"Hieroglyphics" by Arthur Machen is presented as a series of talks that considers what makes writing great through discussions with a puzzling character called "the Hermit." The story dives into topics about what it means to be human through the lens of art and literature, and it begins by introducing the narrator’s bond with the Hermit. They meet in a shadowy room, which helps emphasize the Hermit's chosen isolation as they discuss journalism versus literature, and what is needed to make something truly valued as literature. The Hermit thinks that "ecstasy" is the defining factor in quality writing, which leads to questions about art versus business, ultimately paving the way for the book’s exploration of the most important principles of literary expression.
Hieroglyphics
By Arthur Machen
In dim, philosophical conversations with a reclusive figure, a narrator considers the line between vapid works and truly ecstatic literature.
Summary
About the AuthorArthur Machen was the pen-name of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror, with Stephen King describing it as "Maybe the best [horror story] in the English language." He is also well known for "The Bowmen", a short story that was widely read as fact, creating the legend of the Angels of Mons.
Arthur Machen was the pen-name of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror, with Stephen King describing it as "Maybe the best [horror story] in the English language." He is also well known for "The Bowmen", a short story that was widely read as fact, creating the legend of the Angels of Mons.
More Like This
Explore books similar to the one you're viewing
The Author of Beltraffio
By Henry James
Far Off Things
By Arthur Machen
Arthur Machen: Weaver of Fantasy
By William F. (William Francis) Gekle
Arthur Machen: A Novelist of Ecstasy and Sin With Two Uncollected Poems by Arthur Machen
By Vincent Starrett
On the Art of Writing Lectures delivered in the University of Cambridge 1913-1914
By Arthur Quiller-Couch
Talks on the study of literature.
By Arlo Bates
More by This Author
Discover other books written by the same author
Related by Category
Discover books in the same genre or category
The Past Condition of Organic Nature Lecture II. (of VI.), "Lectures to Working Men", at the Museum of Practical Geology, 1863, on Darwin's Work: "Origin of Species"
By Thomas Henry Huxley
Memoirs of Henry Hunt, Esq. — Volume 3
By Henry Hunt
The South American Republics, Part 2 of 2
By Thomas Cleland Dawson
The improved antidote, supposed to be more active in expelling poison, than a late invention, by the Rev. Sir Harcourt Lees, Bart. in which the Catholics are vindicated from his abuse, and their claims for unrestricted emancipation, considered
By Philodemus
Papers from Lilliput
By J. B. (John Boynton) Priestley
History of the United Netherlands, 1588d
By John Lothrop Motley