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Post by jonathan122 on Apr 16, 2009 16:00:31 GMT
Ancestral Shadows - Russell Kirk (2004 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)
Ex Tenebris
Behind the Stumps
Uncle Isaiah
The Surly Sullen Bell
Balgrummo's Hell
Lex Talionis
What Shadows We Pursue
The Cellar of Little Egypt
Fate's Purse
The Princess of All Lands
Sorworth Place
Saviourgate
The Last God's Dream
The Peculiar Demesne of Archvicar Gerontion
There's a Long, Long Trail A-Winding
Watchers at the Strait Gate
The Reflex-Man in Whinnymuir Close
The Invasion of the Church of the Holy Ghost
An Encounter by Mortstone Pond
A Cautionary Note on the Ghostly Tale
Russell Kirk (1918 - 1994) was best-known in America as a prominent conservative thinker, and there's a very strong moralistic side to a lot of his stories which I must confess leaves me slightly cold... However, he has a very strong reputation amongst "people who know" as one of America's greatest writers of traditional ghost stories, so I should probably give this another go sometime soon.
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zaraath
Crab On The Rampage
Posts: 12 
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Post by zaraath on Oct 5, 2014 9:31:38 GMT
There's a Long, Long Trail A-Winding is a great story, although it's not really scary. That's the only one of his I've read, although I own Ancestral Shadows. One day...
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Post by ropardoe on Dec 4, 2017 9:40:25 GMT
Apparently the new Fortean Times (361) has an article on Russell Kirk: "Russell Kirk: The Haunted Traditionalist". Subscribers have started getting their copies of this issue but it's not in the shops till Thursday, so I haven't seen it yet, but I'm assuming from the subtitle of the article that the main subject matter is his supernatural fiction rather than the non-fiction he's most well known for in certain quarters. I find Kirk's ultra-conservative views get in the way of my enjoyment of his stories (even his Jamesian ones), so I'm not a fan, but I know a lot of people are.
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Post by ropardoe on Dec 7, 2017 11:44:23 GMT
Apparently the new Fortean Times (361) has an article on Russell Kirk: "Russell Kirk: The Haunted Traditionalist". Subscribers have started getting their copies of this issue but it's not in the shops till Thursday, so I haven't seen it yet, but I'm assuming from the subtitle of the article that the main subject matter is his supernatural fiction rather than the non-fiction he's most well known for in certain quarters. I find Kirk's ultra-conservative views get in the way of my enjoyment of his stories (even his Jamesian ones), so I'm not a fan, but I know a lot of people are. It's a two-part article by S.D. Tucker, in the "Strange Statesmen" series, and the actually title is a groan-worthy "Russell Kirk: A Ghost-Tory for Christmas". I like Tucker's comment, after describing the plots of "Behind the Stumps" and "Ex Tenebris": "The idea of strangling public-sector employees to death in churchyards was not the only conservative message Kirk put into his fiction". |
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Oct 19, 2021 12:20:55 GMT
Apparently the new Fortean Times (361) has an article on Russell Kirk: "Russell Kirk: The Haunted Traditionalist". Subscribers have started getting their copies of this issue but it's not in the shops till Thursday, so I haven't seen it yet, but I'm assuming from the subtitle of the article that the main subject matter is his supernatural fiction rather than the non-fiction he's most well known for in certain quarters. I find Kirk's ultra-conservative views get in the way of my enjoyment of his stories (even his Jamesian ones), so I'm not a fan, but I know a lot of people are. It's a two-part article by S.D. Tucker, in the "Strange Statesmen" series, and the actually title is a groan-worthy "Russell Kirk: A Ghost-Tory for Christmas". I like Tucker's comment, after describing the plots of "Behind the Stumps" and "Ex Tenebris": "The idea of strangling public-sector employees to death in churchyards was not the only conservative message Kirk put into his fiction". I have a novel of Kirk's called Old House of Fear from my online book site. I'm sure people are looking for things they can identify as conservative in his fiction as that's what they associate him with. But I don't think his conservatism was anything like Thatcherism, which was market driven, and doesn't seem conservative (apart from private ownership of property) at all to me. I think he was a great follower of Edmund Burke, who had a powerful intellect and foresaw the French Terror before it happened. Both believed in progressive change I think. I tried to look S.D. Tucker up, he seems to have produced a lot of lightweight Fortean style books. |
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Post by Middoth on Oct 19, 2021 13:43:25 GMT
Russell Kirk is such a respectable person that it leaves an imprint on everything he touches. But in general, his stories are all about Salvation. So if you are not interested in saving the soul, they may seem a little preachy to you.
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Post by Dr Strange on Oct 19, 2021 14:22:56 GMT
I'm sure people are looking for things they can identify as conservative in his fiction as that's what they associate him with. But I don't think his conservatism was anything like Thatcherism, which was market driven, and doesn't seem conservative (apart from private ownership of property) at all to me. I think he was a great follower of Edmund Burke, who had a powerful intellect and foresaw the French Terror before it happened. Both believed in progressive change I think. Not so sure about that last part. I haven't read much of his fiction either (apart from There's a Long, Long Trail A-Winding, which left very little impression at all), but he seems to be squarely of the American conservative Christian right. He converted to Catholicism fairly late on in life (in his mid-40s), which I would say is rarely a sign of progressivism. |
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Oct 19, 2021 16:10:11 GMT
I'm sure people are looking for things they can identify as conservative in his fiction as that's what they associate him with. But I don't think his conservatism was anything like Thatcherism, which was market driven, and doesn't seem conservative (apart from private ownership of property) at all to me. I think he was a great follower of Edmund Burke, who had a powerful intellect and foresaw the French Terror before it happened. Both believed in progressive change I think. Not so sure about that last part. I haven't read much of his fiction either (apart from There's a Long, Long Trail A-Winding, which left very little impression at all), but he seems to be squarely of the American conservative Christian right. He converted to Catholicism fairly late on in life (in his mid-40s), which I would say is rarely a sign of progressivism. I didn't say he was progressive (that's liberalism and Mill isn't it?) as is usually understood. He was Burkean conservative, which is about gradual change, building on what came before, because that gives stability to society. I suppose it does include a natural social hierarchy to it, but I don't know enough about him, but Burke could be very revolutionary in his thought; he was sympathetic to the American colonists (without supporting outright revolution), was anti-slavery, disliked the East India Company's involvement in India, fought for Catholic emancipation in Ireland. Karl Marx hated him, which is surely proof that he wasn't all wrong. I was taught by nuns, so I don't see anything regressive about becoming religious at all. |
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Oct 19, 2021 16:42:28 GMT
Not so sure about that last part. I haven't read much of his fiction either (apart from There's a Long, Long Trail A-Winding, which left very little impression at all), but he seems to be squarely of the American conservative Christian right. He converted to Catholicism fairly late on in life (in his mid-40s), which I would say is rarely a sign of progressivism. I didn't say he was progressive (that's liberalism and Mill isn't it?) as is usually understood. He was Burkean conservative, which is about gradual change, building on what came before, because that gives stability to society. I suppose it does include a natural social hierarchy to it, but I don't know enough about him, but Burke could be very revolutionary in his thought; he was sympathetic to the American colonists (without supporting outright revolution), was anti-slavery, disliked the East India Company's involvement in India, fought for Catholic emancipation in Ireland. Karl Marx hated him, which is surely proof that he wasn't all wrong. I was taught by nuns, so I don't see anything regressive about becoming religious at all. Oh I noticed I did say he was progressive. Oops. What I meant was slow, gradual progress, which is what progressive can mean, but in politics progressivism usually refers to more liberal social reforms. |
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Oct 19, 2021 16:43:14 GMT
I didn't say he was progressive (that's liberalism and Mill isn't it?) as is usually understood. He was Burkean conservative, which is about gradual change, building on what came before, because that gives stability to society. I suppose it does include a natural social hierarchy to it, but I don't know enough about him, but Burke could be very revolutionary in his thought; he was sympathetic to the American colonists (without supporting outright revolution), was anti-slavery, disliked the East India Company's involvement in India, fought for Catholic emancipation in Ireland. Karl Marx hated him, which is surely proof that he wasn't all wrong. I was taught by nuns, so I don't see anything regressive about becoming religious at all. Oh I noticed I did say he was progressive. Oops. What I meant was slow, gradual progress, which is what progressive can mean, but in politics progressivism usually refers to more liberal social reforms. Ignore me. |
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Oct 20, 2021 10:40:58 GMT
I haven't read much of his fiction either (apart from There's a Long, Long Trail A-Winding, which left very little impression at all), but he seems to be squarely of the American conservative Christian right. That was my impression of Kirk, too. Though that didn't stop Paperback Library from giving his collection, Lost Lake (original title: The Surly Sullen Bell), the full gothic "woman in a flowing dress fleeing from a castle with one lit window" treatment: More gorgeous artwork from Victor Kalin..  I bought it for the cover. I remember the stories as being all right, if a bit stuffy. |
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