I recently finished John Bellairs' The Treasure Of Alpheus Winterborn and began Washington Irving's The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow (which I've read before, re-reading now as it's a nice October read).
I recently finished John Bellairs' The Treasure Of Alpheus Winterborn and began Washington Irving's The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow (which I've read before, re-reading now as it's a nice October read).
It seems I'm miles above the surface of the Earth
I can see across the whole of London and beyond
I can see why The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow would be a nice October read. I've recently started The Gunslinger. I'm very new to Steven King.
Grady Hendrix - We Sold Our Souls. It's everything Black Mad Wheel (Malerman) failed to be. Highly recommended.
Just finished Washington Irving's The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow and began reading a few selected pieces from a Poe collection.
It seems I'm miles above the surface of the Earth
I can see across the whole of London and beyond
Just finished my brief Poe re-read, which included:
Shadow - A Parable
Silence - A Fable
Berenice
The Fall Of The House Of Usher
A Descent Into The Maelstrom
The Masque Of The Red Death
The Tell-Tale Heart
Enjoyable, but I miscalculated on choosing ones that would suit a Halloween-time read (For example, A Descent Into The Maelstrom is about a boat sucked into a whirlpool - not much creepy about that, although it isn't a bad story).
It seems I'm miles above the surface of the Earth
I can see across the whole of London and beyond
Just began Collected Ghost Stories by M.R. James, an English writer best known for his ghost stories, but who was also a respected medievalist scholar who once called James Joyce "that prostitutor of life and language." His ghost stories were originally published from 1904 - 1928.
This collection was published by Oxford University Press, which I mentioned in a previous post (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/...=1#post1122806) about another of their collections (Arthur Conan Doyle's Gothic Tales, described more fully here: http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/...=1#post1126211). As with GT, CGS has a striking cover design (which I'd post here, if not for the fact that I have no idea how to do so).
As I mentioned in that post, I'm reading up on older horror; this collection is part of that. Because I don't want to track down 10 - 15 collections per author, I like to find definitive collections when I can, and this one seems to fit the bill; Oxford describes it as "the only one-volume edition to include all the published stories included in M. R. James' 1931 Collected Ghost Stories [an older collection pretty much considered the comprehensive MRJ omnibus], plus three uncollected tales."
About the writing itself, Oxford says, "His classic supernatural tales draw on the terrors of the everyday, in which documents and objects unleash terrible forces, often in closed rooms and nighttime settings where imagination runs riot. Lonely country houses, remote inns, ancient churches or the manuscript collections of great libraries provide settings for unbearable menace from creatures seeking retribution and harm. These stories have lost none of their power to unsettle and disturb."
You can see more info (including that cover) at https://global.oup.com/academic/prod...?lang=en&cc=us.
It seems I'm miles above the surface of the Earth
I can see across the whole of London and beyond
Finally finished Ball Lightning by Cixin Liu. It took me nearly three months and every minute spent felt like a chore. The last chapter is a sort of prequel to Three Body Problem.
This isn't the Cixin Liu you're looking for.
I'm also reading the Ministry biography by Al Jurgensen. Man, what a nutbag. It's a very quick and fun read.
Just finished The Fisherman by John Langan. Entertaining enough, but will probably end up forgotten over time. Odd that a short book (265ish) took me so long to read. Not quite sure why reddit thinks this book is an all timer
Not really surprised it took you so long. The writing is dense but not much actually happens. I didn't even finish it. The ending is very obvious and if I ever wanted to read Peter Straub, I'll just read Peter Straub and not someone with a similar style.
I just started Olympos by Dan Simmons. This might take a while. And that's okay, I've ran out of Simmons books that interest me so I'll savour it.
Reading Nick Cutter's "Little Heaven" - I've already read The Troop and The Deep, and so far I'm really enjoying Little Heaven, it's quite interesting to read his take on Gunslingers
Anyone read Drood by Simmons? Any good? Worth reading? I’m hesitant after my last foray into his odd ball stuff. I have it just never bothered. Any one else read it?
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HELP ME FIND
Insomnia #459
ANY S/L #459
Depends on what you consider "odd ball stuff."
Yes, I'm curious what you mean by odd ball stuff as well?
I started Drood, and got maybe 1/3 in but then put it down. I enjoyed what I read, but for some reason I got readers block and didn't read anything for awhile which happens to me sometimes. I've been wanting to go back and read it but just haven't had the time to yet.
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
Drood (Charles Dickens/Wilkie Collins) falls into Simmons' literary historical novel catalogue with the likes of The Crook Factory (Ernest Hemingway) and The Fifth Element (Sherlock Holmes). I have read all of them but struggled at times to finish. That said I think highly enough of his writing that I find it worth the effort.
Have you read Song of Kali, Kris?
It’s his first novel and pretty much a classic! Might get you started looking for the beautiful lettered edition too (15 copies - Jerome has one)
“If you don't know what you want," the doorman said, "you end up with a lot you don't.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
Looking for SubPress Lettered::
Angel's Game and Prisoner of Heaven (Zafon)
Ilium (Simmons)
Would Drood be considered historical fiction?
Looking for Mister Slaughter S/L #78
Sort of, I guess. The book mixes fiction with biographical facts from the lives of Charles Dickens and fellow author (and friend) Wilkie Collins - plus other historical and literary figures of the Victorian era.
It's a fictionalized account of the last five years of Dickens' life.
Not a favorite by far.
sk
Philip K Dick - The Minority Report
Tapping out on Olympos on page 11. It's already a huge step down from Ilium. The reviews on Goodreads are SAVAGE. I actually laughed out loud at how personally offended some readers seemed by the book.