|
''Lud-in-the-Mist'' (1926) is the third of three novels by Hope Mirrlees. It continues the author's exploration of the themes of Life and Art, by a method already described in the preface of her first novel, ''Madeleine: One of Love's Jansenists'' (1919): "to turn from time to time upon the action the fantastic limelight of eternity, with a sudden effect of unreality and the hint of a world within a world". Whereas in the novels ''Madeleine'' and ''The Counterplot'' Mirrlees adapted elements from history, religions and literature, her use of a secondary-world setting in ''Lud-in-the-Mist'' associates it with the tradition of high fantasy, and thereby with its current popularity. During 1970, an American reprint was published without the author's permission, as part of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series. It was reprinted subsequently by Orion Books during 2000 as part of their Fantasy Masterworks series. A more recent republication by the Cold Spring Press includes a foreword by Neil Gaiman and an introduction by Douglas A. Anderson.〔Cold Spring Harbor, NY: Cold Spring Press (ISBN 1-59360-041-0), 2005〕 ''Lud-in-the-Mists unconventional elements, responsible for its appeal to the fantasy readership, are understood better if they are analyzed in the context of her whole oeuvre. In this novel, the prosaic and law-abiding inhabitants of Lud-in-the-Mist, a city located at the confluence of the rivers Dapple and Dawl, in the fictional state of Dorimare, must contend with the influx of fairy fruit and the effect of the fantastic inhabitants of the bordering land of Faerie, whose presence and very existence they had sought to banish from their rational lives. When the denial proves futile, their mayor, the respectable Nathaniel Chanticleer, finds himself involved reluctantly with the conflict and obliged to change his conventional personal life and disregard the traditions of Lud-in-the-Mist to find a reconciliation.〔E.L. Chapman, "Lud-in-the-Mist", in Frank N. Magill, ed. ''Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature'', Vol. 2. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Salem Press, Inc., 1983. ISBN 0-89356-450-8 . pp. 926-931.〕 ''Lud-in-the-Mist'' begins with a quotation by Jane Harrison, with whom Mirrlees lived in London and Paris, and whose influence is also found in ''Madeleine'' and ''The Counterplot''. The book is dedicated to the memory of Mirrlees's father. ==Reception== In a 1946 discussion of fantastic literature, Edward Wagenknecht referred to "Hope Mirrlees' unappreciated masterpiece ''Lud-in-the-Mist''".〔Edward Wagenknecht, "The Little Prince Rides the White Deer: Fantasy and Symbolism in Recent Literature", ''College English'' 7(8): 431-437. May 1946.〕 David Langford and Mike Ashley describe ''Lud-in-the-Mist'' as "a moving book, shifting unpredictably from drollery to menace to a high poignancy that sticks in the mind".〔David Langford and Mike Ashley, "Mirrlees, Hope", in ''St. James Guide To Fantasy Writers'', ed. David Pringle, St. James Press, 1996, ISBN 1-55862-205-5,(p. 407-8).〕 Neil Gaiman described ''Lud'' as "one of the finest (novels ) in the English language. . . . It is a little golden miracle of a book." He described Mirrlees's writing as "elegant, supple, effective and haunting: the author demands a great deal from her readers, which she repays many times over."〔("Curiosities'' ), ''F&SF'', July 1999〕 He says that it is one of his top ten favorite books.〔("Neil Gaiman's Top Ten" ), ''World Book Night'', July 2011〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lud-in-the-Mist」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|