I was really excited when friends mentioned that Robert Lloyd Parry was giving a reading at the Folly in Settle. Parry usually performs as Nunkie (M R James), but on this occasion he was in mufti. It was strange to see him out of his M R James persona. His choice of stories was unusual, but thoroughly enjoyable. Both stories were about thr Greek god Pan. Pan made an unexpected reappearance in Edwardian literature, and these two stories are amongst the best examples.
In the Edwardian period Pan came to symbolise a return to the "golden
age" of pastoral simplicity. This was a period of deep anxiety and
tension about industrialisation and the decline of the natural world.
Poets and authors were looking for answers to complex questions and
societal changes. These two authors are excellent exponents of these issues.
I absolutely love E F Benson, and I'm a huge fan of his Mapp and Lucia novels. I've only recently started reading his ghost stories, but I'm really enjoying them. So it was really good to listen to such a great storyteller reading one of Benson's longer and more unusual supernatural tales: The Man Who Went Too Far.
The Man Who Went Too Far is a cautionary tale of mysticism, nature worship, hubris and the limits of human transcendence. The protaganist Frank believes that by purging himself of all human flaws he can achieve pure joy and harmony with the universe. Sadly, the denouement of the tale is at odds with this ambition and Frank's final encounter with Pan is not a happy one!
The second, much shorter, tale was Kenneth Grahame's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. This is a rather beautiful tale featuring Mole and Ratty who, whilst searching for Otter's son, encounter Pan. Grahame's Pan is both tender and powerful, and the friends are left with a sense of peace and wonder following their encounter.
We enjoyed a wonderful evening of storytelling in the splendid setting of the Folly in Settle.
