Dagon

Dagon is a slow,delicious read. Fred Chappell has created the most horrifying book I have ever read. Along with an amazingly intricate plot, that builds and builds, he unfolds his tale with poetic accuracy. One enters this book slowly, and then a shocking event takes things to a new turn. The main character begins a life so far and horrible that he cannot even remember his former existence. This is where the book really takes off. It's chilling. You enter the mind of madness.

Chappell astounded me with I Am One of You Forever. That book is something I've recommended and given as a gift. I don't mind that Dagon is a departure from that style, I just didn't think the story or Chappell's writing held together as well as I expected based on his fantastic other novel.

Dagon is a short novel written by Fred Chappell, with a copyright in 1987. I have the LSU Press edition from 2002. It is a standard 5.5" x 8.5" trade paperback with 177 pages, seemingly substantial, but the font is larger than usual with trade paperbacks so it actually reads fairly quickly. Production values are high; there is a cover illustration by Dave Ross showing a half man with a scaly lower body from behind, held captive in chains in some sort of ancient temple. Evocative but no wow factor; there is no interior art (too bad, it might have relieved the tedium). List price is $15.95. This book was manufactured according to some standard on book longevity (again too bad, it will take that much longer to crumble away). Spoilers may follow, but who cares? I tend to buy and read almost anything mythos associated so of course I lapped it up. Just after the title page there is a page devoted to Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn. Very auspicious! Unfortunately that was also the highlight. I really did not like this book even a little bit and I have been trying to figure out why. Sometimes mythos books fall apart because the prose is poor, like Other Nations, or the prose, plot and characterizations all stink, like Island Life, or because the book has really nothing to do with the mythos and instead has to do with schlocky gross out horror, like A Darkness Inbred. This novel clearly was living and breathing in the world of the mythos, had a clearly thought out plot and had prose that was highly polished. So what was the problem? First of all, I couldn't stand any of the characters, particularly the protagonist, I was more concerned about Thomas Covenant than Peter Leland, and I wanted Thomas Covenant to meet an unseemly early end. Second, it was dull, tedious, boring, a chore to read. There was precious little forward momentum here. Finally, although highly crafted, the prose was almost entirely devoted to Peter's tortuous and disinteresting introspection. Also there was no awesomeness of a mythos entity or any sense of terror at all. He was mostly pathetic and worth only the reader's disdain. In a typical (mercifully only 10-15 pages) mythos story, a protagonist goes to an ancient mansion/estate/farm and falls under the influence of some evil dabbler in mythos books, or their own dabbling in mythos books, who then loses control over their free will and gets used for or comes to unseemly ends. The reader mainly sees it as either their journal entries or from a birds eye third person viewpoint. This novel rather originally places you in the mind of the victim protagonist who doesn't have any understanding of what is going on, who knows nothing of the mythos. He only catches glimpses but does not understand them or what the evil sorceror type is doing. The mythos happenings are never made explicitly clear. This *could* have been so cool. So Peter gradually loses his will and his life to the vaguely fishoid appearing Mina, with his wife an innocent bystander victim along the way. Nice premise, a slow disappointing slog to drag yourself through. Not recommended to anyone at all anywhere anytime. Go reread Balak or something good instead.

IMO the best of all the post-Lovecraftian novels.

A Southern twist on H.P. Lovecraft!

The first half of this book is great, becoming more and more atmospheric, moody, and tense as the main character (a more realistic version of the typical Lovecraft protagonist) investigates the mystery of his home. However, after that, the book radically shifts gears and becomes a journey into madness which, while it has some good and creepy bits, becomes primarily an exercise in psychological abuse and "gross-out" horror. Ultimately, I was unsatisfied with a book which has been so highly recommended by some.

it was a short read but a slow one, not much happens and if this is gothic horror it was very boring and the "celebrated" author is a bit of a windbag using big words that just slow down the whole reading experience

Before you approach this story, it is helpful to have knowledge of the Cthulhu Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. But this story transcends that story-world and explores something much deeper and more meaningful. It is really, really well-written, and you are in for a literary treat if you can stomach the content.

Ich habe kein Problem mit Horror ohne Action. Auch bei Lovecraft passiert nicht immer viel, und die Geschichten entwickeln sich aus den Erfahrungen der Protagonisten und den Auswirkungen auf ihre Psyche. Der wahre Schrecken entwickelt sich in den Charakteren. Oder eben auch nicht, so wie in diesem Fall. Das Problem ist, dass nicht wirklich nachvollziehbar ist, wie und warum der Protagonist immer weiter abgleitet. Das Hauptereignis des ersten Teils kommt aus dem Nichts, erschließt sich dem Leser nicht mal ansatzweise. Der Bezug zu Dagon beschränkt sich auf wenige Zeilen. Das Buch hat nicht wirklich mit den Lovecraft-Mythen zu tun. Wegen einiger interessanter Passagen hätte ich gerne einen zweiten Stern vergeben, nur musste ich den wegen des Etikettenschwindels wieder abziehen.