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Post by ramseycampbell on Dec 11, 2010 11:31:44 GMT
Of possibly peripheral relevance - does anyone have a copy of a Spongebob Halloween episode, The Beckoning Square One?
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Post by Knygathin on Jul 6, 2012 0:49:06 GMT
I've finally finished Oliver Onions (apologies to any fans, but dear sweet Cthulhu that was heavy going). . . . I have been stuck about the half-way mark with the Onions collection for a few months now - I am determined to finish it (before I shuffle off...), but I think this is the longest it has ever taken me to finish any book. Now it's really just sheer bloody-mindedness that makes me want to get through it. So Onions isn't much good then, except for his most famous one?
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Post by Knygathin on Jul 6, 2012 8:48:30 GMT
Perhaps one mistake we make today with the great (and subtle) ghost story writers, in these big complete volumes, is to attempt reading all of their work at once?
The stories were originally written over the course of many years, and gradually being published in modest collections. Are they not best savoured in small doses? Is it perhaps an abomination of misuse to attempt stuffing it all down?
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jul 6, 2012 11:07:00 GMT
I've always though the best way to enjoy a lot of these authors is in anthologies, which is why series like the Fontana ghost stories were so valuable. Wordsworth should try doing a few samplers: Best Ghost Stories Vol 1, etc
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Post by cw67q on Jul 6, 2012 11:42:38 GMT
Well I'm a big fan of Onions, but I understand that reading the whole collection straight through might be hard going if you are not already a convert. But even if you are not going to read everything, don't miss: - A painted face: a great noevl of the old gods popping up again, but perhaps best reda on its own if you are finding the rest of onions hard work. - Rooum (which reads like it was really written by Metcalfe) -the outsister -the rope in the rafters -the smile of karen (more of a psycho horror than a ghost tale) as well as tBFO -I'm also very fond of the Lost thrysus & the honey in the wall (the later of which is only very tangentially ghostly if at all). But to be honest I like almost all of the other too. - Chris I've finally finished Oliver Onions (apologies to any fans, but dear sweet Cthulhu that was heavy going). . . . I have been stuck about the half-way mark with the Onions collection for a few months now - I am determined to finish it (before I shuffle off...), but I think this is the longest it has ever taken me to finish any book. Now it's really just sheer bloody-mindedness that makes me want to get through it. So Onions isn't much good then, except for his most famous one?
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Post by dem bones on Jul 6, 2012 18:49:21 GMT
Perhaps one mistake we make today with the great (and subtle) ghost story writers, in these big complete volumes, is to attempt reading all of their work at once? The stories were originally written over the course of many years, and gradually being published in modest collections. Are they not best savoured in small doses? Is it perhaps an abomination of misuse to attempt stuffing it all down? In the cases of many of the Victorian and Edwardian authors, their stories would have seen magazine publication long before it was collected, so the magazines are their natural environment, and that maybe explains why the work of, say, R. Murray Gilchrist, is shown to its best advantage in multiple author anthologies, whereas reading A Night On The Moor through from cover to cover may prove an almighty struggle for some of us. "An abomination of misuse"? Surely the beauty of Wordsworth is, where possible, they'll include everything they can get their hands on in a mass produced, ridiculously affortable single volume. This makes for bloat, no question, but there's no law says you have to read a book through before you can move on to something else.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Jul 6, 2012 19:18:15 GMT
This makes for bloat, no question, but there's no law says you have to read a book through before you can move on to something else. There's no law, but I have a strange compulsion to finish every book I start from cover to cover. Fighting my way through Chaosium's 643-page Robert W. Chambers collection, The Yellow Sign and Other Stories, just about did me in. On the other hand, I'm eagerly anticipating Wordsworth's Henry S. Whitehead collection, which looks to be a door-stopper at 704 pages.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Jul 6, 2012 19:49:22 GMT
reading A Night On The Moor through from cover to cover may prove an almighty struggle for some of us. Even a little bit of Gilchrist is typically too much.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Jul 6, 2012 19:51:59 GMT
Of possibly peripheral relevance - does anyone have a copy of a Spongebob Halloween episode, The Beckoning Square One? The only mention of such a thing on the entire Internet is in your post. I am starting to imagine you may have intended a joke of some kind.
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Post by Knygathin on Jul 6, 2012 20:08:10 GMT
"An abomination of misuse"? Surely the beauty of Wordsworth is, where possible, they'll include everything they can get their hands on in a mass produced, ridiculously affortable single volume. This makes for bloat, no question, but there's no law says you have to read a book through before you can move on to something else. I wasn't criticizing the Wordsworth collection. I have this one, and a few other "complete" collections of ghost stories, which I am happy with. I was merely trying to provoke forth a question about how to approach these stories. And form an argument for my own cause, to ease off the inner pressure I usually feel (like cauldronbrewer) of having to finish every book I start, and instead have a more relaxed association to it . . . dip into the book, lay it aside indefinitely while reading other things, then return later . . . and so on.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Jul 6, 2012 20:20:14 GMT
dip into the book, lay it aside indefinitely while reading other things, then return later . . . and so on. Just as long as you remember that if you return to it later you have to start over from the beginning again. Otherwise something nasty will happen.
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Jul 6, 2012 21:12:58 GMT
This makes for bloat, no question, but there's no law says you have to read a book through before you can move on to something else. There's no law, but I have a strange compulsion to finish every book I start from cover to cover. Fighting my way through Chaosium's 643-page Robert W. Chambers collection, The Yellow Sign and Other Stories, just about did me in. On the other hand, I'm eagerly anticipating Wordsworth's Henry S. Whitehead collection, which looks to be a door-stopper at 704 pages. I'm the same. One of the few that stumped me was Dostoyevsky. Just cannot finish anything I start with him.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Jul 6, 2012 23:07:04 GMT
Just as long as you remember that if you return to it later you have to start over from the beginning again. Otherwise something nasty will happen. I've read stories out of order with no ill effects. When driven to desperation, I've even skimmed a story here or there. Given that this is an Oliver Onions thread, I'll cite "The Rope in the Rafters" as an example. I'm the same. One of the few that stumped me was Dostoyevsky. Just cannot finish anything I start with him. I finished Crime and Punishment, but it was required reading for school. The crime was OK; the punishment, however, was tough going.
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Post by Dr Strange on Jul 9, 2012 15:43:17 GMT
So Onions isn't much good then, except for his most famous one? I wouldn't say that - just that when you consider his complete output it is really quite variable. But it's entirely likely that other people will like many of the stories that I don't. Doubt I will ever finish the Wordsworth Onions - but at least if someone mentions an Onions story that sounds interesting, I know where I can find it. I used to be one of those people who had to finish a book that I'd started - now I find it quite easy to accept that I'd actually be happier reading something that I actively enjoy, rather than perservering with something that is a complete drag. I don't know why it took me so long to work that out. I disliked the Murray Gilchrist collection even more (but did just manage to finish it) - his plots and settings seemed very repetitive to me. If I was going to recommend a Wordsworth, then it would probably be the Andrew Caldecott collection Not Exactly Ghosts.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Jul 9, 2012 19:35:07 GMT
Doubt I will ever finish the Wordsworth Onions - but at least if someone mentions an Onions story that sounds interesting, I know where I can find it. I used to be one of those people who had to finish a book that I'd started - now I find it quite easy to accept that I'd actually be happier reading something that I actively enjoy, rather than perservering with something that is a complete drag. I don't know why it took me so long to work that out. That's brilliant!! Why didn't I think of that? (Stares wistfully at Wordsworth Onions tome on the shelf...)
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