I searched and couldn’t find a similar thread so I figured I’d start one for all us fin-de-siécle nerds. For the uninitiated, the Decadent movement (such as it was, occasionally conflated/overlapped with the Aesthete and Symbolist movements) was an artistic/lifestyle movement loosely spanning the mid-late to late 19th century with Romanticism at one end and proto-Modernism at the other. In its most basic form the idea was that civilization was on the decline and instead of using beauty and pleasure for wholesome, edifying, Victorian sorts of ends beauty and pleasure were really the only things humanity had going on for it in the face of a crumbling world similar to the last days of Rome and really the only thing you could do was appreciate it, preferably in as shocking and counter-cultural a manner as possible. Obviously this is an incredibly simplified summary, but the point is that Fallen London fits right into the heyday of Decadence, owes a lot of debts to the movement itself, and is a wonderful place to be hedonistic and degenerate in, so let’s drink some absinthe, write some OTT erotic poetry and celebrate all things Decadent.
Well, this is a whacky coincidence: completely unrelated to Fallen London, I’ve recently started a reading project on the Decadents. So far I’ve read The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Great God Pan, and A Rebours, and I’m about to check out a collection of the pictures of Aubrey Beardsley.
Awesome! I haven’t read The Great God Pan in aaaaaages and may have to reread it now that you’ve reminded me of its existence. Along similar lines, if you haven’t read Robert Chambers’ The King in Yellow I would highly recommend checking it out. The last few stories after The Demoiselle d’Ys are pretty indifferent quality but the first few are great, particularly The Repairer of Reputations and the titular one. edited by Aspasia Perivale on 8/3/2015
[quote=Aspasia Perivale]
Awesome! I haven’t read The Great God Pan in aaaaaages and may have to reread it now that you’ve reminded me of its existence. Along similar lines, if you haven’t read Robert Chambers’ The King in Yellow I would highly recommend checking it out. The last few stories after The Demoiselle d’Ys are pretty indifferent quality but the first few are great, particularly The Repairer of Reputations and the titular one. edited by Aspasia Perivale on 8/3/2015[/quote]
I have read it! I’m a massive Cthulhu Mythos fan - I have, no joke, two bookcases of the stuff - so I read King in Yellow ages ago. :) Have you tried any of the modern "Yellow Mythos" stories based on Chambers’ work, e.g. by Tynes?
[quote=Mark ][quote=Aspasia Perivale]
Awesome! I haven’t read The Great God Pan in aaaaaages and may have to reread it now that you’ve reminded me of its existence. Along similar lines, if you haven’t read Robert Chambers’ The King in Yellow I would highly recommend checking it out. The last few stories after The Demoiselle d’Ys are pretty indifferent quality but the first few are great, particularly The Repairer of Reputations and the titular one. edited by Aspasia Perivale on 8/3/2015[/quote]
I have read it! I’m a massive Cthulhu Mythos fan - I have, no joke, two bookcases of the stuff - so I read King in Yellow ages ago. :) Have you tried any of the modern "Yellow Mythos" stories based on Chambers’ work, e.g. by Tynes?[/quote]
My city library has a collection called The Hastur Cycle that I read a while ago and quite enjoyed. I forget if any of the stories were by that particular author, though. Maybe it’s time for a re-read. My personal favorite modern interpretation is actually a story someone made for Call of Cthulhu where the investigators are… well, investigating a production of The King in Yellow in 1920s Rio de Janeiro. I’d have to look it up again but I would love to run it at some point. Now all I need is a CoC group. :/