'The Great God Pan' and 'The Hill of Dreams'- a book review

I recently finished two short stories by Arthur Machen 'The Great God Pan' and 'The Hill of Dreams'. My overall impression of the works is that while they are original they do not categorize with the traditional fairytale genre. Both tales are set in the English countryside in villages which contain Roman ruins. The stories circulate on this theme of residual Roman beliefs, dark paganism, sexuality, and mystical regeneration in the Welsh nowhere lands.

'The Great God Pan' reads as a horror story and is filled with intrigue and mystery, if however, the execution of the plot was not rather deadpan and lacking in body. The read is not altogether unpleasant but is instead a hallmark of simplicity. The problems with classics is that readers see them as having always existed as highly esteemed works, as if they had sprung fully published and well-received from the author's head. (quotation taken from a wonderful online review of the Dover Thrift 2006 edition of Machen's works-pictured above). Machen was well aware of his own mediocrity as a writer as is proof from his own introduction to the story. Not only does Machen include the incredibly harsh reviews that his work received. One such example comes from the Manchester Guardian which stated that "We are afraid that he only succeeds in being ridiculous. The book is, on the whole, the most acutely and intentionally disagreeable we have yet seen in English. We could say more, but refrain from doing so for fear of giving such a work advertisement." ouch. The author goes on to tell us that he saved every single review his works received (all of them bad) and would look over them with a fondness and memory of things passed and once upon a time dreams.

'The Hill of Dreams' is hauntingly autobiographical. The main character, Lucian, struggles as a novice writer while discovering the caverns of his own inner darkness. Obsession is the fulcrum of the story, balancing Lucian's supposed reality with the counterweight of a believed Avalon. The tale takes on a dreamlike aspect as we follow Lucian's thoughts into a deep and unrecoverable descent.

I do recommend these works to those who are drawn to Victorian-era fairytales. These works are not masterpieces but they contain a seductive charm which emphasizes the era in which they were written. Machen wrote to please himself, 'The Hill of Dreams' however, was born from his attempt at giving the literary public what they wanted and is thus uniquely odd in its origin and construction. Apart from this Machen was concerned only with writing what he saw fit to write. How many writers can say that they have not partially crumbled under the pressure of the public? I believe Machen to be a symbol of inspiration to writers with a voice all their own.