|
Post by Jojo Lapin X on May 29, 2019 19:44:14 GMT
Gently, though. He is nearing death. So maybe my plan to break down his door and demand in strong language to know why I haven't been sent a review copy might not be such a good idea? No! You must not! Also, although it should be obvious to regular viewers, I now feel the need to add that I am not he.
|
|
|
Post by Michael Connolly on May 31, 2019 10:48:59 GMT
Tales from the Hidden Notebooks of M R James. I've just come across this. I don't think I've heard of it before: www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Hidden-Notebooks-Joseph-Denwood/dp/179080888X/ref=sr_1_21?keywords=m.r.+james+ghost+stories&qid=1559137235&s=books&sr=1-21 A tribute to the ghost stories of M R James. 'When the Old Provost's Lodge at King's College, Cambridge, was being restored in 1978, I was a doctoral student there, writing a thesis on the impact of the Reformation on the concept of the disembodied soul in Protestant countries. Already fascinated by James's interest in ghosts, I nipped into the Old Lodge late one afternoon, just after the workmen had gone, and looked around the rooms that the great man had occupied. A shaft of sunlight from the south-west suddenly entered the room I was in - it was, I think, his old bedroom - and lit up the plasterless chimney breast. This beam revealed a couple of bricks wholly devoid of mortar. I pulled the bricks out and found behind them a small cavity containing a stash of notebooks. I fished the books out with glee and, after a moment's inspection, saw that they appeared to have been written by the famous antiquarian himself. What is supremely interesting about these notebooks - if, indeed, they are genuine, as I believe - is that from them one can extract coherent stories about M R James's own encounters with the occult. As I am now nearing death myself, I have decided to publish edited versions of the notebooks, each monograph dealing with one curious episode in the great scholar's life.'This paperback edition contains all five stories published in this series on Kindle up to the end of 2018:+ The Cellars of Ezekiel+ The Hearties of Adonai+ The Organ of Corpusty+ The Island of Tyskär+ The Bones of PastonIt sounds a bit off to me. The author won't mind me saying that. He's "nearing death". New to me too. The author's name is unfamiliar to me - no one has mentioned the book in the obvious places (e.g. the MRJ Facebook page). I will investigate. I'm glad to see I have my uses. I find it hard to believe that someone who would write such a book is unaware of Ghosts & Scholars etc. At one time I would have snapped up the book immediately. However, as the story titles are just not Jamesian, I will wait to see a full-scale review. Anyway, short previews of the Kindle version of each story are available on Kindle: www.amazon.co.uk/s?i=digital-text&rh=p_27%3AJohn+Joseph+Denwood&s=relevancerank&text=John+Joseph+Denwood&ref=dp_byline_sr_ebooks_1Here is one of the Amazon reviews: We have with The Organ of Corpusty the third tale of the adventures of M.R. James, based on notes claimed to have been discovered by one Edward Cowling of All Angels College.Cedric Fox-Bright is vicar of St. Peter's Church in Corpusty, Norfolk, and is a friend and former student of James. While visiting Fox-Bright, James hears the story of Sir Roger Kettle, lord of the local manor in 1748. Kettle commissioned a great organ to be built at St. Peter's to please his music-loving wife. One day Lady Henrietta suffered a sudden, accidental death. Kettle, in his grief, directed from his deathbed that the organ never again be played, lest there be "a reckoning from beyond the grave."The organ remained unused for the next century and a half, and fell into disrepair; but now Cedric Fox-Bright was determined to restore it to its former glory for the church services. He proceeds with his plan despite the curse of Sir Roger and the misgivings of James -- with consequences that can well be imagined.This is a quite well-told, very "Jamesian" (Jacobean?) tale, with an ending fully in keeping with his style. The only points I find to quibble about are the odd name of "Lord Crankshaft, an expert in thermodynamics" (was the name meant as a joke?) and the appearance of the word "boffin", which did not come into use until 12 or so years after the tale is said to take place (1929). But these are insignificant.Very well done, another top-notch tale of the supernatural. I look forward to further revelations by Cowling/Denwood."Lord Crankshaft" does not inspire confidence.
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on May 31, 2019 12:02:44 GMT
Lord Crankshaft, eh?
I don't know if this yarn was intended as parody but I may have giggled at your review. Thanks, Michael!
H.
|
|
|
Post by andydecker on May 31, 2019 12:37:25 GMT
This is a quite well-told, very "Jamesian" (Jacobean?) tale, with an ending fully in keeping with his style. The only points I find to quibble about are the odd name of "Lord Crankshaft, an expert in thermodynamics" (was the name meant as a joke?) and the appearance of the word "boffin", which did not come into use until 12 or so years after the tale is said to take place (1929). But these are insignificant. I am not very well versed in this topic, but isn't "Jamesian" and "Jacobean" a very different thing?
|
|
|
Post by Michael Connolly on May 31, 2019 12:56:40 GMT
This is a quite well-told, very "Jamesian" (Jacobean?) tale, with an ending fully in keeping with his style. The only points I find to quibble about are the odd name of "Lord Crankshaft, an expert in thermodynamics" (was the name meant as a joke?) and the appearance of the word "boffin", which did not come into use until 12 or so years after the tale is said to take place (1929). But these are insignificant. I am not very well versed in this topic, but isn't "Jamesian" and "Jacobean" a very different thing? Yes. I assume that the (American?) reviewer means it is a Jacobean revenge tragedy. This very weird photograph is entirely off topic.
|
|
|
Post by andydecker on May 31, 2019 13:36:16 GMT
This very weird photograph is entirely off topic. Similarities are coincidental and so on …
|
|
|
Post by Jojo Lapin X on May 31, 2019 14:19:44 GMT
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on May 31, 2019 18:24:17 GMT
I hope this does not come across as "Vaultsplaining": the English name James traces back to the Hebrew name Jacob, so the reviewer may have been uncertain whether the correct adjective for "evoking the stories or personality of Provost M R James" was "Jamesian" or "Jacobean." The latter is confusing due to its association with plays and other forms of art from the reign of Britain's King James I.
cheers, H.
|
|
|
Post by Michael Connolly on Jun 3, 2019 12:23:52 GMT
I hope this does not come across as "Vaultsplaining": the English name James traces back to the Hebrew name Jacob, so the reviewer may have been uncertain whether the correct adjective for "evoking the stories or personality of Provost M R James" was "Jamesian" or "Jacobean." The latter is confusing due to its association with plays and other forms of art from the reign of Britain's King James I. cheers, H. Oh.
|
|
|
Post by jamesdoig on Jul 11, 2019 5:59:11 GMT
|
|
|
Post by ropardoe on Jul 11, 2019 8:10:08 GMT
I'm not sure he actually "derided" that pronunciation, as they say - amiably mocked, would be closer. I'm also not sure he was a snob - don't get me wrong, he had many faults, but being snobby I don't think was one of them!
|
|
|
Post by Michael Connolly on Aug 21, 2019 11:40:09 GMT
Tales from the Hidden Notebooks of M R James. I've just come across this. I don't think I've heard of it before: www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Hidden-Notebooks-Joseph-Denwood/dp/179080888X/ref=sr_1_21?keywords=m.r.+james+ghost+stories&qid=1559137235&s=books&sr=1-21 A tribute to the ghost stories of M R James. 'When the Old Provost's Lodge at King's College, Cambridge, was being restored in 1978, I was a doctoral student there, writing a thesis on the impact of the Reformation on the concept of the disembodied soul in Protestant countries. Already fascinated by James's interest in ghosts, I nipped into the Old Lodge late one afternoon, just after the workmen had gone, and looked around the rooms that the great man had occupied. A shaft of sunlight from the south-west suddenly entered the room I was in - it was, I think, his old bedroom - and lit up the plasterless chimney breast. This beam revealed a couple of bricks wholly devoid of mortar. I pulled the bricks out and found behind them a small cavity containing a stash of notebooks. I fished the books out with glee and, after a moment's inspection, saw that they appeared to have been written by the famous antiquarian himself. What is supremely interesting about these notebooks - if, indeed, they are genuine, as I believe - is that from them one can extract coherent stories about M R James's own encounters with the occult. As I am now nearing death myself, I have decided to publish edited versions of the notebooks, each monograph dealing with one curious episode in the great scholar's life.'This paperback edition contains all five stories published in this series on Kindle up to the end of 2018:+ The Cellars of Ezekiel+ The Hearties of Adonai+ The Organ of Corpusty+ The Island of Tyskär+ The Bones of PastonIt sounds a bit off to me. The author won't mind me saying that. He's "nearing death". Has anyone else tried Denwood yet?
|
|
|
Post by ropardoe on Aug 21, 2019 15:27:19 GMT
Tales from the Hidden Notebooks of M R James. I've just come across this. I don't think I've heard of it before: www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Hidden-Notebooks-Joseph-Denwood/dp/179080888X/ref=sr_1_21?keywords=m.r.+james+ghost+stories&qid=1559137235&s=books&sr=1-21 A tribute to the ghost stories of M R James. 'When the Old Provost's Lodge at King's College, Cambridge, was being restored in 1978, I was a doctoral student there, writing a thesis on the impact of the Reformation on the concept of the disembodied soul in Protestant countries. Already fascinated by James's interest in ghosts, I nipped into the Old Lodge late one afternoon, just after the workmen had gone, and looked around the rooms that the great man had occupied. A shaft of sunlight from the south-west suddenly entered the room I was in - it was, I think, his old bedroom - and lit up the plasterless chimney breast. This beam revealed a couple of bricks wholly devoid of mortar. I pulled the bricks out and found behind them a small cavity containing a stash of notebooks. I fished the books out with glee and, after a moment's inspection, saw that they appeared to have been written by the famous antiquarian himself. What is supremely interesting about these notebooks - if, indeed, they are genuine, as I believe - is that from them one can extract coherent stories about M R James's own encounters with the occult. As I am now nearing death myself, I have decided to publish edited versions of the notebooks, each monograph dealing with one curious episode in the great scholar's life.'This paperback edition contains all five stories published in this series on Kindle up to the end of 2018:+ The Cellars of Ezekiel+ The Hearties of Adonai+ The Organ of Corpusty+ The Island of Tyskär+ The Bones of PastonIt sounds a bit off to me. The author won't mind me saying that. He's "nearing death". Has anyone else tried Denwood yet? No, I haven't bothered, I'm afraid. Have you? if so, what's your opinion?
|
|
|
Post by Shrink Proof on Aug 21, 2019 21:07:26 GMT
In other MRJ-related news, the BBC have just announced that a 30-minute long dramatisation of "Martin's Close" will be broadcast on BBC4 on Xmas Eve as this year's "Ghost Story for Christmas". It stars Peter Capaldi and has been adapted from MRJ's original tale and directed by Mark Gatiss. More info via this link.
|
|
|
Post by Michael Connolly on Aug 24, 2019 10:55:08 GMT
Has anyone else tried Denwood yet? No, I haven't bothered, I'm afraid. Have you? if so, what's your opinion? It's still a pig in the poke for me. Will it be reviewed in the next Ghosts & Scholars?
|
|