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Fantasy Commentator, v. 1, issue 3, September 1944
Page 43
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FANTASY COMMENTATOR 43 William Hope Hodgson: In His Own Day The scanty amount of critical and descriptive material which has appeared in this country on William Hope Hodgson and his writings, together with the lamentable scarcity of his published works, both here and in England, have resulted in a general impression of the matter which is not altogether in keeping with the facts. Hodgson has been variously classed as a forgotten genius and a writer of no moment; the truth of the matter obviously lies somewhere between these extremes, and it is my intention in mentioning the subject to give a clear account of what is known about this author and a definitive critique of his extant writings. In this, the first of two planned articles, I shall deal solely with Hodgson's place in the literary world as seen by his own generation; I hope in a second to evaluate his work as it appears today, some three decades later. The best method for appraisal of the literary opinion coeval with the author appears to be consultation of reviews of his works then current. One may generalize, first, by stating that the tone of all of these is distinctly favorable; in fact, I have yet to find one which is moderately critical of Hodgson's productions. To particularize, I have chosen for quotation a series of reviews that appeared in the English literary publication The Bookman. The general tone of this magazine may be described by comparing it to our own Saturday Review of Literature, although it was far more pretentious, both in scope and format, than the latter periodical. But like it, The Bookman clearly and accurately mirrored the literary trends of its day, and was noted for its fair and unbiased critical opinions. These latter may, therefore, be given the weight of authority. It is typical of its caution that neither of Hodgson's first two novels received The Bookman's reviews. That they were known and evaluated, however, is obvious from the context of this review of The Ghost Pirates, which was published in the October 1909 number (vol. 37, p. 54): There can be no need to call to memory two such remarkable works as Mr. Hodgson's Boats of the "Glen Carrig" and The House on the Borderland. They are books of the kind that, once read, cannot be easily forgotten. The Ghost Pirates forms the last volume of the trilogy, for, as the author points out, "though very different in scope, each of the three books deals with certain conceptions that have an elemental kinship." The next sentence in his preface is a disappointment to us: "With this book, the author believes that he closes the door, so far as he is concerned, on a particular phase of constructive thought." We can only hope that Mr. Hodgson may be induced to reconsider his decision, for we know of nothing like the author's previous work in the whole of present-day literature. There is no one at present writing who can thrill and horrify to quite the same effect. The Ghost Pirates does not display Mr. Hodgson's wonderful qualities of imagination to such good effect as did The House on the Borderland, nor is it so terrifying a book to read. Nevertheless, it is a very remarkable story, told in a matter-of-fact manner that materially increases his "grip". The author particularly excels in the creation of "atmosphere," but he is also possessed of a vigorous style and a wonderful ingenuity in the concoction of terrifying detail. Mr. Hodgson has his faults; his exaggerated treatment of the Cockney dialect of one of the minor characters is unsatisfactory, and his punctuation is annoying. But when all is said The Ghost Pirates is a book of high literary
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FANTASY COMMENTATOR 43 William Hope Hodgson: In His Own Day The scanty amount of critical and descriptive material which has appeared in this country on William Hope Hodgson and his writings, together with the lamentable scarcity of his published works, both here and in England, have resulted in a general impression of the matter which is not altogether in keeping with the facts. Hodgson has been variously classed as a forgotten genius and a writer of no moment; the truth of the matter obviously lies somewhere between these extremes, and it is my intention in mentioning the subject to give a clear account of what is known about this author and a definitive critique of his extant writings. In this, the first of two planned articles, I shall deal solely with Hodgson's place in the literary world as seen by his own generation; I hope in a second to evaluate his work as it appears today, some three decades later. The best method for appraisal of the literary opinion coeval with the author appears to be consultation of reviews of his works then current. One may generalize, first, by stating that the tone of all of these is distinctly favorable; in fact, I have yet to find one which is moderately critical of Hodgson's productions. To particularize, I have chosen for quotation a series of reviews that appeared in the English literary publication The Bookman. The general tone of this magazine may be described by comparing it to our own Saturday Review of Literature, although it was far more pretentious, both in scope and format, than the latter periodical. But like it, The Bookman clearly and accurately mirrored the literary trends of its day, and was noted for its fair and unbiased critical opinions. These latter may, therefore, be given the weight of authority. It is typical of its caution that neither of Hodgson's first two novels received The Bookman's reviews. That they were known and evaluated, however, is obvious from the context of this review of The Ghost Pirates, which was published in the October 1909 number (vol. 37, p. 54): There can be no need to call to memory two such remarkable works as Mr. Hodgson's Boats of the "Glen Carrig" and The House on the Borderland. They are books of the kind that, once read, cannot be easily forgotten. The Ghost Pirates forms the last volume of the trilogy, for, as the author points out, "though very different in scope, each of the three books deals with certain conceptions that have an elemental kinship." The next sentence in his preface is a disappointment to us: "With this book, the author believes that he closes the door, so far as he is concerned, on a particular phase of constructive thought." We can only hope that Mr. Hodgson may be induced to reconsider his decision, for we know of nothing like the author's previous work in the whole of present-day literature. There is no one at present writing who can thrill and horrify to quite the same effect. The Ghost Pirates does not display Mr. Hodgson's wonderful qualities of imagination to such good effect as did The House on the Borderland, nor is it so terrifying a book to read. Nevertheless, it is a very remarkable story, told in a matter-of-fact manner that materially increases his "grip". The author particularly excels in the creation of "atmosphere," but he is also possessed of a vigorous style and a wonderful ingenuity in the concoction of terrifying detail. Mr. Hodgson has his faults; his exaggerated treatment of the Cockney dialect of one of the minor characters is unsatisfactory, and his punctuation is annoying. But when all is said The Ghost Pirates is a book of high literary
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