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Post by helrunar on Apr 22, 2018 19:46:07 GMT
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Post by helrunar on May 1, 2018 22:06:22 GMT
So, I have no idea if there's a thread here on "new and of interest" books--as a rule, I find very little that is new of interest. But I was just listening to an interview with Elizabeth Hand from September of last year, and she mentioned this book as being really good. She went so far as to compare it to Aickman. www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/28/the-loney-andrew-michael-hurley-review-gothic-novelI see that Mr Ramsey Campbell mentioned doing an event with author Andrew Hurley back in 2015, on another thread from that time. Has anyone in the Vault read the book? cheers, H. |
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Post by Dr Strange on May 2, 2018 10:22:33 GMT
I read The Loney a while back. Can't say I was overly impressed. Maybe it suffered a bit from having been over-hyped (Costa Book Prize winner, British Book Industry Book of the Year) by time I got round to it, but what I most remember about it now was being frustrated and disappointed by a story that, in the end, just didn't make much sense to me. Maybe too "literary" for my tastes, or too subtle, or too much about religion (it's got a strong "Wicker Man" vibe going on) - or maybe it just tried too hard to be "gothic" and "atmospheric" and forgot about narrative and plot.
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Post by andydecker on May 2, 2018 17:52:16 GMT
Nice to see that Elizabeth Hand is still active. I didn't read her stuff in the last years, but some of her early novels like Glimmering and her novelisations were pretty impressive. Unlike others she could do both ambitious and easy listening.
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Post by helrunar on May 2, 2018 17:54:49 GMT
I just re-read her novella Wylding Hall, an interesting and extremely accomplished exercise in "folk horror," with a set-up that could be described as "M. R. James attends a Fairport Convention gathering in 1971."
The Cass Neary novels are so well done, but at times, blisteringly bleak.
H.
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Post by andydecker on May 2, 2018 18:37:09 GMT
I just re-read her novella Wylding Hall, an interesting and extremely accomplished exercise in "folk horror," with a set-up that could be described as "M. R. James attends a Fairport Convention gathering in 1971." The Cass Neary novels are so well done, but at times, blisteringly bleak. H. Blisteringly bleak is a good description of Hand's work, I think. Her contribution to the short Universal Monsters line from Dark Horse, Bride of Frankenstein, is also rather bleak and not at all what one would expect from such a novel. |
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Post by helrunar on May 2, 2018 19:13:13 GMT
Wow, I had no idea Liz wrote a Bride of Frankenstein novel. Hope I can find that. She does bleak, and nouveau Gothic, really well.
Thanks!
H.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on May 5, 2018 20:01:45 GMT
I just re-read her novella Wylding Hall, an interesting and extremely accomplished exercise in "folk horror," with a set-up that could be described as "M. R. James attends a Fairport Convention gathering in 1971." This sounds amazing. |
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Post by ropardoe on May 6, 2018 9:11:33 GMT
I just re-read her novella Wylding Hall, an interesting and extremely accomplished exercise in "folk horror," with a set-up that could be described as "M. R. James attends a Fairport Convention gathering in 1971." This sounds amazing. Couldn't agree more. Wow! |
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Oct 8, 2019 1:48:07 GMT
I just re-read her novella Wylding Hall, an interesting and extremely accomplished exercise in "folk horror," with a set-up that could be described as "M. R. James attends a Fairport Convention gathering in 1971." This sounds amazing. I read Wylding Hall in three sittings. It's every bit as amazing as Helrunar's description makes it sound, and more. I loved everything about it: the oral history format, the characters (all recognizable types, but also believable and sympathetic), the relationships between the band members, the portrait of a musical scene. And, beneath it all, a quietly disturbing tale of ancient horror. There are a few scenes that genuinely creeped me out--especially one part toward the end. Thank you for the recommendation. Elizabeth Hand's book affected me more than anything I've read in quite a while. Now I need to listen to Fairport Convention's Liege and Lief a few more times to recapture the mood. |
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Post by helrunar on Oct 8, 2019 2:45:28 GMT
I am glad you enjoyed the novella. I also recommend Elizabeth's Cass Neary novels... the best one for me was the first one, Generation Loss, though all three had fascinating passages. She's very interested in the headspace of people who are alienated from the mainstream cultural milieu and this is expressed in part in a fascination with fugitive, esoteric, often physically fragile objects, landscapes, and people. Cass Neary is around my own age... maybe five years younger.
Another interesting one that is stand-alone is Black Light, which is, I think, a meditation on a mind-stopping force that is at the center of the divine presence the ancients called Dionysos... it's cleverly disguised as a novel length exploration of a night of Bacchic frenzy and destruction that erupts out of a bohemian house party somewhere in the depths of the country.
Elizabeth always makes me think, and sometimes re-think material that is familiar, in new ways--I can't say that about many writers currently living.
cheers, H.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Feb 20, 2022 22:27:59 GMT
I am glad you enjoyed the novella. I also recommend Elizabeth's Cass Neary novels... the best one for me was the first one, Generation Loss, though all three had fascinating passages. She's very interested in the headspace of people who are alienated from the mainstream cultural milieu and this is expressed in part in a fascination with fugitive, esoteric, often physically fragile objects, landscapes, and people. Cass Neary is around my own age... maybe five years younger. I finally got around to ordering a copy of Elizabeth Hand's Generation Loss, so I'll try to share my thoughts once I've read it. I was particularly intrigued by the description of the third Cass Neary novel, Hard Light, but I've decided to start at the beginning. |
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Nov 22, 2022 13:55:54 GMT
The Cass Neary novels are so well done, but at times, blisteringly bleak. I started the third one, Hard Light, last night after having enjoyed--maybe "appreciated" is a better word--both Generation Loss and Available Dark. I particularly liked the Icelandic setting of the latter, and all the photography stuff in the series is fascinating. |
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Post by helrunar on Nov 22, 2022 15:55:05 GMT
Glad to hear you found the books worth your time, Mr Brewer! I was very disappointed by the most recent (and perhaps final) novel in the series--I think the title is The Book of Lamps and Banners. Still some good pages though.
cheers, Hel.
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