Jesse’s Reviews > Collected Fiction Volume 1: 1888-1895 > Status Update
Jesse
is on page 269 of 548
“The Great God Pan”
This was more interesting on a second read, picking up details like how it is a deliberate and thorough inversion of the Jack the Ripper killings, and how Raymond is positioned in the piece a bit more thoroughly insofar as the archetypes he and his charge, Mary, inhabit within Gothic horror, and how this “union” bears out in the events of the story.
— 1 hour, 8 min ago
This was more interesting on a second read, picking up details like how it is a deliberate and thorough inversion of the Jack the Ripper killings, and how Raymond is positioned in the piece a bit more thoroughly insofar as the archetypes he and his charge, Mary, inhabit within Gothic horror, and how this “union” bears out in the events of the story.
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Jesse
is on page 217 of 548
“The Spagyric Quest of Beroaldus Cosmopolita”
I recognize this as satire but it is so involved with the terms of alchemy that it is incredibly opaque. It’s thematically aligned with the Silurian adoration of alcohol as it’s the key by which Beroaldus accesses higher knowledge. Someone pointed out in Clemendy that Machen uses lists in his prose—for comedy I think—and it’s as subtle as a freight train.
— Nov 09, 2026 08:18AM
I recognize this as satire but it is so involved with the terms of alchemy that it is incredibly opaque. It’s thematically aligned with the Silurian adoration of alcohol as it’s the key by which Beroaldus accesses higher knowledge. Someone pointed out in Clemendy that Machen uses lists in his prose—for comedy I think—and it’s as subtle as a freight train.
Jesse
is on page 206 of 548
“Epilogue”
Closing the nested narrative, our main man, the chronicler, Leolinus, wraps up his “first” history of Silures before he is sent to become the governor of an island. This is not portrayed as a bad thing! But there may be a subtext that I am wholly ignorant of. In any event, it kind of teases that Machen may have written further “histories”, which I’d be down with.
— Nov 09, 2026 06:12AM
Closing the nested narrative, our main man, the chronicler, Leolinus, wraps up his “first” history of Silures before he is sent to become the governor of an island. This is not portrayed as a bad thing! But there may be a subtext that I am wholly ignorant of. In any event, it kind of teases that Machen may have written further “histories”, which I’d be down with.
Jesse
is on page 203 of 548
“The Triumph of Love”
This is just a straight up romance with no twists. A French exile named Symon pledges his service to a Welsh earl, falls in love with the earl’s daughter, Bertha, and then romances her, the two having their plans for marriage and egress to Italy facilitated by the priest who marries them, the priest being more concerned about making sure they don’t have sex out of wedlock.
— Nov 09, 2026 06:05AM
This is just a straight up romance with no twists. A French exile named Symon pledges his service to a Welsh earl, falls in love with the earl’s daughter, Bertha, and then romances her, the two having their plans for marriage and egress to Italy facilitated by the priest who marries them, the priest being more concerned about making sure they don’t have sex out of wedlock.
Jesse
is on page 187 of 548
“The Affair Done At the House With the Lattice”
A knight living by economy gets wind of a local mysterious beauty and sets about wooing her, in spite of her crossbow-toting father. Things go pretty well until she appears to be able to predict stormy weather. He’s worried, but as we find out, his paramour has no supernatural talents whatsoever.
— Nov 08, 2026 08:20PM
A knight living by economy gets wind of a local mysterious beauty and sets about wooing her, in spite of her crossbow-toting father. Things go pretty well until she appears to be able to predict stormy weather. He’s worried, but as we find out, his paramour has no supernatural talents whatsoever.
Jesse
is on page 166 of 548
“How the Duke of San Giuliano Made Build a High Wall”
Another story about courtly adultery. In this case, the Duke neglects his wife out of a newly acquired scholastic inclination. She tries one straightforward plot, confiding in a doctor, before attempting to make her husband jealous. In the process, she earnestly falls in love with the man she was manipulating. The finish of this story is… different.
— Nov 08, 2026 08:56AM
Another story about courtly adultery. In this case, the Duke neglects his wife out of a newly acquired scholastic inclination. She tries one straightforward plot, confiding in a doctor, before attempting to make her husband jealous. In the process, she earnestly falls in love with the man she was manipulating. The finish of this story is… different.
Jesse
is on page 149 of 548
“The Journey Homeward”
A short episode where the men on their way home come across a troop of Italian musicians, make nice with them, hearing how they fared at Uske, share their delicious pastries both savory and sweet, and then solicit a story from them. Somewhere in here are some light superstitions regarding violins having souls.
— Nov 08, 2026 08:00AM
A short episode where the men on their way home come across a troop of Italian musicians, make nice with them, hearing how they fared at Uske, share their delicious pastries both savory and sweet, and then solicit a story from them. Somewhere in here are some light superstitions regarding violins having souls.
Jesse
is on page 143 of 548
“The Quaint History of a Lord of Gwent, and How His Wife Desired to Smell a Rose”
Young man debauchs in his estate until he is middle-aged and in so much debt he must knight-errant on the continent, comes home in his 60s, and then at the ripe old age of 70 marries a 17 year old. This goes about as well as you could hope, provided—unlike the Cursal Canon—you don’t mind adultery under these circumstances.
— Nov 08, 2026 06:13AM
Young man debauchs in his estate until he is middle-aged and in so much debt he must knight-errant on the continent, comes home in his 60s, and then at the ripe old age of 70 marries a 17 year old. This goes about as well as you could hope, provided—unlike the Cursal Canon—you don’t mind adultery under these circumstances.
Jesse
is on page 112 of 548
“How a Knight of Uske Kept Guard Over a Tree”
A more or less courtly romance where a knight looking for love makes the acquaintance of a beautiful maiden and then pursues a secret but chaste love affair, leading to a daring Romeo and Juliet midnight meeting at her window that places him at great peril. But with a little luck, and a huge sausage, he makes the best of it.
— Nov 05, 2026 04:36PM
A more or less courtly romance where a knight looking for love makes the acquaintance of a beautiful maiden and then pursues a secret but chaste love affair, leading to a daring Romeo and Juliet midnight meeting at her window that places him at great peril. But with a little luck, and a huge sausage, he makes the best of it.
Jesse
is on page 95 of 548
“The Quest of the Dial and the Vane”
A knightly romance parody that is based on a question on what is best in love: constancy, or variety? Two knights are charged to quest for the answer and then return with fantastic tales of imprisonment that suggest that neither constancy nor variety are superior. But, in Machen’s twist ending, it’s revealed that the knights were telling fabulous lies.
— Nov 05, 2026 01:48PM
A knightly romance parody that is based on a question on what is best in love: constancy, or variety? Two knights are charged to quest for the answer and then return with fantastic tales of imprisonment that suggest that neither constancy nor variety are superior. But, in Machen’s twist ending, it’s revealed that the knights were telling fabulous lies.
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One critical sentiment is that this is a “new woman” novel, with Helen representing a sort of slippery slope with regard to women’s sexual freedom. Helen’s pansexual (oh ho ho) practices either utterly repel men or draw them in to self-destruction. Looking at suicide by hanging within the context of Greek mythology, which I would have to be certain that Machen was familiar with, it is primarily the WOMEN in tragedies who hang themselves.
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Idk if Machen was intending to evoke the despair and shame of female Greek tragedy figures, and if so whether he was doing it ironically given how this story turns the Whitechapel murders all the way around.