A Descent into Egypt by Blackwood > Likes and Comments

This story by Algernon Blackwood is 27,203 words long, making it a medium sized novella.

When I decided to take March off this year so that we could finish our group non-fiction work together on time, I realized not everyone enjoys reading about weird fiction. Probably more members here prefer to actually read the fiction of our beloved genre. Therefore, I promised for the last half of the month I would find some work shorter than a novel that Joshi brought up in his book for us to share in as a fiction group read. It has taken until today for me to get far enough along with Joshi to decide what that work should be; I'm selecting this one.

There are several reasons for that. First, it's obscure. I'll be surprised if many (any?) of us have read it. Second, it's a novella, just the length I was looking for when we have only half a month to read it before moving on to our voted for April group read choice. Third, Joshi mentions it six times, all in glowing terms.

Here are those relevant mentions, which I supply by way of introduction to the story.

1) From 1908 to 1914 [Algernon Blackwood] lived in Bole, Switzerland, where he wrote prolifically. A trip to the Caucasus Mountains in 1910 inspired The Centaur (1911), the central work of his ouevre. A trip to Egypt led to the writing of "Sand," "A Descent into Egypt," and The wave: an Egyptian aftermath (1916).

2) Machen and Blackwood were the authors of what Lovecraft considered the two finest weird tales ever written, "The White People" and "The Willows"--a judgment that has much to recommend it, although I might rank Blackwood's "A Descent into Egypt" even higher than "The Willows."

3) Then we come to the two most remarkable stories in Incredible Adventures, "The Regeneration of Lord Ernie" and "A Descent into Egypt."

4) "A Descent into Egypt," perhaps Blackwood's finest single work, returns in a sense to the ideas of "The Damned." Here again, in this tale set in hoary Egypt, the power of belief is emphasized: "For centuries vast multitudes, led by their royal priests, had uttered this very form and ritual--believed it, lived it, felt it. The rising of the sun remained its climax. Its spiritual power still clung to the great ruined symbols. The faith of a buried civilization had burned back into the present and into our hearts as well" (318-19). I shall not even attempt to describe the cumulative suspense and intensity of this tale--it must be read to be experienced.

5) The narrator of "A Descent into Egypt" remarks with wistful regret: "There is a language of the mind, but there is none as yet of the spirit" (266).

6) Blackwood has some strange power to create an almost unbearably intense atmosphere of clutching horror or fascination, especially towards the end of his tales--"Sand," "The Regeneration of Lord Ernie," "The Willows," "The Wendigo," "A Descent into Egypt," and "Ancient Sorceries."

Whoever is up for reading this with me, we are beginning it now, to end March 31. Nineteen days should be enough to do justice to this novella, I think. It's in the public domain, free of charge, or available for 99 cents from a multitude of sources. Please, join me, and feel free to post your thoughts about this classic masterpiece here.

I'm in for this one. I haven't read it for a while and I'm a big fan of Blackwood's works.

I’m in

Dan wrote: "This story by Algernon Blackwood is 27,203 words long, making it a medium sized novella.

When I decided to take March off this year so that we could finish our group non-fiction work together on ..."

@Dan Glad to join... Blackwood's Egyptian stories always linger, and 'A Descent into Egypt' feels like his purest distillation of spiritual dread: ancient belief as a living force that invades the present, turning wonder into something unsettling.
The idea that faith can 'burn back' through time resonates deeply. Starting now, what aspect of Joshi's praise made this the pick for you: the intensity, the theme of belief's power, or the way it subverts expectations?

P.E.N. As I state above, there are several reasons for my choosing this Blackwood work. First, it's obscure. I'll be surprised if many (any?) of us have read it. Second, it's a novella, just the length I was looking for when we have only half a month to read it before moving on to our voted-for April group read choice. Third, Joshi mentions it six times, all in glowing terms.

I found a free method for obtaining this story. I downloaded Blackwood's story collection Incredible Adventures from Gutenberg as an EPUB3. "A Descent into Egypt" is one of the stories. Then I emailed that text straight to my Kindle. To do this, you have to research how to find your Kindle email address if you haven't yet.

If that is more than you want to deal with, the novella is available in The First Algernon Blackwood MEGAPACK ®: 36 Classic Tales of the Supernatural for 99 cents. You get 35 other stories that way too, a good deal no doubt.

I'm starting right now too.

I have wanted to read more of Algernon Blackwood ever since I read a collection of his years ago, just never got around to it. Now is as good as ever, I suppose.

The novella has 14 chapters. I read the first ten this morning and found it brilliant. It's like travelling to Egypt, ancient and modern. Well, World War I era modern at least. Actually, it's nothing like that. The essence of Egypt is written about, but not that many particulars.

Another reason I wanted to spotlight this novella is because I am always on the lookout for little-known should-be classics. If you read the reviews on this novella, they're mostly negative or rating it below average at minimum. We hardly hear of it. Yet here's Joshi singing its praises. What gives?

I agree with Joshi. This is some amazing writing. Google AI says it's written at the 7th grade level. But it's not the word choices that elevate the story--though some are nevertheless amazing. It's the concept. Am entire country, or at least its history, starts out as the antagonist. How can a country's history be an antagonist for its protagonist characters (George Isley and the unnamed narrator--Blackwood himself maybe)? It has to be read to be believed.

I do see why it got somewhat negative reviews. The story moves even slower than Blackwood's normally glacially slow pace. It looks like it repeats itself, especially at first, but that's just Blackwood's way of building up suspense. The narrator keeps bringing up the crux of the matter again and in a slightly different way again, each time adding a tiny nuance from a minor shift in perspective, until we're all slobbering to know what the point is going to eventually be. Blackwood isn't actually moving slow. He's savoring, a distinction without a difference for most modern readers, I fear.

The story bogs down slightly for me only with the introduction of another antagonist, Moleson, Isley's Egyptologist partner, a stand-in for modernity who is impervious to history's influence. Or is he history's agent in disguise? I suspect there may be some symbolism that's flying over my head here. But no matter, the story is thrilling even on the surface level reading I'm giving it. I like Moleson's piano playing--it's so of the period, but I don't fully grasp how he's fitting into this story, what his purpose or role really is. At least not yet. Maybe it becomes more apparent in the last three chapters.

I've finished it. My thoughts & potential spoilers ahead.

Prior to this year, I had not read Blackwood. I read The Wendigo at the beginning of the year & found it eerie & atmospheric. I can say this work also felt eerie & atmospheric (though less so, for me, than in The Wendigo).

Even though this is a short story/novella, it felt epic. Vast. It's intriguing that Blackwood can pull that off in so few pages.

I thought there was an interesting juxtaposition of the idea of the female in the story.

On one hand, there is the modern, unobservant, emotional woman: "So perfect, indeed, is he in the manners of the commonplace fashionable man, that no woman in his ‘set’ is aware that he differs from the type she is accustomed to." (ch. 1). Our narrator says that when Isley seemed somewhat normal at dinner, "I convicted myself of a woman’s exaggeration" in regard to feeling that Isley's soul was gone (ch. 3).

Yet, throughout the story, Egypt herself is referred to as "She", a female with great power. "She lies there underground, sleepless, mighty, deathless, not to be trifled with, Beware! Or she will change you too!" and "Behind a modern mask she lies in wait, intensely active, sure of her hidden power. Prostitute of dead empires, she lies now at peace beneath the same old stars, her loveliness unimpaired, bejewelled with the beaten gold of ages, her breasts uncovered, and her grand limbs flashing in the sun. Her shoulders of alabaster are lifted above the sand-drifts; she surveys the little figures of to-day. She takes her choice. . . ." (ch. 4) She is dominant. Immemorial. Eternal.

Another area of interest to me was the music that Moleson plays. It made me think of the trumpets that were discovered in King Tut's tomb (discovered in 1922, after this story was written). The Egypt-Museum website says of the trumpets, "Their presence in the tomb reinforces the idea that sound and music were integral to ancient Egyptian culture, not just as entertainment but as a medium for communication with the divine and the assertion of power." Since this novella predates the Tut discovery, Blackwood seems to have been prescient, tapping into the recognition of the power of music, of sound, of ululations, of chanting. It's hypnotic.

(Side note: If you want to hear the sound of a trumpet from King Tut's tomb, you can google to find a recording of a 1939 BBC live broadcast where a trumpet from the tomb is played.)

In addition to music, Blackwood refers to art, "And the attitude of all three was the attitude of hieroglyphics come to life. My arms indeed were stretched, but not stretched, as I had thought, in mere self-defence. They were stretched—unnaturally. The forearms made those strange obtuse angles that the old carved granite wears, the palms of the hands held upwards, the heads thrown back, the legs advanced, the bodies stiffened into postures that expressed forgotten, ancient minds. The physical conformation of all three was monstrous; and yet reverence and truth dictated even the uncouthness of the gestures. Something in all three of us inspired the forms our bodies had assumed." (ch. 12). The art/hieroglyphics are not just seen but acted out physically by each man.

I think Blackwood's inclusion of the senses is what gives his writing vividness & depth -- the sounds/hypnotic quality of the music, the power of the visual (hieroglyphics, seeing the moon & stars), the sense of feeling/touch (of sand blowing & hitting stone, the feel of something pulling you, the heat from the sun), all supporting the sense of space & vastness across time.

With so much "mummy mania" from Victorian times onward, Blackwood seems to have made an intentional side-step to avoid any mentions of mummies or even of the various artifacts & treasures found in the tombs. Instead he goes right to the source -- the priests, the power of religion, the power of symbols to endure through the ages.

What does happen to the gods of empires as each empire falls/comes to an end? According to Blackwood, they are still there, all-powerful, mythic, & able to be worshiped/served/obeyed for those who are observant enough. Or weak enough to fall under their spell? Quite a cool concept for a story.

Oh boy this appears to be absolutely delightful but I don't think I can commit at this time. I just started on last months' Mushroomhead and I have a truckload of work to do... But I will read it when I get to it! Also interested in the Caucasus story!

Dan wrote: "The story bogs down slightly for me only with the introduction of another antagonist, Moleson, Isley's Egyptologist partner, a stand-in for modernity who is impervious to history's influence. Or is he history's agent in disguise?"

I think he may be history's agent in disguise. And I wonder if the name Moleson is a hint? Moles are subterreanean creatures, digging, much like the references to where the pull or lure is coming from -- the underground is calling.

I also wondered if perhaps Moleson's appearance was Blackwood's cameo. At one point Moleson referred to himself as something like a creative interpreter of history, making history come alive. (I don't have my copy of the story in front of me so I am just summarizing what I remember.) Blackwood is performing the exact same role as Moleson in a sense.

Thanks for sharing your take on the story, Stacia. There's a lot to it, because I think we looked at many different aspects of the same story that don't overlap much. I did notice Blackwood's comment about how he (the unnamed narrator, who I believe Blackwood identifies with) didn't want to exaggerate like a woman, and cringed. Blackwood was a lifelong bachelor and didn't seem to find much use for women. He mostly writes male characters. His loss, but it doesn't make his writing any the less interesting (for all that).

I largely failed to notice how he characterized the historical spirit of Egypt as feminine, though when you point it out I of course agree. The only time I did notice was when he referred to Egypt as a prostitute, out of the blue and only once, which I found striking. Unless I misremember the passage, which is possible.

Moleson, I still believe, is a stand-in for insensitive, unspiritually aware modernity that Egypt can use to suck in unprepared souls. That may be oversimplifying though, and doesn't explain everything.

I found the going easier in the beginning than I did towards the end where I felt like I was losing the thread somewhat. Joshi mentions that Blackwood's life philosophy, or religion, to the extent he has a defined one, appears to equate Nature and God, but the mechanism and results have complications that elude me in much the way those last few chapters do when it brings Egypt's nature spirit into the story in the same indefinite manner.

The result on Isley is easy enough to see, and is horrifying. This is a story that will stay with me in much the same way "The Willows" does. I have to admit preferring "The Willows" slightly more because there was no point in that story where I felt lost. I also really like rivers, the Danube, and canoe trips. But Egypt is fertile grounds for finding historical horror, and Blackwood really makes the most of his source here as well.

I'm highly grateful to Joshi for bringing this story, and the collection it comes from frankly, to my attention. This is real thinking persons' weird fiction for sure! I think those other stories in Incredible Adventures well worth reading too, if I only had infinite time!

@Stacia Egypt as 'she', dominant, eternal, uncovered, is such a powerful image. Blackwood turns belief into the real horror, enduring through symbols and sound. The hieroglyphs/poses coming alive feels like ritual possession without needing overt monsters.
@Dan The repetition builds suspense beautifully, savoring, not slowing. Moleson as stand-in for modernity's blindness works. Do you see the gods as dormant or actively calling in his cosmology?

P.E.N. wrote: "Egypt as 'she', dominant, eternal, uncovered, is such a powerful image."

It almost feels like an extension of Mother Earth/Mother Nature to me. And we all know, "Don't mess with Mother Nature..."

Great analysis of the story, Stacia!

I found that the tension where the three were "possessed" by the ancient entities was almost unbearable. I kept wanting to yell, "Don't go!" I'm glad the narrator drew back but it was too late for George.

I'm only up to IV so far, but how gorgeous is this prose. Also, having been there for a few days, I can confirm the impact Egypt has on you.

Okay, so I just finished it. I'm struggling to articulate my thoughts, but I loved it. It's exactly the kind of thing I love to read and write. In terms of the theme of looking beyond shallow modernity and to a degree reality, it reminded me of gnosticism, in terms of descriptive style and themes it reminded me of Heart of Darkness and the way Marlow describes Mr Kurtz.

Egypt does have a strong effect on you, I will never forget seeing the pyramids for the first time, which appeared out of the sandy haze, like a dream. From far away like that was the best view, though up close was by no means disappointing. Cairo was intense and frightening and felt like it swallowed you whole when you took a taxi to downtown. The people were lovely.

Anyway, thank you for this recommendation, this was marvellous.

To actually experience Egypt in person must have made the book even more meaningful for you, Peter.
Have you read anything else by Blackwood?

No, I’d never heard of him.

I met a few English people out there - went to a party at a journalist’s flat. The political situation was quite dicey as it was 6 months after Mubarak was overthrown but there was huge discontent with Morsi. I spent quite a bit of time at the protest camp in Tahrir Square just talking to people. Honestly it was exhilarating. People thought we were journalists but we were just curious.

That's quite an experience!

I've never been closer to Egypt than on an aircraft carrier in the Suez Canal. I could see the banks of Egypt, but not touch. That must really have been something to be in Al-Qahira itself.

I'm really grateful to Joshi for bringing this story to my attention. Otherwise, I'm not sure I'd ever have gotten around to reading it. Blackwood wrote so much! Thanks guys in giving the story a go with me. I need to read it slower at some point in the future, savor it, and really try to figure out precisely what Blackwood's saying about spirituality and the nature of reality in those last couple chapters.

It was. I'll never forget it.

Rosemarie wrote: "That's quite an experience!"

Took a long time to adjust to the writers prose style. I found this pretty boring. Much prefer The Willows; one of my all time favorite weird fiction reads.

I think Blackwood creates a strange kind of resistance in his writing.

At first it can feel slow, even repetitive, but the longer you stay with it, the more it starts to feel less like a story unfolding… and more like something pressing in from the outside.

Almost as if the pacing isn’t meant to move the plot forward, but to wear down the distance between the reader and whatever is being suggested beneath the surface.

That’s probably why it either works deeply or not at all, depending on how you engage with it.

The Willows feels more immediate, but this one lingers in a quieter, more unsettling way.