| Author | Message | ||
     Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.149.134.59 |
I've just walked into Waterstone's and purchased TEATRO GROTTESCO by Thomas Ligotti for £7.99, it being available in a mass-market paperback format for that price. I'm sure some compensatory nightmare is awaiting me in punishment, but for now WAHEY! As it were. This the kind of thing that used to happen when the world made sense. Great cover by the way. And the book sits in your hand so quiet and paperback and affordable. The title is in red. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
I bought this yesterday, in the Waterstones on Deansgate, Manchester (great horror section). I couldn't find it on the shelves, but it was on the "3 for 1" table - luckily I saw it just as I was leaving. The design of the book is wonderful: classy and understated. It somehow feels like an important book. Get out and buy it, folks! Show Virgin Books some support. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.163.170.232 |
I already have the Durtro edition of this book. You're in for a treat. This is what I said on another thread here, when there was a little squabble going on: Re Ligotti, there is a Virgin book of his stuff coming out on the mass market soon and then people in airports etc who pick it up will be able to judge for themselves the fiction, without, hopefully, any rumours ("emo-self-pitying associated with it") about the author that may or may not be true or may or may not put them off enjoying it. | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.47 |
I bought it last week at Waterstones! | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 79.70.104.210 |
I've already got Grin and Conrad's ...got Adam's and now I need me some Ligotti! | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
This evening I read the first third of Teatro Grottesco, and it's a marvellous book. This is the first time I've realised that there's a (very, very, very) dark thread of humour running through a lot of Ligotti's work. Stories like The Clown Puppet and The Town Manager seem to straddle that thin line of hysteria somewhere just before a scream of terror turns into mad laughter. I found myself chuckling out loud only to shudder inwardly a sentence later. Rather brilliant stuff, particularly when read aloud. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.137.224 |
If you look through the "used and new" bit on Amazon, the thrifty among you will be able to pick up a new copy for £6.43 incusive of p&p. See the second listing down:- http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/0753513749/ref=dp_olp_2?ie=UTF8&qid=121 6330835&sr=8-1 | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.159.137.224 |
...among us... | ||
| John_l_probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.203.130.245 |
I'm looking forward to the follow-up Teatro GrotAsda And I'll just save someone the trouble of typing: Songs of a Dead Lidl Shopper My Work Stacking Shelves at Somerfield is Not Yet Done Grimskwiksave | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
Is this a recent reprint? Now I'm going to go look for it and not find it, aren't I? | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.244.67 |
I was wrong! Funny. I had a feeling there was a Ligotti out somewhere. I've read most of them, of course, but The Red Tower is a must have. The ones I haven't read will be highlights of my next few days. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.242.126 |
I've been reading this Ligotti book all day, and it's absolutely fucking brilliant. Albs - you're right about The Red Tower. Blimey, what a piece of work! | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.233.201 |
This is the best Ligotti collection, I think: it combines personal rage and grief with well-judged social and cultural commentary, with a double helping of weirdness on the side. It's his most contemporary and original book. While most of it has been collected elsewhere, some of the contents are hard to find and/or expensive, so bringing them together in one readily available package is an excellent idea. I think the title story is my favourite, but the corporate horror stories are superb as well. And the sheer rage of 'The Clown Puppet' always takes my breath away. This is far more worthwhile than the philosophical discourses of his NOCTUARY period. This is the real thing. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.233.201 |
Des, I'm pretty sure the comment about "emo self-pitying" was about Ligotti fandom, not the author. Not that it really matters. Especially not now that the ranks of Ligotti fandom will spread beyond the realms of thin Goths with spiky black hair and etc.  | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
I'm generally right when it comes to towers...and red things. Generally. What an imagination Ligotti has. Like it needs saying. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.248.217 |
May I just correct Mr Probert's joke: Kwik Save is now Somerfield, isn't it? Please get your facts right, sir. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.208.214.50 |
I am going to have to bow to your superior knowledge of supermarket takeover politics. Plus I've never been in either of them. Mind you, the Fine Fare in Abergavenny was really scary when I was a kid - just like on that BEASTS episode 'Special Offer' | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.248.217 |
Somerfield has just been bought by the Co-op. So your joke looks even more out-of-date. Really, John, you might do a little research before committing yourself.  | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.163.170.232 |
Somerfield has been taken over by Sainsburys in Clacton. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.208.214.50 |
But do you know what ASDA stands for? | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.163.170.232 |
Arabesque and Sarabande Dancing Association | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.248.217 |
Awful Supermarket, Dumb Advert | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.163.170.232 |
To anyone reading this thread outside of UK, the topic of supermarkets seems to have arisen because our biggest supermaket 'Tesco' can be derived from the thread's title. This, in my view, should not detract from any due appreciation of the book in question which (again, in my view) is a genuine masterpiece. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.163.170.232 |
I was shopping in the said Tesco this very day, pushing my Mother-in-Law around in a wheelchair. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.208.214.50 |
Anyway, ASDA, of course stands for: Great value at low low prices and a whole lot more! | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.208.214.50 |
Actually it stands for ASquith & DAiries | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
PURITY is an odd one. I couldn't feel much of Ligotti in it. Quite a departure. THE TOWN MANAGER was more like him, but sort of not trying too hard. You could probably read this and blatantly see his methods of writing. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
Purity is one of my favourites, Albs - it has something a lot of Ligotti, for me, lacks: heart. Oh, and characterisation. :-) I'm loving this collection. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
Well, it's the only story, other than THE FROLIC that deals with a family or more than one person. I'm not sure it worked for me. There was no definite bogeyman, like in all his other stories. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be scared of. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be scared of. The answer to that is, of course: family. The ultimate horror... :-) | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
'spose. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.163.170.232 |
Someone has written this elsewhere about the Virgin 'Teatro Grottesco': =================== "Based on the blurb I must say that, had I been browsing in a bookshop and not known the name of Thomas Ligotti I would certainly not have bought this book. What would have convinced me not to buy is this from a quoted review: One of the most unique voices in the field. (A) One of the most is a phrase that is, to me, akin to finger nails scratched on a blackboard. Only one can be the most. The phrase should be one of the more. (B) Unique is a superlative. Nothing can be more or less unique -- either someone or something is or isn't unique, there are no degrees of uniqueness. The combination of two gross devaluations of the English language in a single short sentence is simply apalling. I realise that Mr Ligotti probably has no control over the blurb the publishers place on the back of the book -- but I hope that he can persuade them to remove it when the book is reprinted. I wonder how many sales have been lost through that sentence. As I've said, in different circumstances, it would have lost the sale to me." ===================== I completely agree. I am aghast! I've not seen the Virgin version (I have the Durtro one). des | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 90.203.130.145 |
That is indeed appalling English. I have the Mythos hardcover. Des - are you really in Rhys Hughes' "The Smell of Telescopes"? I missed your appearance when I read the Tartarus Press edition but a review in Midnight Street claims you have a cameo. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
I'd say the above reviewer needs to get out more. Does anyone even read blurbs? I know I don't. They're a nonsense. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.163.170.232 |
John, I lost count of how many cameos I've had in Rhys Hughes works. A great honour. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.163.170.232 |
Gary, Ligotti's work is polished prose; so why put a blatant put-off on the back cover to those looking for polished prose? We lost the Empire by cutting corners and not caring. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
But the Virgin book isn't aimed at those looking for polished prose - it's aimed at a more mainstream audience. Perhaps those very people who might respond to such blurbs? These blurbs are meant to be eye candy, handy little soundbites, not examples of great (or even grammatically accurate) literature. The commerciality of our genre has slowly been killed by - among other things - closeted aesthetes. Let's loosen up a bit, eh? :-) And didn't we give up the empire partly as reward and partly because of the flattened British economy of the Second World War? ;-) | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.163.170.232 |
All prose should be polished. Those likely to enjoy Ligotti the most are those likely to be put off - not by back-cover eye-candy but by eye-sludge. Gary, I've just voted for your two Nemonymous stories as two of the best Horror stories of the 21st Century. The Empire Strikes Back. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.219.8.243 |
I don't disagree, Des, but Virgin books are aiming for the commercial market, not the specialist press. To survive, they need to sell thousands of copies rather than 100. Blurb is hardly prose (or is it?): it's more like a drunken statement made by some bloke outside a chinese takeaway 2 minutes after midnight. :-) >>Those likely to enjoy Ligotti the most are those likely to be put off - not by back-cover eye-candy but by eye-sludge.<< Maybe not. Maybe some teenage Buffy fan will pick up the Ligotti because of the blurb and realise that he likes it, but simply hasn't been exposed to it before because it was only available via the internet in an expensive limited edition. And thanks for the votes, Des. I believe that drunk outside the Chinese takeaway voted for me too... ;-) | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.229.85 |
We lost the Empire because the people from whom we had stolen those countries took them back. All teenage Buffy fans will love Ligotti. That's why mass-market paperback editions are needed. The blurb is a review quote, so let's not rush to blame the publisher for it. But yes, it's the horribly mangled corpse of a sentence. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.3.65.135 |
>>>We lost the Empire because the people from whom we had stolen those countries took them back. "We" are all descendents of people who stole our country, too. The world's just a great big shoplift. | ||
| Albie (Albie) Username: Albie Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.195.236.131 |
When are you brown haired thieves going to get orf my laaaand? I just hope the elves don't ask me the same.  | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.156.32.207 |
Have any more people read this by now? | ||
| Lincoln_brown (Lincoln_brown) Username: Lincoln_brown Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 121.219.157.75 |
Des, it's next on my 'to be read' pile. I recently received the rather nice Mythos h/cover. I'm halfway through 'The House on Nazareth Hill', by Ramsey, and I can't put it down! | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.145.36.225 |
I've just started a personal on-going critique of this book by Thomas Ligotti here: http://www.ligotti.net/showthread.php?p=15483#post15483 | ||
| Niki Flynn (Niki) Username: Niki Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.32.69.29 |
Just bought it online. (I'm always a little behind.) | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.74 |
By gum, that's an eloquent parenthesis. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.145.36.225 |
LOL! PS: I've just written my piece on THE TOWN MANAGER: http://www.ligotti.net/showthread.php?p=15518#post15518 | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.145.36.225 |
I've now given my take on THE CLOWN PUPPET - where the reader is actually endangered for real by the story: http://www.ligotti.net/showthread.php?p=15545#post15545 | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.145.36.225 |
...and THE RED TOWER: http://www.ligotti.net/showthread.php?p=15551#post15551 | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.145.36.225 |
I've now reached as far as THE BUNGALOW HOUSE in my personal review of this book here: http://weirdmonger.blog-city.com/teatro_grottesco_by_thomas_ligotti.htm | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.145.36.225 |
I've now finished my whole review of this book; http://weirdmonger.blog-city.com/teatro_grottesco_by_thomas_ligotti.htm | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 86.166.188.81 |
I am very proud that my 'review' (of the TEATRO GROTTESCO book by Thomas Ligotti) has today elicited its own review (ie. a review of a review!) here: http://grimreviews.blogspot.com/2009/02/df-lewis-on-thomas-ligotti.html |