|
Post by Knygathin on Apr 7, 2012 18:34:55 GMT
I don't know, it looks kind of old to me. And too "sick" and "ugly" to be a J K Potter.
|
|
|
Post by cauldronbrewer on Apr 7, 2012 18:58:58 GMT
If I'm not mistaken, this is the cover of the first (1964) edition (note the $1.00 price; my subsequent edition lists $3.95):
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Nov 30, 2012 16:00:23 GMT
Mike Ashley (ed.) - Great American Ghost Stories: Chilling Tales by Poe, Bierce, Hawthorne and Others (Dover, 2008) Jeff A. Menges Mike Ashley - Introduction
Edgar Allan Poe- Ligeia Nathaniel Hawthorne - The Gray Champion William Gilmore Simms - Grayling; or, "Murder Will Out" Henry James - The Real Right Thing Sarah Orne Jewett - Lady Ferry Mark Twain - My Platonic Sweetheart Frank R. Stockton - The Philosophy of Relative Existences F. Marion Crawford - The Upper Berth Emma Frances Dawson - An Itinerant House Ambrose Bierce - The Moonlit Road Harriet Prescott Spofford - The Conquering Will Mary E. Wilkins Freeman - The Shadows on the Wall Edith Wharton - The Eyes Willa Cather - Consequences Manly Wade Wellman - Call Me From the Valley Parke Godwin - The Fire When It ComesBlurb: Sixteen spine-tingling tales from the dark side of our nation's literary history include stories by Sarah Orne Jewett, Henry James, Mark Twain, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, and other literary luminaries. The collection begins with Edgar Allan Poe’s "Ligeia," a classic Gothic horror tale of a love stronger than death, followed by "The Gray Champion," Nathaniel Hawthorne's fable of a supernatural hero who reappears in times of national danger. One of the more recent efforts and good on Mike for including some less familiar items alongside the omnipresent Poe, Bierce, Hawthorne, Crawford, Wharton and Mary Wilkins Freeman. Goes without saying that the introduction is very informative.
|
|
|
Post by humgoo on Jun 13, 2019 16:22:09 GMT
If memory serves, it was Bleiler who, following Hugh Lamb's rediscovery and publication of MRJ's forgotten ghost story, "The Experiment", came out with the statement that he'd already found it, but didn't think much of it so decided to keep quiet about it. Which always struck me as being particularly arsey. Hi Lurker! Do you mean Bleiler made that comment in Brian J. Showers' interview, or did he say the same thing somewhere else? The following is an excerpt from the interview (originally published in All Hallows #42):
*** Do you think that exhaustive re-publication could potentially damage an author’s reputation? The minutiae of Lovecraft’s corpus may deserve a mass audience, but what about, for example, a novel like William Hope Hodgson’s The Night Land? Do works like this need to be re-published at all?To the first question: Yes, such material can damage an author’s reputation. I think that juvenilia, unfinished work, rejects, and fragments should be available for serious scholarship, even if in a limited way, but I don’t hold with publishing inferior material for sales purposes just because the author has a big name. It is unfair to both the author and the reader. Lovecraft, as you mention, is a good example of this. “Herbert West, Re-Animator,” is best forgotten. Robert E. Howard has also suffered. He apparently left a large box filled with rejects and unfinished material, which other authors have reworked, always badly. Another example: I knew of M.R. James’s “The Experiment” and “A Vignette” long before they were “discovered.” I could have put them into an anthology and boasted of reprinting “lost stories.” But I felt they were inferior work and best bypassed. As for The Night Land: It’s a mess. In my Hodgson paper in Supernatural Fiction Writers I said, “It is hard to think of another situation in which a reasonably competent author has so mangled a good idea.” Despite this, I would keep it in print for its visionary and emotional qualities. It’s what Orwell would call a good bad book. ***
I want to think that Bleiler was just reacting against the scraping-the-barrel approach in general (and he certainly has a point), instead of denigrating the amazing efforts of Lamb and Dalby ... but yes, the barbed comment hurts.
|
|
|
Post by Jojo Lapin X on Jun 13, 2019 17:05:51 GMT
I like the "reasonably competent" about Hodgson, but I think he is being polite. Hodgson was full of enthusiasm but clearly had no idea what he was doing most of the time.
|
|
|
Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Jun 13, 2019 18:52:16 GMT
Hi Lurker! Do you mean Bleiler made that comment in Brian J. Showers' interview, or did he say the same thing somewhere else? I genuinely can't remember after all this time, though the excerpt you quote does seem to tally, so I'm thinking that was the source. I think the quote marks around "discovered" must have set my teeth on edge. (I also think he's wrong about 'Herbert West: Re-Animator', which I've always found hilarious, but I suppose it's all personal taste.)
|
|
|
Post by cauldronbrewer on Jun 13, 2019 21:08:32 GMT
Do you mean Bleiler made that comment in Brian J. Showers' interview, or did he say the same thing somewhere else? The following is an excerpt from the interview (originally published in All Hallows #42): ... As for The Night Land: It’s a mess. In my Hodgson paper in Supernatural Fiction Writers I said, “It is hard to think of another situation in which a reasonably competent author has so mangled a good idea.” Despite this, I would keep it in print for its visionary and emotional qualities. It’s what Orwell would call a good bad book. I don't always see eye to eye with Bleiler, but I do here. I don't think I've ever had a more difficult time finishing a book (and I'm a Hodgson fan).
|
|
|
Post by humgoo on Jun 15, 2019 14:46:52 GMT
The "old Dovers" (to distinguish them from their later reincarnations) are amazing. They're just the best paperbacks ever made, aren't they? Who else dares to boast:
When did they begin to drop this statement from their books, I wonder? At least they're honest, as the latter-day Dovers are a far cry from their ancestors.
|
|