The Books/Reading Thread

[Einherjar86]

I finished M. John Harrison's Light and started the sequal, Nova Swing. I love this guy's writing style; it makes me think of something along the lines of Ginsberg or Kerouac writing science fiction. Fans of Gibson, Gaiman, and Mieville would definitely enjoy Harrison; his prose is dark, brutal, and has an almost crime-noir feel.

 

[unknown]

hm! very interesting...I'll have to check it out

 

[Lugreech]

I am reading a book about philosophy and metaphysic that they gave me in my philosophy institute

 

[Der Morgenstern]

I need some recommendations on texts to read that pertain to the development of society and legal systems from the 8th to the end of the Middle-Ages. I'm probably going to go with some Norman Cantor works, but anything else?

 

[Raina]

Currently only reading on the subway trip to work and back :S Got some books on Christmas, so I'm now reading Dostoievski's 'The double'.

 

[unknown]

just finished reading Algernon Blackwood's Four Weird Tales. They were pretty good and were my first real introduction to Blackwood's writing. I really like it. I find him more approachable than Lovecraft, but not as pessimistic. I can see they share a lot of the same beliefs (that the world of man is a veil hiding another world which ancient cultures once knew), but I don't quite get the human-race-is-fucked feeling like I get from Lovecraft

 

[skeptik]

Blackwood's writing is, unlike Lovecraft's, enlightened by genuine beliefs, I think, which is why there is somewhat of a different feel overall. Whereas Dunsany dealt chiefly in awe and whimsy and Lovecraft was more focused on horror, Blackwood's fell somewhere in between. By the way, which four tales were included in that book? I find that his work is not as of universal quality as Lovecraft (though part of that would be due to his prolificacy).

 

[unknown]

"The Insanity of Jones," "The Man Who Found Out," "The Glamour of the Snow," and "Sand."

 

[skeptik]

Well, that's certainly an interesting variety of tales. His "The Willows" is essential reading before passing final judgment though.

 

[Manic Ferocity]

Now reading H.P. Lovecraft's The Complete Fiction.

 

[Cronopio]

Now reading H.P. Lovecraft's The Complete Fiction.

Trouble with Lovecraft is there are too damn many editions of his work on the market. They all claim to be the "definite" or the "complete", but it turns out they're not, or they're riddled with typos, anachronisms and assorted errors.

The one you have, is it good? Could you post a pic of it, or maybe the ISBN number? Would be a great help.

 

[The Ozzman]

I have been reading this non stop for the past however long:

The test is Friday

 

[skeptik]

Trouble with Lovecraft is there are too damn many editions of his work on the market. They all claim to be the "definite" or the "complete", but it turns out they're not, or they're riddled with typos, anachronisms and assorted errors.

The one you have, is it good? Could you post a pic of it, or maybe the ISBN number? Would be a great help.

For Lovecraft's fiction, get the Penguin editions (there are 3 volumes) edited by S.T. Joshi. These are the definitive editions, or as close to one as there is. Joshi's commentary and notes are very illuminating in addition. They are called The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories, The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories, and The Dreams in the Witch House and Other Weird Stories. Each volume is not chronologically consistent with the previous, however; every novel is a series of selected stories that progress from his early writing to his late writing, so if you want to read them in order, you will have to piece them together yourself.

 

[The Emptier]

Yes I have read those they are definitely fantastic. Did a large report on him in high school, i've been meaning to read him again...actually I might as well since i'm at the library now

 

[unknown]

I'm personally a fan of the Barnes & Noble collection. For one, it's a bigass single hardcopy volume that looks sexy as hell. Two, it has all of his stories plus his essay on weird fiction, and the stories are in chronological order.

My only complaint is I have found several typos. Other than that it's fantastic. And it was only $20!

 

[divine_torture]

I'm reading At The Mountains of Madness and some others now. Fantastic stuff.

I bought Red Mars so I could finish it. Hope it turns out to be as good through the second half...

 

[Der Morgenstern]

I started reading the John Constantine: Hellblazer omnibus editions. I know. Very cultured stuff.

 

[Manic Ferocity]

I'm personally a fan of the Barnes & Noble collection. For one, it's a bigass single hardcopy volume that looks sexy as hell. Two, it has all of his stories plus his essay on weird fiction, and the stories are in chronological order.

My only complaint is I have found several typos. Other than that it's fantastic. And it was only $20!

This is the one I was referring to and yeah, it's excellent. I've found a few typos myself, though but that's hardly a big deal as far as I'm concerned. I also own the Necronomicon compilation which is also cool but not as comprehensive. I may have to invest in the Penguin editions.

I've been meaning to look into more weird fiction. Any suggestions on where to start? I know of Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen, and Clark Ashton Smith but have yet to delve into their material. Any suggestions on specific compilations from those authors or other authors to check out would be welcome.

 

[skeptik]

Well, to be frank, I would again advise to seek out S.T. Joshi's work with Penguin. He has edited informative and annotated anthologies of both Blackwood and Machen under the names Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories and The White People and Other Weird Stories, respectively. For Smith, there are 5 comprehensive anthologies of his works that follow a chronological order, but the first two are hopelessly out of print. For a varied selection of his tales, try The Return of the Sorcerer released by Prime Books. It's pretty much also the only widely available and affordable edition of any of his works right now, in addition. There is a website, however, that contains all of his works in an orderly fashion called Eldritch Dark.

 

[Blind Guardian]

^ I'm reading The Children of Hurin now by the way.

A flaw in The Silmarillion is of course that the narrative is too cold and sweeping to be very emotionally engaging, so CoH provides a nice First Age alternative if you prefer a more subjective narration akin to that of LotR. Of course I know that LotR itself doesn't have that much focus on characterization either, but I'm strictly comparing Tolkien works here, and there's an obvious stylistic difference between Sil and LotR/CoH.