1gwendetenebre
"Bethmoora" by Lord Dunsany
Discussion begins August 10, 2022.
First published in A Dreamer's Tales (1910).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?63209
SELECTED PRINT VERSIONS
At the Edge of the World
The Night Side
Time and the Gods
ONLINE VERSIONS
https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/dun/adta/adta07.htm
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8129/pg8129.html
ONLINE AUDIO VERSIONS
https://archive.org/details/a_dreamers_tales_dm_1501_librivox/dreamerstales_05_d...
MISCELLANY
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Dunsany
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/12/06/minor-magus
https://www.independent.ie/life/there-have-been-many-death-threats-but-ill-never...
http://ashiverinthearchives.blogspot.com/2018/12/dunsany-smiling.html
https://tinyurl.com/4py8s9k5
Discussion begins August 10, 2022.
First published in A Dreamer's Tales (1910).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?63209
SELECTED PRINT VERSIONS
At the Edge of the World
The Night Side
Time and the Gods
ONLINE VERSIONS
https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/dun/adta/adta07.htm
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8129/pg8129.html
ONLINE AUDIO VERSIONS
https://archive.org/details/a_dreamers_tales_dm_1501_librivox/dreamerstales_05_d...
MISCELLANY
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Dunsany
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/12/06/minor-magus
https://www.independent.ie/life/there-have-been-many-death-threats-but-ill-never...
http://ashiverinthearchives.blogspot.com/2018/12/dunsany-smiling.html
https://tinyurl.com/4py8s9k5
2papijoe
First time reading this story. I had a strange association of the opening paragraphs with Conrad’s Heart of Darkness but perhaps it was more the mood than any tangible influence.
Regardless, this is a “dream of empire”. As this was published in 1910 before the World Wars dismembered the British Empire I think a case can be made for it being prophetic.
I don’t remember any of the handful of Dunsany stories I’ve read being fixed in our world. The contrast of Bethmoora as a land of fancy makes this very different to me than his pure fantasy stories with which I’m more familiar.
So where is Bethmoora and why write about it? Dunsany had his African travels to draw on, but the place names suggest the Near or Middle East. Because this was clearly an influence on The Doom that Came to Sarnath, it became a distraction in weighing this better story on its own merits.
My favorite part is the names of the musical instruments. O to live in a world where I am a virtuoso on the zootibar!
Finally I really like a story that rewards it’s re-reading but I’ll leave that for other commenters.
Regardless, this is a “dream of empire”. As this was published in 1910 before the World Wars dismembered the British Empire I think a case can be made for it being prophetic.
I don’t remember any of the handful of Dunsany stories I’ve read being fixed in our world. The contrast of Bethmoora as a land of fancy makes this very different to me than his pure fantasy stories with which I’m more familiar.
So where is Bethmoora and why write about it? Dunsany had his African travels to draw on, but the place names suggest the Near or Middle East. Because this was clearly an influence on The Doom that Came to Sarnath, it became a distraction in weighing this better story on its own merits.
My favorite part is the names of the musical instruments. O to live in a world where I am a virtuoso on the zootibar!
Finally I really like a story that rewards it’s re-reading but I’ll leave that for other commenters.
3AndreasJ
The names rather made me think India. "Utnar Vehi" in particular sounds quite Indic.
Dunsany started out writing of wholly fantastical lands, but pretty quickly moved to stories where commonplace reality and the fantastic meet or are juxtaposed; I'd say this one is pretty typical of "late early" Dunsany in that regard. And indeed, even the world of The Gods of Pegana is evidently meant to be in some sense ours, judging by the invocation of Olympus and Allah in the Introduction.
As I mention in the nomination thread, this one received a sequel called "The Hashish Man", which we discussed over a decade ago. Insert suitable cliché about the passage of time.
Dunsany started out writing of wholly fantastical lands, but pretty quickly moved to stories where commonplace reality and the fantastic meet or are juxtaposed; I'd say this one is pretty typical of "late early" Dunsany in that regard. And indeed, even the world of The Gods of Pegana is evidently meant to be in some sense ours, judging by the invocation of Olympus and Allah in the Introduction.
As I mention in the nomination thread, this one received a sequel called "The Hashish Man", which we discussed over a decade ago. Insert suitable cliché about the passage of time.
4RandyStafford
I'm warming to Dunsany. I liked this one, especially the concluding note that the abandonment of Bethmoora may have been due to something worse and more mysterious than the listed possibilities.
