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Post by Michael Connolly on Nov 5, 2016 12:00:32 GMT
The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies 15 (Autumn 2016) includes an article "‘You Know Where I Am If You Want Me’: Authorial Control and Ontological Ambiguity in the Ghost Stories of M. R. James" by one Keith M. C. O’Sullivan. The tile of the article has put me off. I've skimmed over it. It gets a bit Freudian. Is it for Pseud's Corner? If anyone wants to tackle it, it can be found here: irishgothichorror.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/issue-15-full-final.pdf
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Post by ropardoe on Nov 5, 2016 13:49:56 GMT
The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies 15 (Autumn 2016) includes an article "‘You Know Where I Am If You Want Me’: Authorial Control and Ontological Ambiguity in the Ghost Stories of M. R. James" by one Keith M. C. O’Sullivan. The tile of the article has put me off. I've skimmed over it. It gets a bit Freudian. Is it for Pseud's Corner? If anyone wants to tackle it, it can be found here: irishgothichorror.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/issue-15-full-final.pdf The title alone puts it in pseudo' corner as far as I'm concerned. The article itself isn't quite as bad as the title suggests - it's actually quite easy to read, but that only shows up the fact that such content as there is is very old-fashioned in its arguments. All its points have been made before, and often made better. Thanks for pointing it out, though, Michael - I'll be writing it up for the news section of the next G&S, and I don't think I'll be praising it! |
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Post by Michael Connolly on Nov 5, 2016 14:05:51 GMT
The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies 15 (Autumn 2016) includes an article "‘You Know Where I Am If You Want Me’: Authorial Control and Ontological Ambiguity in the Ghost Stories of M. R. James" by one Keith M. C. O’Sullivan. The tile of the article has put me off. I've skimmed over it. It gets a bit Freudian. Is it for Pseud's Corner? If anyone wants to tackle it, it can be found here: irishgothichorror.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/issue-15-full-final.pdf The title alone puts it in pseudo' corner as far as I'm concerned. The article itself isn't quite as bad as the title suggests - it's actually quite easy to read, but that only shows up the fact that such content as there is is very old-fashioned in its arguments. All its points have been made before, and often made better. Thanks for pointing it out, though, Michael - I'll be writing it up for the news section of the next G&S, and I don't think I'll be praising it! My work is done (by someone else)! |
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Post by Dr Strange on Nov 5, 2016 15:05:45 GMT
The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies 15 (Autumn 2016) includes an article "‘You Know Where I Am If You Want Me’: Authorial Control and Ontological Ambiguity in the Ghost Stories of M. R. James" by one Keith M. C. O’Sullivan. The tile of the article has put me off. I've skimmed over it. It gets a bit Freudian. Is it for Pseud's Corner? I will leave that for others to decide. To be honest, whenever I've tried to read any of these sorts of literary analyses I've usually found them to be very tedious. On the other hand - since I've seen 4 out of 5 of the films reviewed ( The Hallow, The VVitch, Crimson Peak, Krampus) I thought I'd read those instead, and they were all pretty much spot-on. All these films have their own different problems, but they are all worth seeing in my opinion. One other thing - I've just started on Adam Nevill's short story collection, Some Will Not Sleep, which just came out in paperback in the last few weeks. I will try to do something approaching a proper story-by-story review at some point (maybe), but the first two stories in the collection are definitely "Jamesian" (though in different ways) - the first, Where Angels Come In, I'd read before (in Ellen Datlow's Hauntings anthology) and there are some obvious "nods" to MRJ in it; the second, The Original Occupant, is written very much "in the style of" a Jamesian narrator, though it is set in modern times and is actually a precursor to one of Nevill's novels ( The Ritual - probably my favourite of his). The third story (which is as far as I've got at the moment) is Mother's Milk and is most definitely not Jamesian - there are hints of Lovecraft (I think), but it is much more unpleasant and ambiguous than that. So far, three home runs out of three for me - this could easily top my best of the year list. |
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Post by ropardoe on Nov 5, 2016 16:41:44 GMT
The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies 15 (Autumn 2016) includes an article "‘You Know Where I Am If You Want Me’: Authorial Control and Ontological Ambiguity in the Ghost Stories of M. R. James" by one Keith M. C. O’Sullivan. The tile of the article has put me off. I've skimmed over it. It gets a bit Freudian. Is it for Pseud's Corner? I will leave that for others to decide. To be honest, whenever I've tried to read any of these sorts of literary analyses I've usually found them to be very tedious. On the other hand - since I've seen 4 out of 5 of the films reviewed ( The Hallow, The VVitch, Crimson Peak, Krampus) I thought I'd read those instead, and they were all pretty much spot-on. All these films have their own different problems, but they are all worth seeing in my opinion. For the record I definitely typed 'pseuds' corner' - if it came out as 'pseudo' I blame it on the fact that this board must be haunted. The reviews in that journal do seem rather good, if excessively long. I had a look at one a couple of issues back which covered Lost Girl. Was quite surprised to see such a lightweight but very enjoyable show reviewed in such a heavyweight journal - and reviewed favourably too. Unfortunately the following review, of True Detective, was a bit too scathing, although the reviewer had a point about the women characters. |
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Post by jamesdoig on Nov 5, 2016 19:53:26 GMT
The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies Good place to mention that the editors of that journal have just published Lost Souls, a fairly eclectic collection of essays on the likes of Evelyn Ankers, Charles Fort, Sydney Sime, Oscar Cook, Ingrid Bergman, Charles Beaumont and so on, and a foreword by Christopher Frayling:  |
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Post by Michael Connolly on Nov 7, 2016 13:38:43 GMT
Among others, Keith M. C. O'Sullivan was due to speak at the second one-day conference at The Leeds Library, 19 March 2016, about M.R.James. His subject was ‘“You Know Where I Am If You Want Me”: Sly Savagery and Unquiet Beds in Ghost Stories of an Antiquary’, which sounds like his written article. Ramsey Campbell and Jacqueline Simpson were also due to speak. No doubt this will be reviewed in the next G&S Newsletter. mrjconference.wordpress.com/programme-3/ Keith M. C. O'Sullivan is also due to lecture at speak at Aberdeen University Library on 24 November 2016. From the relevant website: "Aberdeen University Library is rich in Gothic literature, from classics by Clara Reeve and Mary Shelley to M. R. James's celebrated ghost stories. This illustrated lecture examines how this came to be so, alongside consideration as to what 'Gothic' actually means, before discussing one of the best-known of James's spine-chillers. This illustrated talk begins with an outline of the history and characteristics of ‘the Gothic’ – a highly complex term in both historiography and literature. The strong presence of Gothic writing in Aberdeen University Library’s holdings is then discussed, from The Old English Baron to Frankenstein, Northanger Abbey and Melmoth the Wanderer, alongside the prodigious output of Lane and Newman’s Minerva Press. Finally, the lecture will focus on the ghost stories of M. R. James, in particular a detailed reading of one of his best-known tales, 'Oh Whistle, And I’ll Come To You, My Lad'. The story is seen to encapsulate in short-story form the richness of Gothic and the tensions of the period in which it was written, and it is suggested that the story conveys far more about fear than the author himself may have intended." www.abdn.ac.uk/library/events/10709/I've never thought of M.R. James being Gothic. He is the first key modern ghost story writer. And he would have loved this:  A good picture is worth seeing twice. |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Nov 7, 2016 14:45:06 GMT
what 'Gothic' actually means I will now attempt to derail this thread by noting the frequent appearance of the suffix "goth" in H P Lovecraft's made-up words. "Shoggoth," "Yuggoth"---that is two already! There may be others. |
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Post by Michael Connolly on Nov 7, 2016 14:56:33 GMT
what 'Gothic' actually means I will now attempt to derail this thread by noting the frequent appearance of the suffix "goth" in H P Lovecraft's made-up words. "Shoggoth," "Yuggoth"---that is two already! There may be others. "Goth" is also a prefix. This is about a man from Gotham City investigating The Demon of Gothos Mansion:  |
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Post by ropardoe on Nov 7, 2016 16:11:12 GMT
Among others, Keith M. C. O'Sullivan was due to speak at the second one-day conference at The Leeds Library, 19 March 2016, about M.R.James. His subject was ‘“You Know Where I Am If You Want Me”: Sly Savagery and Unquiet Beds in Ghost Stories of an Antiquary’, which sounds like his written article. Ramsey Campbell and Jacqueline Simpson were also due to speak. No doubt this will be reviewed in the next G&S Newsletter. mrjconference.wordpress.com/programme-3/ And he would have loved this: A good picture is worth seeing twice. Helen Kemp's report of the conference (which she kindly allowed me to reprint from the Newsletter of A Ghostly Company) is in the current issue of G&S! Maybe you forgot it's there because it's in the News section (along with John Reppion on the excellent graphic GSofanA? Of Keith O'Sullivan's talk, Helen says: "The elements of 'uninnocent' childhood discussed by Jen and the Freudian resonance exposed by Keith led to a spirited if not spiky debate on sexuality in James; whether it exists at all, and, if it does, how far it is conscious". "Spiky" sounds like it was fun - I'd have enjoyed that. I love the little animated "The Mezzotint", and you're right that MRJ would probably have liked it too, but he might have pointed out that architecturally the house in this picture is not at all like the one in the story! |
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Post by Michael Connolly on Nov 8, 2016 13:16:58 GMT
Among others, Keith M. C. O'Sullivan was due to speak at the second one-day conference at The Leeds Library, 19 March 2016, about M.R.James. His subject was ‘“You Know Where I Am If You Want Me”: Sly Savagery and Unquiet Beds in Ghost Stories of an Antiquary’, which sounds like his written article. Ramsey Campbell and Jacqueline Simpson were also due to speak. No doubt this will be reviewed in the next G&S Newsletter. mrjconference.wordpress.com/programme-3/ And he would have loved this: A good picture is worth seeing twice. Helen Kemp's report of the conference (which she kindly allowed me to reprint from the Newsletter of A Ghostly Company) is in the current issue of G&S! Maybe you forgot it's there because it's in the News section (along with John Reppion on the excellent graphic GSofanA? Of Keith O'Sullivan's talk, Helen says: "The elements of 'uninnocent' childhood discussed by Jen and the Freudian resonance exposed by Keith led to a spirited if not spiky debate on sexuality in James; whether it exists at all, and, if it does, how far it is conscious". "Spiky" sounds like it was fun - I'd have enjoyed that. I love the little animated "The Mezzotint", and you're right that MRJ would probably have liked it too, but he might have pointed out that architecturally the house in this picture is not at all like the one in the story! I realized my mistake last night. I had conflated my memory of the more-detailed coverage of the first conference with that of the second. Sometimes I don't know my arras from my elbow chair. |
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Post by Michael Connolly on Nov 8, 2016 13:27:05 GMT
what 'Gothic' actually means I will now attempt to derail this thread by noting the frequent appearance of the suffix "goth" in H P Lovecraft's made-up words. "Shoggoth," "Yuggoth"---that is two already! There may be others. There is no one clear definition of "Gothic". I heard M.R. James being referred to as a Gothic writer a couple of times on the radio, which is just wrong by any definition. While there might be Gothic elements (of architecture, for example) in his stories, this does not make him a Gothic writer. |
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