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As much as I too bemoan the state of the genre and the "friend-publishes-friend" small press, at the end of the day it doesn't matter — I don't see it or read it. Let the minnows swim to their hearts content in their little pond. After all, the genre is in such dire straits on both sides of the Atlantic that we're all merely working in our own ponds. The good work Mr Barker does will in this climate never be as respected as some of his heroes' work was in their day. All the modern author can do is write his or her best and graciously accept what accolades, if any, come his or her way. |
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I had around 1500 stories published in print in various places (from small to biggish) from 1986 (when I was 39; I started late!) to 2000. As soon as I saw the Internet in 1999, I gave up submitting to Print outlets altogether. I've not submitted anything unsolicited since then. I knew it was a waste of time for my type of stuff.
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My approach to this is not to particularly ally with any specific major genre. I myself are involved with the whole Cthulhu mythos sub genre (Some day I would like to write a story in that genre that satisfies myself at least). I allso enjoy some of the late 19th century weird stories.
However I would not categorize myself as a horror fan per say. There's many author's stories which I admire that happen to fall in said genre yet I would not profess to being a fan of the genre itself. If someone offered me the choice of the greatest horror novel ever written or a reasonably interesting collection of cthulhu stories from my favourite current authors then I would have to go with the latter. (I am in little doubt that I would find the James imitations Karswell mentioned infinitely preferable to stories by these Straub or King persons.) |
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Julian, sorry for slow reply. It took rather long.
This is rather off-topic, but it's an interesting discussion, I think. Maybe it should have its own thread. Quote:
How can you know if you don't read them? In the last couple of years I've read at least the following modern writers: Thomas Ligotti, Quentin S. Crisp, Mark Samuels (though disappointed by his latest, I think quite highly of his writing, Joel Lane, T.E.D. Klein, Terry Lamsley, Ramsey Campbell, Ray Russell, Mark Valentine and some stories Karl Edward Wagner (though deceased, I would put him in the "contemporary" box), To name some of those I've read. I think they hold up quite well. I wouldn't per se call them better nor worse than the "golden age" writers, but I think their work works very well on their own terms, and is, in it's own respect, on par with the "golden age", in spite of me finding the whole "Olympic Games of Horror Writing" a bit uninteresting. Quote:
Excuse me for asking this, but English is, after all, only my second language: Are you saying that academics like Joshi or Dziemianowicz are cronies with those commercially succesful writers, and therefore writing them better than they are? Or are you saying that commercially succesful writers are getting all the genre awards? As for the first, it's obviously not true - the writings I've read by Joshi doesn't really seem to think too high of contemporary weird writers (I confess not to having read much scholarly by Dziemianowicz except for his excellent essay on Ligotti in The Ligotti Reader). As for the second point, it may be true. I'm not really interested in genre awards, and wouldn't be able to name a single winner. Much as I wouldn't be able to name a single winner in the recent Academy Awards. I don't inhabit a world where said things matters. 2: Which superb writers from pre-WWII are neglected? A guide would be much appreciated. I have sometimes used Joshi's et.al. reference book in three volumes for study purposes. I haven't read it systematically through, but I haven't noticed any particular bias towards living, American writers, nor have I noticed any particularly nasty remarks about English writers of the Golden Age. Some examples to prove your point would be much appreciated. Insinuation is all very fun, but doesn't really help the discussion, does it? With regards to wikipedia, there is much more on contemporary writers. Doubtless, some are using it to promote themselves (or fans are using it to promote favourite writers), as will happen when an encyclopedia is user-generated. This also means that the encyclopedia is dependent on the knowledge of the users, and since much pre-WWII weird fiction is pretty elusive, not many may know of it, and that may in turn lead to a certain bias toiwards living writers. However, wikipedia isn't really authoritative, is it? 3: With regards to knowing or not personally knowing the author one's writing about, I have mixed feelings. Ideally it should be avoided. However, this field isn't really very large. A lot of the material is elusive. Therefore, if one is an academic and wishes to write about a living writer, contacting that writer may be the easiest way of getting the material you're needing. And, having some contact with said writer can give some valuable insights. Also: is it possible not to have any contact at all with contemporary horror writers, given the smallness of this scene? Here, there are so many writers. Were I to write about one of the writers who are present here (and I am indeed considering writing an academic paper on either liminality or urban representations in contemporary weird fiction), I may have some valid points to discuss with them. This may decrease the distance between myself and the subject of my thesis, but there may still be valuable insights? I personally think Joshi's academic work is very, very sober, usable and encyclopedic. He has a weak point with regards to religion, spiritualism and the like, which unfortunately leads him to condemn the works of Machen and Aickman. Knowing that weak point, however, I can still use Joshi's books on the weird. Judging from his The Evolution of the Weird Tale, Joshi doesn't seem to suffer of the scratching-the-back-of-your-contemporaries-syndrome, nor does he seem to suffer from any form of contempt towards English writers. He does have a tendency to read everything with his old pair of Lovecraftian glasses, but he makes no secret of it - it's out in the open, not hidden. . Quote:
Besides, an introduction need not be a piece of real literary criticism - sometimes, it merely suggests some general themes in the author's writing. Of course, most introductions to contemporary collections won't mention the inferior tales - that's left for the academic literary criticism and leter selections to judge. You'll rarely see an introduction to a collection by a contemporary writer saying: "I think all the stories are good, except for the third and fifth, which were merely included to give some bulk to the collection". Quote:
P.S.: This is not to be impolite, but I have a request - could you possibly stop using Reggie Oliver to bolster your arguments in every other post? Your arguments won't become more or less valid by it, and I'm sure Reggie Oliver doesn't need his name to written in every other post. Your posts are interesting enough as they are, and Reggie Oliver's a brilliant enough writer without him being mentioned off-topic everywhere. |
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Besides, Reggie Oliver failed to win an award in the same year that Hill garnered several; this has direct relevance because as mentioned earlier, many influential 'people in the know' knew who he was. But I'm bored of talking about this specific issue: the fact is that Ligotti, Oliver and several other writers are better writers than JH and RC but they won't win as many awards even though they are more highly regarded by those within the genre. JK |
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Regarding RO:
I simply forgot mentioning him among the contemporary writers whom I enjoy. Possibly because I've only read Madder Mysteries which contain only 6 "real" stories. Clearly, he should have been there. My bad. I also forgot to mention John Gaskin, who is a writer writing in the more traditional ghost story whom I like. Though not as much as the others mentioned. It would be very nice if you would list 20 or so authors which are vastly overlooked. Hopefully some who aren't too pricey and are in print;). The weird fiction thing can become quite boring, so tips to interesting writers are very welcome. Again, I haven't looked systematically at Supernatural Literature of the World: An Encyclopedia, the one I believe you dislike, but the information I've gathered from it has been very reliable and insightful. That, of course, doesn't excuse important omissions. That doesn't excuse hyping one's own products (although Joshi's The Weird Tale and The Modern Weird Tale are some of the best studies of weird fiction available, at least in my opinion. If one doesn't agree with Joshi they would still be valuable for not dragging os through the accursed Otranto Castle and Radcliffe once more, instead concentrating on weird fiction writers who are actually relevant). Still, though, some examples of their croneyism (is that a word?) would be nice. I think we disagree in Ramsey Campbell, who, in my opinion has written some of the best weird fiction since the 1970's. He has also written something which weren't so good, and I doubt I'll read many novels by him. This is merely based on the Alone with the Horrors-compilation. (I don't think one needs to read a writer's entire oeuvre to say something qualified of said writer's writing). We also disagree on Ray Russell's writing; his style is unfortunately not very idiosyncratic, but I like the straightforwardness of his prose combined with the way the events themselves create a very ambigious atmosphere. I shan't cast myself up to be the judge of what Aickman and James would have done, had they been alive today. Then again, I don't really feel part of a horror community. With regards to Oliver/Hill-non-awards/awards, I didn't really know. It's a damn shame, but then again: Oliver will be read in a hundred years from now on, Hill won't. |
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1. That the critic would have to be overly critical to avoid being influenced by his own personal opinions. 2. The more you become involved with the publishing world (and thus the more you meet people) the less effective critic you become. |
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I just received my copy of Jean Ray's THE HORRIFYING PRESENCE AND OTHER TALES. It's a very handsome book. However, I must admit I'm a bit disappointed in Ex Occidente's mail packaging. A padded envelope is simply unsuitable packaging for a hardcover traveling half way around the world. The publisher should use boxes with some padding. I've written the publisher asking as much, after a previous order (even offering to pay more for shipping costs), and they said they would; alas, my recent shipment still came in the dreaded insufficiently padded envelope.
So far I've been very lucky with no bumped corners. However, I plan to place many orders with Ex Occidente in the future, and it's only a matter of time until one arrives damaged. Has anyone else had any problems? I don't mean to grumble about it, but I'd really like to see this publishing house succeed, and for that to happen they need to ensure their product arrives in their customer's hands in good shape. |
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As I've said elsewhere, I believe Ex Occidente cares a tremendous amount about making beautiful volumes. Why they then ship in padded envelopes is beyond me. I too have asked for my latest shipment to go out in a box. Should it arrive in a padded envelope and damaged (as my last order was) rest assured I'll be sending the shipment back.
One alternative, it occurs to me, is to order from a dealer who does use boxes. Ostensibly, these dealers order enough copies at once that a box is used, and thus arrive at their stores better protected. That's may circumvent the damage improper shipping can cause. I'd like to add though that I just received my copy of Joel Lane's "The Witnesses are Gone" from PS Publishing and it too arrived in a padded envelope. The issue is hardly isolated to Ex Occidente, unfortunately. |
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Simon:
In my limited experience, a consignment of books from a printer will arrive shrink-wrapped and on a pallett delivered by vehicle with a tail-lift, so there is a very small chance of any damage occuring to the books. That consignment will contain X number of boxes of books which underneath the initial shrink-wrapping will possess virtually no extra cushionning. The books will be stacked tightly inside each box and will require careful handling. So when a publisher sends a batch of books to a dealer he will have to make his (or her) own boxes or at the very least remove some books from each box to add extra padding. As large heavy boxes seem to get tossed around with carefree abandon by mail carriers there is a far higher chance of damage to the books than if one single item gets posted individually on its own via Royal Mail (or equivalent). The only difference between ordering direct from a publisher and ordering via a dealer is that the dealer will filter out the bumped or damaged copies, and either take a loss on them or secure a discount in lieu of compensation. But on the plus side for the dealer, if books do get damaged en route, he or she can almost certainly secure compensation. As dealers usually get a circa 30-40% discount in the first place, even on small orders of say five to ten books, my advice would be to cut out the middle man entirely, and ask the publisher for a 35% discount on the proviso that you would take a minimum number of books (for example, wait until a publisher has produced half a dozen different titles you might be interested in, or form a small consortium with friends to buy enough to qualify for a discount; you could even sell the odd spare copy on Ebay yourself). I found dealing with small press dealers a real nightmare. You take a loss because they haggle for profit-consuming discounts; they only pay after delivery; then they sit on a handful copies for a few months so that they can double, triple or quadruple prices when the book goes out of print. They take almost zero risk and can make a few hundred quid on just a dozen books when you as publisher might struggle just to break even. As for Ex Occidente's packaging, I'm sure that will come right in the end, but it's important to remember that one person is usually doing 95% of all the work when it comes to small press publishing. The small print runs and low profit margins preclude the hiring of extra staff, so to a certain extent, I think it's reasonable to expect the odd bump or knock here or there, regardless of the price. It might look like the publisher is receiving £30 for each book, but a third of that goes on production alone, a good third gets eaten up by dealer discounts and servicing the reviewers who'll be selling their free copies on Ebay in 6 months time, leaving just a few quid profit to fund marketing, packaging, refunds and writer, artist and publisher income. I'm sure that when DG has the time he will source purpose-built user-friendly parcel supplies, but I should imagine that he's so swamped by other work that it's one area he's struggling to catch up on. I know that many collectors are very finicky about condition, but all publishers experience problems of some sort at some stage. Only last week I bought a beautiful copy of an early Jules Vere title that alas has transposed gatherings; then there's wrongly titled illustrations in many old books, or mis-spelt author names, books famous for typos, etc etc. These problems have been around for decades. Anyway, those are my opinions as both collector, publisher and bookdealer. I think people need to be reasonable and tolerate minor faults and failings. However, serious faults make for legitimate complaints, but for me, it really depends on how much I spend. If a £25 book turns up bumped it's no big deal, the text is the important thing; but if I risk £500 on a rare title I definitely expect it to arrive as described. JK |
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Chris, I had a lengthy reply for you but it's been lost to an errant keystroke. No matter; it occurs to me it's better to take this up with Dan privately. All I'd like to say is that my intent here is not to dissuade anyone from buying EO books but rather ensure those buyers don't come away disappointed. I don't think time is any excuse here.
Your idea of having the publisher ship multiple books is an interesting one I'd not considered. I see some possible problems with it -- not the least of which is counting on the publisher to not sell books out from your "hold" while waiting for everything to arrive -- but it's theoretically an interesting idea to consider. Oh, and I'd like to add that £50 may not be a lot to you, but to some of us it still is. |
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http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0090426x1.html http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0090426x2.html I started translating a novel of his, which, alas, I am far from finishing, but, if anyone wants to read what I have translated so far, please feel free to message me through this site. |
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There is a story by Kafu, in "The Oxford Japanese Short Stories", 1997. "The peony garden", on page 45. I don't remember exactly if I liked this short story or not. Probably not, since I collect Japanese short stories as well, in fact stories written by authors from literary forgotten countries like Japan, China, Russia, or the old Soviet Republics.
There is another book by Kafu, "Kafu, The Scribbler", copy which I don't own but some of his biography and writings could be checked online here Kafu the Scribbler: The Life and ... - Google Book Search May I ask Mr Crisp why it is that you like Japanese literature? This question is always on the tip of my tongue, to know if a writer reads only what he writes, or has a broader conception of the world and reads good literature in general. |
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The material by Kafu translated into English is slowly increasing (France is far ahead of the English-speaking world here, by the way). Unfortunately some of those translations are very slipshod in quality. Kafu is an absolute master of Japanese prose. His sentences are long, and perfectly balanced from the point of view of rhythm and poetry. This is never duplicated, though sometimes hinted at, in the translations I have read. I hope that, if I ever finish my own translation, it will be closer to his sublime lyricism than previous translations, though I have chosen one of his least lyrical novels. Anyway, despite poor translation, I would recommend Mitsuko Iriye's translation of Amerika Monogatari. She has translated the title as American Stories; I would have translated it as Tales of America. Please judge for yourself which has a better ring. I hope some day also to translate Yume no Onna (The Woman of the Dream). It is hard for me to explain why I like Japanese literature. I can give answers, but they never seem quite satisfying to me. I usually say something like, Japanese literature is much more concerned with beauty than most Western literature. Western literature tends to be more concerned with 'social problems'. Writers such as Kafu, Mishima, Tanizaki and so on, may seem very different in many ways, but what they had in common was a kind of quest for otherworldly beauty in extreme situations or environments. Western literature can seem like sermonising, or like sordid journalism in comparison. |
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I apologize for going off the original topic, but I have a question that pertains to where this thread has wandered (perhaps these could be moved to a new thread on Japanese Literature?). Anyway, has anyone read the works of Haruki Murakami? I keep reading reviews where he is called, "The Kafka of Japan". Its this an accurate assessment?
By the way, Quentin; I really enjoyed your Japanese literature piece in Wormwood #8, "Higuchi Ichiyo: The Brief Flight of a Literary Shooting Star". |
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Some of these Japanese stories I read, if not all, have no beginning and no end, and even some of them no plot. If you ask me which ones I'll have to go back years of reading. It's like narrating something that happens to someone without giving any details about what happened before or after. It is a completely different way of writing than that we have in Western literature. By any chance, allow me to ask, have you ever try to read literature from Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania? Once I had a long conversation with a used bookstore owner that sold me two books of stories from Estonia and I could say that by the way he spoke these countries have wonderful stories to tell as well. I ended up buying more and more. I'm glad to know that I am not a rara avis here.
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I heard of Murakami, by reading a story in "New Japanese Voices", published by Atlantic Monthly Press, 1991. With the exception of Banana Yoshimoto, the other writers on the book did not write anything before or after. I cannot find anything by them, while one can find books with bad stories, by American writers, for example, being on the fifth printing. Too bad.
Buy "The Elephant Vanishes and other Stories", a very good book. |
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But it's definitely worth trying to haggle a discount with any small press publisher. For example, if you bought ten £25 books for £150 from the same publisher (say, by two or three different writers), you could quickly recoup £100 by selling five of them for £20 on Ebay, undercutting the official list price, and then you'd still have five which you'd only paid £50 for to either to keep or hold on to until they go out of print and the values rise. The key thing is to choose your titles wisely and to avoid the duffers at all costs. For example, laudable though the intention was to produce a 'collected' edition of Robert Auickman's work was, the resulting volume is utterly ghastly: poor quality paper & printing, tiny font size, dozens of typos and errors, etc etc. Like me, many collectors quickly got shot of their copies and returned to original texts - even ex library copies without dw - whereas in contrast, the reprints of Christopher Blayre's 'The Cheetah Girl' and Stenbock's 'Studies Of Death' are superb items and will absolutely definitely hold their higher value. |
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But were there a publisher like Ex Occidente who produces a good number of books I'd like to read, then it does make sense to order those volumes at once, or at least ask they be shipped together, in order to ensure a box is used and damage minimised. On the topic of EO, true to my word I've discussed this issue with its proprietor and he agrees that it is an issue in need of resolving. He is working on his end to do so, so I have nothing but positive things left to say about Ex Occidente and the company's output. I shan't say more about the shipping any longer. |
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I'm not qualified to speak on Murakami Haruki, but I think that someone who definitely could be described as the Kafka of Japan is Abe Kobo. |
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QC: Surely you mean 'flattering' rather than 'nice'?
Cakes are nice, as are maiden aunts, and unadventurous flower beds, and people who acknowledge your presence in the supermarket queue by remembering to put a plastic barrier (what are those things called?) at the end of their purchases so as to segregate your shopping from theirs. I know little* about the writers of which you speak, but would Anais Nin be a valid comparison? I remember casting aside my "list of recommended reading" in my mid teens to concentrate on William Burroughs, Kathy Acker and Iain Banks etc, and it is Nin's work - in terms of style - which has resonated most persistently (along with Burrough's genius for brutal changes of pace and narration). To quote Larkin: "They #### you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had And add some extra, just for you." But Nin was like the dreamy broad-minded aunt I never had; she lived in a row barge moored in a sleepy quarter of Amsterdam; and I would sneak off there to squander balmy afternoons smoking hashish and North African cigarettes as we listened to the gentle breeze of chitter-chatter that fluted along the canal path. A plot, a plot; my Kingdom for a plot....... Yet they #### you up, your plot, and fads. They don't mean to, but they do, the dastardly cads. You've read too much Lovecraft, Machen, M R James; so all you can do is make up names. Atmosphere doesn't rely on technical gobbledegook. It just is (or very often, isn't.) JK * Fanny Adams |
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I'm afraid, despite having a lovely edition of Delta of Venus and/or Incest for quite some time (it was the latter if it was 'or'), I never got round to reading them. I don't know where the volume/s are now, but I do hope to read her some day. I do have a weakness for the word 'nice'; you're not the first to take me to task for this. Abe Kobo is, I think, very much like Kafka. The other writers I've mentioned here - Kafu, Tanizaki, Mishima, are not. Kafu, actually, was the first, chronologically, of these strangely linked three. He was very much a person of the demi-monde. Tanizaki worshipped Kafu, and wrote a great, great essay about one of his novels, that goes all over the place. Tanizaki, I think, was Kafu with a more direct, commercial sensibility, amongst other things. Early on, Tanizaki was influenced by Poe, though you wouldn't necessarily know it. Tanizaki's obsessions, unlike Poe's, are quite explicitly sexual. Only Tanizaki could write a story about someone sexually aroused by severed heads that have had their noses cut off. Mishima must have got quite a lot from Tanizaki, but was also very influenced by Western literature. I believe his favourite writer was Thomas Mann. He wrote a play called Madame DeSade, about the wife of the Marquis, which is, I believe, currently being staged in London with Dame Judi Dench, amongst others, in the cast. However, if we do trace a tenuous lineage from Kafu to Mishima, then it must be noted that Kafu was unashamedly decadent and anti-militarist. Mishima, though decadent in many ways, had something of a uniform fetish. |
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This thread has gone quite off topic. I think discussions about American vs.British writers and Japanese literature are both interesting and enlightening, but not very much on topic. Possibly they should have their own threads? I would especially like to know more about the Japanese writers, Quentin can recommend.
On topic, Jean Ray arrived some days ago in Copenhagen. It's a dreadful waste that my exams (one of them about Shiel's The Purple Cloud as representation of a catastrophe (just to be off topic again) are taking time away from reading. I read the introduction, which shed some light on Ray, though it could have been written more elegantly some places. I would also, though this is not really a flaw in the introduction, but more my interests shining through, have known more about how Ray reconciled whatever artistic drive he had with possible pretentions about art and the like. He seems very much like a pen for hire. Did he have any pretentions about making art? Did he have a poetics? Probably not. The one story I've read was "The Night at Camberwell". Immensely well crafted in 3-4 pages. Brilliant mechanics. I'm looking forward to reading more. |
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Jean Ray arived today - sent from Romania. I thought "Who do I know from Romania? The son of the Unabomber?" I took a chance and the package didn't explode. It was well-wrapped - like suburban housewife trying to spice up her lovelife. Must dive into it soon.
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Just so I might beat Mads to the punch, I should note that Ex Occidente has made available two new books on its website for preorder.
For those coming in late: Ex Occidente Press |
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Another thing at which I'm a failure...;)
Anyway, both the Christopher Barker and the Mark Valentine collections seems to have very beautiful covers. Especially the Valentine collection sounds promising. I haven't read anything by Barker yet. |
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Thank you very much. I read the story "The Tableaux", since the others available seemed to be pastiches.
It definitely has something, and I'd like to read more. At times, the narrator tries a bit too hard, and a bit too obvious to create ambivalence, e.g. here: Quote:
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This too, could've been written somewhat more elegantly: Quote:
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It works, and is of interest, mainly due to the imagery, but I think it could've worked better, had the narrator cut down on pointing out the ambiguities to the reader. Still, "The Tableaux" is from 2002, and I think there's enough talent and enigmatic imagery in the story to have quite high hopes for the collection, provided Mr. Barker has evolved since - it seems, judging from the bibliography on the website, that this was only his second (published) story, and that's a pretty impressive start for a second story. There is something quite Jamesian-updated to this. Looking forward to the collection. |
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As to 'trying too hard', well, I freely confess to endlessly rewriting (all of the stories in the book have been rewritten, for example), but the term is usually applied to those who while seeking to impress, fail. It is thus something of a veiled criticism, rather like damning someone with faint praise. To be honest, I fully expected to receive more than my fair share of negative criticism for having been so outspoken about others within the genre in the past, but I must confess to being somewhat surprised at it starting before the book has even appeared, and in such finite, picky detail. It reminds me of the hundreds of messages that were posted in another forum condemning Reggie Oliver's first book before that too had appeared. [I can now reveal that a quote praising Reggie's first book was deliberately included in his second book specifically because of the irony in the critic having originally refused to even read it because I had published it. It was only after Reggie's work started garnering praise elsewhere that the critic performed a sudden u-turn.] For the record, I have little interest in impressing others. I write short horror stories for myself, by way of exorcism. And one of my little stylistic quirks is - like those of dear old Mr Bloom, or Lord Marchmain on his deathbed - to repeat and to savour, perhaps by way of comfort or ponderance - certain words and phrases, much as happens in dreams, or songs or childish chants. As to the pleonasms though, I would respectfully refer you to a good gardening site, since I have managed to kill every plant I have ever tried to nurture. TTFN, JK |
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People seem very set on this Reggie Oliver fellow - does he have a website? |
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Evans> He has a page here:
http://www.blackcathedral.co.uk/index.html It doesn't seem to have been updated for quite some time though. I've only read Madder Mysteries from Ex Occidente Press. It contain only six actual stories, but they're all brilliant, as is the other contents of the book. I own Masques of Satan to, but haven't had time to read it yet. The first two are quite expensive. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Julian, I'm sorry if I have offended you or hurt your feelings in any way. That wasn't my intention. I merely wrote the post as a distraction from my exams, my head being filled with Purple Clouds, images of the North Pole and burning cities. I know it must be very annoying to put your heart and soul into your art, then have someone pointing out it's flaws. English is only my second language, and some of the things I wrote may come out harder than intended, especially since this is in written form. One of the things about being writer is, still, that other people may have an opinion on one's writing, and that said opinion isn't always favourable (though mine on the one tale of yours I've read is) Some general thoughts on the subject of criticising writers who are present here: This should probably be a subject on it's own - I've often thought about it - but still: there are so many writers here on this forum, writers which are all (all of them I've read) of interest, and writers whose work we will inevitably discuss. Mostly, what is being said is positive. I have said some negative things about Glyphotech by Mark Samuels, and felt kind of bad afterwards, since I thought it may have sounded harder than intended, since I like Samuels' work very much, and since it isn't very polite. I'm wondering if I (or anyone else, for that matter) shouldn't be writing anything when I dislike aspects of a writer's - a writer being present here - work. However, I still think evaluation is important, vital even. If ever I cross anybody's line, do let me know, either in the thread where it happens, or in a private message. One of the things I appreciate most about TLO is that it's virtually free of all arguments with which the internet is so abundant. I have no intention of insulting anyone - whenever I write anything here, I try to do it with the best possible intentions (the subject "Stephen King" being a possible exception) and I try to be honest and profound. However, I realise I should sometimes refrain from saying anything at all. However, this should maybe be it's own thread. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As for "trying too hard", I didn't mean it as a "veiled" criticism, I meant it as a criticism. I think that the narrator does try too hard, telling the reader "this is ambivalent" instead of letting the ambivalence unfurl in the reader's mind. However, I think the story has many other qualities (one example I have read, the scenes in the house being another example - brilliant work there). This makes it, in my opinion, uneven but still effective and interesting story. [On thinking the story over, the narrator comes out as very interesting. He has access to the antiques dealer's thoughts, feelings, childhood memories and so on. But we don't get the antiques dealer's name, he is only referred to by his job. The narrator seems to linger after the antiques dealer has been done away with. This strikes me as very odd, and I, on thinking the story over afterwards, think I think that the narrator may itself be a part of the haunting, which could explain it being sometimes vague, sometimes telling too much. Like it isn't constantly in synch; like a ghost. This gives it, in hindsight (I'll reread it when the book comes out) some dreamlike qualities.] I'm not sure, until I've reread the story, I agree with myself here but I believe the key to the tale lies in the odd narration. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As for the criticism being in "finite, picky detail": If I'd written "I think the story has some problems but overall it's good", then it wouldn't be worth much. When one criticises, the only fair thing to do is to point out which parts you dislike. In other words: one has to go into details. As for you being outspoken towards others, and message boards at the time of Reggie Oliver's debut, I don't know anything about it. I don't know you from anywhere. If there has been labelled unfair criticism at you at an earlier time, I sympathise with you. I don't think my criticism was being unfair, and I didn't intend to, but if you, or other, have a different opinion, please let me know. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I'm happy to hear you're pursuing your artistic goals regardless of what others think. That's the way to do it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As for the pleonasm, it may be due to English being only my second language - I'm sorry if it caused confusion. I thought it was the same in English as in Danish, and was readily translatable. What I meant was that there is a certain redundancy, but I think the word "redundancy" sounds so harsh. I had, several times, a feeling that I was being told the same thing twice, like, for instance, when someone would say "free gifts", or someone says "he was smiling with his mouth". These examples are not precise with regards to your story, since the redundancies weren't, of course, that obvious or annoying. My knowledge of grammatical terms isn't very good, and I'm not sure there is a grammatical term for the problems I have with the story; suffice to say, that I felt like I was being told the same things twice. I apologise if a pleonasm is a flower in English - I don't have a dictionary near me. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All in all I apologise if I went too far. It was written with the best possible intentions, no harm in mind, and I didn't mean to sound overly critical or agressive. Do let me know if and when I do. If you, Julian or anyone else, feel uncomfortable about me writing anything about your stories, be it negative or positive, do let me know. If you want me to, I'll refrain from commenting upon further work by you. |
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Thank you for the link. Some of the things I have read about Oliver sound quite interesting. I hear he actuely finished one of James fragments. Edit: After a little gentle trawling it appears one of Oliver's stories is available on http://hitler-symphonies.co.uk/ Sadly it requires Yee evil one Microsoft Office to open so I can't look any further. Quote:
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I've been reading Madder Mysteries. I've only read one Reggie Oliver story prior to this, which I thought was okay, but not outstanding. However, I've been very impressed with this collection so far (I've read as far as the end of 'The Devil's Number'). This won't be news to many here, but I believe that Mr. Oliver is a major talent. Not only that, but the volume is beautifully produced, the paper luxurious, the illustrations perfectly realised and well-judged.
On the question of whether posters here should criticise stories by writers who are members, I think there are probably no right answers to that, with this being the yet-untamed frontier of the Internet, where, in many cases, etiquette and ground rules are still to be established. My own personal feelings are that I don't mind anyone criticising, well, say, All God's Angels, Beware! when it comes out from Ex Occidente, but, with the Internet being the interactive medium that it is, I might reply to criticism if I feel like it. I'd hate posters to feel constrained to be merely polite, though. Perhaps it doesn't apply so much here, where readers may largely be assumed not to be put off by the obscurity of writers being mentioned, but I think one frustration for small press writers is that Internet reviewers often do not know how to express enthusiasm, and end up making a book they might actually like sound dull and lifeless. Considering the immense competition for the attention of readers, if you have a review that vaguely mentions the book is good, but concentrates on its weaknesses, there is absolutely NO WAY that anyone is going to investigate that book. They will simply go for the more famous authors, who usually have professional reviewers who shovel on the superlatives like nobody's business: "If you only read one book in your lifetime, it has to be this one" etc., and usually for the most contemptible pabulum. So, I think a lot of small press authors get frustrated about this kind of thing. I was very pleased, for once, not to suffer from the faint praise syndrome, here: http://swiftywriting.blogspot.com/20...n-s-crisp.html Particularly question 7. |
Re: Ex Occidente Press
Those are good points, Quentin. You've put words to a feeling I've had for a while but couldn't explain.
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Some of the more professional reviews make deeply, deeply suspicious when they praise something too heavily. In fact any extravagantly hubritical review for an unknown author is probably more likely to put me on guard encase its some kind of joke or the reviewer has a hidden agenda. I'm probably still labouring under the dillusion that a critic exist's to point out floors in an object in a constructive and (if you pardon the repetition) critical manner. |
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