I have not, but I've heard of it and it sounds interesting. Should probably be on my radar.Quoting kuehnepips (view post)
I have not, but I've heard of it and it sounds interesting. Should probably be on my radar.
This is akin to saying that The Big Sleep is the same as The ABC Murders because they both involve parlor room mysteries with a detective at the center, or that Star Wars, Mad Max, and The Matrix are all the same because they all follow the hero's journey, or that The Sun Also Rises is the same as Tender is the Night because the both focus on disaffected expatriates in post-war Europe, or that, well, any big old adventure story is the same as any big old adventure story (The Three Musketeers, Gargantua and Pantagruel, Jacques the Fatalist, Count of Monte Cristo, Don Quixote, or hell even Candide).
In other words, it's an entirely superficial and shallow assessment. Saying so reduces any work to its basest components and renders it lifeless. McMurty goes places in Lonesome Dove that Tolkien never dreamed of (and to be fair they weren't places JRR was interested in going).
If you read everything through that smudgy genre-filled lens, eventually it'll come back and bite you on the ass. This is one of those times.
Given your posts in other places, this kind of rigid and limited thinking is striking.
"All fiction is fantasy" is so broad as to be meaningless, and also ignores that not all stories are based around Campbell's idea of the monomyth, not even in genre fiction.
No story is based (well I guess some are in a more post-modern way: Hiero's Journey, Snowcrash, etc...)around Campbell's idea of the monomyth; Campbell simply pointed out similarities in mythology that he observed. I do the same. For me, reading is all about connecting the dots. It's something I've always done - this is like this, which is like that, which is also a lot like this, and that is similar to this....and so on. It's how I explore fiction, discover new authors and books, and enjoy the hobby. I am constantly tracking lines through works of fiction.
Just learned that Penguin is releasing...
I thought they did a fantastic job assembling Lovecraft's works, and this book not only carries similar notes from weird tale scholar S. T. Joshi, it also carries a whip-smart introduction from Guillermo Del Toro.
Also, I just love the simple elegance of Penguin paperbacks.
Ooo...very cool.
When's it being released, DaMU?
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
I just checked the Canada site, and it said September 27th, so it may already be in stores.
It doesn't have "The Great God Pan," though.
:lol:
It doesn't have "The Great God Pan", yet the cover is a big image of Pan?
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Well you know. It's Penguin's equivalent of giving Keira Knightley boobs on a movie poster.
Machen definitely deserves wider recognition.
I'm pretty sure that Joshi dislikes The Great God Pan, and he and I rarely see eye-to-eye on anything. At the very least he doesn't think it is as good as its reputation suggests.
I, on the other hand, think it is a masterpiece. I've read about 1/2 of Machen's material, and it's my personal favorite.
Little, Big is pretty good so far. It's entirely dream-like and surreal, pastoral and glacially paced. It really does feel like glimpsing another world through a cloudy mirror. I can see why so many authors consider it an unappreciated masterpiece. It's got that robust vibe to it like Gormenghast or The Worm Ouroboros, two books that Little, Big has inspired me to read soon.
If you're looking for a romantic fairy tale to read, and want something dense and challenging, check this out. I hope it holds my interest for all 600 pages - that's my only worry.
Took me nearly a year, but I finally read all of The King in Yellow.
Excellent stuff. The collection begins with a run of supernatural tales, but things shift into more traditional Romantic storytelling halfway through. I was not expecting that at all, and it took some adjustment of expectations, since the first half keeps hinting about the eponymous "King in Yellow," which is an in-universe play that drives people mad. But throughout, Robert Chambers paints a vivid picture of turn-of-century France, and his prose is slyer than I expected. The best story here, "The Demoiselle d'Ys," combines his first-half supernaturalism and second-half love stories into an effective and affecting tale of tragic love unbound by time.
Really glad I read this. I'm slowly but surely moving past Lovecraft, into his peers and influences. After Clark Ashton Smith and Robert Chambers, the next step is M. R. James.
This is one of those situations, like Spielberg making a new Indiana Jones movie, where I have no options.
Finished 100 Hair-Raising Little Horror Stories. Very fun collection. A lot of oddballs and unexpected treats. May discuss more in-depth tonight. Recommended for fans of horror, but it also could work as a splendid primer for people who want to see the variety of the genre.
It has a Lansdale in it, yes. I'm not sure about Wellman. I'm at work now - left the book at home.
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