| Author | Message | ||
     Lincoln_brown (Lincoln_brown) Username: Lincoln_brown Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 124.181.214.84 |
Our family, on my wifes side, is going through some separation/divorce drama at the moment - getting very nasty. Grabbed a book, at random, off the shelf yesterday, to pass the time (our house has turned into a family meeting place!) - 'The Ceremonies', by Klein. The prolouge is amazing, could have been a short story on its own. Won't be able to put this down until finished. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.48.60 |
This is a stunning book - I've not read it since its first outing in paperback many (many...) years ago, but it's stayed with me all those years. If you can, get hold of "The Events at Poroth Farm" if you can, the story the novel is expanded from. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.195.192 |
Someone should bring out an expanded edition of Dark Gods and include 'The Events at Poroth Farm'. It's in Reassuring Tales but seems (to me) a little out of place among those slighter tales. Glad you are enjoying The Ceremonies, Lincoln! Sorry to hear about the nasty stuff going on around you. It always helps to have a good book to lose yourself in. ;-) | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.129.20.239 |
I preferred his story in Dark Forces more. After reading that and then finding Ceremonies it felt a bit drawn out and slow moving. Maybe I need to give it another go as it's obviously highly appreciated. | ||
| Laird Barron (Laird) Username: Laird Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 71.212.78.124 |
I enjoyed The Ceremonies to a degree, but I really admire Dark Gods. Klein is powerful at novella length and the four in DG are classics. | ||
| Lincoln_brown (Lincoln_brown) Username: Lincoln_brown Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 138.217.153.252 |
Just ordered 'Dark Gods'.  | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.249.146 |
The Ceremonies and Dark Gods are great, but IMHO, I've never been fussed with anything else Klein has written. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.236.13 |
DARK GODS is a must-read. I have THE CEREMONIES lying around somewhere, but somehow never got around to tackling it. It's a hefty tome. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.163.48.60 |
The Ceremonies and Dark Gods are great, but IMHO, I've never been fussed with anything else Klein has written. He's not written much apart from those anyway, I think. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.249.146 |
Just the occasional short story, as far as I know. None of which impressed me. | ||
| Stu (Stu) Username: Stu Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 86.29.106.119 |
Loved Dark Gods but still haven't got round to reading my copy of The Ceremonies. Got The Events of Pordoth Farm in an antho somewhere. Haven't got round to reading that either. | ||
| Griff (Griff) Username: Griff Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 92.10.174.65 |
Petey (sp?) is superb. | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.242.134.108 |
Dark Gods is indeed a really good collection. My fave stories in it are Petey and "Black Man with a horn". I also agree that Reassuring tales is not on the same quality level. | ||
| Laird Barron (Laird) Username: Laird Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 71.212.78.124 |
"The Ceremonies and Dark Gods are great, but IMHO, I've never been fussed with anything else Klein has written." I think there's truth in that, although he hasn't written much else, especially if weighed by word count. I do admire the model, however: a mere five novellas and one novel of such quality he's a recognized master in the canon horrifica. | ||
| Tom_alaerts (Tom_alaerts) Username: Tom_alaerts Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.242.134.108 |
>I do admire the model, however: a mere five novellas and one novel of such quality he's a recognized master in the canon horrifica. But don't use that as an excuse to stop writing yourself ! :-) | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.249.146 |
"the canon horrifica" What a wonderful phrase! Yes, The Ceremonies is, IMHO, one of the best horror novels of the period. The slow pacing and attention to detail are wonderful. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.44.101.104 |
It wasn't so much slow for me as less detailed. That story in Dark Forces was slow but had lots of suggestive detail, which I think Ceremonies lacked. | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.44.101.104 |
Reassuring Tales - sigh, more books that are weirdly limited and pricey. Don't they want us to read them?  | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.24.122.40 |
Not if it means going backrupt. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.236.13 |
Sad, but inevitable. $100 for the Lovecraft-Derleth letters . . . With the present cost of living in Belgium I simply cannot afford these prices anymore. I don't think the books are overpriced at that, it's just that wages haven't kept up with reality. is it the same in England, the States and elsewhere? |