I started watching The Outsider on HBO but then realized that I actually wanted to finish the book before I went any further (was about 1/3 of the way through when I stopped reading).
So I'm reading that now, and I can't stop picturing and hearing Ben Medehlson in my head as Ralph Anderson lol.
I'm close to finishing the book! But I'm avoiding the show at all costs as to NOT picture the actors in my head.Originally Posted by fernandito
[resists insane urge to look up Ben Medehlson]
come on, you know you can't resist... just do it... we all float down here....I'm close to finishing the book! But I'm avoiding the show at all costs as to NOT picture the actors in my head.
[resists insane urge to look up Ben Medehlson
Spoiler:
Funny. As I read The Stand I could not remember who played a lot of the characters and intentionally did not look it up so when I started the mini-series last night was surprised. The casting is pretty good but glad I was not picturing Rob Lowe and Molly Ringwald as I read the book.I'm close to finishing the book! But I'm avoiding the show at all costs as to NOT picture the actors in my head.
[resists insane urge to look up Ben Medehlson
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ANYTHING DT Related #246
Dead Zone First Edition F/F or NF/NF
Ben is not at ALL how I pictured Ralph in the book.
A NEW GAME BEGINS
I don't think I'll ever achieve this.
A NEW GAME BEGINS
Asshole.
come on, you know you can't resist... just do it... we all float down here....
Spoiler:
And I immediately saw the pic and said to myself: "Oh, the guy Bane killed."
When I finally read The Stand a few years back, I had to try so hard to get the mini-series cast out of my head.Funny. As I read The Stand I could not remember who played a lot of the characters and intentionally did not look it up so when I started the mini-series last night was surprised. The casting is pretty good but glad I was not picturing Rob Lowe and Molly Ringwald as I read the book.I'm close to finishing the book! But I'm avoiding the show at all costs as to NOT picture the actors in my head.
[resists insane urge to look up Ben Medehlson
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I agree. He's not even close to the Ralph in my head.Ben is not at ALL how I pictured Ralph in the book.
I know I'm two years late, and not sure if this is the place for this post but I found a couple of hours spare yesterday and read elevation... I really dont know what to think about that book! Parts I loved and parts I really didn't... what was up with it? Short story made for a compilation that ran two pages over the quote???
From 12/23 - 12/26, I read The World Of Edward Gorey by Clifford Ross and Karen Wilkin.
My interest in Gorey took flight with John Bellairs' The House With A Clock In Its Walls and continued with other Bellairs books, but I also enjoyed his work with Mystery! and anything else I could turn up (although I have yet, I am ashamed to admit, to buy any of Gorey's publications - but it will happen, I assure you).
TWOEG contains an interview with Gorey, an assessment of his work, and pages of the work itself. A quick little thing, but interesting if you enjoy his work.
Some fun quotes from the man himself:
“Of course I never believe Matisse when he says, ‘Now don’t do these slapdash things that I do because I’ve spent years doing this and only I can do it with authority.’ I’m not saying that most of his paintings aren’t perfectly wonderful, but I’m not at all sure that somebody else couldn’t do just as well.”
“…‘painterly.’ Isn’t that what it’s called when they talk about Jasper Johns’s work? It’s ‘painterly,’ which means it’s sort of sloppy.”
“Unfortunately, I came across an anecdote about Dickens, which I won’t repeat, and I haven’t been able to read any since.” [Infuriatingly, I have not been able to find out what this was - aaaaaaghhh].
Does anyone remember the MTV show (possibly their first live-action show) Dead At 21? I loved it, and strangely, Gorey liked it too.
It seems I'm miles above the surface of the Earth
I can see across the whole of London and beyond
The show is so much better IMO.
You don't know my kind.....You don't my mind.....Dark necessities are part of my design.....
Really? You don't hear that very often. How so?The show is so much better IMO.
(with no spoilers if possible, please
For Christmas, I received five books that I was quite jacked up to try out:
- The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley
- A Head Full Of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
- The Slow Regard Of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
- Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
- The Everyman's Library omnibus edition of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy
I chose to begin with The Loney (which I believe is commonly described as new gothic horror, or something similar) and read it from 1/5 - 1/11.
I discovered The Loney in a roundabout way - on a forum website (possibly TDT, possibly elsewhere), someone posted a link to a book and told people to check out a book (it might've been something by Pete Townshend, either his memoir or his novel), and at the bottom of that page was an ad or notice about a then-forthcoming book whose cover and description were mighty intriguing: Hurley's since-released Starve Acre. Since a sample for Starve Acre wasn't available, I checked to see if he had anything else and found his two earlier novels: The Loney and Devil's Day. The descriptions for both won me over, but the deal was sealed when I read the sample; I mean, check out The Loney's opening paragraph:
...this immediately whisked me off into precisely the atmosphere I'd long craved - fantastic! When "seeding" my Christmas gift list, I almost requested both Hurley books, but instead decided to spread it around, and hold off on Devil's Day until after having actually read The Loney, which went thus:It had certainly been a wild end to the autumn. On the Heath a gale stripped the glorious blaze of colour from Kenwood to Parliament Hill in a matter of hours, leaving several old oaks and beeches dead. Mist and silence followed and then, after a few days, there was only the smell of rotting and bonfires.
Hurley’s style is very much what I call soft-pedal horror, heavy on atmosphere and smooth prose (which I enjoy and appreciate), but soft on the actual horror, by which I mean, even when something truly horrible actually happens, it doesn't feel horrible, it is edgeless, the same atmospheric prose with which Hurley might relay a comfortable conversation or pleasant sunset. Now, I don't need swinging axes or buckets of blood, but I need to feel something creepy or threatening; for example, in Peter Straub's Ghost Story, there was almost never anything gory happening around Gregory Bate, but when he looked at you with those gold eyes... Straub had a way of communicating threat, fear, and evil while hosting you in a fine library, and that's what I'm looking for (I suppose I'm always looking for an author who can provide me with a stream of Ghost Stories and Shadowlands).
Novels often tantalize the reader with an “object to be named later” (or “object behind the curtain,” if you like), which builds atmosphere and propels the reader along the crest of story’s wave. The thing is, in the end, the writer must deliver, and if he doesn’t, any excitement or other anticipatory interest is retroactively ruined. The Loney had two such objects, both being past events that changed a character in a significant way. In one case, something truly significant and noteworthy had happened - Hurley delivered on this point. In the second case, the event was something utterly banal and therefore unable to bear the weight logically (it didn't warrant the consequences attributed to it in the story) or structurally (it couldn't meet the expectations of a late reveal) - mere background, presented at precisely the point that demanded real substance. This was a failure, and a significant one.
Although The Loney wasn't quite what I’d expected, it still had a good story and great writing - I do recommend it to anyone who, after reading the description and sample for themselves, suspects it might be for them. I will definitely read more of Hurley's work, but where I’d expected to immediately need to jump into Devil’s Day upon completing The Loney, I’m actually okay with waiting a while - and the search for the next “gotta have” author continues...
It seems I'm miles above the surface of the Earth
I can see across the whole of London and beyond
I love Edward Gorey. Have you been to his house before?
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
I haven't, but we occasionally drive to that area and really have to fit it in.
It seems I'm miles above the surface of the Earth
I can see across the whole of London and beyond
Oh you need to. They have quite a collection of his stuff. Plus it's interesting to see where he lived. I've been there a few times.I haven't, but we occasionally drive to that area and really have to fit it in.
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
I had this same issue when I first tried to read The Stand. I had a hard time getting into because all I could picture were Molly Ringwald, Gary Sinise, and Laura San Giacomo. All people that I really did not want to pictureWhen I finally read The Stand a few years back, I had to try so hard to get the mini-series cast out of my head.
When I went back years later to finally read it I really had to struggle hard to get those images out of my head, but it was not easy. Funny how a visual adaptation can affect your enjoyment of a story.
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
Because I first read The Stand prior to the miniseries, I have no problem from picturing the cast.
I do sometimes picture Shawnee Smith, but that's...for other reasons having nothing to do with The Stand.
It seems I'm miles above the surface of the Earth
I can see across the whole of London and beyond
Rosemay Baby... lovin the read!
HELP ME FIND
Insomnia #459
ANY S/L #459
I really wish I had read it prior to watching the miniseries. Funny thing is that it had been forever since I had seen the miniseries, and I honestly have little memory of what actually happens in it, but for some reason most of the actors are so vivid in my mind. I can't wait until the new series comes out. It'll be nice to get some new images in my head.
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
After putting The Loney to bed, I moved on to A Head Full Of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay, which had been recommended by someone here on TDT in response to my request for something involving demonic possession, and has been read by many of you. I read AHFOG from 1/12 - 1/20.
AHFOG was the opposite of The Loney: less purely enjoyable prose, but much more meat on its bones and actual nefarious doings afoot. [And when I say "less purely enjoyable prose," it's not that the writing is actually bad; AHFOG's documentary nature (mostly first-person recollection; the rest is an informal blog) undoubtedly gives it the flavor it has. The upshot is that, even having read AHFOG, I don’t feel that I know what Tremblay’s writing is actually like, and so one day I will read his next novel (Disappearance At Devil’s Rock).]
As most of you know, the central issue here is a teenage girl (Marjorie) that may be possessed by a demon - is she or isn't she? - and what goes on in her family, including a reality TV show documenting the whole thing. I have lots to say about what unfolds, but will put it behind a spoiler for those of you who have yet to read this (but those of you who have read it, join me inside, won't you?).
Spoiler:
I do recommend this.
It seems I'm miles above the surface of the Earth
I can see across the whole of London and beyond
Loved AHFOG, Cabin at The End Of the World was even better IMHO.
Wish List:
Any of the following flatsigned or inscribed-
It, Shining, Salem’s Lot, Mr. Mercedes, The Stand
Brother ARC, Seed ARC
From 1/21 - 1/22 I read Patrick Rothfuss's The Slow Regard Of Silent Things, a tiny (161 small pages) novella focusing on a minor character (Auri) from Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicle series. [No one who hasn't read The Name Of The Wind should bother with this (it's no entry point for those who'd like to try out some Rothfuss), but if you have read and enjoyed it and would like to take a peek behind the walls and under the stones, this may be for you.]
It's pretty much what I'd expected: nice writing, with information that appeals to me as a fan of Rothfuss and this series, but non-essential.
It seems I'm miles above the surface of the Earth
I can see across the whole of London and beyond
From 1/22 - 1/27, I read Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere ("author's preferred text," FYI).
I quite liked this - I love Gaiman's relaxed yet colorful style - but it wasn't quite what I'd thought it would be, as I was unaware that humor was such a huge part of what it was (my research has since shown that much of Gaiman's output like this). Neverwhere was a bit of an adventure for main character Richard Mayhew, a kind of everyman standing in for the reader, sharing our reactions to the outlandish things he witnessed and participated in. It was interesting and had a satisfying conclusion.
This edition came with a bonus Neverwhere-related short story (How The Marquis Got His Coat Back), which was also quite enjoyable.
I will definitely read more Gaiman at some point (I really must get Coraline).
It seems I'm miles above the surface of the Earth
I can see across the whole of London and beyond
I forgot to add: while I was editing my post about A Head Full Of Ghosts, my TDT browser window did like a "reset" kind of thing; I didn't know why, but I looked at the top of the page for anything that might have changed. I'm not sure if anything had changed, but the only thing that caught my eye was where it says You Have __ Unread Posts. The number was 66. Of course it was.
It seems I'm miles above the surface of the Earth
I can see across the whole of London and beyond
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