Lud-In-The-Mist

Rating:
Summary: Ian Myles Slater on: A Fine New Harvest Reaches the Marches
Review: "Lud-in-the-Mist" was first published, to both some incomprehension and some critical success, in the 1920s. It opens with, as an epigraph, a reflection by the author's friend and sometime-collaborator, the classicist Jane Ellen Harrison, on the otherwise inexpressible longings revealed in myth. The setting is the land of Dorimare, which is certainly not England, but is something like it; just as the seaport of Lud-in-the-Mist is not exactly London in the Fog. For one thing, England never had such remarkably *interesting* neighbors as does Dorimare -- at least not across any merely geographical border. Not that the solid, and increasingly stolid, burghers of Lud have any intention of acknowledging Fairyland or its inhabitants. That nonsense was all done away with in a glorious (but not The Glorious) Revolution, by their brave, revered, but (now) embarrassingly enthusiastic, ancestors, who chased the last Duke, and the Priests, off to -- well somewhere over the border.

The story is, among other things: a cold-case murder mystery, with a play-by-the-rules solution worthy of John Dickson Carr or Dorothy Sayers; a psychological drama of self-discovery and generational conflict; a critique of British middle-class culture, including an aesthetic defense of aristocracy, ceremony and (by implication, or historical association) Roman Catholicism, against drab and (also by implication) Puritanical commercial modernity; and, above all, one of the finest adaptations of British fairy lore I have seen, effortlessly including in its scope medieval and Elizabethan versions, modern folklore, and even academic interpretations.

Oh yes -- there is also the matter of that forbidden Fruit, or in strict legal terms in Dorimare, since the stuff, officially speaking, doesn't really exist, those illegally imported textiles.

Obviously, some genuine issues are engaged, but never in a heavy-handed manner; they give a little weight to what might otherwise be a frothy and inconsequential story about madwomen dancing, and dead men harvesting the fields of fairyland. The book invites applications, but needs none. There are, as indicated, resemblances to English history. But there are too many differences to read it as an allegory (or as taking a position for or against a specific religion, rather than an attitude toward life), instead of what Tolkien called a sub-creation.

The names of the characters (both major ones, like the Mayor, Nathaniel Chanticleer, and Doctor Endymion Leer, and such minor figures as Professor Wisp, Ambrosine Pyepowders, and Miss Primrose Crabapple) are a mixture of real, if sometimes odd or overblown, English names, often Biblical or classical, and interesting variations on them. At least one family seems to have thought that anything medieval-sounding was not only old but impressive -- even if the family name comes from beast-fables, and is rather less dignified than they might like to think it.

The language of the characters is mostly rather nineteenth-century (including some memorable euphemisic "oaths" which aren't actually Victorian, but should have been). There are some indication of social rank by speech level; but no lapses into "comical" rusticisms or cockneyisms for no other purpose than amusing the reader. Some of the "old" or "traditional" verse and prose quoted or read by characters in the book is authentic sixteenth and seventeenth-century literature, some is adapted, and some is original; but the joins are seamless (at least to the eyes of this English major), and their presence lends a sense of layered history and culture.

New readers consistently have greeted it with enthusiasm; many of those who like the book seem, indeed, to love it. But, for some reason, it seems that it has to be rediscovered -- in its own terms, brought back from over the Debatable Hills and through the Elfin Marches -- every few decades. (Actually, its obscurity in Britain during the grim 1930s, 1940s and 1950s is easy enough to understand; it is the need to seek out used copies in the U.S. in the 1980s and 1990s, after the book's revival in the 1970s, which I still find surprising. The existence of an ASCII text on-line since 1993 -- an admirable thing in itself -- has not been a real substitute.)

At the moment "Lud-in-the-Mist" seems to be doing unusually well (may it long continue!). There was a North Books hardcover edition in the Twelve-Point series in 1998, followed by a Millennium Fantasy Masterworks paperback edition in Britain (Gollancz, 2000; with a cover too mysterious to be misleading, but too dramatic to be quite accurate, and an introduction by Neil Gaiman). Currently available are American hardcover and paperback editions from Wildside Press (2002; with a tasteful Pre-Raphaelite cover, John Everett Millais' "Ferdinand Lured by Ariel"). A German translation (by Hannes Riffel) was just published, as "Flucht ins Feenland" (2004; with a lovely, if too insectile, vision of fairyland for the cover); it includes an epilogue by Michael Swanwick, on Hope Mirrlees and her work. And back in the U.S., a Cold Spring Press paperback is scheduled for April 2005. An abundance of Fairy Fruit, after too long an embargo. (And if you don't know what *that* means, well, you haven't yet read the book; I can't imagine anyone who has forgetting it.)

I am familiar with three older editions. These are: the original W. Collins Sons edition (London, 1926), examined briefly, but intently, shortly after reading the first paperback edition; the mass-market paperback Ballantine Adult Fantasy version (dated March 1970) which reintroduced it to the world, with an enthusiastic, but uninformative, introduction by Lin Carter, and a lovely scene-setting wraparound cover of the town and the rivers, by Gervasio Gallardo; and the second Ballantine printing (after the company had been acquired by Random House, as A Del Rey Book, dated August 1977), dropping the introduction and the Adult Fantasy label, and with a cheerful, and accurate, cover by Michael Herring, portraying Mayor Chanticleer (but I prefer Gallardo's).

I have not seen the Pan-Ballantine reprinting of 1972, in which the book (reportedly) returned to print in Britain by way of its American revival, nor examined in detail the more recent British and American editions, but I am going to assume that no one has tampered with the text, or subjected it to garbling in reprinting, and on that basis give them my whole-hearted endorsement. (Information on the German translation can be found at Amazon Germany, and elsewhere.)

For those who are curious about the author, there is a limited amount of information, much the most interesting of which has been researched by Michael Swanwick. From my own work with older published sources, I was aware that Helen Hope Mirrlees (1887-1978) collaborated with Jane Harrison on translations from Russian (one of which, the 50-page autobiography of the Arch-Priest Avvakum, was anthologized -- in re-edited form -- in Zenkovsky's "Medieval Russia's Epics, Chronicles, and Tales," in print in various editions since 1963). She was listed as the author of two earlier novels, both reflecting a cultural interest in Catholicism, "Madeleine -- One of Life's Jansenists" (1921; not seen), and "The Counterplot" (1924, with a small American edition from Knopf in 1925), both long out of print. A book of verse also was published. Her announced biography of Jane Ellen Harrison never appeared, and books on Harrison's life and career were ultimately written by others, after Mirrlees' death (to the accompaniment of complaints about her failure to produce it, and her handling of the materials).

Although the 1920s encompassed most of her known works, in 1962, Faber & Faber published a "A Fly in Amber: Being an Extravagant Biography of the Romantic Antiquary Sir Robert Bruce Cotton," covering part of the life and times of a seventeenth-century collector who saved, among other things, the unique manuscripts of "Beowulf" and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." (For English majors, Sir Robert is the *Cotton* in the "Cotton Manuscripts" -- his habit of putting busts of Roman Emperors on his bookcases accounts for such odd-looking catalogue designations as "Cotton Caligula" or "Cotton Vitellius.")

Mirrlees, who had been associated with the "Bloomsbury Group" (Leonard and Virginia Woolf, who published the "Avvakum" volume, T.S. Eliot, etc.), is said to have withdrawn from public life soon after Jane Harrison's death in 1928. However, she seems to have given at least a brief interview about T.S. Eliot some time in, apparently, the 1960s; a very short segment in which she describes one of "Tom's" marriages appeared on a British documentary, aired in the US on Public Television in the early 1970s, which I happened to catch.

Rating:
Summary: By my great-aunt's rump!
Review: I can tell this is an unusual fantasy just by checking out the main character. Most fantasy heroes are not round, stodgy, middle-aged men who are respected pillars of the community. But the enchanting fantasy "Lud-in-the-Mist," reminiscent of "The Hobbit" in some areas, stars just such a man, amid dozens of other nice ordinary boring people who get their lives magically turned upside down..

Fairy is forbidden in the town of Lud -- not just fairy creatures and their exquisite fruit, but the very mention of it. "Son of a Fairy" is one of the worst insults possible. Duke Aubrey, a half-real-half-mythic noble who vanished long ago, is said to have gone off with them. Fairyland is, to the rational mind, a fantasy world, not merely containing fairies but also the dead. And currently, the mayor Nathaniel Chanticleer, a seemingly rational and dull man, has a lingering longing for... what? He heard a strangely magical musical note long ago, and now fears it. Despite all this, life remains boring and rather pleasant -- there are a few loons, such as always-dancing Mother Tibbs, and Duke-Aubrey-obsessed Miss Primrose. But most aren't.

But then strange happenings begin. Chanticleer's son Ranulph begins acting strangely, claiming that he's eaten fairy fruit. After Chanticleer sends his son off to a farm for a vacation, the teenage girls at Miss Primrose's Crabapple Academy suddenly seem to go pleasantly nuts, and then race off into the hills. Life seems to seep out of the old town -- and Nathaniel must connect the present crises to a past conspiracy, all of which hinges on Fairyland, fairy fruit, and the sinister doctor Endymion Leer...

The characterizations are charming. Though this book doesn't resemble Tolkien's at all, Chanticleer is reminiscent of Bilbo Baggins in his pleasant boring stodginess, that hides a brave, unconventional interior. He's not the person you would identify as a hero, but he is one anyway. In the same way, you wouldn't consider a place like Lud -- reminiscent of Tolkien's Shire in some ways -- to be the ideal place for an eerie adventure.

There are plenty of supporting characters, such as Chanticleer's childhood Ambrose, the quietly malevolent Endymion Leer, the various fairy-struck teens, and the snippy and sinister old ladies. Though Mirrlees spends relatively little time on character development, it flows out believably anyway -- little quirks and flaws are given to each individual.

Hope Mirrlees's writing moves on at a quick clip, without skimping on the details of Lud or its inhabitants. It also has that unique cozy feel that a lot of British fantasies have, while also being able to flip on the eerie, magical feeling. The descriptions of Faerie itself are understated, but all the more powerful for being so. There's more here than magical elves with pointy ears -- the very atmosphere of the story is magical.

"Lud-in-the-Mist" breaks the mold for most fantasy stories, and emerges as an entertaining, beautiful, and often funny book. Definitely a good read.

Rating:
Summary: Delightful and Delicious
Review: I read this fine work when it was published in the Ballantine Fantasy series under Lin Carter. It is excellent, and I highly recommend it to all those who love fantasy and good writing. These days, especially, when the fantasy scene seems dominated by multi-volume monstrosities whose contents are to a large extent incomprehensible or disgusting, or both--and you know the authors I mean, I'm sure--this little treasure deserves the widest possible circulation.
I will stop now because other reviewers here have already said much that I will simply endorse. Get Lud-in-the-Mist and enjoy it!

Rating:
Summary: Delightful and Delicious
Review: I read this fine work when it was published in the Ballantine Fantasy series under Lin Carter. It is excellent, and I highly recommend it to all those who love fantasy and good writing. These days, especially, when the fantasy scene seems dominated by multi-volume monstrosities whose contents are to a large extent incomprehensible or disgusting, or both--and you know the authors I mean, I'm sure--this little treasure deserves the widest possible circulation.
I will stop now because other reviewers here have already said much that I will simply endorse. Get Lud-in-the-Mist and enjoy it!

Rating:
Summary: Gains momentum
Review: Lud-In-The-Mist starts out slow and builds to a fever pitch. Like a lot of books written before the Sixties, it expects you to invest some time and thought into it before it pays off, but if you give it a hundred pages to build, the rest of the book goes fast and furious. Give it that amount of time, and a little thought, and Lud-In-The-Mist will repay your investment with dividends. The older you are, the more you will enjoy it, since the hero is a middle-aged patrician whose life becomes an adventure long after he gives up on adventure as a part of his life.

Leaving aside topical issues, Lud-In-The-Mist is as intelligent, well written and detailed as contemporary classics like the works of Dunsany and lesser Tolkien. It well deserves to remain in print. Seek it out and enjoy; you won't regret it.

Rating:
Summary: Gains momentum
Review: Lud-In-The-Mist starts out slow and builds to a fever pitch. Like a lot of books written before the Sixties, it expects you to invest some time and thought into it before it pays off, but if you give it a hundred pages to build, the rest of the book goes fast and furious. Give it that amount of time, and a little thought, and Lud-In-The-Mist will repay your investment with dividends. The older you are, the more you will enjoy it, since the hero is a middle-aged patrician whose life becomes an adventure long after he gives up on adventure as a part of his life.

Leaving aside topical issues, Lud-In-The-Mist is as intelligent, well written and detailed as contemporary classics like the works of Dunsany and lesser Tolkien. It well deserves to remain in print. Seek it out and enjoy; you won't regret it.

Rating:
Summary: There are Mysteries here...
Review: What a pleasure to have this superb novel in print once more! I can only echo the praise of the previous reviewers on this page, all of whom were obviously touched by this neglected classic as deeply as I was. While there's a glut of fantasy novels available these days, all too many are lacking in true Magic - a poetry both crisp and lyrical, an understated but rich symbolism, a sense of the Mysteries, that is the essence of "Lud-in-the-Mist." Add to that its subtle and delightful characterization, its often cheerfully earthy humor ("By My Great-Aunt's Rump!"), and the sheer beauty of its prose, and you have a book that belongs on any short list of fantasy masterpieces. A book to be read many times, one that takes the reader ever deeper with each reading. May it never be out of print again!

Rating:
Summary: By my great-aunt's rump!
Review: You can tell this is an unusual fantasy just by checking out the main character. Most fantasy heroes are not round, stodgy, middle-aged men who are respected pillars of the community. But this enchanting romp, reminiscent of "The Hobbit" in some areas, stars just such a man, amid dozens of other nice ordinary boring people.

Fairy is forbidden in the town of Lud ' not just fairy creatures and their exquisite fruit, but the very mention of it. "Son of a Fairy" is one of the worst insults possible. Duke Aubrey, a half-real-half-mythic noble who vanished long ago, is said to have gone off with them. Fairyland is, to the rational mind, a fantasy world, not merely containing fairies but also the dead. And currently, the mayor Nathaniel Chanticleer, a seemingly rational and dull man, has a lingering longing for... what? He heard a strangely magical musical note long ago, and now fears it. Despite all this, life remains boring and rather pleasant ' there are a few loons, such as always-dancing Mother Tibbs, and Duke-Aubrey-obsessed Miss Primrose. But most aren't.

But then strange happenings begin. Chanticleer's son Ranulph begins acting strangely, screaming that his father can't kill the moon (a round white cheese) and claims that he's eaten fairy fruit. After Chanticleer sends his son off to a farm for a vacation, the teenage girls at Miss Primrose's Crabapple Academy suddenly seem to go pleasantly nuts, and then race off into the hills. Life seems to seep out of the old town ' and Nathaniel must connect the present crises to a past conspiracy, all of which hinges on Fairyland, fairy fruit, and the sinister doctor Endymion Leer...

The characterizations are charming. Though this book doesn't resemble Tolkien's at all, Chanticleer is reminiscent of Bilbo Baggins in his pleasant boring stodginess, that hides a brave, unconventional interior. He's not the person you would identify as a hero, but he is one anyway. In the same way, you wouldn't consider a place like Lud (reminiscent of Tolkien's Shire in some ways) to be the ideal place for a fairy adventure.

We have plenty of supporting characters, such as Chanticleer's childhood Ambrose, crabby old nurse, the quietly malevolent Endymion Leer, the various fairy-struck teens like Ranulph and Moonlove and Prunella, the snippy Dame Marigold, nutty Miss Crabapple, and the sinister Widow Gibberty. Though Mirrlees spends relatively little time on character development, it flows out believably anyway. And the suspenseful hunt through history and so forth is as intriguing as any Agatha Christie, yet doesn't take away from the fairy-fruit subplot. Her writing ranges from cozy to enchantingly lyrical.

Some might interpret the fairy fruit as being part of a drug-related message, but somehow I think it has more to do with love of life, and a bit of weirdness that is necessary for every healthy mind. This book is suitable for kids; there is a brief mention of past murders, and of a woman being found with her lover, but neither is really a problem and both are necessary to the plot.

Sadly, this book is out of print in the US. But you can get one of the beautiful Fantasy Masterworks copies from amazon UK, and I advise that you do so. This is a one of a kind book.