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Post by cauldronbrewer on Sept 6, 2012 11:40:49 GMT
I'm happy to see so much enthusiasm for the Whitehead collection. I think those of you who just ordered it won't be disappointed. Thanks for the note that the middle two sections made up the original Jumbee collection, I hadn't realised that and wondered why the second Arkham collection was so much longer than the first. It does seem an odd way to structure the collection. To make it even odder, the Arkham House Jumbee preceded West India Lights by two years (1944 vs. 1946), so if anything the stories from the former should come first. The one with the castle on the cover - I think that'll be the Robinson collection that I have too. Probably all the Benson I will ever need. Same here. The red cover is very striking, but it's sad to say goodbye to the skull after all these years. I liked the skull and blood, but I can see why Wordsworth made the switch--the new style really "pops" and will probably add to shelf appeal. Between this and the Alison Prince book you must be spoilt for choice which to start first. Indeed. Last night I tackled the one story in the Whitehead volume I hadn't already read ("The Moon Dial"); tonight I'm going to start on the Prince collection. Given that Voodoo Tales includes so many stories and isn't organized in a particularly logical way, here's my take on where a Whitehead beginner might start: Jumbee: Whitehead's first voodoo story. Short on plot, but a good introduction to the themes that much of his later work would explore. The Passing of a God: Features a strikingly original manifestation of a voodoo god. Cassius: Another story with a Caribbean setting, this time featuring a pulpy concept delivered in an entertaining way. One of my favorite episodes of The X-Files ("Humbug") uses the same idea, though I doubt the show's team was familiar with Whitehead's story. The People of Pan: A lost race story set in the Caribbean, with more of an emphasis on awe than horror. 'Williamson': I don't want to spoil this one, so I'll just say that it presents a radically different take on a theme explored by one of H. P. Lovecraft's early stories. I might say more later . . . The Chadbourne Episode: Unusually ghoulish by Whitehead's standards, in more ways than one. Seven Turns in a Hangman's Rope: Whitehead's magnum opus. It includes pirates, voodoo, and a painting in which a man's soul is trapped; who could ask for more?
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Post by cw67q on Sept 6, 2012 12:22:36 GMT
Really? Put in the vault now. One day it might be valued alongside odd stamp anomalies My mistake. - chris I have the earlier edition of the Benson too and whilst the wordsowrth is clearly based on the castle-covered edition it isn't an exact reprint. I think you misunderstand. What I meant is that I have a Wordsworth Benson omnibus which does not have the new-style red cover.
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Post by Dr Strange on Sept 6, 2012 13:13:15 GMT
I'm happy to see so much enthusiasm for the Whitehead collection. I think those of you who just ordered it won't be disappointed. Gonna hold you to that, as I've also felt compelled to go and order a copy now. The only other Whitehead collection I have is the Mayflower Black Beast paperback with the sea monster on the cover (can't remember if that actually bears any relation to any of the stories though?), though I've read a few other stories in other anthologies. Will try to just dip in and out, so I don't end up repeating my Oliver Onions experience...
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Sept 6, 2012 13:41:47 GMT
Really? Put in the vault now. One day it might be valued alongside odd stamp anomalies It cannot be that rare; here is a picture of one I found on the web.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Sept 6, 2012 15:46:06 GMT
I'm happy to see so much enthusiasm for the Whitehead collection. I think those of you who just ordered it won't be disappointed. Gonna hold you to that, as I've also felt compelled to go and order a copy now. Or am I merely a zombie sockpuppet that Whitehead created using the knowledge of voodoo he acquired during his time in the islands? ;D
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Sept 6, 2012 16:24:47 GMT
Gonna hold you to that, as I've also felt compelled to go and order a copy now. Or am I merely a zombie sockpuppet that Whitehead created using the knowledge of voodoo he acquired during his time in the islands? ;D I suspect you of autonomous sockpuppetry...
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Sept 11, 2012 13:18:07 GMT
Whitehead and Benson both arrived today. Luxuriating red covers. Illustrations splendid. Decided to start with Benson.
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Post by cw67q on Sept 12, 2012 9:27:10 GMT
Just over half way through, finished the West India Lights section and into Jumbee. Enjoying the collection so far BUT, my advice to any new readers would definately be start with the Jumbee/ Black beast sections. The stories in Black beast (which I've read before) and those in Jumbee which I've read to date are much stronger than most of those in WIL. This makes the decision to place the contents of the second Arkham Horror collection at the start of the book even harder to understand.
Still terrific value and one of the books of the year. For what it is worth, my favs from West India Lights would be: Black terror, West India Lights & Williamson (ie the first 3 stories). Unless my memory is playing dastardly tricks on me though, the title story of this section is retold at somewhat greater length as Seven Turns in a Hangman's Rope in the black beast section.
Cheers - Chris
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Post by Dr Strange on Sept 12, 2012 10:45:39 GMT
Read the first two stories - have to say that neither impressed me much. The first (The Black Terror) could easily fit into a collection of straight, non-horror, non-supernatural short stories; the second (West India Lights - which I thought I'd read before somewhere, but I've also read 7 Turns so that could be it) is very light and way too romantic for my tastes. Not too worried though - I've read enough of his stuff elsewhere to know that there will be stories that are more to my taste coming up.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Sept 12, 2012 11:21:35 GMT
Just over half way through, finished the West India Lights section and into Jumbee. Enjoying the collection so far BUT, my advice to any new readers would definately be start with the Jumbee/ Black beast sections. The stories in Black beast (which I've read before) and those in Jumbee which I've read to date are much stronger than most of those in WIL. This makes the decision to place the contents of the second Arkham Horror collection at the start of the book even harder to understand. I completely agree. Good advice. Still terrific value and one of the books of the year. For what it is worth, my favs from West India Lights would be: Black terror, West India Lights & Williamson (ie the first 3 stories). Unless my memory is playing dastardly tricks on me though, the title story of this section is retold at somewhat greater length as Seven Turns in a Hangman's Rope in the black beast section. That's correct; "Seven Turns" is a greatly expanded--and, in my mind, greatly improved--version of "West India Lights." I'd be curious to hear anyone's thoughts on how "Williamson" compares to H. P. Lovecraft's "Arthur Jermyn" (a.k.a. "The White Ape"). My own take is that the two authors' handling of the same theme--which carries a subtext so heavy that one could call it the 800-pound gorilla in the room [ ;D]--says a lot about their respective attitudes.
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Post by Dr Strange on Sept 12, 2012 11:45:21 GMT
I'd be curious to hear anyone's thoughts on how "Williamson" compares to H. P. Lovecraft's "Arthur Jermyn" (a.k.a. "The White Ape"). Well, if I remember right, Whitehead's version has a happier (or at least less gruesome) ending... I think you are probably right about the stories saying something about the authors' differing attitudes - but whether it's about "race" and "miscegenation", or just the pessimistic HPL versus the optimistic HSW I'm not so sure.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Sept 12, 2012 12:35:50 GMT
Well, if I remember right, Whitehead's version has a happier (or at least less gruesome) ending... I think you are probably right about the stories saying something about the authors' differing attitudes - but whether it's about "race" and "miscegenation", or just the pessimistic HPL versus the optimistic HSW I'm not so sure. I would argue both. Like you say, Whitehead seems to have had a relatively upbeat outlook, whereas "Arthur Jermyn" begins with one of those classic HPL "cosmic horror" prologues ("Life is a hideous thing, and from the background behind what we know of it peer daemoniacal hints of truth which make it sometimes a thousandfold more hideous"). I was thinking specifically of the race and "miscegenation" angle, however. The human/ape hybrid was--and in some circles still is--a common metaphor for the topic. Moreover, the theme runs through other works by each writer. Once could argue that HPL addresses it metaphorically with his hybrids in "The Dunwich Horror" and "The Shadow over Innsmouth"; there's no doubt that he addresses it overtly (and obnoxiously) in his ghostwritten "Medusa's Coil." As for Whitehead's thoughts on the subject, he lays them out in the beginning of "Jumbee." Anyway (beware, spoilers!), poor Arthur Jermyn. He was a nice guy, scholar, and only 1/32 ape (if my math is right), but he still killed himself and some members of the Royal Anthropological Institute do not admit that he ever existed. Meanwhile, Williamson is half-ape, has made peace with the fact, and is viewed by his friend the narrator as a better man than his 100% human father.
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Post by Dr Strange on Sept 12, 2012 13:53:39 GMT
And yet HPL is supposed to have praised Whitehead for being "a stranger to bigotry"!
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Sept 12, 2012 14:39:04 GMT
And yet HPL is supposed to have praised Whitehead for being "a stranger to bigotry"! I noticed that line in the introduction, too. Let's just say that I don't think HPL's thoughts on that topic are especially credible.
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Post by andydecker on Sept 13, 2012 8:39:56 GMT
He was a nice guy, scholar, and only 1/32 ape Isn´t this unfortunate when this happens? All of the disadvantages, none of the benefits I never could share this fascination with the ape, either in Burroughs or horror. Must have been a hot topic in their age. Or is this all leading down to Darwin?
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