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Post by andydecker on Sept 25, 2020 10:16:13 GMT
Dear Ro and others,
I stumbled upon James' remark how "reticence" in stories is advisable, which seems to be a contrast to a few of his stories. I am not very knowlegdeable in his work, but I re-read "Lost Hearts" and was a bit surprised about the blood and the violence in this. Of course it isn't "Hannibal", but it is pretty graphic for its time.
Is it a exception from the rule in the James work or does he often go that far?
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Sept 25, 2020 11:56:10 GMT
Dear Ro and others, I stumbled upon James' remark how "reticence" in stories is advisable, which seems to be a contrast to a few of his stories. I am not very knowlegdeable in his work, but I re-read "Lost Hearts" and was a bit surprised about the blood and the violence in this. Of course it isn't "Hannibal", but it is pretty graphic for its time. Is it a exception from the rule in the James work or does he often go that far?
Lost Hearts was one of MRJ's early stories and one he himself didn't much care for as time passed - possibly as he felt he hadn't yet found the right balance between what was shown and what was implied. He wasn't averse to spilling blood in his stories, but thought it should be used sparingly rather than have welters of the red stuff flying everywhere. And there are frequent acts of violence, though these tend to occur 'off-screen', with the description of the after effects allowing the readers to imagine for themselves the cause of these often terrible injuries and unnatural deaths.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Sept 25, 2020 13:12:39 GMT
Dear Ro and others, I stumbled upon James' remark how "reticence" in stories is advisable, which seems to be a contrast to a few of his stories. I am not very knowlegdeable in his work, but I re-read "Lost Hearts" and was a bit surprised about the blood and the violence in this. Of course it isn't "Hannibal", but it is pretty graphic for its time. Is it a exception from the rule in the James work or does he often go that far?
Lost Hearts was one of MRJ's early stories and one he himself didn't much care for as time passed - possibly as he felt he hadn't yet found the right balance between what was shown and what was implied. He wasn't averse to spilling blood in his stories, but thought it should be used sparingly rather than have welters of the red stuff flying everywhere. And there are frequent acts of violence, though these tend to occur 'off-screen', with the description of the after effects allowing the readers to imagine for themselves the cause of these often terrible injuries and unnatural deaths. This is great black comedy from the last paragraph of Count Magnus, whose victims have the flesh of their face sucked off: "People still remembered last year at Belchamp St Paul how a strange gentleman came one evening in August years back; and how the next morning but one he was found dead, and there was an inquest; and the jury that viewed the body fainted, seven of 'em did ...".
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Post by ropardoe on Sept 25, 2020 15:24:22 GMT
Dear Ro and others,
I stumbled upon James' remark how "reticence" in stories is advisable, which seems to be a contrast to a few of his stories. I am not very knowlegdeable in his work, but I re-read "Lost Hearts" and was a bit surprised about the blood and the violence in this. Of course it isn't "Hannibal", but it is pretty graphic for its time.
Is it a exception from the rule in the James work or does he often go that far?
“There was a long table in the room, more than the length of a man, and on it lay the body of Mr Davis. The eyes were bound over with a linen band and the arms were tied across the back, and the feet were bound together with another band. But the fearful thing was the breast being quite bare, the bone of it was split through the top downwards with an axe! Oh, it was a terrible sight; not one there but turned faint and ill with it, and had to go out into the fresh air." From one of my favourite M.R. James stories, “An Evening’s Entertainment”. So yes, MRJ could be pretty OTT at times!
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Post by andydecker on Sept 25, 2020 18:43:33 GMT
Thanks all! Very interesting. I neglected to check the original dates; of course there are quite a few years between Lost Hearts and the essay.
The temptation to just use quotes or commentary instead of reading the original is counter-productive. I searched for Lovecrafts recommendation of Rohmer's Brood of the Witch-Queen in his essay Supernatural Horror for a project. I was quite astonished that in this instance it is indeed not more than a passing remark.I would have imagined it was at least a paragraph or something. No such luck.
And I have to read some more James :-) (Even if I think his opinion that sex has no place in stories and novels is just repressed nonsense )
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Post by ropardoe on Sept 26, 2020 8:25:39 GMT
Thanks all! Very interesting. I neglected to check the original dates; of course there are quite a few years between Lost Hearts and the essay.
The temptation to just use quotes or commentary instead of reading the original is counter-productive. I searched for Lovecrafts recommendation of Rohmer's Brood of the Witch-Queen in his essay Supernatural Horror for a project. I was quite astonished that in this instance it is indeed not more than a passing remark.I would have imagined it was at least a paragraph or something. No such luck.
And I have to read some more James :-) (Even if I think his opinion that sex has no place in stories and novels is just repressed nonsense )
His opinion that sex has no place in stories isn’t “repressed nonsense”. What it is, is a general misunderstanding of what he actually meant by “sex” - it’s pretty clear from his own stories and from what he enjoyed in other people’s stories that he actually meant soppy romantic stuff.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Sept 26, 2020 13:20:33 GMT
Thanks all! Very interesting. I neglected to check the original dates; of course there are quite a few years between Lost Hearts and the essay.
The temptation to just use quotes or commentary instead of reading the original is counter-productive. I searched for Lovecrafts recommendation of Rohmer's Brood of the Witch-Queen in his essay Supernatural Horror for a project. I was quite astonished that in this instance it is indeed not more than a passing remark.I would have imagined it was at least a paragraph or something. No such luck. And I have to read some more James :-) (Even if I think his opinion that sex has no place in stories and novels is just repressed nonsense ) His opinion that sex has no place in stories isn’t “repressed nonsense”. What it is, is a general misunderstanding of what he actually meant by “sex” - it’s pretty clear from his own stories and from what he enjoyed in other people’s stories that he actually meant soppy romantic stuff. That's funny. Since watching Isla Fisher in Visions on the Horror Channel last night, I can think of nothing else but "soppy romantic stuff".
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Post by dem bones on Sept 28, 2020 17:30:50 GMT
Victoria Day - Water'd with Blood: After the Great War, Dr. Black examines two boxes of materials retrieved from a Vault beneath the Cathedral storeroom. Much to his delight, these contain the surviving wood carvings - that of the Cat and Death - referenced in M. R. James' The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral, and a second group of figures presumably carved from the same gallows pole. These smaller effigies, wrapped in an oilskin bag, depict an Angel, a Dog, and the Virgin Mary. Black commits the standard antiquarian error of separating the two bundles, unleashing a vengeful spectre on three parishioners with blood on their hands. Victoria, you'll remember, kindly allowed us to included My Aunt's Tale on last year's Vault Advent Calendar. No Miss Tweekweed this time, but another terrific story which actually had me revisit James' story for the first time in a century. I went AWOL from the Haunted Library during the early MRJ Newsletter years and find it impossible to envisage a Ghosts & Scholars equivalent minus fiction.
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Post by humgoo on Oct 7, 2020 15:00:19 GMT
Must say, I think the too modest António has made a marvellous job on the issue. Very heartening indeed to have received such an excellent issue! Love everything in it. Thank you everyone! Ms Tyrrell already brought us gore galore in her excellent Lorelei, now we've got wet chemises and pulled-up skirts: Could it be that our dream of Ghosts, Scholars and Gals is finally coming true? On a side note, it's nice to have learned the word (and the savory hobby of) "champing"!
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Post by Michael Connolly on Oct 7, 2020 16:50:56 GMT
Must say, I think the too modest António has made a marvellous job on the issue. Very heartening indeed to have received such an excellent issue! Love everything in it. Thank you everyone! Ms Tyrrell already brought us gore galore in her excellent Lorelei, now we've got wet chemises and pulled-up skirts: Could it be that our dream of Ghost, Scholars and Gals is finally coming true? On a side note, it's nice to have learned the word (and the savory hobby of) "champing"! Muck!
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Post by dem bones on Oct 7, 2020 19:36:45 GMT
Must say, I think the too modest António has made a marvellous job on the issue. Very heartening indeed to have received such an excellent issue! Love everything in it. Thank you everyone! Ms Tyrrell already brought us gore galore in her excellent Lorelei, now we've got wet chemises and pulled-up skirts: Could it be that our dream of Ghost, Scholars and Gals is finally coming true? On a side note, it's nice to have learned the word (and the savory hobby of) "champing"! Had to look up "champing" too - now I'm thinking there's a potentially brilliant anthology of ghost stories to be had from the theme. Agree it's another splendid issue. Have particularly enjoyed both of Benjamin Harris's articles on John Gordon - his enthusiasm for the author's work glares through - and Lurkio's review of England's Screaming has convinced me I need to think about copping a copy in the new year (atypical optimism). As with previous issue's column, Lady Wardrops Notes would slip seamlessly into The Black Pilgrimage.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Oct 7, 2020 20:02:45 GMT
Had to look up "champing" too I was hoping it would be an unusual sexual activity, but it seems not.
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Post by Dr Strange on Oct 7, 2020 20:10:16 GMT
Had to look up "champing" too I was hoping it would be an unusual sexual activity, but it seems not. Try the Urban Dictionary, definition #4.
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Post by Swampirella on Oct 7, 2020 20:13:18 GMT
I was hoping it would be an unusual sexual activity, but it seems not. Try the Urban Dictionary, definition #4. The Vault of Evil, fun AND educational!
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Oct 7, 2020 20:17:29 GMT
I was hoping it would be an unusual sexual activity, but it seems not. Try the Urban Dictionary, definition #4. That makes more sense.
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