Before Cthulhu: Lovecraft's Early Eldritch - Part Three

Under the Pyramids - 1924
(Offerings to the Deity)

Continuing with our third and last installment of H.P Lovecraft's work, before the emergence of the Cthulhu Mythos - "Before Cthulhu: Lovecraft's Early Eldritch" - we come now to the three years of 1922, 1923 and 1924; the arguably latter period of Lovecraft's early career in which the themes and visions of later years would become powerfully nascent. As found in the two earlier periods - at least discerned in these installments - we discover potent and powerful streams which contour and color Lovecraft's narratives into the 1920's and from whose seed would ultimately flourish things more singular and remarkable. Beginning in 1917 and further maturing as the decade turned to the 1920's, Lovecraft's talents would allow for a particular vision of eldritch narratives to emerge, though pregnant with philosophical, cosmological and unique vistas on the human condition and its place in an ever stranger world - this and others, as the writer would strain to show. The two latter periods having been colored by remarkable work already, the emerging mid 20's would find the writer refining and honing these singular visions into an ever more integrated school which would, in time, find the birth of his famed "Cthulhu Mythos" following the debut of the titular malign god in "The Call of Cthulhu" come 1926. Still, some time from then, the years of 1922 - 1924 would prove compelling and an essential crystallization of that which would animate and ordain the gods, monsters and peoples of his tales, to follow in Cthulhu's shadow.

The Lurking Fear and Other Stories
(Horror Anthology - 1922)

As so often with Lovecraft the power of the unknown and the potency of revelation inform many of his works, and are particularly nascent in his tales of this particular period; protagonists, often wary but otherwise unknowing, stumbling upon terrifying and astounding things - these same visions often a trigger or prelude to weirder and terrible visions yet to come. Such can be said of "What the Moon Brings" as the lone narrator is enveloped by a strange vision and eventually confronted with a terrible, giant image of stone which seemingly impels them to madness and perhaps death. A haunting, murky vision of the unknown and the secrets that the waves obscure, this power of revelation found a little more classical and personal focus in a later story called "The Hound" of October the same year. A pair of decadent, ever curious grave robbers seek to add to their occult collection of the macabre, though exhuming the remains of a like minded man to steal a strange, jade amulet leads to first haunting and then death; a prelude of distant howling marking the advance of something terrible and undead.

Of course, in another singular flourishing of Lovecraft's penmanship, revelation is lent a deeper shade of horror when intimate: more than just bodily horror but that which is deemed to be inherent or innate as to anticipate a common destiny or nature. The horror that may come from this potently illustrated - perhaps even to incendiary ends, like 1921's Arthur Jermyn - this notion of destiny and inheritance is keenly portrayed in "The Rats in the Walls". The title itself anticipating unwholesome things, the peculiar scratching a man hears behind the walls of his antique family home is only an innocent prelude to what he discovers in the cavernous reaches under the house; of his and other people's doings and where purpose intermingles to create many a dark, fleshy thing to abhor. The legacy of isolation, the break down of moral and bodily norms, compounded by strange or bygone beliefs was given vivid exploration earlier in 1922's "The Lurking Fear" - a story in many ways the American counter to the later tale of English country homes with strange families and dark pasts: an investigation of murder in a New England village leading to the discovery of monstrous, bestial creatures descended from a withdrawn family of former Dutch colonists, centuries before. One of Lovecraft's many serials, the story itself was both conventional and powerful in its cultural horror, though remarkable in fashioning a Lovecraftian narrative into a serial, at the request of the commissioner.

The early 1920's would also see some fruition of the growing relationship between Lovecraft and one Sonia Greene - his future wife - in which Sonia was encouraged to publish and write herself; an effort which saw two stories as found in 1922 "The Horror at Martin's Beach" and the later "Four O'clock". The growing social element of Lovecraft's life would see him move to New York City and the tense, sometimes difficult life he would have there with his wife: social, philosophical and ethnic questions dogging his experience of the city and its growing, diverse population of immigrants, along with the more established people of the metropolitan hub. The alienation and detachment from the throb of NYC's eclectic citizenry a major element of his life there, it would become a perennial concern - even obsession - to the self styled New England man and his preconceptions of American identity: symptomatic of deeper opinions which would manifest in his work, all throughout his life.

What the Moon Brings - 1923
(The Image amid the Ruins)

The nature of the aforementioned inner horror - compounded by notions of destiny and nature - are reflected upon more acutely and given to wider dimensions when associated with the occult, bygone esoterica and strange rites. This is borne out in 1923's "The Festival" as a visitor to New England happens upon strange, dark rituals practiced in secret within an old town, and in which his relatives freely participated. The encounter surrendering the protagonist almost to madness, they recuperate in Arkham; reflecting upon the strange, terrible pertinence of the Necronomicon - the strange tome returning again in a Lovecraft story - and to shine light on horrible magics that make certain things pulse with life, as he saw in that ancestral town. A return to older places, shadowed by strange things and happenings, is found a little earlier in 1923 as "The Unnamable" was penned. Returning us to the town of Arkham and an ancient house close by, Randolph Carter - returning though ostensibly at an earlier period of life - encounters a friend; and there mutual encounter with a demonic spirit of amorphous nature which leaves both men beaten and gored, but alive. A creature - supposedly beyond human senses - which leaves little doubt as to its nature as the titular "The Unnamable" which lingers about the house and surrounding land.

Strange discoveries and sudden, breaching glimpses of the unknown are not alien to Lovecraft, though such is the focus of a strange, quite eldritch vignette - if it can be called that - called "Azathoth", penned though remaining as a fragment of some perhaps wider narrative in 1922. The titular god not appearing, the story follows in the way of a man living in a grey, drained dystopian city of grey towers. One man, so doubting this world, finds his visions opening unto cosmic places beyond and, one night, is delivered from his apartment to elsewhere, perhaps some unknown dimension once glimpsed in prelude to what begins. Though only a fragment of what might have been, the story has a lilting quality which anticipates the wider cosmic and unknown, so very prevalent and resonant in some of the best Lovecraft stories. Also, and to a great degree, we find the theme of revelation and discovery amid the cracks in our reality; be they physical or spiritual and often to incredible consequences, in the discovery of what lies beyond. In the words of one Lovecraft fan.

"The notion that present day structures could sit atop more ancient manifestations of cosmic phenomena, I think, is a classic Lovecraft motif. You dig down as deep as the ziggurats and there's more; you think you're at the basement - the metaphysical basement - but you're not. You need to dig even deeper."

Paul De Philipo,

Science Fiction writer and Providence resident.

Speaking in late 2006 for a BBC documentary on Lovecraft's life and the salience of a certain house in Providence, his words were a keen summation of Lovecraft's story "The Shunned House" in 1923. An ancient house with a dark, besmirched past has cast a shadow over the adjacent neighborhood for centuries. Attracting two paranormal researchers - intent on getting to the bottom of the paranormal activity and haunting - they ultimately discover that the root of the house's dark past, the fate of its residents and the strange rites associated with it all draw from a common point: something terrible and monstrous as might be understood by this quote of the Necronomicon: "That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange eons even death may die." This singular vision of the cosmic and occult unknown in places once thought, if not banal, then tempered is given to a particularly potent and powerful expression in a commissioned work by the legendary escapologist Harry Houdini, published in 1924.

The Shunned House - 1923
(What Lies beneath the Cellar)

Originally titled "Buried with the Pharaohs", the story ultimately called "Under the Pyramids" finds a supposed recollection of a powerful, frightening occult experience by Harry, when visiting Egypt in 1910. Tricked and kidnapped by a group of mysterious men, he is lowered into an unknown chasm close to the Sphinx, not far from the Pyramids of Giza. While there, assailed by dreams and horrendous visions, he eventually escapes; but only then to bare witness to a horrific sight as the shadows of ancient Egypt take terrible form, and for an awful purpose as Harry beholds the answer to the riddle of the Sphinx, and of what dark forces still revere such a thing. The story notable in its incidence of Egyptian mythology and history, the narrative is potent, vivid and sometimes darkly captivating in its cadence as its lone protagonist is thrust into the shadows of mysterious danger - and more so, for the gravity of what he finds that one, moonlit night. The narrative taken in the wider context, the story is rich with potent allusions and may even figure the presence of that malign god Nyarlathotep, among the dark pageantry that is found latterly. Though, found within the morphology of Lovecraft's writings, the tale does comport to a certain eldritch vision; mingling the personal, occult and cosmic into a resonant horror of that beyond the worlds we know.

The early 1920's witnessing the nascence of Lovecraft's cosmological vision in the writer's literature, it's perhaps easier now to see the roots - the philosophical essence - of that which would coalesce into the mythos, seen after the debut of Cthulhu. Emerging from among the author's inspirations and ultimately assimilating them too, the stories of Lovecraft's early career from 1917 to 1924 are eclectic and vivid in what they proffer to a reader: their vision more so when taken together, allowing for the respective stories to aggregate something more than just their sum. Of course, that sum remarkable in itself, the latter reality of Lovecraft's work conjures something more; baring out a continuum in which the emergent mythos stories are a perhaps abrupt, strange delivery into the unfolding world - and its sometimes bizarre, incredible and grotesque realms beyond.

This seen in both the beginnings of the mythos and the interwoven Dream Cycle, the singular world we encounter has both captivated, compelled and inspired generations of readers, and will seemingly continue to do so. Concluding this last installment of this short series, I hope to have elucidated on the origin of the Cthulhu Mythos, as found in the stories penned sometime before and the stories which bore through the cosmological and philosophical narrative between 1917 and 1924; going on to become cardinal elements in the alchemy of Lovecraft's vision of the occult, the unknown and the strange natures found all about, and therein.

As before, please find below audio renditions of some notable stories from this latter period of Lovecraft's early career; so following in Azathoth, The Hound, The Unnamable, The Shunned House and Under the Pyramids, along with summations of their stories.

Azathoth -1922

One of Lovecraft's most remarkable and enigmatic works which survives as a fragment of what could have been more, given time. In a grey dystopia, a solitary man goes about his unassuming life until his perception is widened and he begins to muse on the secret, hidden and untold dimensions beyond our own. Where this new knowledge and instinct will lead him may be very well beyond our world, as we know it.

The Hound -1922

Moved by their tedium to incredible acts of audacity and macabre interest, two grave robbers hear of a particular grave within which lies entombed a remarkable relic. Their collection of macabre and occult relics already swollen, the allure of this is too great, and soon a particular amulet is in their keeping - until a strange howling, as if of a distant, great canine - begins to haunt them. Both may soon discover the unsavory price for their curiosity, when disturbing the dead.

The Unnameable -1923

Randolph Carter returns - albeit a more tempered mind just beginning his occult foray - as a trip to Arkham to investigate a reputedly haunted house and its surrounding land allows a reunion with an old friend. It is here that Randolph may come to appreciate that the haunting of the old property belies a far more immediate, and terrifying, presence for both men in the singular, ineffable entity that lingers nearby.

The Shunned House -1924

A strange story of cursed abodes, dark histories and what curiosity may unearth. A particularly ancient house in Providence, Rhode Island, captures the interest of paranormal researchers: their investigation coming atop of the house's long, peculiar history as a site of unnatural things, frequent death and haunting. Seeking the cause or some manifestation of this power, both may come face to face with the root of the strange legacy within the shunned house.

Under the Pyramids -1924

A remarkable work, latterly heralded as some of Lovecraft's best efforts in his early career, finds a tale told on behalf of the famed escape artist Harry Houdini, and a particular trip to Egypt in the year 1910. Here, in the shadow of myth, magic and occult histories, the protagonist is confronted with antique horrors which may only be a prelude to something far grander and sinister, hidden away for millennia under the sands; lying at the heart of many terrible things, as Harry may only bare witness to.

Before Cthulhu: Lovecraft's Early Eldritch - Part Two

The Other Gods - 1921
(The Peak of Mt. Hatheg-Kla)

The second part of our journey through the early writing of H.P Lovecraft finds us passing through the years of 1920 and 1921: the more middle periods of what I have come to describe as Lovecraft's "early eldritch" before the crystallization of his more widely lauded Cthulhu Mythos and Dream Cycle continuity. Having covered the earliest period of this era in his career in the first part of our series - http://eldritchworks.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/before-cthulhu-lovecrafts-early.html - we now propel through years which hold much of what would become familiar and enticing of Lovecraft's emerging vision. His cosmological world still nascent, this era saw an eclectic offering a vivid, often haunting and potent stories which would prefigure the texture of many Lovecraftian narratives to come in the following years.

Celephais - 1920
(The Cities of Celephais and Serannian)

 Tales of other worlds, unknown lands and other  dimensions figuring richly in what the author put his  pen to, this period would mark the emergence of  significant entities and fixtures in his cosmology;  either alluded to, evoked or noted in the stretch of  his characters endeavors. Among these can be found  the first glimpses - sometimes mysterious,  sometimes coldly haunting - of such as in  "Celephais", a great city by the seas of the extra-  dimensional Dreamlands; and more so, it's supernal  neighbor in the city of Serannian, voyaged to on sky  ships. In his offering of sweeping, incredible vistas  of strange beauty, Lovecraft also proffered glimpses  of what may dwell within them; and what may well  transpire when such realms have a common estate  with Earth.

 Such stories as "From Beyond", "The Moon-  Bog" and "The Music of Erich Zann" dwell much  on what and how these remarkable forces may be  understood, and what may transpire when we  discover their thresholds are intimately closer than  we may think. A singular story of such an  experience - albeit more pregnant with potent  foreboding - is the story and shadowy god found in  "Nyarlathotep". The debut of that powerful and mysterious deity, Nyarlathotep would come to madden and benight the lives of many who would have close encounters with the magic and terrifying lore of his deific race, and the eldritch horror they so embody beyond the realms of space and time. His story a bold and dark account, it would not be the last time that malign deity would loom over the worlds of Lovecraft.

Nyarlathotep - 1920
(Nyarlathotep in the image of a Pharaoh)

This period remains to assert a certain common heritage of Lovecraft's worlds as so many of his fabled lands, realms and other worldly places are recited as common lore in some years to come. As could be said of "The Doom that came to Sarnath", the stories of "The Quest of Iranon" and "The Other Gods" evoke a common history and metaphysical heritage, albeit drawn over many thousands of years in which the supernatural and unearthly were known and expected as part of mankind's nature on Earth. This tendency is given masterful expression in "The Nameless City" - a tale considered to be prototypical of the coming Mythos as it not only evokes the shades of common, and stranger, histories but also because it debuts another figure so integral to it and his legacy: Abdul Alhazred, the notorious author of that singular grimoire "Necronomicon ex Mortis".

More so, the story tells of the mad poet's own journey to this mysterious vault of long forgotten, ruined civilization and how its power so keenly evoked visions, including the character's now near legendary couplet of   "That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange eons even death may die" - a mantra which has come to reverberate through the understanding of the Mythos, and to encapsulate the eldritch forces and entities which dwell all about it, in their strange designs and natures. This latter element comes to play a potent role as the unnamed traveler digs deeper into the fabled origins of this place, so strenuously avoided by others, and who may discover that ancient, enigmatic couplet spoken millenia before could bespeak much of what is unknown, and terrifying.

As fantastic and cosmological as much of Lovecraft's work is in this period, a good deal continues the intermingling and exploration of other horrors, some of which anticipate genres in media, both contemporary and years after. "The Temple" returns to the sea, and its inherent mysteries, as a German U-Boat of World War One is seemingly cursed and sinks to the bottom of the Atlantic: its descent beset by a creeping madness among its crew. Finally coming to rest amid the long sunken ruins of a once great and incredible city - which some muse was once Atlantis - the final surviving crew member is entranced by the spectral, fiery light flaring from somewhere within what seems to have once been a temple. Resigned, he goes in search of its meaning and soon thereafter jettisons a lone message in a bottle, washed ashore later to be read.

The Temple - 1920
(Last Resting Place of U-29)

The sardonic, grim mysteries of the deep and of realms long lost or obscured remains a rich element of Lovecraft's lore and narrative as his mythos evolves into its recognizable   form. More so, this story - as solitary and mysterious as it would seem - may actually have its place in the mythos of later years as it is alluded that the long drowned city of exotic ancients which the doomed submarine discovered may not have been the much feted Atlantis, but the far darker, notorious R'yleh - a city peopled and honored by those who knew of the Outer Gods and where Cthulhu is said to sleep. 

In other realms of the horrifying unknown, we find the likes of "The Picture in the House" and "Facts concerning the late Arthur Jermyn and his Family". The first a creeping tale of when a quiet, almost idyllic country journey turns to visceral horror, the second works to juxtapose a similar cultural narrative of status spiked by a creeping and then roaring revelation which leads to madness, before death. Both stories still potent, the latter still has the power to be provocative as Lovecraft's tale of hidden origins and outrageous lineages has been seen - in the context of the time and latterly - as racist in its inflection. This is perhaps a broad claim and the story deserves to be understood more holistically in Lovecraft's cosmological sweep, though relative perceptions of time and place in his writing are understandable too.

Continuing on in our exhibition of work from this period, and now particularly the years considered, I would like to proffer more of his works, narrated and which have been found on YouTube. In this selection of six that can be found below, there is "Celephais", "Nyarlathotep", "The Nameless City", "The Other Gods", "The Outsider" and "The Music of Erich Zann". These are accompanied with some descriptive inkling of their wider status and of what the story may proffer for the interested and curious.

Celephais - 1920

A tale of other dimensions, alternate worlds and glimpsed realities as Lovecraft proffers an early tale of the nascent Dreamlands. The protagonist - known in his dreams as Kuranes -  is born to high estate and esteem though latterly alienated by the modern world about him; his journeys to other realms beginning to consume his life and work. Drawn ever more to the vision of a great, beautiful city by the sea, the folds of reality begin to become less distinct as the protagonist is swept ever more towards a strange new destiny - though one his mortal body may not endure.

Nyarlathotep - 1920

A legend must have a beginning and it is this strange, ominous story that we find the debut of the thousand faced titular god. The narrator chronicling the emergence of a strange and singular being of ancient origins, the mysterious Nyarlathotep sweeps the world with displays of strange power and ingenious devices, but always leaving a shadowy legacy about himself. A doubter unimpressed by this strange reputation, he stands to bear witness to what will follow one night after doubting such a display. He will live to tell the audient void... 

The Nameless City -1921

A story of strange journeys, haunting legacies and the stranger secrets that may as yet linger in the deep, forgotten places of the world. A lone traveler across the breadth of Arabia discovers a wealth of ancient, mysterious ruins; his curiosity leading him to a lone aperture which leads ever downward . His steps below tracing the labors of unknown architects, he may yet come to regret his seeking eyes as new thresholds open before him.  

The Other Gods - 1921

Another story of the nascent mythos and dreamlands, their origins intermingled, we find a tale of yearning ambition and mystery as two men seek out the elusive, high peak where the gods may yet still linger on earth. The journey long and perilous, it remains for both men to labor onward; some more determined than others - and perhaps fated - to discern the mystery of the earthly deities last, favored abode before drawing back to the spaces beyond. Though what that could mean to discover may not be for human hands to decide.

The Outsider - 1921

A renowned classic of 20th century horror and esteemed as one of Lovecraft's most notable, pre-mythos works. After a lifetime of seclusion and solitude within the halls of a great old house, the occupant ventures beyond the walls of his home out into a world he yearns to understand, though which is ominous and foreboding. His journey earnest in its desire, he is curious as to what has become of the world and why others seemed stunned by a strange fear, more so.

The Music of Erich Zann - 1921

A remarkable story of mystery and worlds beyond, where we least expect their thresholds as they are. A college student finds accommodation in an old apartment of a Parisian district; his neighbor an enigmatic old man who evokes strange music from his viol by night. The reason for his performances unknown beyond his remarkable talent, it remains for the student to discover why Erich Zann casts his music so richly, over the rooftops of the sleeping city.

Before Cthulhu: Lovecraft's Early Eldritch - Part One

Dagon  - 1917

The literary career of Howard Philips Lovecraft was a rich, eclectic and remarkable one; latterly celebrated as a period which brought the "Eldritch" genre to the world, but which also was responsible for proffering a singular, almost unique, cosmological vision which has captivated readers for so many, many years. Of course, the most celebrated works of Lovecraft are so often found in those tales and stories which constitute what was latterly known as the "Cthulhu Mythos" - episodes of startling horror, the legacy of arcane and forbidden knowledge and what may lie beyond our understanding, amid mysterious and often terrible deities of old. This number of stories is often intermingled with a notable sub-arc of particularly whimsical, though sometimes frightful and unnerving exploits known as the Dream Cycle, and the strange, uncanny worlds therein.

The Cats of Ulthar - 1920

The period which saw the formation of these particular tales are often celebrated within the wider context of what would come after, and is often seen as Lovecraft's most creative and forthright as regards his cosmological philosophy. The evolution of his narrative perspective gaining considerable momentum from this period - the early to mid 1920's -  it has remained intriguing to many to discern this evolution, and the fascinating morphology therein from Lovecraft's emergence after 1917 until his unfortunate death in 1937.

"Weird Tales - The Unique Magazine"

His literary career recommending particular delineations, the morphology of his vision can be divided between three essential eras as found between 1917 to 1924, 1924 to 1926 and 1926 to his passing in 1937. The principle forming of the mythos occurring during the years of the middle period - an era which would also see the periodical "Weird Tales" becoming the principle, recognizable host to these stories - it remains that much of what preceded this period is not as reputed or collectively celebrated as his later creations. And yet, as it stands, it was this earlier period of Lovecraft's career which finds the tentative, sometimes abrupt, nascence of his narrative philosophy as it would become better known today among fans, aficionados and researchers alike.

As said, not overly ascribed to a distinct nature or identity, but later situated within his emerging continuity, some of these stories have cultivated much of their own reputations and engendered legacies which resonate to this very day. In the likes of stories as found with "The Rats in the Walls", "Dagon", "The Statement of Randolph Carter", "The Cats of Ulthar" or "The Doom that came to Sarnath", we find vivid, haunting visions which - though latently understood within a particular cosmology - work to impress their readers with a distinct vision of the extraordinary - horrifying, ethereal or otherwise ineffable.

The Statement of Randolph Carter - 1920

Reflecting on this earlier period, I have come to consider them as Lovecraft's "early eldritch"; worthy of both further exploration as evidence of Lovrcraft's nascent cosmological vision and narrative philosophy. It would be from these experimental, sometimes disparate and curiously eclectic works that we discover - and with hindsight - the first semblances of that unique legacy which still so vividly informs our latter day understanding of the fantastic, bizarre and unearthly.

Prototypical elements and constituents abounding in such stories, we find the influence of forgotten realms, other worlds, arcane tomes and occult knowledge, other beings dwelling in the extremes of our world and the legacy of strange deities and their powers amid the corners of mankind's domain. From these, and numerous others, we would find the beginnings of the later continuity and who's crystallization in years to come would make Lovecraft such an enduring and remarkable literary figure.

This period, as aforementioned, less collectively known to popular culture, I would like to proffer - in three successive journals - an exploration of this era and the tales which so colored it. To this end, and as has been seen with the more holistic approach to Lovecraft's career, I would like to promote a further sub-division of this time into three phases, roughly congruent with the respective parts of this intended series. In this we would find 1917 to 1920, 1920 to 1922 and 1922 to 1924. Considering the first number of years from 1917 to 1920, a selection of relevant works can be found below for consideration and reflection. Admittedly, it remains that not all of the works which constitute this period of 1917 to 1924 can be promoted here - Lovecraft being quite prolific - though I do believe that this selection is quite emblematic of what I have come to call Lovecraft's "early eldritch". As said, below can be found the stories - audio renditions found on YouTube - as follows with "Dagon", "Polaris", "The White Ship", "The Statement of Randolph Carter" and "The Tree". 

Dagon - 1917

A vivid, impelling and haunting vision of Lovecraft's early eldritch which did much to prefigure the cosmological narrative of the later mythos in horrifying discoveries, perilous encounters and fearful glimpses of other worlds. The last testament of a sailor intending to end their life, they relate the legacy of a horrifying encounter after escaping an enemy vessel, during the First World War; a chance discovery at sea which finds the man alone on a blasted isle, ultimately to behold a strange, aquatic idol...

Polaris - 1918

A remarkable and strange story which prefigures the later, more coherent Dream Cycle in its vision, while also introducing the influence of ancient tomes, as found in the "Pnakotic Manuscripts". The distant star Polaris seems to exercise a strange power over a man who finds his life divided: reality hopping between his earthly existence, and among the people of a strange city, at war with its neighbor. But, Polaris is ever watching, though to what ends the man struggles to understand.

The White Ship - 1919

An ethereal, rich and sometimes fearful tale of other worlds as a lighthouse keeper finds himself boarding a mysterious white ship; its captain following the flight of a mystical bird as they voyage on. Visiting and enjoying many remarkable places, understood as islands across an unknown sea, the lighthouse keeper hears of a uniquely promising, mythical land as he urges the captain onward to find find it...

The Statement of Randolph Carter - 1920

Debuting Randolph Carter - the enigmatic ponderer of many later tales - we find him very much the junior to a friend intent on unearthing secrets, long since buried in the vaults of an ancient crypt. The story one of the first to explore furtive researches in the occult and mystical, Randolph and his friend come too to appreciate the consequences of awakening forces sometimes beyond their knowing.

The Tree - 1920

A tale recalling the Gothic macabre, intermingled with the affectations of ancient Greek myth, an ancient olive tree stands in legacy of a tragic friendship between two sculptor-artists of ancient Greece. What follows is a strange account as the lives of both men are touched by the supernatural, and things may not be as they would seem.

Santa Barbara and Elliot Rodger: One Year On

Elliot Rodger

At the time of writing, it is one year since the tragic events on the evening of 23rd May, 2014, in Santa Barbara, California. Here, in the college district of Isla Vista, 22 year old Elliot Rodger embarked upon a lethal rampage which, despite its brief length, would ultimately leave seven dead - including the shooter - and a further fourteen others wounded. The events transpiring in May of 2014, I was moved to compose an essay in light of the eclectic and disparate attempts by numerous sources, groups and tendencies to explain shooter's actions, relative to the culmination of his plan - the pathetically self-aggrandized "Day of Retribution".

After due consideration, my own hypothesis as regards the troubled mind and life of Elliot Rodger proposed a cyclical model which saw his personality and emotional issues (Asperger's Syndrome/Autistic Disorder), collide with wider estimations of his social status and class which eventually mutated into mental illness - the psychosis which would stain Elliot's life for his last three, at least two, final years and which tempered his mentality to extreme ends. As I have said before, though I do believe that Asperger's Syndrome or an autistic condition was instrumental to Elliot's life, the spectrum of conditions does not, from the outset, incline those subject to them to violent or murderous behaviors, as suggested by the late Elliot Rodger: this something that must be reiterated as to ensure that such connotations do not - and can not - find root in the wider public debate, concerning these conditions.

My original essay on the subject of the Santa Barbara shootings and of Elliot Rodger's history and psychopathology can be found here on this same blog, from February of this year: 

Elliot Rodger: An Essay on Cause

Now, one year on since the shootings - drawn from the life of a singular person and which elicited a eclectic, often raucous and passionate social debate - perhaps the occasion calls for some reflection on where such issues now stand, since these events.

Image from Elliot's last video, overlaid with his manifesto words

As the debate centered upon Elliot's life and actions spiraled out in sweeping scope, I will frame my conclusions by reference to the three topics of my original essay - autistic ideation, social class and mental illness - before proffering a conclusion, of sorts.

In the first, considering the impact of Elliot's AS or autistic condition upon the wider narrative, there does seem to be a wider appreciation that Elliot's identity was informed by such personality and emotional factors, though not in such a way as to impel him to his deadly conclusions. This achieved on the part of wider understanding, representative groups and with a greater focus upon other factors, it remains that, in as far as I know, the incident moved little debate towards greater accommodation and a penetrative understanding of the role that autistic ideation did or did not play in Elliot's life. Some content to see the such things as just another aspect of an unprepossessing life or nature; other's considering still the importance of education in Elliot's life, had a more integrated regimen of instruction and discipline been given during his teenage years - something which, I feel too, could have given him a much wider perspective on life, and perhaps precluded his final descent in the last few years. Still, it remains to me to consider that the salience and wider appreciation of autism and of autistic conditions must be improved as to facilitate better education and integration; something more singularly progressive, as opposed to the stigma, negativity and denial which I have considered elsewhere in Elliot's life. 

Barbara Walters interviewing Peter Rodgers (Elliot's father) on the 20/20 show

As said beforehand, Elliot's social class is something of an irony, as it factors crucially into Elliot's egregious sense of entitlement, though it remains that his personal sub-culture of privilege is a sensitive subject for many to address. Of course, I am not denouncing meaningful, accomplished or tempered privilege, as said before in my essay, though I will reiterate that much of Elliot's world view was informed by a dull, leaden sense of privilege which he mused could be weighed against others - effacing his own insecurities and failings - while winning status and position among his peers, by virtue of social default. 

Of course, this was hardly ever the case and it both stung and perplexed Elliot all the more: this compounded by factors incongruous to his philosophy as he saw men of other races, and lesser social status, winning relationships with woman he believed should be reserving themselves for him. In some ways, there has been a guarded advance on this subject, and from different perspectives too. Critical sources analyzing and deconstructing this perspective, it is understood that Elliot's - and a wider culture's - understanding of privilege can be tempered by unsavory opinions about social status, entitlement and stratification: things that can, and have been, galvanized by numerous tendencies in society, and sometimes to very unpleasant ends.

 It is interesting and edifying to see this issue being addressed, and very much so, though it remains that a more thorough engagement with how privilege is embodied and understood is needed; more so, as to how privilege can be more constructively and actively tempered, relative to how wider society sees it in groups and individuals. A modicum of this critical sensibility may have helped Elliot to configure his situation in a different light, and perhaps even softened those dispositions which eventually coalesced into increasingly anachronistic prejudice and bigotry.

One of the final profiles of Elliot and the assorted responses to the shootings of 23rd May, 2014

Finally, there is the issue of mental illness, as it pertains not only to the crimes, but also to the final years and life of Elliot Rodger. In this regard, I have less optimism to reflect on, and rather a more dilute, tempered caution. In the year since the events in Santa Barbara, mental illness has become one of the principle elements so examined and spoken upon, as they pertain to the incident, though it has not garnered as much singular focus as other topics, so promoted by their patron groups - the case for racism, sexism and misogyny and negative masculinity all gathering particular followings, as opposed to the potent role played by mental illness in this whole, ugly affair. 

Though offered a considerable role, holistically speaking, the often undefined and sometimes nebulous nature of mental illness here has so often been effaced in favor of sometimes more classical or impassioned and less temperate explanations for Elliot's actions; these often espousing the primacy of their own focus at the expense of others, and of Elliot's psychopathology too. This lack of appreciation is unsettling, and more so when the very valid perspective is eschewed or denied in the face of more populist arguments which assert that one or more factors negate the influence mental illness played in this problem. In all, this is very troubling: doubly so when it is considered that Elliot's status in one or more groups - be they race, ethnicity, gender etc - precludes the serious consequences of having a mental illness that can result in far reaching social consequences, for themselves and for others. This finding somewhat disheartening, it remains a deficit and lingering problem for all and any groups attempting to appreciate the cause of Elliot's actions and the wider consequences thereof for the social complexion of mental illness, in western societies.

In conclusion, one year on from the 23rd of May, 2014, the legacy of Elliot Rodger's life and actions remain vital and important, if extremely disputed, fragmented and sometimes nebulous. The consequences of Elliot's actions working to indict many wider issues which made his crimes all the more sharply tempered and pernicious, it remains too that the narrative of the man's life - as it was so formed, colored and textured - was emblematic of both personal and social problems which so many others did not find to impugn - and even then in a mild tenor when it was increasingly beyond them to control the person Elliot could be becoming. The three factors I have postulated being, I feel, crucial to Elliot's path in life - and of his self-evident problems - the particular cycle and tightened conflation of these issues led to tragedy, and after that, his ultimate end by taking his own life. 

The subject widely entertained and often heated, the Santa Barbara incident with Elliot Rodger remains a potent, and all to singular compound of problems which could have been worked against - perhaps entirely avoided - if other factors prevailed and better decisions were made. In the end, it must be for a culture, a society and a people to learn from its mistakes and evolve towards a better tomorrow: an edifying process which is often pained and long, though which works towards a bettered social whole. In the time since, it is good to hear, from some sources, that the town of Santa Barbara and the college district of Isla Vista has become a little more civic minded and caring of its eclectic community; a disposition which I hope will remain and evolve for the good of all there. A disposition which I too hope other civic and similar bodies may learn from in precluding serious social problems, in the years to come.

Thank you,

Clark Caledon.

UK General Election 2015: The Day After - Controversy, Constitution and... Maggie Simpson?

Hi there,


In Britain today there is a rich, sometimes awed mingling of reactions to what has been an extraordinary night, in our constitutional history. Labour's implosion in England and particularly in Scotland, compounded by the disintegration of the Lib Dems and a strong, but limited showing from Ukip and Conservative effort has returned David Cameron, now with a majority of 331 seats, to the premiership.


In a day of remarkable drama, dashed and enlivened hopes, Britain now is compelled to carefully consider, after the passions of election, the future it faces.


Though we will consider the respective factors further, the electoral map below - displaying Westminster constituencies contested in 2015 - embodies the stark, imposing reality of the new political alignment in the UK. The SNP the great victor of the night, they have swept to power across Scottish constituencies once considered Labour and Lib Dem bastions. Winning an astonishing 56 of the nations's 59 seats with a general swing of 25-26% from Lab to SNP, all that remains of the other parties in Scotland follows succinctly: the rural borders of Dumfriesshire held by the Conservatives, metropolitan Edinburgh South held by a combination of Lab and Conservative support in a Labour Candidate, and the islands of Orkney and Shetland, narrowly retained by a decimated Liberal Democrat party. But, in England, the wider narrative played out to the confusion of pollsters, voters and parties alike...

Westminster constituencies election 2015 results - Scotland, England, Northern Ireland & Wales (image courtesy of BBC election night coverage)

South of the Scottish border, the electoral environment was hostile, convoluted and witness to remarkable moments in British electoral history. The Conservative Party mounted a confident campaign against their rivals, while Labour strode towards the election with some measure of confidence: aspirations of forming the next government indulged before hopes were dashed as the political dynamics England proffered gave eclectic results.

The Conservatives doing well, as did Labour, at the cost of a withering Liberal Democrat vote, Labour failed to find traction in the south, beyond their bastions in the midlands and in the north; these being taken by conservatives who also gave a strong showing in Wales where - astonishingly - Labour lost their bastion of Gower: loyal for over a century before being captured with just 27 votes for the Conservative candidate. Elsewhere, the demise of the Lib Dems - seen as part of the necessary process of restoring a Labour government - was compounded by Ukip drawing Labour support away, and ultimately attenuating efforts in many regions where Labour hoped for a breakthrough.


The controversial party of the right, Ukip followed in second or third place where Labour and the Conservatives fought, with their influence felt in many instances where thousands drew away from red, blue and yellow to support the purple pound of the arch euro skeptics. Conservative success at the expense of Labour, Lab's gains from the Lib Dems and Ukip frustrating the efforts of both the former two was a scenario played out in many key constituencies which - along with SNP victory in Scotland - resulted in a growing complexion which one canny twitter user remarked was rather like the infant Maggie Simpson of "The Simpson's" fame. A note worthy of a chortle or two...

UK 2015 Post-General Election Map & Maggie Simpson (Uncanny)

By hours of daybreak, the future was looking bleak for Labour, disappointing for Ukip and atrocious for the Lib Dems; a once vigorous parliamentary party of 57 reduced to 8 in less than a day, memories of government growing distant as obscurity beckoned. The Conservatives returned with a majority of 331, Labour suffered a retreat of its fortunes not seen since the defeat of 1992 (the recent rendition of the play "The Absence of War" seeming darkly portentous, concerning the election), under Neil Kinnock; polling data, now having proved so despairingly aberrant, once evidence of a neck and neck race, now latently pointing to a decisive Labour decline, as exit polls contradicted their predecessors. Labour reduced to 232 seats, while their Lib Dem competitors retain only 8 seats - equal to the Northern Irish DUP -  their respective leaders sought immediate resignation; words bracing for a difficult future as both parties are destined to struggle in hopes of explaining their defeat - and to rebuild, come what may. The same was said of Ukip - the controversial Nigel Farage failing to win his seat as the party's role seemed more of a strategic hinderance than destined legislative force at this election, though now entering the House of Commons with one seat.

Resigned Party Leaders - 2015

Ed Miliband (Labour), Nick Clegg (Lib Dem), Nigel Farage (Ukip)

At the conclusion of this general election, a singular electoral experience, we arrive now at the threshold of a new paradigm in British politics. The Conservative Party seemingly victorious, David Cameron cannot afford to be indulgent with his second term: lacking a Scottish or wider British mandate while also facing a Conservative party galvanized by euro skepticism and the draw of social politics which could yet prove very difficult for wider British society to stomach, in the long term. More so, the SNP's victory in Scotland has compelled the astonishing understanding that Cameron may very well be the last Prime Minister of the UK, in its current constitutional complexion: Scotland's devolution set to grow and evolve into greater autonomy regardless of what some in the Conservative Party may consider of their northern neighbor. 

In addition, Labour heads to not only a leadership contest but to also a potential indictment of the party's governing social and political paradigm: the neo-liberalism of the 1990's and 2000's working to alienate voters, while a weaker stance on ethnic and social politics has undermined the party in some English seats of a increasingly conservative voting culture - a stance which Ukip capitalized upon to severely maul both Labour and the Lib Dems. The Lib Dems having been decimated, their future as a viable political force remains uncertain as the liberal tradition in present day England seems to be winding down to historical obscurity. Ukip, once hailed as the party to upset the establishment, were ultimately constrained and limited to one seat; their destined success seeming less surely purchased as their narrative corroded both Lab, Lib Dem and Conservative support without actually breaking through themselves. 

With the election now over, we have seen a remarkable few months come to a close as another, and possibly exceptional, chapter in British politics begins; Britain potentially realigning under a more articulated or heterogeneous federalism with the once linear politics of the Westminster paradigm fragmenting into more overtly ethnic, delineated models of democracy in the respective polities.

Wither such postulations come to pass, or if the UK has a future within a reconstituted, deeply reformed framework is debatable, though it will remain from this day onward that British politics - now and for many, many years to come - will never be the same again.

Clark Caledon.

  

UK General Election 2015 - Election Day

Hi there,


In the second part of our UK election special, having introduced the principal parties, players and issues on the 6th of May, we now find ourselves at election day itself: polling centers opening across Britain early in the morning and closing at 10 pm tonight to allow voting for the relevant Westminster parliament constituency. What may come of these local battles will not only determine the complexion of the future parliament that will emerge tomorrow, 8th of May, but will also be but the first motion in the power play that is to follow: the complexion of any government - if there is no decisive victor - decided through coalitions, partnerships or wider constellations between the parties of a new parliament, which promises to be controversial and potently eclectic.

Polling Day in 650 UK Constituencies to determine the next Westminster Parliament

At the time of writing, just past eight o'clock in the evening, voting has been ongoing since seven in the morning, and now with just over an hour to go before polls close. After this, counting will begin in regional centers; the total votes cast allocated to those standing, after which will emerge a winner by the end. There is no exact time table for this, but it is known that Scotland will begin processing votes promptly with a good many constituencies declaring before three o'clock on the 8th of May, around six hours from now. From a while, before and after that, English and Welsh constituencies will begin declaring their results, as will Northern Ireland too. The last declarations will probably be around seven the following morning, though by that time electoral scenarios will probably have played out - positively or negatively - and a new government will be forming soon thereafter.


In this case, hung parliaments and coalitions now very much a recognized avenue of electoral politics, it remains that though a result similar to the 2010 election could be played out, the mainstream parties are now very much tested in their opinions and the infusion of much larger national, regional and special interest contingents (ie. SNP, Ukip, Green etc) will make the business of discerning a mandate more complicated. To this end, and for some months, a number of scenarios have been postulated, depending upon the resultant complexion of the electoral map come the early hours of May the 8th. This new plural parliament and its more negotiated mandate will succeed, in most part, the election of 2010: an event which saw the then odd situation of a hung parliament and with no decisive mandate for either Conservative or Labour, without a third or more parties aligning. Received with an air of controversy and still debated today, the election of 2010 could very well have prefigured many British-Westminster elections to come - in their candor and complexion - though if this is a compliment or indictment of the Westminster system, it remains to be seen...


The electoral map of the 2010 Westminster elections can be found below, with metropolitan regions of particular significance highlighted. Though the dynamics played out with some predictable direction - Labour deciding in metropolitan regions, Conservatives in the rural shires and Lib Dems a mingling of both with other parties performing to their own imperatives - it remained that neither Labour, Conservative or Lib Dem could sufficiently color the map to control the House of Commons, and thus form a government, without co-operation with another.

Map courtesy of Wereon on Wikipedia - image in the public domain.

2010 United Kingdom Electoral Map - Westminster Constituencies (Central Scotland, English Midlands and London highlighted)

This day playing host to a number of evolving socio-political narratives, imperatives and tendencies, local contests will have an accentuated significance, especially in the so called celtic periphery of Britain, while Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem will have a severe strain to press their support, wherever and whenever they find it, to supply MP's for their respective parties.

A remarkable election locally and nationally, in the four nations and in the British whole, what transpires in the next 24 hours will be interesting to consider; an emerging politics in motion, or perhaps a new configuration of British identities, in the decades after devolution, the financial crises, austerity culture and the dilution of a once presumed, singular mandate.

Time will tell, it seems...

Clark Caledon.

UK General Election 2015 - The Day Before

Hi there,


Today and the two that follow it will prove particularly interesting in my corner of the world. In the very least, we stand on the threshold of a general election for the United Kingdom's central legislature - the Westminster Parliament - and the further examination of Britain's democratic culture in the years after the financial crises, but also an event in which the dynamics are thoroughly unique. By nature a majoritarian, first-past-the-post system, usually dominated by the Conservative and Labour parties - latterly with the ostensibly centrist Liberal Democrats as the former's government partners - this election is one in which the central institutions of the British political system have been subjected to growing peripheral examination from nationalist, regional and special interest parties, working in the face of the centre's perceived deficits.


Over the last five years, we have seen many new and remarkable developments in British politics and in the tenor of the prevailing discourse: no longer as singular or as predictable as it once was, and with the marked growth of national, ethnic and social narratives pointedly removed from the once prevailing mainstream. Certainly deriving from events before the assumption of the Conservative-Lib Dem Coalition in 2010, it remains an indelible fact that government in Britain from this point onward has proven one galvanized by attempts to address the financial crisis of the late 2000's, but also the enduring legacy of that era has impelled many in the wider British polity to consider their world more critically. Now, on the eve of what must surely be something of a judgement concerning these past years - and the more complicated, charged ambiance they afford - it remains to consider what might become of the hours and days ahead.


Of course, there are a number of scenarios - with markedly more gravitas since coalition government became a fact and hung parliaments a feasible fixture of the new politics - and though some have more purchase than others, it does afford many intriguing possibilities for the future of governance in Britain.


Of the three ostensibly principle British parties - Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat (the latter no longer the third largest) - the former two still indulge dreams of a majority, while the latter would wish to inform and partner with the one bearing the firmer mandate. The polls to date reading as almost parallel between Labour and Conservative, the Lib Dems have made good on their obligation to give at least a brave front: no other choice prevailing in the face of their unpopularity and seemingly constrained profile in government.

The Labour Rose, Liberal Dove and Conservative Oak

In turn, as the focus and momentum has drawn away from the centre, we find the parties embodying this tendency: some new, some established and some refreshed by new, regional debate. The Scottish National Party have compelled a remarkable profile over the past few years. Winning a majoritarian style second term in Scotland's 2012 devolved elections, the party's fortunes were staked high for the Scottish independence referendum of 2014. Though ostensibly defeated, the party - having since become the focus of a wider, vibrant constitutional movement - experienced a surge in growth: passing 100,000 members to eclipse the Lib Dems as Britain's third largest party overall, and compelling a critical examination of Scotland's expanding powers of devolution as the Scottish and British polity's grow wider in their disjunction. Considering the possibility of them eclipsing Labour in Scotland's Westminster constituencies, they have been regarded - with some disdained fascination - as potential kingmakers to a future Labour government, if Labour can compromise towards a common, progressive imperative and does not win a majority.

 Stylised Saltire of the SNP

Considered to something of a ideological counterpoint to the aspirations and influence of the Scottish nationalists, is the resurgence of the seemingly ironic and English phenomenon of Ukip: the United Kingdom Independence Party. The group springing from obscurity as voters found a common voice in the party's euro skepticism, fears over immigration and affinity for ethnic conservatism - if it can be called that - across portions of rural and semi-urban/urban England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland offering the party little traction, they remain a seemingly popular force in their heartlands; intruding between the narratives of Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem with efforts to synthesize a more reactionary, hardened conservative stance in Britain more widely. Ambitious, it remains to be seen if this party can stand the test of a general election.

The Purple Pound of Ukip

Two other parties that could prove influential, in the coming contest, arrive from very disparate backgrounds, but could prove interesting actors, should they arrive in some contingent at Westminster. Firmly unionist and socially conservative, the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party has stood in opposition to growing regionalism and nationalism, but their leadership has been critical of the mainstream's disdain for the legitimacy of Scotland's growing democratic will and the potential influence of SNP MP's. This stance questioning potential deference to the Conservative or Labour Parties in a hung parliament or minority government, their decisions could be interesting.

The DUP Lion

Another party, very much removed from the former which could prove influential is the moderate, progressive and increasingly successful force of the Green Party. Originally a party proposing a middle way between social and economic imperatives, with environmental sustainability considered critical to both, this group has proven to be a honed and compelling political voice. Though not always as singular or as socially driven as some of the other parties who promote a more established philosophy, the Green's could yet prove a factor in turning government in Britain one way or the other, depending upon the nascent narrative of the other parties. Still, if lent to a strong, progressive mandate in parliament, this group might very well find their long awaited national breakthrough, since their inception.

The Leaf Corona and Earth crest of the Green Party

With these words and perspectives in mind, the rapidly approaching election day and what succeeds it could prove for a very, very intriguing 48 hours.

Clark Caledon.

The Absence of War: A Play by David Hare

Hello there,


One of the principle elements of politics - perhaps always - is the extent to which principle itself determines action, as contrasted with the pull and temptation of joining a wider consensus, or at least what can be perceived as such. The crux of a dilemma within the progressive, social democratic tradition of European and American politics for decades, this issue - itself pregnant with an existential challenge - was explored with potent candor in the British political drama of 1993, "The Absence of War", by David Hare, which I happened to see an new rendition of in early April of this year.


A taste of the play's ambiance and vision can be found below, in its official trailer for 2015.

The Absence of War - 2015

The play is drawn from the remarkable, congested failure of the pre-Blair British Labour Party to win the general election of 1992: an event often considered as "old" Labour's last chance at electoral success before the rise of the neo-liberal faction within their party to prominence in the early 1990's.

The play set itself to examine such questions and challenges with a vivid candor - introducing the charismatic, successful Labour leader of George Jones in the face of a waning Conservative government, and the personal world of the party's executive ranks which would determine so much of the election to come. George Jones is himself a singular, rugged and compelling leader, though his leadership is the fount of considerable ambivalence between his measured modernization, his detractors within the party and the perceptions of a British public now resolved in a reactionary, right wing mentality after a decade of Thatcherism. His task indelible, the cluttered imperatives, congested principles and quiet convulsions of his political world converge to choke his ideals: the result a increasingly fractious slide towards defeat - mirroring the initial optimism and drive of the 1992 campaign before it dispersed under similar circumstances.

Labour Leader Neil Kinnock, 1992, Labour Election Rally

George Jones, Labour Leader - "An Absence of War", 2015

The play's vision considered prescient in speaking to not simply a political culture of media control, spin and contrived, consumer friendly image, it remains a potent indictment of the issues which have plagued the institution of British Labour for decades: press for a principled, orthodox vision of their political mission as compared to a new, right wing consensus which abandons the essence of social democracy in favor of electoral success. This argument more complex than the ostensible and time honored tugging between right and left, time has afforded the play an almost prophetic quality in that such questions still nibble at a Labour Party now at home with right wing narratives and a market society, but also in a cold indictment of a wider social narrative. As the ill fated George remarks, in a moment of impassioned indignation, it has become the nature of his party to indulge and pamper the sensibilities of a country too settled in media narratives, jingoism, consumerism and the affectations of great power status - and not challenge them, if he wishes to be elected.


Bounced between the political culture of early 1990's Britain and the institution of Labour's historic mission, we find a somewhat embattled and tragic figure: genuine and compelling, though ultimately a victim of not only the culture he wishes to better, but also his party and his own sense of history - a matrix which seems to lead him and his followers to their ultimate defeat.

"The Absence of War" by David Hare - 2015 Tour

Not overly well received when first debuted in 1993, the gripping intelligence and prescience of this dramatic work have since been proven fundamentally correct in their vision of a Britain comfortable in its conceit, a consumerist political culture of spin and the dissolution of a once vigorous, edifying movement into a business, not unlike their rivals. In the years since that first debut, the work's intellectual and ideological proposition have been found to have great traction in their subject - and especially in what Labour's ultimate mission is: that existential stinger which has so jabbed at the party for decades into the present day.


The essence of the play's power well proven, this rendition is a timely one: by no coincidence being toured in the weeks before a British election year of unique energy and issue as the Labour Party finds its mission again under scrutiny, and fragmenting in a world where it has less popular, obligatory traction than ever before.


In all, the play's powerful, potent indictments reflect something more singular: framed by the period of the early 1990's when the story was conceived, though given a more universal traction by the play's conclusion as a man - and his party - struggle to realize what their principles ultimately are, and how they could be worked in a world increasingly removed from their ideological provision: if this struggle is worth while or if some other form of recourse will be the movement's saving grace.


Justice, equality and prosperity remaining paramount to the vision of western democracy, it remains a cold, hard indictment of an age where growing extremes are met by increasingly vacuous, confined and ideologically deficient movements in modern politics - a state which the present Labour Party finds itself in, and which "The Absence of War" shines painful light upon, then and now.

Thank you,


Clark Caledon.