“There are not many persons who know what wonders are opened to them in the stories and visions of their youth; for when as children we listen and dream, we think but half-formed thoughts, and when as men we try to remember, we are dulled and prosaic with the poison of life.”
(Celephaïs, pg.110)
Welcome back to Our Daily Lovecraft. I hope you’re able to keep your sanity.
If you’re just joining us, you can start your Lovecraftian journey here!
“Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family”
Initially, this tale may not seem like much. Another family, another group of folk going insane. Great-great-great grandfathers visiting the Congo and coming back with tales of old crumbling cities and other wild imaginings only to be thrown into an insane asylum. Been there, done that, right?
Until you get to the end. And you realize what you’ve just read. And though it does seem to take a bit longer than necessary to get there, you have a moment where you think, “….Okay. That’s kinda fucked up.” As you read you wonder why all these different men from this particular family keep coming back to this Congo stuff that made their grandfather or even father go mad, until finally Arthur Jermyn of the Jermyn family discovers the secret and sets himself on fire. I’m not one to advocate suicide, but I can understand the guy’s mindset. I’m not spelling out the end of this story for you, good reader, because I think this is one you ought to go and check out for yourself. It’s weird, it’s unsettling, and it’s not something I saw coming, although really I have no reason to be surprised.
Suffice to say great-great-great grandpa Wade Jermyn was a messed up dude.
Lovecraft is an interesting fellow in that he appears to alternate between dark strangeness coupled with fear of the unknown and very beautiful places – with the occasional random other tale thrown in. And when he visits these beautiful places, dreams always seem to be a feature or vehicle. Once again, in “Celephaïs” our main character Kuranes – not in first person this time, but rather the reader is told of his adventures –leaves his body during his dreams and visits amazing, wondrous places. In this case, the city of Celephaïs where time has no meaning and the people are happy. Ultimately Kuranes’s goal is to dream as much as possible in order to remain in this place until finally he succeeds.
Possibly based on yet another dream that Lovecraft himself had, I find myself wondering once again if Lovecraft had ever heard of astral projection, soul traveling, or whatever the concept might have been called during his time. Likely the introduction to this book might shed some more light on Lovecraft’s personality and beliefs, but I wanted to go into his tales completely devoid of any preconceived notions. I wanted to read them with fresh eyes, but as patterns and themes continue to emerge, so too does my curiosity. Nevertheless, this tale never got dark and instead we get to read about the beauty of Celephaïs and feel comforted knowing that in the end, Kuranes found his peace.
Featured image © Nicole Taft
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