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Alex's Reviews > Zothique
Zothique
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Such beautiful decadence. I've enjoyed a lot of Clark Ashton Smith, but this is the collection that has moved me to place him as the best of the Weird Tales Trinity (Lovecraft, Howard, and Smith). I wonder if part of why he is the least appreciated of the three is fallout from things like the content censorship like the comics code in the 50's. There's a lot of squidgy bits and a not-infrequent reference to necrophilia.
Every word is carefully placed in these stories that rest between pulp horror and prose poetry. The moon, the shadows, and the colors all have their place in building the appropriate mood. I loved something in every story. I plan to revisit this collection several more times in order to unpack even more weirdness and dig into the themes more.
THE GARDEN OF ADOMPHA may very well be my favorite, with the wretched weirdness cranked all the way up.
THE CHARNEL GOD is the only story in this collection that seems to have good guys, with the proto-archetype of the beleaguered slasher-film nice couple to whom bad things happen. It's a pleasant surprise that the nice people survive, although not unchanged.
THE BLACK ABBOT OF PUTHUUM is a bit of a conundrum. It's almost as if he wanted to deliberately murk the water as to themes about rage and gender. I think it's a bit of a middle finger with the subtitle of "Analyze This!"
THE DEATH OF ILALOTHA has some of the most challenging bits about necrophilia in the collection, and I can only imagine how extra provocative this was in the 1930's.
THE VOYAGE OF KING EUVORAN is a delightful take on The Odyssey or Sinbad but with terrible people to whom terrible things happen.
THE LAST HIEROGLYPH leads me to believe this is a bit of poison pen against astrologers who wronged Smith or his family.
NECROMANCY IN NAAT is a surprisingly tender zombie love story.
Every word is carefully placed in these stories that rest between pulp horror and prose poetry. The moon, the shadows, and the colors all have their place in building the appropriate mood. I loved something in every story. I plan to revisit this collection several more times in order to unpack even more weirdness and dig into the themes more.
THE GARDEN OF ADOMPHA may very well be my favorite, with the wretched weirdness cranked all the way up.
THE CHARNEL GOD is the only story in this collection that seems to have good guys, with the proto-archetype of the beleaguered slasher-film nice couple to whom bad things happen. It's a pleasant surprise that the nice people survive, although not unchanged.
THE BLACK ABBOT OF PUTHUUM is a bit of a conundrum. It's almost as if he wanted to deliberately murk the water as to themes about rage and gender. I think it's a bit of a middle finger with the subtitle of "Analyze This!"
THE DEATH OF ILALOTHA has some of the most challenging bits about necrophilia in the collection, and I can only imagine how extra provocative this was in the 1930's.
THE VOYAGE OF KING EUVORAN is a delightful take on The Odyssey or Sinbad but with terrible people to whom terrible things happen.
THE LAST HIEROGLYPH leads me to believe this is a bit of poison pen against astrologers who wronged Smith or his family.
NECROMANCY IN NAAT is a surprisingly tender zombie love story.
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