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Post by andydecker on Nov 13, 2021 21:35:39 GMT
Thanks to the ever interesting blog The PorPor Books Blog I stumbled on this and recommend it heartily.
It is a 1 hour 40 minutes documentary movie about the life and times of Karl Edward Wager called The Last Wolf. It is from 2020 and has quite long interviews with a host of well-known writers about Wagner. Ramsey Campbell, Peter Straub, Stephen Jones, Stuart Schiff, David Drake to name a few. Also the surviving family of Wagner, his ex-wife, some friends. To put something on the screen the makers from Knight Visions/Yellow Rose company collected many photos, snippets from conventions. There is also some material about Manly Wellman included, bookcovers and so on.
As this is chronological done it begins with Wagner's childhood and family, which gives an impression of the country he lived in. It drags a bit, to be honest, but puts the time in perspective. But a lot of the following is fascinating if you are interest in the horror scene of the 70s and 80s. A lot of these writers I had never seen on screen, and this was a bonus.
You can rent it on Vimeo.com for a small fee or download it for 6 USD or so.
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Post by Middoth on Nov 14, 2021 13:24:25 GMT
The PorPor Books Blog is the best or one of the best comic resources I've come across. I share his interest in Heavy Metal magazine
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Post by Knygathin on Aug 5, 2023 21:46:09 GMT
What ya think, was Wagner even better than Howard at writing barbarian tales? Was he truly, a brutal barbarian in his soul, like Howard?
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Post by andydecker on Aug 6, 2023 13:11:41 GMT
What ya think, was Wagner even better than Howard at writing barbarian tales? Was he truly, a brutal barbarian in his soul, like Howard? No, he wasn't. And I say this as a die-hard Wagner fan.
The Kane stories have not much in common with Conan stories. Kane is much more complicated and artificial character, and the plots are more complicated and constructed as Howard's works.
And I wouldn't call Howard a barbarian. An overactive imagination and a remarkable talent for wish-fulfilment, to distill half-assed historical 'facts' of the era about Europe and Africa into overly romantic ideas of barbarians. I have a hard time imagining how life in East Texas must have been in the Twenties and early Thirties, how difficult it must have been to inform oneself about the wider world. Which makes his success as a story-teller even more remarkable.
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Post by Knygathin on Aug 6, 2023 14:50:37 GMT
What ya think, was Wagner even better than Howard at writing barbarian tales? Was he truly, a brutal barbarian in his soul, like Howard? No, he wasn't. And I say this as a die-hard Wagner fan.
The Kane stories have not much in common with Conan stories. Kane is much more complicated and artificial character, and the plots are more complicated and constructed as Howard's works.
And I wouldn't call Howard a barbarian. An overactive imagination and a remarkable talent for wish-fulfilment, to distill half-assed historical 'facts' of the era about Europe and Africa into overly romantic ideas of barbarians. I have a hard time imagining how life in East Texas must have been in the Twenties and early Thirties, how difficult it must have been to inform oneself about the wider world. Which makes his success as a story-teller even more remarkable.
Thank you. I intend to read Wagner's Kane stories. R. E. Howard was a indeed a creative phenomenon beyond ordinary comprehension. For what it's worth, he was sent to a larger town to be educated when a child, and also studied much of historical texts in his teen years, I believe. Then took it from there and created his own universe. |
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Post by andydecker on Aug 6, 2023 19:18:15 GMT
Thank you. I intend to read Wagner's Kane stories. R. E. Howard was a indeed a creative phenomenon beyond ordinary comprehension. For what it's worth, he was sent to a larger town to be educated when a child, and also studied much of historical texts in his teen years, I believe. Then took it from there and created his own universe. IMHO one should start with the short stories and novellas. The novels can be a bit difficult to go into.
Absolutely. I wonder if REHupa has a list of the books Howard studied. Could be interesting.
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