Now Reading

[Ethel]

Finished The Red and the Black by Stendhal. Loved it's strong character development and historical references (especially regarding religion).

 

Been absorbing a new style of literature drifting away from realism. Name of the novel is 2666 by Roberto Bolano so far I can't get enough.

[Guest zaphod]

 

just watched a field in england for the second time and I feel like it could be a catalyst for period sci-fi/fantasy/old school horror adaptations.

 

I need to read all of those zaphod. I have an M R James anthology that I need to get to.

 

I am going to reread Arcturus again soon Lumpster, we should have another chat about it.

 

thanks for the list again! I still haven't seen "a field in England" yet, hope to at some point.

 

re: Arcturus, one thing that always struck me was the casual sexism - he's always screwing some alien then killing her - but somehow in the context of a psychedelic vision quest that involves stripping away the veil of lies of the world, it didn't bother me too much. Which makes me wonder, there have been some decent female sci fi writers, but can you think of any female whacked-out-on-opiates-visionaries? Back in the day you had things like the Oracle at Delphi, but I can't think of any more recent examples. That kind of role seems more the province of men, in the current era.

 

this was mine:

 

 

 

that's funny about the casual sexism. you find that in a lot of early genre fiction, and then in some lovecraft you have full blown racism that is somehow acceptable because it creates a sort of fever pitch in the prose. like he's so afraid of "the other" that he achieves an ecstatic hatred.

that cover of arcturus is terrible, but at least it doesn't look like it was made in bryce.

[Atop]

a. merritt - the metal monster

richard marsh

francis stevens

henry kuttner

manly wade wellman - silver john books

bertram mitsford

 

looks like my copy of voyage to arcturus is paperback. pretty lol cover:

 

 

I have a Henry Kuttner collection but have yet to read all of it.

Man yeah, I have none of the others.

Put our powers together and it would make one hell of a reading list.

I will get to collecting what you have mentioned.

 

just watched a field in england for the second time and I feel like it could be a catalyst for period sci-fi/fantasy/old school horror adaptations.

 

I need to read all of those zaphod. I have an M R James anthology that I need to get to.

 

I am going to reread Arcturus again soon Lumpster, we should have another chat about it.

 

thanks for the list again! I still haven't seen "a field in England" yet, hope to at some point.

 

re: Arcturus, one thing that always struck me was the casual sexism - he's always screwing some alien then killing her - but somehow in the context of a psychedelic vision quest that involves stripping away the veil of lies of the world, it didn't bother me too much. Which makes me wonder, there have been some decent female sci fi writers, but can you think of any female whacked-out-on-opiates-visionaries? Back in the day you had things like the Oracle at Delphi, but I can't think of any more recent examples. That kind of role seems more the province of men, in the current era.

 

 

 

 

Mary Shelley is the only one I can think of. Not sure if she was all opiated out or not but she hung with peeps that rolled that way. And I love Frankenstein. Need to reread that one as well. Yeah check out A Field In England, really loved it even more the second time around.

 

I guess I felt like the attitude Maskull has toward women just felt like a part of the character and didn't make me think Lindsay was a sexist himself.

 

In his other books that I have read the protagonists are female, strong willed and intelligent. From what I can remember.

 

 

that's funny about the casual sexism. you find that in a lot of early genre fiction, and then in some lovecraft you have full blown racism that is somehow acceptable because it creates a sort of fever pitch in the prose. like he's so afraid of "the other" that he achieves an ecstatic hatred.

 

 

Lovecraft's racism seemed more like a hatred of all people he didn't know, "the other" as you put it zaphod. I want to read S T Joshi's book 'I am Providence' to really understand him more and to see if there is any info on the writing of the Necronomicon, I want to turn that into a story by itself. Devious nerds trying to combat Christianity's and Judaism's grip on society. Sounds like a fun time to me.

 

Those covers are hilarious, most of them are awful but the Bison Books release has to be the best cover.

 

 

[lumpenprol]

 

 

Mary Shelley is the only one I can think of. Not sure if she was all opiated out or not but she hung with peeps that rolled that way. And I love Frankenstein. Need to reread that one as well. Yeah check out A Field In England, really loved it even more the second time around.

 

I guess I felt like the attitude Maskull has toward women just felt like a part of the character and didn't make me think Lindsay was a sexist himself.

 

In his other books that I have read the protagonists are female, strong willed and intelligent. From what I can remember.

 

Good call on Shelley, yeah Frankenstein is a great read, from what I recall. She's not in the company of psychedelic/visionary/mad scifi authors (like Lovecraft or Lindsay), but she is philosophical, which certainly gives them all common ground.

 

I just found Voyage to Arcturus free online, only a few mouseclicks away! Going to spend the day re-reading it, yay. Will get baked too, hopefully that'll enhance the experience and not just make me sleepy. Can't imagine a better Sunday.

[lumpenprol]

double post

 

re: the sexism/racism thing, some times it almost serves to enhance the archetypal nature of the story, at others it can be a distraction, but I usually can get over it in the same way I can often bypass the Christian allegories in Lewis. At other times it can be really off-putting, just depends on how intrusive it is. But then, I'm a privileged white male, so...

Edited February 9, 2014 by lumpenprol

[Guest zaphod]

 

Lovecraft's racism seemed more like a hatred of all people he didn't know, "the other" as you put it zaphod. I want to read S T Joshi's book 'I am Providence' to really understand him more and to see if there is any info on the writing of the Necronomicon, I want to turn that into a story by itself. Devious nerds trying to combat Christianity's and Judaism's grip on society. Sounds like a fun time to me.

 

there's an interview with joshi about weird fiction where he says this about lovecraft:

 

Although he began as an extreme reactionary (an apparently sincere believer in monarchism, an opponent of democracy, etc.), his views changed significantly with the onset of the Depression, and toward the end of his life he became a moderate (non-Marxist) socialist. But there are elements of continuity all along the way. He once said, “All I care about is the civilization”—by which he meant a state of society whereby aesthetic expression could flourish and there was not radical inequality. He came to believe that capitalism could not ensure this state of affairs, and that his brand of socialism had elements in common with his old-time belief in aristocracy and therefore could bring about the “civilization” he wished for. Lovecraft was largely alone among weird writers in his racism and anti-Semitism (a trait he ironically shares with Eliot, whose literary and religious views he otherwise despised), but I think this largely had to do with his social conservatism—his belief in “tradition” as a bulwark against the existential meaninglessness that comes with an understanding of the immensity of the universe and of man’s inconsequence within it. Non-whites also served as a convenient scapegoat for the rapid social changes he saw occurring in his lifetime. But it is a sad fact that he didn’t really seem to “reform” very much toward the end of his life, even when he became a socialist. I think he simply shut up about the matter once he saw that his friends and correspondents didn’t share his views.

 

http://formerpeople.wordpress.com/2013/10/30/a-literary-history-of-weird-fiction-an-interview-with-s-t-joshi/

Edited February 9, 2014 by zaphod

[Guest Ron Manager]

 

it's one of the funniest books i've ever read,

 

yup.

 

I probably didn't get half of it but I liked it from the start.

 

yup

 

Also started with GR.

 

Actually had no idea about what kind of writer he was and only wanted to read Gravity's Rainbow because the title kept coming up as an aside in articles I'd read, I liked the sound of the name, I'd just finished a book at work so had nothing to read on the way home and knew there was a copy in the bookshop near Kings Cross.

 

Realised what I'd let myself in for after about 30 pages in and then doing a quick wiki/google.

 

Nevertheless I plowed on through and managed to finish it. That was in 2012 and I think I'm gonna be rereading it pretty soon.

 

Don't give up Ron! It's incredibly satisfying to finish. Also, don't get so bogged down in not understanding certain parts. I'm actually kind of looking forward to coming to those again and them making a little more sense on the second go'round.

 

Also, for some reason I found Lot.49 underwhelming. Maybe I spoiled myself with GR but I just found it kinda slight.

 

 

i won't! i just needed a break. i'm too curious to put it down for good, and i think i'll resume again in a week or two. in the meantime, i read a few Kafka short stories and re-read The Outsider/Stranger by Camus, although i should have found a French copy because i think it would have been much more rewarding... still a great novella though.

[Bob Dylan]

I'm in a post-apocalyptic mood but 50's style. It's probably gonna last half a year, I have a lot to read (Level 7, Alas Babylon, Swan Song, etc...).

 

But as a start, this is really beautiful :

Edited February 9, 2014 by Philip Glass

[Atop]

 

 

Lovecraft's racism seemed more like a hatred of all people he didn't know, "the other" as you put it zaphod. I want to read S T Joshi's book 'I am Providence' to really understand him more and to see if there is any info on the writing of the Necronomicon, I want to turn that into a story by itself. Devious nerds trying to combat Christianity's and Judaism's grip on society. Sounds like a fun time to me.

 

there's an interview with joshi about weird fiction where he says this about lovecraft:

 

Although he began as an extreme reactionary (an apparently sincere believer in monarchism, an opponent of democracy, etc.), his views changed significantly with the onset of the Depression, and toward the end of his life he became a moderate (non-Marxist) socialist. But there are elements of continuity all along the way. He once said, “All I care about is the civilization”—by which he meant a state of society whereby aesthetic expression could flourish and there was not radical inequality. He came to believe that capitalism could not ensure this state of affairs, and that his brand of socialism had elements in common with his old-time belief in aristocracy and therefore could bring about the “civilization” he wished for. Lovecraft was largely alone among weird writers in his racism and anti-Semitism (a trait he ironically shares with Eliot, whose literary and religious views he otherwise despised), but I think this largely had to do with his social conservatism—his belief in “tradition” as a bulwark against the existential meaninglessness that comes with an understanding of the immensity of the universe and of man’s inconsequence within it. Non-whites also served as a convenient scapegoat for the rapid social changes he saw occurring in his lifetime. But it is a sad fact that he didn’t really seem to “reform” very much toward the end of his life, even when he became a socialist. I think he simply shut up about the matter once he saw that his friends and correspondents didn’t share his views.

 

http://formerpeople.wordpress.com/2013/10/30/a-literary-history-of-weird-fiction-an-interview-with-s-t-joshi/

 

 

 

So he was a massive racist for life? Oh well, at least he wasn't a ped.

 

What is your favorite Lovecraft story zaphod? Mine is either The Colour Out of Space or The Shadow Over Innsmouth. I still have not read The Dunwich Horror or The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. At The Mountains of Madness is long winded, and The Call of Chtulhu is a bit cheesey but the ideas he came up with make those stories and his career. A perfect example of the content being greater than the writing.

 

Do you know the story of how the Necronomicon came about being written and by whom? The real story.

 

A fictionalized version about the Lovecraft circle creating it would be good if written well.

Edited February 10, 2014 by Atop

[luke viia]

dunwich horror is pretty awesome.

 

now reading wendell berry's "culture and agriculture".

[lifeforce]

i hope you guys aren't starting with kafka on the shore when you read murakami. it's probably his worst novel...

 

Really ?

Well I've got a lot to look forward to then with Murakami.

I've just finished reading it as my first Murakami novel and I loved it.

Bizarre, funny, engrossing and utterly fascinating.

[zkom]

The white Europeans get their fare share of the villains in Lovecraft's stories also. And stories like Rats in the Walls use European ancestry as the source of evil. It's more like he despised the whole mankind and saw the white anglo-saxon rationalism as the savior against threats that keep seeping in from the past, but also that the rationalism would be the final downfall of the humanity. As in a quote from Call of Cthulhu:

 

 

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.

 

I think foremost he was a nihilist that saw no hope in the humanity's battle against the uncaring cosmos but also a romanticist that would rather live carefree in his dream world of 19th century England or New England not knowing about the horrors that lurk outside.

[zkom]

Just finished Murakami's the Elephant Vanishes, which I quite liked.

 

Now reading this..

[baph]

 

 

Lovecraft's racism seemed more like a hatred of all people he didn't know, "the other" as you put it zaphod. I want to read S T Joshi's book 'I am Providence' to really understand him more and to see if there is any info on the writing of the Necronomicon, I want to turn that into a story by itself. Devious nerds trying to combat Christianity's and Judaism's grip on society. Sounds like a fun time to me.

 

there's an interview with joshi about weird fiction where he says this about lovecraft:

 

Although he began as an extreme reactionary (an apparently sincere believer in monarchism, an opponent of democracy, etc.), his views changed significantly with the onset of the Depression, and toward the end of his life he became a moderate (non-Marxist) socialist. But there are elements of continuity all along the way. He once said, “All I care about is the civilization”—by which he meant a state of society whereby aesthetic expression could flourish and there was not radical inequality. He came to believe that capitalism could not ensure this state of affairs, and that his brand of socialism had elements in common with his old-time belief in aristocracy and therefore could bring about the “civilization” he wished for. Lovecraft was largely alone among weird writers in his racism and anti-Semitism (a trait he ironically shares with Eliot, whose literary and religious views he otherwise despised), but I think this largely had to do with his social conservatism—his belief in “tradition” as a bulwark against the existential meaninglessness that comes with an understanding of the immensity of the universe and of man’s inconsequence within it. Non-whites also served as a convenient scapegoat for the rapid social changes he saw occurring in his lifetime. But it is a sad fact that he didn’t really seem to “reform” very much toward the end of his life, even when he became a socialist. I think he simply shut up about the matter once he saw that his friends and correspondents didn’t share his views.

 

http://formerpeople.wordpress.com/2013/10/30/a-literary-history-of-weird-fiction-an-interview-with-s-t-joshi/

 

 

The great difficulty, for me, of owning a "complete" Lovecraft story collection is having to sort through early short stories like "The Street," which aside from being overtly racist is an absolutely horrible piece of fiction:

 

http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/s.aspx

 

Goddamnit, that's bad.

Edited February 10, 2014 by baph

[logakght]

I started reading this book The Moment of Proof which is a math book but with interesting examples and applications. Enjoyable!

[Guest Ron Manager]

 

i hope you guys aren't starting with kafka on the shore when you read murakami. it's probably his worst novel...

 

Really ?

Well I've got a lot to look forward to then with Murakami.

I've just finished reading it as my first Murakami novel and I loved it.

Bizarre, funny, engrossing and utterly fascinating.

 

 

i don't think zaphod's is a majority view. i would say it's my second favourite after Wind-up Bird.

[plstik]

learnpythonthehardway.org

and A casual vacancy, by the Harry Potter lady. Fun because I grew up in a small town. just like Pagford..

[Bertolt Brechtakt]

Mary Robinson - Gripping Doune.

 

Pretty interesting autobiographical read that puts many fears we have nowadays into perspective.

[Guest Milkweg]

Herman Hesse - Steppenwolf

 

Loving it so far.

[Guest sine]

The Fatal Shore-M.Hughes

its about the colonization of Australia,written by an Aussie, its brilliant.Should be on every Britsh history reading list.

[el_deuterostome]

Planetary Omnibus- Warren Ellis & John Cassaday

Little Failure: A Memoir- Gary Shteyngart

[zkom]

Had a short trip to the Netherlands and read Murakami's Sputnik Sweetheart while traveling. Back to the history of mathematics now.

[Guest sine]

Alexei Sayle-Stalin Ate my Homework.

A nice quick read ,enjoyable,funny and unlike a lot of auto biographies,really well written.

 

http://www.alexeisayle.me/downloads/

 

 

link to first chapter.

[Danny O Flannagin]

Finished House of Leaves, not really sure what to think about it, not really sure i completely understood it. I liked some of the concepts presented in the book but i grew very bored of Johnny. Thought some of the unconventional page layouts were a little gimmicky

[Guest pafr]

the night before I had my appendicitis surgery when I had the appendix pain, I was reading Stephen King's The Gunslinger. Then I forgot to go back and finish the book. I wanted to read the entire Dark Tower series. Now reading House of Leaves.