"From Beyond"

[Extollager]

I tried a rereading, after decades, of Conan the Conqueror (the Lancer books edition of Hour of the Dragon) some months ago, and found that it just didn't hold my interest; for me, the time for a long story of that type seems to have passed.

There's no reason to spend time imagining a meeting of Howard and Tolkien, really, but I'll play the game for a sec and suggest that, if they did meet, they should start a conversation by comparing notes on The Worm Ouroboros. I imagine they both liked that. Or they could start with Rider Haggard's She -- I know Tolkien liked that, and I assume Howard did too. They would have a little common ground there. But my guess is that Howard would have felt intellectually intimidated by the Englishman and that he might have handled his feelings by withdrawing into sullen melancholy, or by blustering, while Tolkien might have wondered whether he had here, in Howard, a specimen of an authentic American frontiersman and might have wondered if Howard had a bowie knife hidden somewhere about his person!

 

[BAYLOR]

I tried a rereading, after decades, of Conan the Conqueror (the Lancer books edition of Hour of the Dragon) some months ago, and found that it just didn't hold my interest; for me, the time for a long story of that type seems to have passed.

There's no reason to spend time imagining a meeting of Howard and Tolkien, really, but I'll play the game for a sec and suggest that, if they did meet, they should start a conversation by comparing notes on The Worm Ouroboros. I imagine they both liked that. Or they could start with Rider Haggard's She -- I know Tolkien liked that, and I assume Howard did too. They would have a little common ground there. But my guess is that Howard would have felt intellectually intimidated by the Englishman and that he might have handled his feelings by withdrawing into sullen melancholy, or by blustering, while Tolkien might have wondered whether he had here, in Howard, a specimen of an authentic American frontiersman and might have wondered if Howard had a bowie knife hidden somewhere about his person!

The magic of first time is absent , that's why. It's never as good as you once remembered it . That's happened to me with books, stories, movies and tv series. You've changed and you see the flaw and shortcoming that that you didn't see the firs time around.

Howard had a wicked inferiority complex that he never outgrew it and no sense of self worth . Conan ,Kull and all the heroes were the kind of persons he wanted to be but couldn't be. He also moody ,temperamental and melancholy. All the factor contained to his demise. I agree, I think he would be intimated by Tolkien and Tolkien would not really know what to make of Howard.

These are two men I would have loved to have met. What would they think of someone like me ? Not much.

 

[Extollager]

The magic of first time is absent , that's why. It's never as good as you once remembered it . That's happened to me with books, stories, movies and tv series. You've changed and you see the flaw and shortcoming that that you didn't see the firs time around.

Howard had a wicked inferiority complex that he never outgrew it and no sense of self worth . Conan ,Kull and all the heroes were the kind of persons he wanted to be but couldn't be. He also moody ,temperamental and melancholy. All the factor contained to his demise. I agree, I think he would be intimated by Tolkien and Tolkien would not really know what to make of Howard.

These are two men I would have loved to have met. What would they think of someone like me ? Not much.

"The magic of first time is absent, that's why. It's never as good as you once remembered it ."

That's different from my experience. Dozens of stories and books I've reread were as good or even better after the first reading. In general, in a really good literary work there is much more to enjoy than the pleasure of finding out what happens, important as that might be.

Books You've Reread the Most Times

Here is a thread for commenting on books that you have reread repeatedly -- fiction, nonfiction, poetry, &c. Please: To start with, let's just hear about books that have been read at least four times. After a while it might be OK to write about books one has read two or three times, but to...

www.sffchronicles.com

How Many Different Books (Titles) Have You Read in Your Life?

My guess is that this question is one none of us can answer. Some people might even say "I have no idea -- thousands," etc. My reading life is now something like 52 years, but I have always reread a lot.* Therefore, though I have always had one or more books going for most of my life, I'm not...

www.sffchronicles.com

 

[BAYLOR]

I liked the movie adaptation of From Beyond .

 

[BAYLOR]

How interesting! I have a paperback edition of Citadel with the "Lovecraft" endorsement on the back:

I have this book and am reading it. It's a good read.