Book Hauls!

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

Ummm... a couple of warnings, Mr. G: Red World of Polaris shows Smith at his least promising; he had no patience with the conventions of the genre, so tended to use them very flatly or parodically when forced to abide by them, leaving the stories themselves less than impressive (though his acerbic wit certainly comes through).

And on The Ancient Track: Don't try to take a great deal of this at once. Much of HPL's verse is modeled on the 18th-century heroic couplet (what Keats called the "rocking-horse" style of verse), is deliberately antique not only in its diction but in its worldview, and seldom truly "inspired" (save for his fantastic verse and much of his satire -- including "Alfredo", which is a true gem). There are various other levels on which one can enjoy his verse, but they involve either a strong biographical knowledge of the man, of the issues he's dealing with, of history or classical studies, or an especial interest in the use of language. So don't go into it looking for great verse qua verse.

On the other hand, much of his fantastic verse and his satires are extremely effective, both as verse and on the other levels as well....

Yes I was aware of that, this collection has of all the Captain Valdermeer stories in it. I'm collecting a lot of Dunsany and Smith right now having cornered the market for Merritt, Wells, Verne, Macdonald and to a lesser extent Morriss as I build up my pre-war collection for the library. Hence my collection of works good, bad or indifferent by noted authors.

I agree with your comments regarding Ancient Track, Joshi says as much but he does provide useful notes towards the end of the book of what HPL is referring to in the poems. This copy has his signature which was a pleasant surprise. You have a copy I assume?

Cheers....

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by GOLLUM

I agree with your comments regarding Ancient Track, Joshi says as much but he does provide useful notes towards the end of the book of what HPL is referring to in the poems. This copy has his signature which was a pleasant surprise. You have a copy I assume?

Cheers....

Yes, I've got a copy... in fact, I need to pick up a new copy, as mine is beginning to show some serious signs of wear.... Yes, Joshi's notes are very useful, though space doesn't allow him to go into all the various things one easily can with these things, and occasionally something got left out either inadvertently or because of lack of evidence now and again. (One in particular that stands out to me is an acrostic verse titled "To an Accomplished Young Gentlewoman on Her Birthday, Decr. 2, 1914", addressed to a Dorrie M., who from context I would be willing to wager was Dora M. Hepner, then-president of the U.A.P.A. I would imagine this has been clarified -- either confirming or disproving my claim here -- long since, but I've not seen anything on it, so can't say for certain.)

[Amalthea]

Imajica by Clive Barker
Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
Tigana by GGK
Riddle-Song by Patricia McKillip

I just ordered them from amazon.

[Amalthea]

Originally Posted by Amalthea

Riddle-Master by Patricia McKillip

Had to fix that book title.

[Nesacat]

A good haul there Amalthea. I wish you joy in reading them and perhaps you might explore other titles by the same authors if you like these. There's The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by McKillip to start with and a whole slew of others.

[Amalthea]

Originally Posted by Nesacat

A good haul there Amalthea. I wish you joy in reading them and perhaps you might explore other titles by the same authors if you like these. There's The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by McKillip to start with and a whole slew of others.

Thank you, Nesacat.
I am sure I will enjoy them. Imajica was a book I had read years ago that I loved, and your suggestion from the other thread reminded me of it.
The other authors I was not familiar with, but my method is always to choose one book by an unfamiliar author and read that. I can usually tell right away whether I like their writing style, and if so, I will purchase other titles by the author.
Now, when will I get to read these new books I have no idea. I still have quite a few on my shelves now that I haven't opened yet. LOL

[scifi_vision]

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

[Who's Wee Dug]

Originally Posted by scifi_vision

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

Excellent book IMO the best he has done!but there again I have not read everthing he has written.

[j. d. worthington]

Continuing the replacement of various things lost over the years; in this case, The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series I, ed. by Richard Davis....

[nomadman]

Dark Gods TED Klein
The Black Gondolier by Fritz Leiber
The Skull of the Marquis de Sade Robert Bloch
The Best of Robert Silverberg
In the Penny Arcade Steven Millhauser

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by nomadman

Dark Gods TED Klein

Is this the best collection for Klein? I'm after a collection of his work and after you posted I looked at amazon and that collection looks quite good.

Thoughts please....

EDIT: Looking into it further he has very little in the way of collections and this one looks quite good so I might buy it.

[nomadman]

Originally Posted by GOLLUM

Is this the best collection for Klein? I'm after a collection of his work and after you posted I looked at amazon and that collection looks quite good.

Thoughts please....

EDIT: Looking into it further he has very little in the way of collections and this one looks quite good so I might buy it.

I can't give any thoughts on the stories as I haven't read them yet.

As you see he hasn't really written that much, but that which he has written is, by most accounts, extremely good. His only novel, The Ceremonies, is a longer version of an earlier novella, Events at Poroth Farm (which can be found in the recent Penguin Classics anthology, American Supernatural Tales as well as his newer collection Reassuring Tales), while Dark Gods collects most of his earlier novellas. Reassuring Tales is, with the exception of Events..., a collection of shorter pieces. I believe these have less of a Lovecraftian aura to them, though someone who has read them would furnish you with better information.

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by nomadman

I can't give any thoughts on the stories as I haven't read them yet.

As you see he hasn't really written that much, but that which he has written is, by most accounts, extremely good. His only novel, The Ceremonies, is a longer version of an earlier novella, Events at Poroth Farm (which can be found in the recent Penguin Classics anthology, American Supernatural Tales as well as his newer collection Reassuring Tales), while Dark Gods collects most of his earlier novellas. Reassuring Tales is, with the exception of Events..., a collection of shorter pieces. I believe these have less of a Lovecraftian aura to them, though someone who has read them would furnish you with better information.

Yes, I had an idea of his other work and I have Joshi's American Supernatural Tales and the reports are very good for Dark Tales. I think I might get copy, I beleive JD likes this author.

JD, have you read The Cermemonies?

[j. d. worthington]

Have I read The Ceremonies? Most definitely. I'd place it among the best supernatural horror novels of the latter half of the twentieth century -- easily within the best 20, perhaps the best 10. A very carefully crafted novel where nearly every word plays its part in building the atmosphere and "turning the screw", as it were. Incidentally, though, while having Lovecraftian elements, The Ceremonies is actually more heavily influenced by Arthur Machen; there are even elements that made me think of a dark reflection of "A Fragment of Life"....

Dark Gods is a very strong collection as well; I'd say "Nadelman's God" is the weakest of the lot, and even that one is still one heck of a good story -- it just happens to be in exceptional company, while "Black Man with a Horn" (despite Nesa's legitimate complaints about getting geographical elements wrong -- though I'd argue that's because of the Derleth/Long connection rather than something original to Klein) is also one of the best pieces of Lovecraftian fiction to come down the pike in ages.

nomadman: I'm also curious to hear your thoughts on the Bloch collection; as I recall (it's been quite some time since I read this one, and I no longer have a copy, unfortunately), it had some very good things in it....

[Allegra]

The Day Watch by Sergie Lukyanenko
God's Spy by Juan Gomez Jurado
The Woods by Harlan Coben
Mahler - His Life, Work and World by Kurt Blaukopf