In all the hubbub about the Conan premiere and my subsequent review, I feel infuriated at myself for letting the regulars at The Blog That Time Forgot down, as well as allowing the supposed "Conan" film (I'm back to using apostrophes) to cloud my mind so much that I very nearly missed another important milestone: the 50th anniversary of Clark Ashton Smith's death. After unforgivably missing C.L. Moore's centenary, I'm not going to let this celebration of the Emperor of Dreams be unmarked.
In addition, I really miss the pow-wows of the posters here, and frankly, I'm so sickened by the new Conan film that I'm probably going to be a lot less involved in the site. I'll still post links, news and information, but after my critique and a few other things in the pipeline, I'm not going to let it dominate my waking hours. I've spent enough time on it, and there's so much that's fallen by the wayside in the process.
So, Clark Ashton Smith. As I've said before, there was a period of my life where he was my single favourite author, and he remains one of my top ten. Since I was caught unaware, I don't have anything prepared, but my memories of "The Empire of the Necromancers" still hold true, and he deserves more exploration. In addition, drop on by Two-Gun Raconteur for Brian Leno's interview with Smith emeritus Donald Sydney-Fryer, Rusty Burke's hearty hail to the sorcerer on REHupa.com, and Ryan Harvey's fantastic interview on Black Gate. Wander over to The Eldritch Dark to see what new wonders the folk there have uncovered, or just re-immerse yourself in the incomparable prose and poetry in the site's black library. Or just swing by your shelf and pick up one of the stories in print form.
I don't exactly understand you only talk about the "Conan" film on its blog? no review on tbttf?
ReplyDeleteAbout Clark Ashton Smith, I have on my litle librarie Zothique for a lot of time but I haven't read it all yet, is a good point to starting with Clark Ashton Smith?
Francisco
Don't feel too bad about missing the anniversary of Smith's death. You weren't the only one. I missed it, too. I've been trying to reread as many of the Conan tales as I can and blog about them in between my other commitments. I should have been preparing a post about Smith.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it's good to see a post here by you.
Welcome back, Al! I would say, Francisco, that Zothique is an excellent place to start reading CAS as it contains some fantastic stories, including three of my favorites, The Charnel God, The Witchcraft of Ulua, and The Master of Crabs. But you want to get your hands on the Hyperborea stories as well and read The White Sybil, which is the kind of story only Smith could have written. I highly recommend the recent Nightshade five volume set of CAS, though there's nothing wrong with picking up the classic Ballentine Adult Fantasy volumes edited by Lin Carter. Like Al, CAS is in my top ten list.
ReplyDeleteI don't exactly understand you only talk about the "Conan" film on its blog? no review on tbttf?
ReplyDeleteI might do another special review for TBTTF. I'm currently writing up my experiences in London - seeing Jason Momoa, the cinema, the Natural History Museum, the Tate Gallery - and it's going to be a TBTTF exclusive. I'm also organizing the remains of my Cross Plains pictures. Anything not specifically relating to the film, though, will always be on TBTTF.
About Clark Ashton Smith, I have on my litle librarie Zothique for a lot of time but I haven't read it all yet, is a good point to starting with Clark Ashton Smith?
Oh, boy, you're in for a treat! Zothique is an ideal starting point, though I may be biased, as I'm a total Zothique fanboy - "The Charnel God," "The Isle of the Torturers," "Necromancy in Naat," "The Last Hieroglyph," and of course "The Empire of the Necromancers."
Don't feel too bad about missing the anniversary of Smith's death. You weren't the only one. I missed it, too. I've been trying to reread as many of the Conan tales as I can and blog about them in between my other commitments. I should have been preparing a post about Smith.
Anyway, it's good to see a post here by you.
I really should've checked my IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER file (it's a .txt file on my desktop, and it's in all capitals), I'm sure CAS was there. I really missed the place: I haven't been commenting, but I have to catch up.
Welcome back, Al!
Cheers, Charles! Glad to have another Smithian (there needs to be a name for CAS fans). I simply must get the Nightshade collection, but I'm saving up for a special visitor in December.
Hmmm. If this post means that you'll not be so obsessing over the new film, well and good. If it means we won't hear much from you, not so much so.
ReplyDeleteAnd aye, Clark Ashton Smith, here's to ya!