The black stranger and other American tales Book

Having just encountered "Black Canaan" in another collection (of zombie tales by assorted writers) developed an urge to offer a few thoughts on this collection, of which "Black Canaan" is one of the more notable offerings.

A point we fans of Howard fequently have to make allowances for is the time and social milieu he lived in. Howard whas a white male in mid-30s Texas, and the social attitudes inherent to that show in many of his stories, particularly in this collection. I do not think Howard was an overt racist, but he clearly accepted the less enlighened assumptions of his day.

This is actually part of what makes Howard interesting to read, that we get to see an imagination working in a world devoid of our modern notions of political correctness. We see a mind unbounded by the self-restraint of a modern socially conscious writer, and yet one not poisoned by the deliberate hatred of a modern racist. Very interesting if you can tolerate the change from our modern viewpoint.

The theme of this book is Howard tales with a connection to America, or at least the New World. Most are set in the historical past, varying from fantasies to westerns, though there is also a Conan story collected here, "The Black Stranger," which may be better know to some fans in an adulterated form as "The Treasure of Tranicos." This is the Howard original, with the real ending, and ever so much better for it.

That a Conan story may be included in a book of "American" tales may seem odd to a Conan reader, but the inclusion is entirely justifiable on thematic grounds. Those Conan tales in which the Picts appear feature elements taken from classic frontier myth and then inserted into Howard's Hyborean Age. But on those grounds I am inclined to think that "Beyond the Black River" would have been a more appropriate choice of Conan stories, being very nearly something James Fenimore Cooper might have written.