author you already know (or think you know).
A few of the essays are on a subjects. Zodiacs in the British topography, books on tea cup reading and the Grindletonians. Lovers of Valentines fiction will recognize this territory, his short stories often sit in in areas somewhere between folklore, archeology and mysticism.
What marks all the pieces is that they are so extensive. It would appear that Valentine has read the entire output of the authors concerned, condensed that knowledge before presenting it to us and then compares the author under consideration with two or three other writers. That is quite a feat. I often found myself sitting with the book and a laptop following the threads he unravelled online; ("Is 'Flush as May' by P. M. Hubbard really that good?"; "is 'Escal Vigor' by George Eekhoud like Dorian Gray?").
Not all the authors Valentine refers are my cup of tea, I do not really share his penchant for those rather fey authors of the inter-war years for example, but I'm glad I now know something of them all the same.
In his introduction Valentine mentions that Arthur Machen could, in his opinion, write about just about anything and make it distinctive, resonant and interesting. I have often said that in my opinion, Valentine could make a shopping list and do the same.
There is much to enjoy in this book. Highly recommended!
These essays are rather akin to that, as Valentine plucks out obscure authors to reveal their literary merit (or perhaps lack of) or reveals a hitherto observation on an author you already know (or think you know).
A few of the essays are on a subjects. Zodiacs in the British topography, books on tea cup reading and the Grindletonians. Lovers of Valentines fiction will recognize this territory, his short stories often sit in in areas somewhere between folklore, archeology and mysticism.
What marks all the pieces is that they are so extensive. It would appear that Valentine has read the entire output of the authors concerned, condensed that knowledge before presenting it to us and then compares the author under consideration with two or three other writers. That is quite a feat. I often found myself sitting with the book and a laptop following the threads he unravelled online; ("Is 'Flush as May' by P. M. Hubbard really that good?"; "is 'Escal Vigor' by George Eekhoud like Dorian Gray?").
Not all the authors Valentine refers are my cup of tea, I do not really share his penchant for those rather fey authors of the inter-war years for example, but I'm glad I now know something of them all the same.
In his introduction Valentine mentions that Arthur Machen could, in his opinion, write about just about anything and make it distinctive, resonant and interesting. I have often said that in my opinion, Valentine could make a shopping list and do the same.
There is much to enjoy in this book. Highly recommended!
September 22, 2019
It's such a pleasure to spend a few days in Mr. Valentine's company in these essays. Connections and associations rise quickly to the surface, reinforcing mental alertness and the big, broad view of the reading life.
One story, one author, one book leads to another. Pretty soon organized habits of study are replaced by instinct. How else could the reader lay hands upon the strange, esoteric, unusual, and outre? Valentine demonstrates again and again in these pages that the lyrical, incantatory, and rich works of measured prose do not emerge unless the reader is also a seeker, not just an online shopper.
Some excerpts will convey the flavor of this book about the reclamation of certain odd books that radiate an eerie glamour.
Full review:
http://jayrothermel.blogspot.com.jayr...
One story, one author, one book leads to another. Pretty soon organized habits of study are replaced by instinct. How else could the reader lay hands upon the strange, esoteric, unusual, and outre? Valentine demonstrates again and again in these pages that the lyrical, incantatory, and rich works of measured prose do not emerge unless the reader is also a seeker, not just an online shopper.
Some excerpts will convey the flavor of this book about the reclamation of certain odd books that radiate an eerie glamour.
Full review:
http://jayrothermel.blogspot.com.jayr...
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews