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Post by Michael Connolly on Apr 25, 2012 12:31:49 GMT
I'm just speaking generally. Most pre-1940s American horror fiction that I've read hasn't aged as well as what pre-1940s British horror fiction that I've read. I'm not being nationalistic, as Britain has a longer history of horror fiction. In the same way, I think that most pre-1940s American films that I've seen stand up better than most pre-1940s British films that I've seen.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Apr 25, 2012 13:12:24 GMT
In the same way, I think that most pre-1940s American films that I've seen stand up better than most pre-1940s British films that I've seen. What about people?
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Post by Michael Connolly on May 9, 2012 9:31:03 GMT
According to Amazon, delivery of Curious Warnings: The Great Ghost Stories of M.R. James is being delayed. I'm going by memory, but I think the price has gone up a tenner to £30.00!
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Post by Dr Strange on May 9, 2012 11:15:35 GMT
It's £19.50 at the moment.
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Post by monker on May 14, 2012 6:23:46 GMT
I wouldn't do it myself. I think the paragraphing adds to the effect of the prose. Is it that James' method was considered flawed and in need of a better editor or is it purely stylistic? I hate that kind of tampering, with a passion.
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Post by ramseycampbell on May 14, 2012 12:27:19 GMT
I wouldn't do it myself. I think the paragraphing adds to the effect of the prose. Is it that James' method was considered flawed and in need of a better editor or is it purely stylistic? I hate that kind of tampering, with a passion. As far as I know the text itself hasn't been changed, but the way it's laid out has been. Steve's argument is that it was transcribed from being read aloud, I think.
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Post by Michael Connolly on May 14, 2012 12:44:59 GMT
While Curious Warnings has been delayed there is a preview of the Kindle version on Amazon. The text has been re-paragraphed and re-punctuated. While I am against this, I do admit that the pastiche parable that M.R. James included in "Mr Humphreys and his Inheritance" could have done with rewriting. It seems to go on forever.
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Post by noose on May 24, 2012 11:11:44 GMT
STEPHEN JONES AND LES EDWARDS TO SIGN NEW M.R. JAMES COLLECTION ON SATURDAY, JUNE 16TH IN LONDON Jo Fletcher Books will be officially launching the stunning new hardcover collection, CURIOUS WARNINGS: THE GREAT GHOST STORIES OF M.R. JAMES, with a signing by editor STEPHEN JONES and artist LES EDWARDS on Saturday June 16th at the British Fantasy Society Open Day, The Mug House, 1 Tooley Street, London E1 2PF, from 1:00 pm until late. Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the birth of M.R. James, the sumptuously-crafted CURIOUS WARNINGS: THE GREAT GHOST STORIES OF M.R. JAMES contains all the author’s classic supernatural stories collected in a single volume, including the children’s novel THE FIVE JARS, along with uncompleted works, essays, and a historical Afterword by Stephen Jones, all copiously illustrated by award-winning artist Les Edwards. MONTAGUE RHODES JAMES (1862-1936) was Provost of King’s College, Cambridge, and Eton. Most of his ghost stories were occasional pieces, written for friends or college magazines, and were collected in GHOST-STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY (1904), MORE GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY (1911), A THIN GHOST AND OTHERS (1919), and A WARNING TO THE CURIOUS AND OTHER GHOST STORIES (1925). Widely regarded as one of the finest authors of supernatural fiction in the English language, James is credited as the originator of the ‘antiquarian ghost story’, replacing the Gothic horrors of the previous century with more contemporary settings for his subtle hauntings. Many of his stories were originally written as Christmas entertainments and were read aloud by the author to selected gatherings of friends. CURIOUS WARNINGS: THE GREAT GHOST STORIES OF M.R. JAMES is the one collection of the author’s work that fans cannot afford to miss! And Stephen Jones and Les Edwards will be on hand to personally sign copies on the day (time to be announced). There will also be other signings throughout the BFS Open Day, and numerous authors, artists, editors and publishers will be in attendance. Entrance is FREE and open to anyone, so if you like fantasy, horror and imaginative fiction, then come along for a fun day out! For more details about the BFS OPEN DAY, go to: bit.ly/JeO2Yi
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on May 24, 2012 13:14:35 GMT
CURIOUS WARNINGS: THE GREAT GHOST STORIES OF M.R. JAMES is the one collection of the author’s work that fans cannot afford to miss! Why?
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Post by Michael Connolly on May 25, 2012 9:21:54 GMT
The Kindle preview of Curious Warnings on Amazon now includes some of Stephen Jones's afterword which, at the very least, is well illustrated. His afterword in Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales of H.P. Lovecraft was excellent.
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Post by ramseycampbell on May 31, 2012 9:16:50 GMT
The Kindle preview also shows how "Canon Alberic's Scrapbook" and "Lost Hearts" have been edited.
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Post by noose on May 31, 2012 10:27:59 GMT
Steve sent me the file to A WARNING TO THE CURIOUS and looking at the others on the Amazon preview, I think it's a bold move - but he pulls it off. As much as I love reading the works of James, I was quite often confused by it (blame me schoolin' guv!) - this makes it more cleaner and I don't have any problems with what he did. In the same way I don't mind how ST Joshi prepared corrected versions of Lovecraft's work.
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Post by ramseycampbell on May 31, 2012 10:32:16 GMT
Steve sent me the file to A WARNING TO THE CURIOUS and looking at the others on the Amazon preview, I think it's a bold move - but he pulls it off. As much as I love reading the works of James, I was quite often confused by it (blame me schoolin' guv!) - this makes it more cleaner and I don't have any problems with what he did. In the same way I don't mind how ST Joshi prepared corrected versions of Lovecraft's work. But it isn't the same. Steve has reparagraphed James, while S. T. went back to Lovecraft's original usage wherever he could find it - in the case of The Shadow out of Time, restoring all Lovecraft's original paragraphing, which had been split up by the editor of Astounding.
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Post by noose on May 31, 2012 10:45:23 GMT
Sorry, that's what I was trying to get across - I don't mind an editor doing what they feel is trying to get the best out of the work. Cack-handed, I am.
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Post by ramseycampbell on May 31, 2012 11:49:17 GMT
Sorry, that's what I was trying to get across - I don't mind an editor doing what they feel is trying to get the best out of the work. Cack-handed, I am. But surely that must have been what the Astounding editor felt he was doing on behalf of his readers.
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