The Great God Pan (Library of Wales) [Paperback]

Arthur Machen (Author)

Book Description

Series: Library of Wales | Publication Date: October 1, 2010

A sensation when first published in 1894, this frightening story involves evil scientists and the women that become monsters at their hands. An experiment into the sources of the human brain through the mind of a young woman has gone horribly wrong—she has witnessed the God Pan and will die giving birth to a daughter, Helen Vaughan. Twenty years later Helen becomes the source of much fevered speculation when she is feted as a society hostess of great charm. Many men are infatuated with her beauty, but great beauty has a price. Linking horror with prurient sexuality, this classic of horror sheds light on late Victorian misogyny and the public’s interest in theories of evolutionary degeneration.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Machen is a genius right enough but I don't take him to bed with me again.' Arthur Conan Doyle 'For ability to create an atmosphere of nameless terror I can think of no author living or dead who comes near to him.' Jerome K. Jerome 'Arthur Machen's stories - are inspired by a genuine emotion. He hardly ever wrote merely to frighten others; he did so because he knew he lived in an alien world.' Jorge Luis Borges

About the Author

Arthur Machen was an influential horror, supernatural, and fantasy writer whose works included The Green Round, Hill of Dreams, and The Three Impostors.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Parthian Books (October 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1906998167
• ISBN-13: 978-1906998165
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,160,854 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The power of suggestion...., April 27, 2001

By 

[e-mail] (Denmark) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Great God Pan (Creation Classics) (Paperback)

The REAL grandeur of this little gothic gem lies in the power of suggestion. Machen, much like a Nicholas Roeg film or the Lovecraft mythology, only hints at the unspeakable horrors in "Great God Pan" and therein lies the novel's strength, short and negligable as it may seem. It's up to the reader to "fill in the blanks", and make the right connections as to which abominations lurks beneath the sinister series of seemingly unconnected events, that are displayed in "Great God Pan."

Scattered around in the book are twisted images of the many abominable faces that the Great God Pan may take, drawn by the esoteric occultist Austin Osman Spare.

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark Pagan Horror, December 2, 2000

By 

A. Tamez Elizondo "magnum_innominandum" (Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Great God Pan (Creation Classics) (Paperback)

I came to know about Arthur Machen and his work through the brilliant mastermind of H.P.Lovecraft; his references, both in fiction ("The Dunwich Horror" makes a very clear statement about Machen's influence in his body of work) and non-fiction ("Supernatural Horror in Literature"), ultimately inspired me to go search something about this author. Needless to say, I found virtually nothing in any bookstore. It was during a trip to Madrid, Spain, where I finally found a book by Machen containing "The Great God Pan" and many others. I was shocked.

"The Great God Pan" was the first story I read by Arthur Machen, and I only had to read the first few pages to know I was going to like it. Indeed, I did, although it was a little short for my taste.

The ideas Machen makes you travel through are some of the finest in horror literature, and the Cosmic view of Pan, is very near the likes of Lovecraft. One can easily see where the influence Machen exerted over Lovecraft is. The only difference is that Machen did believe in some supernatural force existing within the Universe, whereas Lovecraft was the complete opposite.

Dark Pagan Horror is what Machen delivers, and he does so with such a style, elegance (at least the Castilian translation, I still have to read the originals in English, but I am assuming the originals are much better) and wit, you just can't help but to stay with it until you are done.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A terrifying and unique Supernatural story, May 26, 1999

By 

av (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Great God Pan (Creation Classics) (Paperback)

This novel has a wonderfully unique premise. The themes of the darker aspects of Greek Myth, sinister woods and what lurks within them, unreality right beneath our world, make for a delightfull story. While the plot is a bit mundane towards the center of the book, overall this is compensated for. If you've ever let your mind wander into the origins of ancient myths, and have been a bit shocked by what you imagine this is the book for you. The sexual aspect of the supernatural events is key, and overall adds to the one's attraction and repulsion to the concepts beneath the surface of this book. Machen was akcknowledged by HP Lovecraft as a major influence, and one sees this here. Also, Spare's illustrations, while not done for the book, are quite appropriate to convey its themes. Highly reccomended.