Truegho
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 135
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Post by Truegho on May 21, 2017 16:42:29 GMT
Do any of you remember the Thriller (penned by Brian Clemence) TV series that used to be shown every Saturday night around nine? Some great episodes on that, especially the "Sister Mary" one with Robert Powell and "One Deadly Owner" starring Donna Mills. The scariest episode for me, though, was "Nurse Will Make It Better" starring Diana Dors. I am really pleased to own this superb series now on DVD. They don't make 'em like this anymore. Alan Toner Horror Author www.alantoner.com
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Truegho
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 135
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Post by Truegho on May 28, 2017 13:06:47 GMT
Good on you. Thriller is an awesome series, and I love being able to revisit the boxed set whenever I want. It's a great pity they don't make such quality stories as this today.
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Post by Knygathin on May 29, 2017 6:51:42 GMT
Do any of you remember the Thriller (penned by Brian Clemence) TV series ... The scariest episode for me, though, was "Nurse Will Make It Better" starring Diana Dors. ... www.alantoner.comIt is very convenient, with the Internet, these days. You can just copy the text here of "Nurse Will Make It Better", paste it into Youtube, and to check out what it is, start watching this obscure material from the 70s in five seconds. Likewise, on ABE-books and Ebay you can get any collectible book or item, that would never have reached you in the very different era before the Internet. (Instead you would have spent your time outside, in the good company of friends, or doing something creative.) Millions of items, billions of items, within easy reach, at the touch of a button. This convenience, and availability of EVERYTHING, also has the risk of MADNESS!! Making you into an obsessive 24h collector and consumer, piling "needful" stuff in heaps that you will never have time to fully consume and appreciate. You are constantly reminded of further items - want more and more, ... wonderful things that you "simply can't be without". It is wonderful, but at the same time a curse. The collecting becomes an ever more complex web entangling you. We drown in it. How do we control this behaviour? Where do we draw the line, and free ourselves?
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Post by johnnymains on May 29, 2017 10:43:36 GMT
How do we control this behaviour? Where do we draw the line, and free ourselves? Suicide's the only option.
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Post by Knygathin on Aug 15, 2017 2:59:00 GMT
There is far too much literature, for us to ever read it all. Carl Sagan once said in one of his TV-programs, that a human being is only able to read a small portion of all the books in a library through his lifetime.
Even in the limited field of horror/fantasy/science fiction there is too much for us to read. Therefore we should be very careful in our selection. We should not waste our time away, by reading indiscriminately. We should be very discriminate, in choosing the very best; foremost, to focus in selecting those specific books that promote, enrich, and develop our own unique persons, to become wiser, better, and more creative, for the good of ourselves and the individual path of ability we were born to; and in the extension, for the good of our culture and society, as we become useful parts in it, fulfilling our roles. The theoretical ideal would be to become "one book persons", to find that one perfect book that lifts and inspires our personality, and read that book over and over, to ever more finetune and direct our own path.
So be careful about what you read. Don't waste your time, by spreading out too thin or going down the wrong paths.
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Post by cromagnonman on Aug 15, 2017 13:20:11 GMT
There is far too much literature, for us to ever read it all. Carl Sagan once said in one of his TV-programs, that a human being is only able to read a small portion of all the books in a library through his lifetime. Even in the limited field of horror/fantasy/science fiction there is too much for us to read. Therefore we should be very careful in our selection. We should not waste our time away, by reading indiscriminately. We should be very discriminate, in choosing the very best; foremost, to focus in selecting those specific books that promote, enrich, and develop our own unique persons, to become wiser, better, and more creative, for the good of ourselves and the individual path of ability we were born to; and in the extension, for the good of our culture and society, as we become useful parts in it, fulfilling our roles. The theoretical ideal would be to become "one book persons", to find that one perfect book that lifts and inspires our personality, and read that book over and over, to ever more finetune and direct our own path. So be careful about what you read. Don't waste your time, by spreading out too thin or going down the wrong paths. Alternatively, ignore all of the above for the proposterous drivel it is. Obviously there are far more books than even the most omnivorous bookworm could ever hope to read. Even Colin Wilson wasn't able to read every book ever written before he died, and no one tried harder than he to do so. But if everyone restricted themselves to just the one type of book that served the criteria you suggest how would anyone ever expand their reading horizons? The joy and satisfaction of reading is to discover new work, find new favourites and, yes, wrestle with different and challenging ideas. How can anyone make a judgement on what is the best kind of book without reading it? The suggestion of reading only books that cement ones pre-conceived ideas and inculcated sense of the morally beneficial is not only absurd but actively dangerous. This feeds into the practice of indoctrination that religions, cults and totalitarian regimes subsist by. And who is to arbitrate anyway upon which ideas are enriching and wisdom conveying? I have no doubt Mao Tse-tung would happily endorse your suggestion of the one book satsifying the general good of culture and society. But I don't. Everyone has their own particular politics, views and ethics but they are the result of examining and confronting alternatives not from shying away from them. The lesson of history is not to be blinkered in ones choice of books but rather to read widely, badly as much as well, but most importantly indiscriminately. In that way we broaden our horizons rather than closing our minds.
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Aug 15, 2017 13:56:26 GMT
Therefore we should be very careful in our selection. We should not waste our time away, by reading indiscriminately. We should be very discriminate, in choosing the very best; foremost, to focus in selecting those specific books that promote, enrich, and develop our own unique persons, to become wiser, better, and more creative, for the good of ourselves and the individual path of ability we were born to; and in the extension, for the good of our culture and society, as we become useful parts in it, fulfilling our roles. The theoretical ideal would be to become "one book persons", to find that one perfect book that lifts and inspires our personality, and read that book over and over, to ever more finetune and direct our own path. So be careful about what you read. Don't waste your time, by spreading out too thin or going down the wrong paths. To each their own, and so on, but I can personally think of few swifter or surer ways to drain all the pleasure from reading. And I would have thought that reading any book that diverts, entertains or engages - or, indeed, watching any programme, film or play, or listening to any particular music, etc, - could hardly be deemed a waste of time.
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Post by Knygathin on Aug 15, 2017 16:28:46 GMT
Cromagnonman:
In a sense your viewpoint is included within my perspective, although I did not express it. In the very personal self, that is unique and different for each of us (we are born with different mental setups), lies also the important path of discovery, which means that we test different literary perspectives to widen our intellectual grasp and wisdom, ... we also need to learn the difference between garbage and quality. So a bit of fumbling and stumbling in our search is always part of development. And to develop a good mind requires a very complex and large amount of information. The theoretical "perfect one book" doesn't exist, of course; unless we be content to sit for the rest of our lives as a monk, repeating a simple mantra.
When I was a kid I read a lot of bad sf and horror books. Downright meaningless junk, that I simply picked from a shallow attraction to the cover art, and from what was commercially pushed on me from the big bookstore shelves. I feel I wasted years. I did not have access to the great writers. Not until I actively started searching for them, by reading reviews in magazines, leafing through catalogs, and studying essays. Then I was able to locate the books and authors that suited my particular taste and mental setup.
I believe it is important to be discriminate, and to carefully use our senses and intellect, and listen to our deep intuition, when selecting books. WILL this book enrich me? ENRICH me in some way that expands my wisdom and imagination. And that also includes being open-minded to new surprizes. But steering clear of that which is plain bad, or just commercial garbage, or even in the worst best-selling cases being produced as intentional PC brainwashing.
Ultimately we should be inspired by what we read, so that we become creative in our own lives. We can't just be consumers; we need also to be creators, which is even more important.
The Lurker in the Shadows:
Same here. It is very necessary to be discriminate. I like to watch good stuff that was produced with real artistry and a pure heart. But to just sit down and watch whatever series or movies flushes through the TV, is downwright damaging. There is soo much Hollywood and other big production garbage, that is just filled to the brim with destructive political propaganda; which is really its main purpose within the flashy packing: to make us zombie consumers, and a non-threat to those in power.
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Post by Knygathin on Aug 15, 2017 19:05:08 GMT
One reason I put forth this argument, is probably because I am completely swamped in books. These wonderful things, these precious things, have become a 24 hour obsession more or less. I get only snatches of sleep. And I have a panic that I will not be able to read them all or re-read my favorite loved ones. I must find some way to get this all under control.
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Post by Mike Brough on Aug 15, 2017 19:15:49 GMT
Sorry, K, to each his/her own but I suspect my reading philosophy is 100% diametrically opposed to yours. I read horror purely for entertainment. If I don't read everything, I might miss the greatest book ever (for me). We're all going to snuff it some day and I don't think any of us will be looking back thinking 'well, at least I read discriminatingly'. I'd rather be thinking, 'well that book was a blast. And so was that one. And that one'. The problem is that I've no idea which ones are going to be a blast until after I've read them.
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Post by Knygathin on Aug 16, 2017 6:15:13 GMT
Sorry, K, to each his/her own but I suspect my reading philosophy is 100% diametrically opposed to yours. I read horror purely for entertainment. If I don't read everything, I might miss the greatest book ever (for me). We're all going to snuff it some day and I don't think any of us will be looking back thinking 'well, at least I read discriminatingly'. I'd rather be thinking, 'well that book was a blast. And so was that one. And that one'. The problem is that I've no idea which ones are going to be a blast until after I've read them. By listening to the recommendations of others, you may get an idea beforehand of what is good and what is bad and of what may suit your taste, and this may save you a lot of blindly fumbling wasted effort. For example, how many people would have found the great authors Lovecraft lists in Supernatural Horror in Literature, without having read that essay, or listened to the recommendations of those who have read it? And how would one chance to pick R. E. Howard's and Fritz Leiber's sword & sorceries in the bookstore, instead of more likely filling the shopping bag with the many mediocre clones standing next to them with their big flashy covers, if one had not taken part of foreknowledge? Life is too short, to just let things drift haphazardly. By intelligent recommendation on one of the Internet literature forums, for example, I also found the books of Michael Shea, which I am very grateful for. I would never have chanced upon them otherwise. Or Robert Aickman? Ha ha! he would have been eternally separated from my perceptions.
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Post by Mike Brough on Aug 16, 2017 17:42:47 GMT
You're not wrong - recommendations are important, especially those from people whose opinions you respect.
But... some of my best finds, my favourite reads, came from warnings on here and elsewhere - 'don't read X - his books are full of Y and Z. Absolutely horrendous'.
If we only ever read books recommended by others, we''d end up a pretty boring, bland and homogeneous crowd.
Vie la difference.
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Post by Knygathin on Aug 16, 2017 20:38:28 GMT
You're not wrong - recommendations are important, especially those from people whose opinions you respect. But... some of my best finds, my favourite reads, came from warnings on here and elsewhere - 'don't read X - his books are full of Y and Z. Absolutely horrendous'. If we only ever read books recommended by others, we''d end up a pretty boring, bland and homogeneous crowd. Vie la difference. Thumbs up!
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