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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1082
Location: UK | Hello,off we go again,good to see our two most high energy members back again, Welcome Weesam and Hneite
Hope you have a lot of great reads ahead
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1082
Location: UK | Just completed a reread of Edgar Allan poe's Fall of the House of Usher,the final story of his Tales of Mystery and Imagination
For a challenge in one of my groups I had to choose a piece of Gothic literature.
Gothic literature is a genre of writing that creates an atmosphere of fear, dread, mystery, and exoticism through its use of dark scenery, melodramatic narrative devices, and other techniques. Some common characteristics of Gothic literature include:
Setting - Gloomy, decaying settings like haunted houses or castles with secret passages
Characters - Rich, old, isolated, mysterious, misunderstood, or evil characters
Themes - A focus on the dark side of humanity, and plots that often center around a mystery
Elements - Supernatural beings like ghosts, vampires, zombies, or giants, as well as curses or prophecies
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So I chose to reread Edgar Allan Poe -The Fall of the House of Usher
This tale penneed in 1839 is just a perfect example of the genre. And you cant help picturing Poe as the gloomy,manic Roderick Usher.:0)
.Ancient house,which literally falls off the cliff into the lake at the end,weird cursed family,ancient dungeons,premature burial,this story has it all
I often wonder just what the audience reading this story in a nice chatty literary magazine made of the story. Even today its a weird one,there is something very off about Usher knowing his cataleptic sister is still alive and making her way to him from the coffin in the dungeon.EEK
Tales of Mystery and Imagination has all the most famous Poe horror tales,but only the House of Usherrereading all Poe's major stories. actually falls into the January
good start to the challenhge.challenge,though it completes | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1082
Location: UK | Enjoyed my reread of John W Campbell's Who Goes There .Even in the 50s when I was a child Scott,Amundsen,Shackelton et al were international heroes,widely admired as the Right Stuff.Certainly Campbell emphasiss that it was a tragedy that the men taken over by the alien had come to such an end,and having to kill them was both a tragedy but a grim necessity
I assume Campbell's 1938 tale was inspired by Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness in 1936.
Campbell really grounds the story in a realistically described scientific camp in the the brutal winter ice and snow. I couldnt read it without remembering the incredible endurance courage and stamina of all those antarctic explorers.
The story is a bit clunky,and it has a LOT of characters involved,but it still packs a punch with me today,as it sure did on its original publication,and is rated as Campbell's best work.
Got to put in a word of course for Cronenberg's 1982 take on the story.It stayed fairly close to the origal tale in tone plot and characterisation,but in typical early 80s style had to have a totally bleak andepressing ending! lol. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1082
Location: UK | Anyone got a mage on tap?,I need a geas to make everyone forget the incoming POTUS
Ah if only.
Yep,I have been rereading Charlie Stross The Labyrinth Index.Bit too long IMO,and the tone darkens on every new Laundry File but the merging of magic,tech and politics is always fun.
But I still remember the early books in the series,most playful and just light adventure,back when the main characters were still HUMAN! Not many of them left.Nyarlat-Hotep spectacularly humiliated Cthulhu for at least a while.Love the Elder Gods infighting :0)
I did start the next book in the series as mentioned above,but it seems full of umlikeable new characters,so I am not enjoying it,and am putting it aside for a while..
Instead i have acquired the last 3 books in the Winston juveniles series.I will soon complete that list on WWEnd,having read 34/37books.
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1082
Location: UK | Anyone got a mage on tap?,I need a geas to make everyone forget the incoming Potus
Ah if only.
Yep,I have been rereading Charlie Stross The Labyrinth Index.Bit too long IMO,and the tone darkens on every new Laundry File but the merging of magic,tech and politics is always fun.
But I still remember the early books in the series,most playful and just light adventure,back when the main characters were still HUMAN! Not many of them left.Nyarlat-Hotep spectacularly humiliated Cthulhu for at least a while.Love the Elder Gods infighting :0) | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1082
Location: UK | Well after acssive growth of platelets in his brain cells,leading to confusion and dementia like symptoms. Any infections cause severe behavioural problems but as dreadful year where Mr Dusty deteriorated badly and I had to spend increasing amounts of time taking care of him,we do seem to have got his meds sorted. He has a blood cancer affecting the the brain,infections can cause f so needs care which I,want to provide at home as long as possible.
My reading might be slowed or curtailed but I still want to do the challenge and make it available to old longtime fans.
So roll on 2026! | |
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Uber User
Posts: 466
| Dusty,
So sorry to hear that your husband had such a bad year - hopefully 2026 will be better! As in years past (although I somehow missed last year), I've used the challenge to flag my favorite reads of the year. Happy reading! | |
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Regular
Posts: 98
Location: Norway | Thanks for this challenge. I use it for anything that does not fit any of the others, and any excess of Books Read This Year challenge | |
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Admin
Posts: 4130
Location: Dallas, Texas | Sorry to hear you such a terrible time in the last year, My year was OK up until the holidays when it all went to drek. Let's all of us have a better year in 2026. Perhaps the Baboon's-ass-for-a-face Man-high Pile of Human Excrement Painted Orange will finally get his comeuppance. One can dream... Oh, and it's good to see the Pick & Mix back on the list for another year. Tradition! | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1082
Location: UK | Thanks Dave. Yepanother year another terrible world situation. Good job we can retreat into our books..
Possibly there is a smidgen of hope for better times,we can but hope. | |
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Dusty's Pick & Mix challenge for 2025