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Phanny, v. 3, issue 4, Spring 1945
Page 10
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10 PHANNY 10 has one worthwhile contribution? Personally, I would place Poe well above Lovecraft, primarily for a reason which you reject; namely, his pioneer work in the field. But then, I don't think too highly of either of them as story tellers. Poe, I think, was at his best in the telling of humorous fantasy; and it is my opinion that much of HPL's work would have been much improved by the inclusion of some humorous aspects. He wrote one story--yes, you guessed it; "The Colour Out of Space"-which I consider superior to anything of Poe's that I have read. From Poe, I would select "Hans Pfaall" for humorous fantasy, and"Descent into the Maelstrom" for pseud-science. The latter, incidentally, is an excellent example of true pseudo-science, in that practically all the "observed phenomena" upon which the story depends, are actually contrary to known fact. -- For once, I read "Music For The Fan"--and with some interest and understanding, too. But, even with your excellent outline as a guide, I doubt if I could follow and identify the parts of the story int he music. I get no more of a story from a musical work than I get from a Chinese language broadcast, and for the same reason; I don't know the symbols. There is this difference in favor of the Chinese language, however; I could learn the symbols, in time, and they would always convey the same story; but musical symbolism seems to be subject to no such restraint. But I still enjoy listening to a symphony.
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10 PHANNY 10 has one worthwhile contribution? Personally, I would place Poe well above Lovecraft, primarily for a reason which you reject; namely, his pioneer work in the field. But then, I don't think too highly of either of them as story tellers. Poe, I think, was at his best in the telling of humorous fantasy; and it is my opinion that much of HPL's work would have been much improved by the inclusion of some humorous aspects. He wrote one story--yes, you guessed it; "The Colour Out of Space"-which I consider superior to anything of Poe's that I have read. From Poe, I would select "Hans Pfaall" for humorous fantasy, and"Descent into the Maelstrom" for pseud-science. The latter, incidentally, is an excellent example of true pseudo-science, in that practically all the "observed phenomena" upon which the story depends, are actually contrary to known fact. -- For once, I read "Music For The Fan"--and with some interest and understanding, too. But, even with your excellent outline as a guide, I doubt if I could follow and identify the parts of the story int he music. I get no more of a story from a musical work than I get from a Chinese language broadcast, and for the same reason; I don't know the symbols. There is this difference in favor of the Chinese language, however; I could learn the symbols, in time, and they would always convey the same story; but musical symbolism seems to be subject to no such restraint. But I still enjoy listening to a symphony.
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