| Author | Message | ||
     Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
"We work in the dark—we do what we can—we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion, and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art. " — Joyce Carol Oates I read BEASTS over the weekend and thought it was marvellous - a near perfect novella. Every thing I read by Oates (the short novel ZOMBIE is particularly good) moves her closer to being one of my favourite writers. Wonderful stuff. Anyone else read it? | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.16.85.143 |
Where can that be found, Zed...? She has a brand new story in the brand new issue of The New Yorker (1/12/09) with the deliciously provocative, horror-promising title "Pumpkin Head." Everything I've read by her, amazes me. Which causes a disconnect in my mind, because she is SO prolific, that I can't believe that everything is good... but then everything I read is phenomenal... and since to me the two don't gel, I short-circuit, and seem to nervously avoid really reading her more... which I shouldn't.... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
I found it in my local library, mate. She's one of those writers who, despite producing genuine horror fiction, sneaks into the mainstream. I think she's like a modern-day Sgirley jackson, but with an additional edge. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.21.235.77 |
I'll never forget her short story "Family". Anyone read this? | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.127.253 |
I've got WE WERE THE MULVANEYS. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.161.253.10 |
Me too Ally. I couldn't get into it. After Jackson she seems a little indelicate... I dunno. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 212.74.96.200 |
Afraid I've never really run into anything of hers that made me smile. She's written a lot. I'm guessing there'll be something I like. I've only dipped my toe in (I'll write, despite the possibility of Herr Prof Fry removing this post due to cliche content!). | ||
| Steve Bacon (Stevebacon) Username: Stevebacon Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 90.213.27.228 |
I have a couple of her collections - The Museum of Dr Moses, The Collector of Hearts, and Haunted - and I think they're excellent. Never read anything of any length from her, though. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
There's an integrity to her work, I feel. A brutal integrity. I always think that great art needs to be honest. There were moments in BEASTS when I wanted to squirm. Afraid I've never really run into anything of hers that made me smile. It's more likely to make you grimace, mate. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.161.253.10 |
While reading Mulvaneys I had this sense of a peacock trying to fly, doing some grand jumps and looking amazing and impressive, having all the bird-like ingredients - just not flying. Not for me, anyway. Maybe I need to read more of her stuff because all I've read feels sort of...autistic. I know there's an imagination in there but it's not really flowing into me... | ||
| Richard_gavin (Richard_gavin) Username: Richard_gavin Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 65.110.174.71 |
I read BEASTS shortly after it was released. It's a wonderful contemporary gothic tale. Oates is an astounding sylist. Have you read her two collecitons of "grotesuqes", Gary? The first is HAUNTED, the second THE COLLECTOR OF HEARTS. They are well worth your while. Images from the title story of HAUNTED tied a knot in my psyche. I still see those images in my mind's eye from time to time. Potent stuff. Richard | ||
| Jamie Rosen (Jamie) Username: Jamie Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 192.26.212.72 |
I've only three or four of her stories, but everyone is just so good I'm astounded. Her prose is, for lack of a better word, luxurious. It isn't overflowingly purple, but it just draws you in and nestles about you like a warm ooze. But in a good way. | ||
| Thomasb (Thomasb) Username: Thomasb Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 69.236.173.147 |
You all have to have to have to read "Bellefleur"! One of the best, IMHO! The "Love, The Spider" chapter is a genuinely freaky. | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.113.253 |
Thomas. Can you pop the link up to your blog please. I haven't popped in for ages and want to. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.21.235.186 |
That booklet she did for Necronomicon Press, Demon and Other Tales", contains the haunting "Posthumous" and "The Hands". Very creepy. | ||
| Jamie Rosen (Jamie) Username: Jamie Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 192.26.212.72 |
My library has a listing of 150 Oates titles (including large print editions, audio recordings, and foreign translations) but for some reason not a single copy of Bellefleur. Ah well. | ||
| Thomasb (Thomasb) Username: Thomasb Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 69.236.173.147 |
Hi Ally: I've moved over to the Red Room, but here's the links for both of them: http://tbdeluxe.blogspot.com/2009/01/ive-moved-this-blog-is-closed.html and the Red Room: http://www.redroom.com/member/thomas-burchfield My latest is under "Articles and Stories." I'll only post an essay occasionally--like when I actually have something to say . . . . Thanks for asking! | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.113.253 |
Great! Thank you Thomas. I'll make myself a cup of tea and settle down :>) | ||
| Alansjf (Alansjf) Username: Alansjf Registered: 09-2008 Posted From: 94.194.134.45 |
When I became an avid reader of Oates a decade or so back, I bought so many of her books I had to nip to B&Q and buy another bookcase. She is frighteningly prolific (new collection - Dear Husband - and new novel - A Fair Maiden - are out this year). My favourite Oates novel is probably Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang, though I also really enjoyed her door-stopper Gothic extravaganzas (Bellefleur, A Bloodsmoor Romance & Mysteries of Winterthurn). And every one of her collections contain handfuls of excellent short stories. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.182.119 |
I have the collections - the ones already mentioned, and also her earlier one, Night-Side, which is one of the best (I also like The Assignation). Of the novels, I agree that Bellefleur is a standout. The novella First Love is worth mentioning too. | ||
| Jamie Rosen (Jamie) Username: Jamie Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 192.26.212.72 |
What are the thoughts on her pseudonymous -- and now pseudo-pseudonymous -- novels? Reading about her borderline obsessive-compulsive writing has encouraged me to pick up a pen again. Have pity for the world. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.161.253.208 |
Wish I could find the right book by her to get into because i do like the idea of her stuff. Psuedonyms? I recently wondered if writing anonymously would have any effect on my work. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 75.16.76.154 |
"Pumpkinhead" review: in sum, worth pursuing. A simple story; and whether one considers it horror or not, like much of Oates' short fiction (that I've read, and imho), will be according to the reader's interpretation. It's certainly horrific, but is it horror...? Doesn't matter in the end; though it could go into any horror anthology, if one wanted to include it. |