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Post by helrunar on Oct 2, 2020 17:37:19 GMT
That's too funny about that author's obsession with werewolves (didn't the person also claim Lovecraft specialized in loup-garou yarns--perhaps she/they confused HPL with Seabury Quinn whose first published tale was "The Phantom Farmhouse," which is luridly effective). Hahaha...
Hound fits into the sub-type of the "hound from Hell" type story, as I don't need to tell Vault residents. Really nothing at all to do with those who become wolves when the Moon rises in its fullness.
The author of this weighty tome sounds like one of those youngsters of the present era who spends all their time reading "explication de texte" articles making use of the latest French post-post-deconstructionalist toolkit while possibly contenting themself with the odd synopsis of the actual "texts." One has to wonder.
That's a fabou painting. The Inverness cape makes one think of Barnabas Collins but the jawline is wrong and he has no cane.
H.
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Post by andydecker on Oct 2, 2020 19:31:30 GMT
While I think your opinion is correct, I'm still skimming through the Encyclopedia. There is nothing about M.R. James that is gothic apart from his use of the word "gothic". As for Sherlock Holmes, there are gothic elements in "The Speckled Band" and The Hound of the Baskervilles. However, linking that novel with lycanthropy is ridiculous. While "Of the Origin of the Hound of the Baskervilles" by Barbara Roden deals with a lyanthropic solution, the original does not even slightly imply lycanthropy. I don't think that this cover by Frank Frazetta is about Sherlock Holmes. That's too funny about that author's obsession with werewolves [...] The author of this weighty tome sounds like one of those youngsters of the present era who spends all their time reading "explication de texte" articles making use of the latest French post-post-deconstructionalist toolkit while possibly contenting themself with the odd synopsis of the actual "texts." One has to wonder. The Wolf of the Baskervilles ? :-) Stephen Volk wrote a nice story about the Hound as a Hell Hound hunting Watson after Holmes' death. Hounded. (Gaslight Grotesque, 2009) I think the Holmes entries in this book are a good example why this encyclopedia makes for uncomfortable reading. If you are a novice to the genre you would get the impression that the original Holmes is only about "colonial Gothic", as it is put, the ills of colonialism. Which is nonsense, of course. There are a few Holmes stories with this topic - it was a popular topic after the success of Collins, I gathered, so of course Doyle used it -, but the majority is not. It just gives a wrong impression. And while the Lovecraft entry doesn't even mention racism as a problem - thanks to its academic age, I say - , to write "born to a deranged mother and syphilitic father" is a serious and consciously done skewed impression. As if he was a second generation lunatic by birth. This was my first thought, Steve, as you mentioned this once. I could write a book about Oppenheimer and collegues with just secondary or third sources, but I would never think of it. To do this right I would have to do a lot of research studying their work, internet or not.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Oct 2, 2020 19:38:31 GMT
If you are a novice to the genre you would get the impression that the original Holmes is only about "colonial Gothic", as it is put, the ills of colonialism. Which is nonsense, of course. There are a few Holmes stories with this topic - it was a popular topic after the success of Collins Wilkie Collins? I remember nothing about the colonies from Collins, and I have read more of his work than most people. My memory may be faulty, though. Edit: Well, I suppose THE MOONSTONE touches on the issue. But is there anything else?
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Post by andydecker on Oct 2, 2020 19:57:52 GMT
If you are a novice to the genre you would get the impression that the original Holmes is only about "colonial Gothic", as it is put, the ills of colonialism. Which is nonsense, of course. There are a few Holmes stories with this topic - it was a popular topic after the success of Collins Wilkie Collins? I remember nothing about the colonies from Collins, and I have read more of his work than most people. My memory may be faulty, though. Edit: Well, I suppose THE MOONSTONE touches on the issue. But is there anything else? I meant THE MOONSTONE with its stolen diamond from India. The encyclopedia also mentions the novel in its entry of "colonial Gothic".
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Oct 2, 2020 20:12:40 GMT
I have not studied the Encyclopedia very carefully yet, but browsing through it I found some material on Victoria Holt. Taking Victoria Holt seriously must count as a point in its favor.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Oct 2, 2020 20:17:29 GMT
I meant THE MOONSTONE with its stolen diamond from India. Not only is there a diamond stolen from India, but there are sinister Hindoos in pursuit who want it back! But that is about it, I think, for that sort of thing in Collins's oeuvre.
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Post by andydecker on Oct 2, 2020 20:31:28 GMT
I meant THE MOONSTONE with its stolen diamond from India. Not only is there a diamond stolen from India, but there are sinister Hindoos in pursuit who want it back! But that is about it, I think, for that sort of thing in Collins's oeuvre. I have to confess that I never read it; the most I know about the novel and its writer is what Dan Simmons wrote about it in his novel Drood. But I gathered that The Moonstone was a big commercial success at the time and inspired a lot of writers.
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