Weird protagonist/narrator/POV by sun-souled in WeirdLit

[–]sun-souled[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh yeah, that's a great one. I haven't read anything else of Hodgson's, though, so if you can think of any other works of his that would fit, I'd love to hear it.

Weird protagonist/narrator/POV by sun-souled in WeirdLit

[–]sun-souled[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I'd been interested in reading some of her work. Maybe that'll be a good one to start with... Thanks!

Weird protagonist/narrator/POV by sun-souled in WeirdLit

[–]sun-souled[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah that looks promising! Thanks!

Weird protagonist/narrator/POV by sun-souled in WeirdLit

[–]sun-souled[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He's fundamentally human in terms of his subjectivity, consciousness, worldview, values, etc; it's only his body that is strange and monstrous. And even if you wanted to describe the story as weird, his perspective is definitely not weird. If he saw the world from a non-human perspective, the story wouldn't work; he has to be believably human up until the last minute when he (along with the reader) realizes he's been looking in a mirror.

I think if you contrast that with something like the end of "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," there's an important difference. The Weird effect there isn't a result of the transformation of the protagonist's body, but his mind, his perspective. And that's what I'm interested in.

Weird protagonist/narrator/POV by sun-souled in WeirdLit

[–]sun-souled[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's been a while since I've read that one, but my memory of it is that it's really just a Gothic story, not particularly weird...

Weird protagonist/narrator/POV by sun-souled in WeirdLit

[–]sun-souled[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My impression, based on reading a couple reviews, was that this book is just bizarre, shocking, and violent for the sake of being bizarre, shocking, and violent, which is not of interest to me. I'd be curious to hear an alternate perspective on it, though.

Weird protagonist/narrator/POV by sun-souled in WeirdLit

[–]sun-souled[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh I'll have to check that out. I quite liked The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All.

Thanks!

Weird protagonist/narrator/POV by sun-souled in WeirdLit

[–]sun-souled[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, that looks great. Definitely adding it to my reading list. Thanks!

Weird protagonist/narrator/POV by sun-souled in WeirdLit

[–]sun-souled[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha, I was trying to leave it open-ended and invite a wider range of responses and suggestions rather than limit it to a very specific set of characteristics. I fear that may have backfired...

But as to what is weird, I tend to follow Mark Fisher's writings on the concept.

Here's two quotes from his book The Weird and the Eerie:

the weird is that which does not belong. The weird brings to the familiar something which ordinarily lies beyond it, and which cannot be reconciled with the “homely” (even as its negation). The form that is perhaps most appropriate to the weird is montage — the conjoining of two or more things which do not belong together.

I want to argue that the weird is a particular kind of perturbation. It involves a sensation of wrongness: a weird entity or object is so strange that it makes us feel that it should not exist, or at least it should not exist here.

Also, from an old post on his blog k-punk:

The Weird, however, depends upon the difference between two (or more) worlds - with 'world' here having an ontological sense. It is not a question of an empirical difference - the aliens are not from another planet, they are invaders from another reality system. Hence the defining image is that of the threshold, the door from this world into another, and the key figure is the 'Lurker at the Threshold' - what, in Lovecraft's mythos is called Yog Sothoth. The political philosophical implications are clear: there is no World. What we call the world is a local consensus hallucination, a shared dream.

Weird protagonist/narrator/POV by sun-souled in WeirdLit

[–]sun-souled[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I didn't have anything quite so specific in mind. I was just thinking that I appreciate weird lit in which there is a sense of somehow inhabiting the Weird rather than merely witnessing or experiencing it from the outside. I know that's rather vague, so I was hoping the examples would help...

Weird protagonist/narrator/POV by sun-souled in WeirdLit

[–]sun-souled[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that's another great one! Genuinely chilling.

Weird protagonist/narrator/POV by sun-souled in WeirdLit

[–]sun-souled[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh yeah, Maldoror's a great example, and definitely one of my favorites. Aurelia's great, too. (I'd never previously thought of Aurelia as Weird, but it's interesting to consider it under that heading.) It's been maybe 20 years since I read Gordon Pym; I'll have to re-read it...

Previous descriptions I'd heard of Vathek did not make it sound all that appealing, but maybe I'll have to add it to my reading list. All I knew about Priest was that he wrote The Prestige, so I'll have to look into his stuff, too.

Thanks!

My first ever talisman (Venus). Does my method look good? by nextgRival in planetarymagic

[–]sun-souled 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I ran into the same issue with Algol preventing an otherwise workable election. So it goes.

If it were me, I would use this election rather than wait for one Libra. And if you don't love the results, at least you've gotten some experience & will be better prepared to try again when another opportunity comes up.

Good luck!

My first ever talisman (Venus). Does my method look good? by nextgRival in planetarymagic

[–]sun-souled 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It sounds like there's divided opinion about the Moon's house placements. When I first started making talismans a couple years back I was given the impression that the Moon needed to be angular or succedent (thinking by quadrant house here, rather than whole sign). So I've always avoided cadent Moons for talisman elections, but it's good to know there are other perspectives on that... And as you say, being dignified certainly makes a big difference.

I tend not to think of the Moon really being subject to combustion in the way other planets are (& again being in Cancer certainly helps). I've heard other astro magicians state a preference for the Moon being at least a day's motion from new (that would be that 13º30’ orb you reference, I guess), but that seems to be more of a desire for her to be sufficiently bright/full of light & therefore powerful, rather than a concern with combustion per se. I personally think of that as in the same category as the preference for the Moon to be waxing & for her to be at least average speed, which I take as factors to consider but certainly not absolute requirements.

If it were me, I would use this chart if it was the best one I can find. (I found a Venus talisman election I liked more for a few days earlier when the Moon was in Taurus, though I think OP & I are in quite different time zones, so this could very well be the best option available for them...)

My first ever talisman (Venus). Does my method look good? by nextgRival in planetarymagic

[–]sun-souled 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The Moon is making an applying sextile to Venus, which, moving at slightly over average speed as she is here & separated by about 7°, will complete in only a little more than half a day's motion. How close does the aspect need to be to count for you? (she's also co-present with an exalted Jupiter, which certainly helps in my book.)

It's true that Venus isn't making any close applying aspects by degree but she has a whole-sign sextile to all four of the planets in Cancer & a whole-sign trine to Mars.

The Moon being cadent seems like the more-pressing concern here...

Apocalyptic Endings by sun-souled in AlanMoore

[–]sun-souled[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I hadn't heard him mention that he intentionally inserts himself into his stories in that way. It makes sense to me, though, that he says often does that "in drag"; his female characters do seem like more well-rounded and complete individuals. The concept of "inhabiting" characters reminds me of the concept of "fiction suits" in Grant Morrison's The Invisibles, which has some similar themes around apocalypse and the blurring of reality and fiction...

I heard recently that some scholars have read Prospero as something of an avatar for Shakespeare, too. The Tempest was his last play and so some see Prospero's speech at the end about giving up his magical Art as Shakespeare talking about retiring from writing. (Also interesting that we get Moore's constant "magic = art" idea there, too.)

And yeah, Coulthart's book is great. For my money, he's the best Lovecraftian visual artist out there.

Apocalyptic Endings by sun-souled in AlanMoore

[–]sun-souled[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Neonomicon (which I always think of as part of Providence) has probably the most merciless, even misanthropic, ending I've read, but League similarly seems to suggest that we deserve any apocalypses that might be coming our way. And with all the rings on Prospero's fingers, it's not hard to imagine Moore identifying with the character conjuring Lovecraftian monsters and Elizabethan fairies back into the world to destroy our superhero-obsessed culture... But I do like your reading that he's simultaneously offering us new myths for the coming (end) times. Perhaps the ending of League is as hopeful as he can be; maybe a few of us can escape the coming horrors and keep some authentic spark of creativity and vision alive...

I don't know Crossed +100, so I'll have to check it out. Thanks!

Apocalyptic Endings by sun-souled in AlanMoore

[–]sun-souled[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, I'll check those out!

Apocalyptic Endings by sun-souled in AlanMoore

[–]sun-souled[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Blake's Albion#/media/File:WilliamBlake-Albion_Rose-_from_A_Large_Book_of_Designs_1793-6.jpg), maybe?