Post by Von on May 8, 2016 0:57:39 GMT -5
If I have gained nothing else from my contact with the OSR, I must at least be grateful for Eddison. I'm listing his works in (approximate) publication order, rather than narrative order. I believe publication order to be the best approach: some books might be clearer if others have been read first, but this clarity steals away the experience of discovery and puzzlement. Who reads the glossary first? Only a yoghurt.
Novels
The Worm Ouroboros - heroic fantasy in the strict classical sense of the word 'heroic', too large for the world to hold. Eddison's Demons are not 'good' people in the modern sense of the word: they are proud to the point of arrogance, honourable to the point of idiocy and bumptious to the point where risk has little meaning. Likewise, Eddison's Witches are not 'bad' people, though they certainly do things upon which civilised society frowns. They are gluttons, posers and schemers - but they are presented without a hint of censure. Linger over Eddison's elaborate depictions of palaces and vistas. Engage slowly. This is not a book to be taken lightly. If you can stomach Eddison's prose (which is not to the liking of every reader) here, you can manage the others: he is more restrained in his later work.
(Zimiamvia trilogy)
Mistress of Mistresses - the opening act of a mystery, masquerading as another epic. Passion, pride and sheer charisma govern Eddison's imaginary world, rising on a tide of surreality as the characters discover who and what they are. It will not make complete sense on the first reading. Hold out. Read Spinoza and/or the next of the Zimiamvia books, then give this one another go. All will become clear in time. On your first go through, enjoy the heroics and the ornate lushness of Eddison's prose. Worry about making sense of it all later.
A Fish Dinner In Memison - all is explained, after a fashion. A slow book compared to the last one, but rich in styles, gliding between Edwardian England and Zimiamvia. A prequel to Mistress of Mistresses in which the nature of time and reality are probed, debated and mocked at great length. Mistress of Mistresses is the action: this book is the explanation.
The Mezentian Gate - an incomplete prequel to A Fish Dinner In Memison, in which the history of Zimiamvia begins to take shape. If you like the others, read and rejoice.
Sagas
Egil's Saga - Eddison as scholar and translator rather than novelist. Succeeds admirably on its own terms. Eddison provides an essay on translation which explains his approach to archaism and modernisation - he's not keen on either, opting instead to maintain the tone of the originals, a stark and elegant simplicity quite unlike his indulgent prose when he's writing on his own time. His original work Styrbiorn the Strong (an invented saga around a figure who is mentioned elsewhere in the Norse canon) is presented in the same style, but I haven't finished that one yet and so will forbear to comment further.
I will say that Eddison's love for Iceland and its history/legend is palpable, his erudition in the classics formidable, and his grasp of philosophy enviable. One should be aware of this before reading too deeply into his work. Tolkien took Eddison's novels on his moral and intellectual terms, rather than their own, and compounded the error by assuming that the work was an accurate reflection of the man and judging him accordingly. I am of the opinion that Eddison hung up his modern thinking when he sat down to write, and wrote a world in which the mores and conventions are discrete from his own, never mind ours.
This is his greatest value to me - as a writer of fantasy he achieves a fantastic mindset even if his work (barring Ouroboros) is lacking in 'ironmongery' of fantastic beasts and magic spells. I have encountered too much fantasy which manages to make wizards and dragons and all that seem banal because the people are twentieth century late capitalist liberals pratting about in medieval costume. Eddison is better than that. His novels (and characters) don't give a toss for the twentieth century, even when they visit it. They are not here to reassure the reader that the past was full of people like us and everything is going as planned. They are here to tell us about heroes.
Novels
The Worm Ouroboros - heroic fantasy in the strict classical sense of the word 'heroic', too large for the world to hold. Eddison's Demons are not 'good' people in the modern sense of the word: they are proud to the point of arrogance, honourable to the point of idiocy and bumptious to the point where risk has little meaning. Likewise, Eddison's Witches are not 'bad' people, though they certainly do things upon which civilised society frowns. They are gluttons, posers and schemers - but they are presented without a hint of censure. Linger over Eddison's elaborate depictions of palaces and vistas. Engage slowly. This is not a book to be taken lightly. If you can stomach Eddison's prose (which is not to the liking of every reader) here, you can manage the others: he is more restrained in his later work.
(Zimiamvia trilogy)
Mistress of Mistresses - the opening act of a mystery, masquerading as another epic. Passion, pride and sheer charisma govern Eddison's imaginary world, rising on a tide of surreality as the characters discover who and what they are. It will not make complete sense on the first reading. Hold out. Read Spinoza and/or the next of the Zimiamvia books, then give this one another go. All will become clear in time. On your first go through, enjoy the heroics and the ornate lushness of Eddison's prose. Worry about making sense of it all later.
A Fish Dinner In Memison - all is explained, after a fashion. A slow book compared to the last one, but rich in styles, gliding between Edwardian England and Zimiamvia. A prequel to Mistress of Mistresses in which the nature of time and reality are probed, debated and mocked at great length. Mistress of Mistresses is the action: this book is the explanation.
The Mezentian Gate - an incomplete prequel to A Fish Dinner In Memison, in which the history of Zimiamvia begins to take shape. If you like the others, read and rejoice.
Sagas
Egil's Saga - Eddison as scholar and translator rather than novelist. Succeeds admirably on its own terms. Eddison provides an essay on translation which explains his approach to archaism and modernisation - he's not keen on either, opting instead to maintain the tone of the originals, a stark and elegant simplicity quite unlike his indulgent prose when he's writing on his own time. His original work Styrbiorn the Strong (an invented saga around a figure who is mentioned elsewhere in the Norse canon) is presented in the same style, but I haven't finished that one yet and so will forbear to comment further.
I will say that Eddison's love for Iceland and its history/legend is palpable, his erudition in the classics formidable, and his grasp of philosophy enviable. One should be aware of this before reading too deeply into his work. Tolkien took Eddison's novels on his moral and intellectual terms, rather than their own, and compounded the error by assuming that the work was an accurate reflection of the man and judging him accordingly. I am of the opinion that Eddison hung up his modern thinking when he sat down to write, and wrote a world in which the mores and conventions are discrete from his own, never mind ours.
This is his greatest value to me - as a writer of fantasy he achieves a fantastic mindset even if his work (barring Ouroboros) is lacking in 'ironmongery' of fantastic beasts and magic spells. I have encountered too much fantasy which manages to make wizards and dragons and all that seem banal because the people are twentieth century late capitalist liberals pratting about in medieval costume. Eddison is better than that. His novels (and characters) don't give a toss for the twentieth century, even when they visit it. They are not here to reassure the reader that the past was full of people like us and everything is going as planned. They are here to tell us about heroes.