what are you reading now?

Slothrop

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
MR James is a fantastic stylist, but has a bit of a tendancy to write the same fairly inconsequential story over and over again. He's great in spite of his basic material rather than because of it.

I occasionally wonder what you'd get if you gave him the collected HP Lovecraft and told him to rewrite it without using the word "indescribable".
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
While we're talking of weird-lit, is there any Robert Chambers worth reading other than The King In Yellow? I understand he made a good living churning out Mills&Boon-esque romantic slush that middle-class housewives bought by the ton but I think he wrote at least one or two other volumes of weird/cosmic horror stuff. I thought TKiY was great (the four interlinked stories, anyway) and loved the way it was used in True Detective, too.
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
Lovecraft is a kitsch joke. No one really takes that schlock seriously, except perhaps you And Mr tea
 
droid

droid

Well-known member
Yeah.... OK.

I was referring to what Lovecraft called the 'modern masters' in his 'Supernatural Horror in Literature' - Dunsany, James, Blackwood & Machen.
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
Do you collect those plastic figurines they sell in comic book shops? A Diamond Select Toys release! By the hoary hosts of Hoggoth!
 
droid

droid

Well-known member
lol, youve never asked an innocent question.

But the answer is no. I live a life free from adornment or frippery.
 
droid

droid

Well-known member
27775171.jpg
 
Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Recently read ''Kill Shot'' by Elmore Leonard, which I absolutely loved.

Now reading "Lucky Jim". Not the hilarious gut-buster I was promised by the jacket but very well-written and has coaxed several smirks from me already.
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
Remember thinking that Lucky Jim seemed really old-fashioned, dated... something you notice a lot from fiction of that era more than you do with something written two hundred years ago somehow.
I'm reading a book called City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg (is that his real name) - young hotly tipped author who produced this nine-hundred page megabook about NY in the seventies told through several intertwined stories and voices (with a slight tendency to sound the same unfortunately). It's ok but that's all really, I drag it to work and bag each day with minimal enthusiasm and only manage to turn over a few pages each time. Still, it should be building up my arm muscles.
Also saw House of Leaves for sale in the Oxfam window the other day and grabbed it cos although I read it years ago I've never actually owned a copy and I thought at two or three quid it was too good to miss. Probably if you flick back a few years in this thread you can see what I thought of it.
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
I suppose I'll probably pick up Infinite Jest again now I've finished my manic writing project. I've enjoyed it a great deal so far but I dunno if I'd call it a 'page-turner' as such - but perhaps I'm looking at it in the wrong way.

Will probably tackle Jonathan Meades's autobiog after that.
 
subvert47

subvert47

I don't fight, I run away
Simon Baker - Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire

He uses the word "however" far too much – what happened to the editor? :slanted:
 
subvert47

subvert47

I don't fight, I run away
subvert47 said:
Interesting - I thought The Scar and Iron Council were a bit hit and miss, not at all as good as Perdido Street Station. But I've only read any of his books once. The real test comes when you read them again.
Click to expand...

currently rereading Perdido Street Station - a truly excellent book :)
 
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