Howard's Other Works

[j d worthington]

That would be excellent. It would be fascinating to learn more about Howard. I should see if I can find any quality biographies about him. Anyone know of any off hand?

As far as I know, there had (until recently) been only one full-length biography of REH:

Dark Valley Destiny: the Life of Robert E. Howard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

However, Mark Finn has done a new one:

Amazon.com: Blood and Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E. Howard: Books: Mark Finn

I've not yet had a chance to read it, but I know Mark somewhat, and he's quite a Howard scholar (along with Rusty Burke, but I'm unaware of anything in the way of a full-length bio Burke has done on Howard... he has, however, done several very good articles on him).

There are, of course, the pieces by Novalyne Price (Ellis), who knew Howard, but they only cover his later years rather than his entire life:

Amazon.com: One Who Walked Alone: Robert E. Howard the Final Years: Books: Novalyne Price Ellis

and Day of the Stranger: Further Memories of Robert E. Howard (but this one is going to be rather difficult -- and probably costly -- to get hold of).

Here's what one site has to say about several sources of material on REH's life:

The Barbarian Keep

P.S. I just saw a note (though I don't know how far back it dates) that Burke is indeed engaged in doing a full-length biography of Howard....

R.e. Howard Biography By Rusty Burke? - The REH Forum

There is also the bio-bibliography done by Glenn Lord, that you might find interesting:

The Last Celt - Berkley Windhover

 

[Rothgar]

Thanks JD! I'm going to add the biography by Mark Finn to my shopping cart at amazon. It looks like he did a high quality job on the bio. The people who wrote reviews sure were impressed.

I've seen the film The Whole Wide World based on the novel by Novalyne Price. I don't know how close the movie is to her novel, but it didn't encourage me to rush out and purchase it. Though it was still neat to learn about his life from someone who actually knew him personally and well.

Looking at the barbarian keep link I am pretty sure the correspondence book I saw year ago was one of the Robert E. Howard Selected Letters volumes. I'll have to see if I can pick those up as well.

I see there are two new Del Rey volumes coming out this year... The Best of Robert E. Howard
Vol.1 Amazon.com: The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 1: Crimson Shadows (Best of Robert E Howard): Books: Robert E. Howard

Vol.2 Amazon.com: The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 2: Grim Lands (Best of Robert E Howard): Books: Robert E. Howard

It looks like they include a number of stories from the DelRey books already released, but at 928 pages between the two of them they should include a lot of other stories harder to come by.

Has anyone read Howards boxing stories?

 

[j d worthington]

You're welcome! And I would imagine Mark did do a good job. Certainly, from my interaction with him, he's a very conscientious man....

I've seen the film The Whole Wide World based on the novel by Novalyne Price. I don't know how close the movie is to her novel, but it didn't encourage me to rush out and purchase it. Though it was still neat to learn about his life from someone who actually knew him personally and well.

I've not read Novalyne Price's book myself... and I didn't much care for what I saw of the film... there were several points where I feel they missed the boat and made REH someone I certainly didn't recognize from his letters or various personal accounts of him... so I'd be willing to lay odds they diverged a fair amount from her account... at least in approach, if not in incident....

Looking at the barbarian keep link I am pretty sure the correspondence book I saw year ago was one of the Robert E. Howard Selected Letters volumes. I'll have to see if I can pick those up as well.

Ummm... picking those up isn't going to be easy....

AbeBooks: Search Results - Robert E. Howard and Selected Letters

(The first one on here is actually a volume of HPL's Selected Letters... the others are by Howard.)

I see there are two new Del Rey volumes coming out this year... The Best of Robert E. Howard
Vol.1 Amazon.com: The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 1: Crimson Shadows (Best of Robert E Howard): Books: Robert E. Howard

Vol.2 Amazon.com: The Best of Robert E. Howard Volume 2: Grim Lands (Best of Robert E Howard): Books: Robert E. Howard

It looks like they include a number of stories from the DelRey books already released, but at 928 pages between the two of them they should include a lot of other stories harder to come by.

Yep... I would imagine so... and I'm trying to scrape together the money to get these, as well as the next volume in Wildside's Weird Works of Robert E. Howard set, of which I have the first 6 (so I'd really hate to miss out on the next 4....)

Has anyone read Howards boxing stories?

Been quite a while, but I did read The Iron Man (in the Zebra reprint of the Grant book). I'm not overly big on that sort of thing, but Howard's usual story-telling magic was there, and I found them much better than I expected. Pulp in a lot of ways, but high-end pulp, and filled with all the energy of his best writing (not surprising, as boxing was a passion with the man). I enjoyed them, at any rate....

 

[Rothgar]

Ummm... picking those up isn't going to be easy....

If only I had known when I saw them. The bookstore I saw them at isn't even in business anymore.

Yep... I would imagine so... and I'm trying to scrape together the money to get these, as well as the next volume in Wildside's Weird Works of Robert E. Howard set, of which I have the first 6 (so I'd really hate to miss out on the next 4....)

I'll plan on picking up those Best Of volumes as well.

I forgot to mention, I've also read the Cormac Mac Art. I would think DelRey should come out with a new version for that character as well.

 

[j d worthington]

I think the problem with the Cormac Mac Art tales is that there's just not enough material for a book of the sort Del Rey has been putting out; there are only (if I recall correctly) 3 completed tales, and one fragmentary one...

 

[j d worthington]

There's been a new volume in the Wildside Press set of Howard's Weird Works:

Beyond The Black River, by Robert E. Howard (Weird Works vol. 7) (hardcover)

Thought some of the Howard fans on here might be interested in checking this out...

 

[Lobolover]

"The Black Stone",which all of you should read for the feeling.

I never realy got into the other stuff he wrote,besides his 4 "weird" stories, they all seem-hinting,but not displaying,if you know what I mean.

 

[GOLLUM]

There's been a new volume in the Wildside Press set of Howard's Weird Works:

Beyond The Black River, by Robert E. Howard (Weird Works vol. 7) (hardcover)

Thought some of the Howard fans on here might be interested in checking this out...

I've seen this entire collection but most is covered by the Del Rey books and a couple of other standalones I have. The Bison books are quite good as a source too.

 

[Connavar]

Im reading Bran Mak Morn: The Last King

So far i have Men of Shadows and Kings of The Night. The second story with Kull and Bran are so vivid,powerful and at times very poetic.

Only minus is the illustrations i wish another than Del Rey had Bran,Kull etc so i didnt have to see any pictures reading a REH. Its really pointless.

 

[GOLLUM]

I do have the Conan tales that Robert Jordan did and they are indeed a very, very pale shadow of the original. Jordan just missed the whole idea that was Conan to begin with.

OH..that's dissapoinitng as I have some of those and was looking forward to comparing them with the master. Still I may have a different take on it than you so I'm still going to read them.

The Del Rey editions are probably the best value for money editions I've come across. I've got all of the current ones except for Conan, for which I have a nice Victor Gollancz edition. Wouldn't mind to have picked up the Wandering Star editions but they're a bit pricey.

 

[GOLLUM]

Only minus is the illustrations i wish another than Del Rey had Bran,Kull etc so i didnt have to see any pictures reading a REH. Its really pointless.

Actually I found that they really added to the atmosphere of the stories.

 

[Connavar]

Actually I found that they really added to the atmosphere of the stories.

They are good looking sure but pointless in that Robert E.Howard is the most vivid writer of all talented writers. He writes in a way that you see everything on the pages like you are there. There are no reason to picture anything that the writer doesnt describe well to your mind's eye. Sometimes he is too good at being so vivid that i see heads getting chopped much more clear than whats comfortable.

Its too many on them on almost every page. Also if i wanted to see art i will read one of my favorite comic stories.

The hole point of reading fantastical stories is for your imagination to take where the author goes.

I will get Del Rey only when i must. His westerns,historical fiction im getting from the other publisher with new versions.

Del Rey softcovers are great but for the illustrations...

 

[GOLLUM]

Well I understand your point Conn but for me it's more a case of the illustrations complementing or enhancing my reading experience rather than replacing or overtaking it.

It would be interesting to see what other members think of whether or not the illustrations are a good idea.

I certainly agree that one of Howard's great strengths was his ability to make characters and settings literally leap off the page at you.

Cheers....

 

[j d worthington]

Personally, I quite like the illustrations for these editions, just as I did those by Roy Krenkel for Sowers of the Thunder and the like... very fitting for REH. I know Howard himself had no problem with such, and in fact quite liked Vincent Napoli's take on Conan (in WT) save for feeling that Napoli gave him too much of a "Latin cast".

I admit that I often prefer the less elaborate illustrations for Howard's tales, which is one of the reasons I like Krenkel's sketches so much... they do compliment the stories, and have a great deal of the feel I associate with Howard's worlds; they also strike me as done in such a way as to appear almost as something seen through "the mists of time", as it were....

On Jordan's Conan... while he was fairly good at capturing the Hyborian Age, and not too bad with Conan himself (closer than many in some ways), nonetheless his work jarred with me... and as for his handling of women... even Howard at his pulpiest had more depth to his women characters than Jordan did in his Conan stories; and he invariably seemed to put them into two camps: the "whore with the heart of gold" and the psychotic, murderous bitch from Hell... take your pick; there wasn't anything else....

 

[GOLLUM]

On Jordan's Conan.....as for his handling of women.........he invariably seemed to put them into two camps: the "whore with the heart of gold" and the psychotic, murderous bitch from Hell... take your pick; there wasn't anything else....

I'll eagerly keep my eye out for that type-cast then Sir.......

Not surprising Krenkel is held in high esteem, being also a mentor of sorts to the great Frank Frazetta. His illustrations for Edgar Rice Burrough's work are also considered amongst the best ever done. I presume you know of these?

 

[Connavar]

Well I understand your point Conn but for me it's more a case of the illustrations complementing or enhancing my reading experience rather than replacing or overtaking it.

It would be interesting to see what other members think of whether or not the illustrations are a good idea.

I certainly agree that one of Howard's great strengths was his ability to make characters and settings literally leap off the page at you.

Cheers....

The illustration themselves arent the big problem for me. I have read many books who had 5-10 pics in 300-400 pages book thats fine.

But seeing a drawing in every page and sometimes even two in a page of 40 pages long short story is very very annoying.

If it was another writer i didnt love reading as much i wouldnt mind.

I want to read only the words of Howard himself and nothing else.

The more i think about the more i dislike what Del Rey did. Maybe im too much of purist but it cant be asking too much wanting to read the scene before the drawing hits your eye. You cant escape them you have see them before the text under them. Its like going to see a great movie and someone spoil the final scene....

 

[j d worthington]

I'll eagerly keep my eye out for that type-cast then Sir.......

Not surprising Krenkel is held in high esteem, being also a mentor of sorts to the great Frank Frazetta. His illustrations for Edgar Rice Burrough's work are also considered amongst the best ever done. I presume you know of these?

Oh, indeed I do, and I concur that Krenkel is one of the best illustrators for Burroughs -- certainly his cover art for the Ace editions was strongly reminiscent of the artwork done for the stories by such as J. Allen St. John and the like. Wonderful stuff.

Which brings me to:

The illustration themselves arent the big problem for me. I have read many books who had 5-10 pics in 300-400 pages book thats fine.

But seeing a drawing in every page and sometimes even two in a page of 40 pages long short story is very very annoying.

If it was another writer i didnt love reading as much i wouldnt mind.

I want to read only the words of Howard himself and nothing else.

The more i think about the more i dislike what Del Rey did. Maybe im too much of purist but it cant be asking too much wanting to read the scene before the drawing hits your eye. You cant escape them you have see them before the text under them. Its like going to see a great movie and someone spoil the final scene....

That's another thing I like about Krenkel's illustrations: they aren't so literal that they spoil the scene for you; rather, they enhance (or complement) the atmosphere of the whole, adding another dimension to the experience. They are decidedly true to the spirit, but not necessarily the letter, of the scene chosen... and sometimes they don't illustrate a scene from the story itself, but rather something one feels (from Howard's descriptions) may be happening just out of the corner of one's eye, giving a more panascopic vision to complement the more focused, pinpointed thing that Howard describes.

 

[GOLLUM]

That's another thing I like about Krenkel's illustrations: they aren't so literal that they spoil the scene for you; rather, they enhance (or complement) the atmosphere.....

Hey, stop stealing my lines buster!....

Actually that's pretty much what I was getting at with my previous comments about illustrations not spoilnig but rather enhancing the experience. Obviously some illustrations in books can have a detrimental effect if badly done or bearing little resembalnce to the work, so I 'm referring to the ones that do not. A case in point is the maginficent etchnigs/drawings done by Gustave Dore in the 19th Century for many great books.

Cheerio....

 

[j d worthington]

Agreed. Or the ones so literal that they are (if I remember the phrasing correctly; it's been a while since I last read the essay) like what Tolkien called "snapshops from Faërie" -- you know, the ones which go to the border of the page, like a photograph without a frame....

 

[Connavar]

A detrimental effect to say the least because i HAD to put down Bran Mak Morn book despite how much i enjoyed the story i was so dissapionted by the pics. I knew about the illustrations but not the high number of them. It was too much trouble thinking "Next page i will look down fast before seeing the picture "

Its a good lesson to think about next time i buy REH collections.