Even with the similarities, there are things about this earlier story that I think work better. "Dagon" is about a man lost at sea. He's drifting alone in a little boat in the middle of the ocean and certain that he's going to die. Upon waking one day, he finds that his boat is no longer drifting but has struck land. Except that it hasn't "struck" land, because, when he sits up and looks around, he finds that the land has risen up under him and his boat is stranded, land bound.
Lovecraft's description of the risen continent is exquisitely detailed with sensory information. The smell of rotting fish and other sea... things... that are equally stranded upon the new rocky plain. The lack of anything to block out the sun. The desolate waste of the sea floor suddenly exposed to light. And our lone man tramping across it to find out if there's any way off.
Of course, in true Lovecraft style, all of this is told in flashback style to explain why the man feels as if his death is imminent. And this is the part of the story that doesn't work for me. While the part on the island is interesting in its landscape and the thing that happens, once he escapes, there is no reason given within the story that there should be anything to worry about after.
I understand that the tension in the story is the man's fear about dying because of what he saw, but doesn't ring true. Especially so considering what happens at the very end. How does it relate to the rest of the story?
It's an interesting story, and the part with the risen continent is well worth the read, but I wasn't impressed with the story overall. I think there could have been much more tension without it being done as a flashback.
I liked Dagon well enough. I don't know what you mean about a fear about dying. The narrator was planning on killing himself because he was afraid of being taken by Dagon, which is why he freaked out when he thought he heard it outside his door. Unless I'm remembering it wrong. I should go back and reread it.
ReplyDeleteJeanne: That's not what I got from it at all. The suicide thing, yes, maybe, but not the rest.
DeleteIs there a metaphor at work here? Is being stranded on the island a symbol for depression or despair?
ReplyDeleteTAS: It's hard to know for sure with Lovecraft. He had a pretty miserable life, and I know that that's reflected a lot in his writing, but this thing with the continent that rises up out of the sea is a familiar theme of his, so I'm not sure if it's so simple to say that it's just a metaphor for depression.
DeleteCertainly an unusual theme.
DeleteSounds interesting. Poe also did a lot of flashback style narratives, which worked and didn't, depending on the strength of the story, and whether it was one of his mysteries or horrors. I think it may have been just a construct of storytelling up until even fifteen years ago, when it was finally "decided" that flashback were just not a thing to do anymore. Like using semicolons. :P
ReplyDeleteAlex: The flashback aspect is certainly a thing that was more done at the time. Passive action, too. And there are some brilliant stories told that way. Just not this one.
Delete