PetrusOctavianus: There's a slightly childish feel to the way the story is told, except the style is admittedly quite poetic, but lack of any dialogue and 300 pages is just to much of a turn-off.
Well I did say it would be a challenge. It's not an easy read for a few reasons, but once you get in far enough to grasp enough, there is a unique magic about it with a sort of Gothic Horror Religious SciFi Fantasy Eerie feel.
Not sure how old you are, but if you are less than 30, you would have additional issues relating etc. Hell, even someone born in the 80s would struggle with the style and approach. Not saying it is much easier for those born in the 70s either or even earlier. It does help though, if you are familiar with stories that contain Thees and Thous and so on.
Don't know if you checked the author out, but he was just getting into his stride when he was killed in 1918 during the First World War. And the style of the Night Land was a once off for him, to try and capture an archaic sort of alternate reality kind of feel much like what you get with the works of E.R. Eddison (Worm Ouroboros etc).
The period he was writing in had a much simpler view on life and very religious, which no doubt comes across a bit childish these days. And of course an author to be successful back then, had to be clever with their limited target audience. The world back then had very set stereotypes of what a true man and woman were, and strong notions on chivalry and honor and romantic love and sacrifice and dedication. We live in an extremely different world now.
William Hope Hodgson The Night Land (1912) Project Gutenburg downloads PetrusOctavianus: .... the weird syntax being used which reminded me of my horror when I tried to read Samuel R. Delaney's Dahlgren. It's not nearly as extreme, though, and I quickly got used to it, but still the style really grates on me.
I remember trying to read Dahlgren back in the late 70s or early 80s, and I couldn't finish it. Not because of the style as such, which I don't recall any difficulty with, but because the main character turned out to be a male homosexual, and I was quite anti-Gay back then. I'd actually been enjoying the story up to that point, so it was a kind of conundrum for me, but fear of corruption and a strong dislike of being put into the mind of a Gay person, eventually won out, and I stopped reading. I have a notion I should go back and try that novel again, now that I have a much more enlightened modern view of Gay people. The irony I suppose in some way, is that I was probably reading Jerry Cornelius novels by Michael Moorcock back in that period or maybe slightly later. I only recall stopping a book due to Gayness, on one other occasion during my life, which was the first book in a series by the author Elizabeth A. Lynn I think.
I'm not usually someone who doesn't complete what I start reading, so I could probably count on one hand, maybe two, the occasions where that has occurred. Generally I am pretty good at judging a book before I read it. I also have this fundamental belief in respecting an author where it is apparent they have worked hard and been diligent, and many stories are slow burners, especially back in the day.
And now for a funny related story about The Night Land.
I bought the novel as new, though pretty sure it was on a sales table, and I eventually got around to reading it. It was a thick paperback novel, and as I got to the end, I realized there had been a publishing error and the last portion of the novel was missing. I was horrified, and to some degree the story was spoiled for me ... first reads like first watches and listens are vitally important to my mind. Things are rarely the same when you revisit or break for too long. I am the sort of person who wants to watch a good movie from start to finish without interruption, and definitely a must for first watch. I am also like that the first time I listen to an album by an artist I love ... I isolate myself somewhere, usually the car for the first listen. I guess I should say 'used to do that', because it is much harder these days to achieve it.
Anyway, back to the book. I could not find another copy anywhere, not even at a library. I eventually found a crappy poor quality second hand copy of the Lin Carter abridged version, and had to make do with that to finish the story. In the end, I worked out the last 100 pages roughly were missing from my flawed copy. In all my years of reading, that is the only time something like that has happened to me on that scale. I've had the odd missing page or chapters or paragraphs out of order, but that's it.
I never have read the complete unabridged version of The Night Land, though as soon as it became available as an ebook at The Gutenburg Project I grabbed it, along with all the other available stories by that author, most still unread by me. I am unlikely to ever read The Night Land again, too much hard work in an era of so many easier reads ... and I have an ever growing huge backlog. It is a classic though, and I am glad I read it, because I liked it overall. In some way it also reminds me a touch of Out Of The Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis and Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake, though they are much easier reads by comparison, and written much later. If I recall rightly, they were fans of William Hope Hodgson, as was Michael Moorcock and many other newer authors, Tolkien included.
P.S. There is something else I recall about that Lin Carter abridged version. He published it in two parts, and I got the second part only in poor condition. You might find the abridged version a better read, as it modifies the archaic style text to be more familiar or readable by modern standards. To me though and many others, the archaic style is integral, and I have never been tempted to find a complete abridged copy. I missed that element when reading the modified version.
