Far Off Things

Praise at a London dinner sends Arthur Machen's thoughts back to a quiet lane in Gwent, where he once handed pages of a translation to the postman. That contrast between a bright restaurant and a darkening country landscape introduces his literary autobiography. He recalls the hills and woods around Caerleon, linking the scenery of his childhood with his later imagination. The dedication explains that these recollections first appeared in a newspaper after its editor urged him to write them.

His account of early adulthood moves between the attraction of London and the pull of familiar places in Wales. Changing lodgings, uncertain meals and periods of loneliness give practical weight to his ambitions as a writer. Machen remembers cheap refreshments alongside dreams of the city's splendour and a room near the Strand. Readers interested in the beginnings of a literary career will find memories of work and hardship shaped by a strong attachment to place.