November's Noble Neutralising of Literary Nadirs

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Going through M.R James' Ghost Stories for the...third time I think. The Whistle story will never stop being just downright creepy. Also I love the whole "this was told to me by a friend who knew this fellow..." Just like when you're a kid and you tell each other ghost stories "this totally happened to a friend of someone I know..." Makes it feel much closer to home, being only a few degrees away from the person it happened to, and as such more real and believable.

And I really love the mix of scholarly gentlemen meeting the strange and weird. The Mezzotint always makes me smile with the whole "here's something really weird going on -- I'm going to write a full statement about it and get other people to confirm and sign it!" Definitely the correct response to dealing with the odd, none of this running around like a headless chicken and getting labelled as mad!

Can't wait to reach the Stalls at Barchester Cathedral again, those little journal sections have some terrifyingly empathetic bits...I'll always remember "There is no kitchen cat"
 
HoopyFrood said:
Going through M.R James' Ghost Stories for the...third time I think. The Whistle story will never stop being just downright creepy. Also I love the whole "this was told to me by a friend who knew this fellow..." Just like when you're a kid and you tell each other ghost stories "this totally happened to a friend of someone I know..." Makes it feel much closer to home, being only a few degrees away from the person it happened to, and as such more real and believable."
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Down here in Australia where we allegedly ride bare back on giant red earth kangaroos they have packaged a brilliant DVD box set of all of the BBC MR James adaptations (1968 - 2010) as well as the Christopher Lee adaptation of MR James stories (2000). The set is entitled 'The Complete Ghost Stories of MR. James'.

You may already be familiar with these programs in your neck of the woods but it's new to me and it is an excellent collection (of what I've seen). A little pricey at 50 quid but worth it.

P.S. You can ferret about youtube to see some of these episodes (like other series) but I have always preferred DVD boxset versions of whatever series it is that I am keen on.
 
Allegedly, Mr Gollum? :D

I myself, am currently reading 'Rebellion' by Ian Irvine. Half way through and still enjoying another of his wonderful stories.

Rebellion is the second of The Tainted Realm, Book Two.

Slaves to invaders; an heir; a servant girl and a shiftchanger are just some of the very interesting characters in this exciting story.
 
GOLLUM said:
Down here in Australia where we allegedly ride bare back on giant red earth kangaroos they have packaged a brilliant DVD box set of all of the BBC MR James adaptations (1968 - 2010) as well as the Christopher Lee adaptation of MR James stories (2000). The set is entitled 'The Complete Ghost Stories of MR. James'.

You may already be familiar with these programs in your neck of the woods but it's new to me and it is an excellent collection (of what I've seen). A little pricey at 50 quid but worth it.

P.S. You can ferret about youtube to see some of these episodes (like other series) but I have always preferred DVD boxset versions of whatever series it is that I am keen on.
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I watched the "Whistle" BBC adaptation on Youtube -- scared the bejeezus out of me! Well, not quite, but it did manage a much more effective jumpy moment than most Hollywood attempts. When he's hiding behind the groyne and you know the weird white figure is coming down the beach for him and he starts to peek over and suddenly wakes up with a yell -- argh!

Also, the quiet ending with just the swish and fwip of moving sheets is awesome. Quietly creepy and eerie.
 
I really liked that one -- especially the dinner conversation that hints it might be possible to survive death but be injured by it (which I think acts as a kind of explanation for what the entity is). Interestingly, that wasn't in James's original tale.
 
Rosemary said:
Allegedly, Mr Gollum? :D

I myself, am currently reading 'Rebellion' by Ian Irvine. Half way through and still enjoying another of his wonderful stories.

Rebellion is the second of The Tainted Realm, Book Two.

Slaves to invaders; an heir; a servant girl and a shiftchanger are just some of the very interesting characters in this exciting story.
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Shh...don't tell everyone otherwise they'll all want a go....;)

I've read most of Ian's adult books but not picked up on this latest series, which I gather is for younger and older audiences. I've tended to stick to what I think is his best series, The Three Worlds. His eco thriller trilogy 'Human Rites' is also pretty good.

@Hoopy: That adaptation of The Whistle is highly engaging as both yourself and HareBrain point out. I haven't yet seen all of the BBC adaptations but that box set is definitely worth getting for anyone keen on watching quality supernatural 'movies'.
 
Interestingly enough MR James 150th birthday was celebrated earlier this year with this DVD collection released late last year in anticipation of the event.

Speaking of Ghost stories I picked up Complete Ghost stories of Charles Dickens. I've got a number of these stories in other collections including a selection of his shorter fiction but not all of the tales containing supernatural and fantastic elements. A highly affordable Wordsworth edition I stumbled across the other day. I have most of the Victorian master's ouevre so this is a rather nice addition for me.....:)
 
Im reading an a cult,hailed english author who was a pioneer in British Noir in Derek Raymond in He Died with His Eyes Open. The lead character is a cop dealing with a case of a murder of a drunk,loser that type no one cares about, the writer uses that to tell a story that explores that the dark side of his society, there is a great sense of realism in the way he explores his country,his city in London in this case.

Not a case murder mystery here, but bleak poetry that i can see why the critics,the fans hails this author.
 
I've been getting my zombie apocalypse on watching The Walking Dead, so to supplement it I'm reading Mira Grant's Feed. I've (very sadly) realized that almost all zombie novels are awful, and I can happily report that at around 130 pages in, this is one of the very few good ones.
 
Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England.

Loving certain bits and liking other parts. A bit more detail on armour would've been welcome, but the book is very easy to read and (about a third into it) I like it quite a lot so far.
 
Well thats the last time Im letting a Le Guin book onto my bookshelf! Aaaaaahhhhh! Its like being in medieval Norway and only catching a few words you can understand!
Somebody recommend me some decent SF to read!
 
AE35Unit said:
Well thats the last time Im letting a Le Guin book onto my bookshelf! Aaaaaahhhhh! Its like being in medieval Norway and only catching a few words you can understand!
Somebody recommend me some decent SF to read!
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Well, if you didn't like that, I doubt you will like anything else by Le Guin, that's probably her best work (as far as SF is concerned).

As for a recommendation, how about "The Humanoids" by Jack Williamson? I read that quite recently and I thought it was good (and very different from Le Guin).
 
thaddeus6th said:
Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England.

Loving certain bits and liking other parts. A bit more detail on armour would've been welcome, but the book is very easy to read and (about a third into it) I like it quite a lot so far.
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I enjoyed that. I skipped a couple parts that didn't interest but all in all it was fun and filled in some big gaps in my knowledge.
 
Found White Tiger by Kylie Chan at the library. It's part of her Dark Heavens trilogy. I read all three books in that trilogy and have moved on to the next trilogy entitled Journey to Wudang.

Both trilogies are very heavy in Chinese mythology, and I think they're great. I highly recommend them (if you like that sort of thing).
 
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