Re: I Just Finished Reading...
 

HOUSE OF LEAVES fans may be interested in the next issue of Axis Vol. 11 published by Inkerman Press. It will include:

"Some-body and No-body in the Space of the House: House of Leaves and Critical Practice by Will Slocombe and Daniel Watt [with an afterword by Brian Jarvis] (November 2011) "

http://www.inkermenpress.co.uk/index...chk=1&Itemid=4

Should this book get its own thread? I've seen it discussed in at least half a dozen TLO threads over the years. It certainly deserves it. Any takers?

Re: I Just Finished Reading...
 

The Pledge by Friedrich Duerrenmatt. A good novel about a promise turned obsession. Similar to the movie, but it has more room to explore philosophical and psychological ideas.

Traps by Friedrich Duerrenmatt. This was an outstanding short novel dealing with crime, motivation, and guilt. From the back cover: " a mock trial, conducted by four gluttionous and sardonic old me, that exposes a shocking crime in the life of their laughing volunteer 'defendant' and victim." This book is very funny too. I checked the net for this pb and the cheapest I can find is over $75! I know I didn't pay more than $10, but it has been a while. It is good but not that good.

Thanks Montag.

The Case Worker by George Konrad. Another good novel. Compared to Kafka and Beckett. (more Beckett than Kafka, imo). Well written and full of interesting insights.

http://rggblog.wordpress.com/2010/07...he-caseworker/

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I must be one of a handful of people who found THoL unreadable. The format ruined it for me. So whatever the book is about doesn't matter to me. It could be the greatest story ever told, but to me it will always be the greatest story never told.

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To bendk:Friedrich Dürrenmatt: Selected Writings, Volume 2, Fictions, Dürrenmatt, Agee, Ziolkowski

The cloth volume of fictions contains virtually all of Durrenmatt's novels and some short stories. Only 35 bucks. Also free online story to read... The Barlach books (The Quarry) are cheaper...pb... Glad you liked Traps. The ending was a nice little inversion, eh?
In the end, who was the judge?

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I've been reading the ghost stories of Edith Wharton, which combine in an interesting manner the tropes of traditional fireside stories with a psychological bent reminiscent of Henry James and, occasionally, a philosophical undercurrent that would not be totally alien to readers of Ligotti. I've written a brief blog entry about Wharton's ghost stories here.

Re: I Just Finished Reading...
 

Read and enjoyed. I've got the 1973 Constable copy of The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton and a copy of Ghost Feelers, introduced by Peter Haining.

Do you like Mary Elizabeth Counselman, also?

www.birdsnest.me.uk

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I couldn't stand the book myself. If I wanted a puzzle, I would get a puzzle. If I wanted to study cryptography, I would find experts on those matters to study. When I wish to read a story, however, I want a story that is reasonably understandable (this isn't to say that I'm not a fan of more complex works, I am. THoL crossed into the absurd, and not in a good way).

Not too long ago, I read A Lover's Discourse by Roland Barthes that I enjoyed and am making my way through a Winston Churchill biography (by William Manchester) as well as a biography of Thomas Paine by Craig Nelson. Reading, though, has come sporadically for me in recent years.

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The Cremator by Ladislav Fuks. Funny and disturbing. Some people may find it far-fetched. Unfortunately, it's not. Thanks going out to Slawek and Tobias for drawing my attention to this novel. But I still haven't seen the movie.

The eccentric Mr. Kopfkringl enjoys his work in the Prague crematorium. He is proud of his expertise in the mechanics of incineration and the social usefulness of his calling. He takes a mystical satisfaction in the speedy despatch of the dead 'into the ether', thus, he believes, hastening their journey towards reincarnation. In off-duty hours he expounds the humanitarian mysteries of cremation to family and friends, rereads his treasured volume on Tibet, and coos patronizingly over his beautiful wife and children. But in the newly Nazi-occupied Prague, they have other needs for his special skills.

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Andrew Vachss The Weight. Couldn't put it down.

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I have just finished reading The Purple Cloud by M.P. Shiel. The book reeks of extreme egotism, and it was quite a chore for me to finish over the past five or six or so weeks; but there are many striking passages that appeal to me greatly.