Purple Cloud

Friday, March 23rd., Cadogan Square, London.

Much kerfuffle about "Punch and Judy". Having written the story, which took some time and for which I was inadequately  recompensed, I am now being asked to provide dialogue for a 'talkie'. Had I known it was to be a 'talkie' I would have approached it differently from the outset. I have asserted, and mean it, that I will not take the task on for less than £2,000. It is in Wicken's hands. I had lunch with Thorpe and Dupont the other day and sensed that they may give way. I hope so. I could do with the money, especially as we are off to Antibes next week for a holiday which is certain to cost a great deal.

For light relief yesterday I read a new edition of "The Purple Cloud" by M.P.Shiel. In fact I read the original nearly 30 years ago when it was first published. This new edition has been severely edited which doesn't surprise me. What did surprise me was that the original was allowed to pass - setting aside its general 'blasphemous' character it also included a clear allusion to necrophilia which startled me at the time. How it got past the publisher I don't know! Just to make sure my memory wasn't deceiving me I looked out the original in my library and found the relevant passage: "I have taken a dead girl with wild huggings to my bosom, and I have touched the corrupted lip, and spat upon her face." Seems clear enough to me!

M P Shiel

What interested me in the original publication was that I had happened to meet Shiel in Paris in 1898. Forget who introduced us. A strongly built, though not tall, man of dark complexion and deep-set eyes. Probably a 'touch of the tarbrush' in his background I should think. An engaging manner. Very talkative and remarkably willing to reveal all sorts of things about himself. To me for example, in the course of conversation, he said that he had been seduced by an older girl at the age of 5 (five!) and had been in the way of regular sexual intercourse with almost any willing young woman or girl ever since. He regarded the sexual act as as natural as breathing and saw no reason to limit his indulgence. I thought he was simply boasting at the time but have since heard that he is a renowned seducer (particularly of girls and young women) and has fathered numerous illegitimate children. A remarkable character! His literary career however has not been a success.

As regards the book, it is the story of the only survivor of a world-catastrophe who travels all over the face of the globe burning cities and generally going insane. Eventually he finds another survivor, of the female sex (a young girl!) and domesticity sets in, not too soon. I read the novel with much admiration 28 years ago and find that it has worn exceedingly well in spite of the editing. The affair is stupendous in conception, and rather more than adequately executed. I call it grandiose, fearsome, and truly distinguished. No doubt Shiel was much influenced by the work of Poe, and I think he may himself have had an influence on the contemporary American 'horror' novelist, H.P.Lovecraft. I don't know that for a fact but the excesses of imagination and wild writing style invite comparison.