Re: Ligotti: An author predominantly for men?
 

I've now read the 'Nursery Garden' chapter in that novel, and there is a concept even closer to what I consider CONE ZERO to be... plus this striking passage about something else:

"Every day something new became problematic and difficult. An early thing was books, always bad and now impossible. Print reared off the pages like snakes striking. His eye got entangled by the anomalous, like the letter g, and the peculiar disparity between its written and printed forms. Reading was unmanageable because he measured frequencies of gs, or sat and stared, mesmerised by one. Any word will look odd, stared at, as though it was incorrect or unreal or not a word. Now all words were like that."

Re: Ligotti: An author predominantly for men?
 

Thanks for recommending A.S. Byatt. Her work sounds interesting. I'm going to have to check it out.

This brings up another point: Obviously there are plenty of female horror writers (though still outnumbered by men), and some of the greatest works of horror have been written by women.

Just to name a few ladies of horror: Anne Rice, Poppy Z. Brite, Joyce Carol Oates, Shirley Jackson, Flannery O'Connor, Mary Shelley, Suzy McKee Charnas, Beth Massie, Caitlan R. Kiernan, Katherine Dunn, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Lisa Tuttle, Kathe Koja, Tanith Lee, Nancy A. Collins, Lucy Taylor, Jessica Amanda Salmonson, Mehitobel Wilson, Charlee Jacob, and Kim Newman -- (that last one's a joke).

So it appears female horror writers hold a much larger percentage than do female horror readers. It's all very puzzling.

Re: Ligotti: An author predominantly for men?
 

I don't doubt that Ligotti appeals almost exclusively to men.

As well ask, why do many authors appeal almost exclusively to women? There's a myriad of romance authors, none of whom, I would guess, has ever been read by a single man. What about that?

Therein lies the answer, I think. Subject matter. Women like reading about relationships, juicy love affairs, etc. The emotional texture of TL is intellectual, often dry, though always fascinating. If he has a short suite, I think it is in fleshing out and adding verisimilitude to male/female relationships. Not that I want him to start now.

Re: Ligotti: An author predominantly for men?
 

I do not detect a short suit in Thomas Ligotti's depictions of interaction between the sexes. If anything, there is often a sense of tragedy or of tension in the stories. An outright grab at and/or struggle for dominance seems to underly many pieces as well. To my mind, the most starcrossed relationship is that of Prena and Lamm in "Dr. Voke and Mr. Veech." Tragic beyond words. The villains of "The Chymist," "The Frolic," "Drink to Me Only with Labyrinthine Eyes," and "Les Fleurs" easily pluck their victims like apples from trees. Struggles between the sexes for dominance are evident in "Eye of the Lynx," "The Medusa," "Conversations in a Dead Language," "The Bungalow House," "The Bells Will Sound Forever," and "My Work Is Not Yet Done." Since I'm typing off the cuff, I'm sure some other fine examples have eluded my memory. Mr. Ligotti's fictions slyly mirror the workings of the real world as we conveniently know't. And the beat goes on...

Re: Ligotti: An author predominantly for men?
 

For about a year I have hovered around TLO, availing myself of the excellent bibliographic resources and exploring various threads on the forum. From the start I wanted to register and participate in the ongoing discussions, but never did so out of reticence. The New Nonsense's post above and the responses to it have finally forced me out of the woodwork. To the question "Are there any [women who read Thomas Ligotti] out there?" I'm happy to answer: Yes.
I regard Thomas Ligotti's works as indispensable to my existence. Whether there are or aren't other women who share this perspective I cannot say. It is not surprising that TL's readers -- both male and female -- are few and far between, since he remains little known to the readership at large. The primary problem, it seems to me, is that TL's publications are literally inaccessible, either out of print or out of the average reader's price range. Hopefully, both The Conspiracy Against the Human Race and the forthcoming paperback of Teatro Grottesco will reach a wide and diverse audience, women included.
In a small effort to make TL's work available to potential readers, I recently recommended Songs of A Dead Dreamer, Grimscribe, and The Shadow at the Bottom of the World to the library acquisitions office at the university I attend as a graduate student. All three books are now on the shelf, ready to circulate -- and over time, I know they will.
Thank you, Nemonymous, G.S. Carnivals, barrywood, paeng, Kevin, and The New Nonsense for starting this thread and keeping it going. I hope none of you will mind if I stop by every now and then to join the conversation!

All best,

Daisy

Re: Ligotti: An author predominantly for men?
 

Welcome, Daisy. I enjoyed your posting. I'm enjoying this thread as well and I am thankful it was started in the first place. Thanks to the unstoppable Dr. Bantham this site exists and, as a member, nothing is more pleasurable than meeting another fan of Thomas Ligotti.

Please accept my cyber handshake in friendship, Daisy.

:D

Re: Ligotti: An author predominantly for men?
 

Thanks for your kind note, barrywood. It's wonderful to meet you and to be a part of this forum at last!

Re: Ligotti: An author predominantly for men?
 

Greetings Daisy. I'm glad this topic has lured you out of the woodwork. It's good to read a woman's point of view in regards to Ligotti. Even better to read that you view Ligotti as, "indispensable to my existence". I know the feeling. Thanks for sharing your opinion. I agree, the limited availability of Ligotti's work makes it difficult for anyone, male OR female, to encounter his genius.

Are there any aspects of his work that you like in particular?

Re: Ligotti: An author predominantly for men?
 

Hello, The New Nonsense, and many thanks for your reply. In his essay "Soft Black Star," published in the Thomas Ligotti Reader, David Tibet proclaims TL "the greatest writer of our time in any genre." I couldn't agree more. Thomas Ligotti, pessimist philosopher and poet, is without equal. Below, I appropriated the phrase, indispensable to my existence, from a text which is exactly that: The Conspiracy Against the Human Race. In my opinion, it is the most important thing he has ever written. The experience of reading it is akin to hearing a favorite piece of music, in the sense that it's impossible not to be compelled, and moved, by thoughts and themes so sensationally expressed. I also find CATHR to be a work of rigorous scholarship, an excavation of ideas that have been previously ignored or relegated to the margins of history.
I want to add here that, while it is rarely celebrated as much as his fiction, TL's poetry is very great. I'm of the view that, if he had written nothing other than "This Degenerate Little Town," he'd still deserve David Tibet's honorific.
I'll stop now, because I'm in danger of derailing this thread once and for all! Thanks again for welcoming me to TLO.

Re: Ligotti: An author predominantly for men?
 

Hi Daisy: You're not derailing this thread; you're adding to it. I am much enjoying this thread--to the extreme, in fact. Thank you, Kevin, for starting it.