Re: Robert Aickman
 

Have a top ten instead (not including the two you have already read):

The Inner Room
Ravissante
Wood
The Same Dog
The School Friend
The Trains
The Stains
The Cicerones
Bind Your Hair
Into the Wood

Re: Robert Aickman
 

'Residents Only' is one of my favourites.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

The Clock Watcher
Your Tiny Hand is Frozen
Larger Than Oneself
The Houses of the Russians
Growing Boys
The Next Glade
Wood
The Stains
The School Friend
The Same Dog

Re: Robert Aickman
 

The Trains, The Same Dog, Ravissante, Bind Your Hair, The Stains.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

I like them all about the same amount, including those generally dismissed as weaker for being "more conventional" or whatever (like "The Fetch").

But "Ringing the Changes" would probably be my first recommendation.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

Ravissante
Niemandswasser
The Hospice
Ringing the Changes
Into the Wood

Re: Robert Aickman
 

not necessarily my favourite, i like the Breakthrough


but


tried to link directly to the nightfall ep but something (probably my understanding of this sites html requirements) is retarded

anyway ref - internet archive Nightfall-CBC Radio Program-Episodes : Free Download Streaming : Internet Archive


http://Nightfall-CBC Radio Program-E...ternet Archive

Re: Robert Aickman
 

Aickman was a master of subtlety or the principle "show, don't tell". I liked how "The Inner Room" hinted at cannibalism in the doll house as metaphorical of the shaky foundations of the nuclear family. Aickman never blatantly revealed this dismal fact to the reader, though he implied it and left the horrors to imagination, and near the end, I interpreted the main female lead's conversation with the despondent sisters in the shabby house, reminiscent of the doll one, being about paternal figures trying to maintain a false sense of stability through coercion or lies. I interpreted the unexpected death of the lead's mother and her own growing despondency as a dancer representing the destabilizing worries we all keep hidden away in our minds.

Aickman leaves it to the reader to determine whether the house with the dismal sisters was a manifestation of the female lead's delirium, reflective of the general trajectory of her life, or the ghostly manifestation of the abandoned, forlorn doll house, which mirrors her own misery in many ways.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

Aickman and Cannibalism
John Magwitch Cannibalism | THE LAST BALCONY: On the Essex Edge

Re: Robert Aickman
 

Ah, yes. I suppose I should admit that these dubious insights were mine, that this commenter was me and I him. In my defense, they should be approached only with the understanding that they were formed under the influence of entirely legal, wholesome, professionally prescribed psychoactive medications. And probably not enough of them.


If you have a copy of the Scribner's edition of "Cold Hand in Mine" (the hardback with the Gorey-illustrated jacket), I seem to recall that in the text on the front flap "cannibalism" is explicitly mentioned as one of the hidden themes or motifs of the author's "Kafkaesque" stories. This detail in particular must have stood out for me and lodged in my brain somewhere, anthropophagy being a subject I've always enjoyed. So prompted, I may have been a bit overzealous in reading it into his work, hoping to see signs or suggestions of flesh-eating where there were none. No doubt there are a few hints of it here and there in the stories, but even those are too isolated and ambiguous to form a strong, unified impression. I'm still a fan, though, certainly.


Much more recently, I read and very much enjoyed the Tartarus volume "The Strangers and Other Writings" which collects some of Aickman's unpublished stories along with a number of his essays and reviews and some illuminating comments from an old friend of his. One thing that stood out for me from reading this was learning that, through his friendship with a certain researcher into supposed hauntings and so on, Aickman had access to a huge, comprehensive private library of occult and related literature, which would have provided him a wealth of knowledge on the most obscure areas of religion, mythology, legend, occult practice and so on extending back into pre-antiquity. It is this rich, deep, diverse foundation of arcana and timeless mystery that is the hidden genius of his best supernatural stories, I believe.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

Fascinating, Cannibal Cop (John Magwitch). Thanks.
At least we know Dickens' Magwitch was a cannibal, and Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain was a big influence on Aickman. As well as John Cowper Powys' INMATES?

Re: Robert Aickman
 

I'm glad I could clear that up, Des. The Powys is a title I'm unfamiliar with, I'll have to look into it.

Now that I think about it, the Sawney Bean legend could have made for an interesting tale in Aickman's hands, something of a companion piece to his Sweeney Todd-inspired nightmare.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

Can someone be kind and give me a *spoiler* synopsis of "Wood"? This story is not included in any of my three Aickman collections (but "Into the Wood" is) and I don't expect I will ever get a chance to read it. But I would still like to know what it is about.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

A cheap option might be to get this anthology which contains "Wood".

Re: Robert Aickman
 

A synopsis would fail to do it justice, as it's one of Aickman's finest stories. I have it in the Tartarus edition of Tales of Love and Death, which is still in print.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

May I ask, ... is someone in "Wood" actually transformed into wood, or into a weathercock? Or is the supernatural element more on an intangible/nebulous level?

Re: Robert Aickman
 

Yes. It is most haunting and essential Aickman.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

That must be truly nightmarish.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

It's also a very funny story.

I'm going through Aickman's series of Fontana Books of Great Ghost Stories again. Hartley's The Travelling Grave was an inspired choice to kick off the series.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

This May, NYRB Classics will be releasing essentially all of Aickman's rarer pieces in one thick volume under the title Compulsory Games. This is a major event!

PROVISIONAL TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Compulsory Games
Le Miroir
Raising the Wind
Residents Only
Hands in Glove
Wood
Laura
Just a Song at Twilight
Letters to the Postman
Marriage
No Time Is Passing
The Strangers
The Fully-Conducted Tour
A Disciple of Plato
The Coffin House

Re: Robert Aickman
 

Wow, this is the book I have been wanting for years. The majority of Aickman's work is affordable, but I remember Simon Strantzas saying - and I agree with him - that it is acquiring those half a dozen stray stories that will break you financially. The only ones that seem to be missing are "A Roman Question" and "The Breakthrough."
The Akron Public Library recently expanded its interlibrary loan system to include Bowling Green University and they have everything by Aickman. I was able to request both Intrusions and Powers of Darkness, but it was something Justin Isis said about Aickman's past that made me unable to read the few of his stories that have escaped me over the years. What he did actually made me sick. He wrote of a similar scene in one of his stories where a bunch of kids hanged a dog. I might try again. I might not. If the story is true, I only hope he died screaming and in agony.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

The greyhound/bicycle pump incident was more an infliction of deep spiritual unease and psychological trauma upon the canine rather than direct physical violence, although this is bad enough. Robert Aickman was a deeply evil man and this cannot be forgotten, despite the obvious value of his writing. Apart from being a slave owner in his youth, his gender politics would be considered problematic by today’s standards. In particular he seems to have treated Elizabeth Jane Howard as a walking espresso machine, demanding coffee at increasingly inconvenient times, even when the two were no longer explicitly connected. In her 2002 autobiography Slipstream, Howard recounts how she grew accustomed to Aickman spontaneously calling her up and screaming “EJH get me another bloody espresso – PRONTO!” at unusual hours of the night. Eventually, tired of the intrusive nature of the calls, Kingsley Amis got on the line and warned Aickman to stop. Aickman replied, “Kingsley I am writing these damn strange stories for the ages and they will still be discussed 50 years from now I just need a bloody espresso okay I am not trying to win the Man Booker Prize or anything. Send EJH over with the coffee or I will have to give you a sufficient thrashing.” Amis backed down, and Howard was dispatched with Aickman’s espresso.

One night in November of 1966, Aickman was walking home from a meeting of the Inland Waterways Association when he noticed a young public school boy urinating into one of the canals. The sight of the pollution of England’s inland waterways affected him deeply, and Aickman seized a nearby fallen oak branch and beat the boy within an inch of his life. As recounted in his 2010 memoir A Journey, this young urinator was none other than future British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

... and "The Insufficient Answer". A rare one.

The only story I recognize from my three "classic neophyte collections" (The Wine-Dark Sea, Painted Devils, Cold Hand inMine) is "Marriage".

Other stories missing are "The Unsettled Dust" and "No Stronger than a Flower".

Re: Robert Aickman
 

I don't want to read that one. Is that "Compulsory Games"?

But I rather enjoy that he gave Tony Blair a good beating. It is ironic, given the destruction Blair has caused.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

I've just started reading Aickman. "Ringing the Changes" and "Bind Your Hair" both have the kind of subtle, creeping dread that I appreciate in any work of horror. I think I may be a fan.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

"A Roman Question" is available in Valancourt's recent repub of The Late Breakfasters, alongside “My Poor Friend”, “The Visiting Star”, “Larger Than Oneself”, “Mark Ingestre: The Customer's Tale”, and “Rosamund's Bower".

"The Unsettled Dust" and "No Stronger than a Flower" are both included in Faber's also somewhat recent The Unsettled Dust collection.

But "The Breakthrough" and "The Insufficient Answer" are indeed unaccounted for. A shame, as this NYRB collection is so close to definitive.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

I'm curious how far Justin can push this before people cotton on to what is happening.

The Insufficient Answer is a good one. Lovely and Gothic. Shame more people can't read it. From the same collection, Elizabeth Jane Howard's Perfect Love is outstanding and worthy of more eyes.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

Thank you for the clarification. I've read accounts of Aickman's class-conscious superiority and examples of less than admirable behavior. That's tolerable. Young Tony certainly didn't deserve the thrashing for his crime, but he escaped due punishment later in life, so it's a wash. I am more inclined to complete my reading of Aickman now.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

I honestly can't remember which story it was. I am fairly certain it was not "Compulsory Games". There is a very funny scene in that one. Not to be missed.

+1

hmm

Re: Robert Aickman
 

Hmm, Compulsory Games seems like a very nice volume, ... and I don't want to sound negative, but ... I don't think I will buy it. Because I will not realistically find time to read, and re-read, these stories. I am a slow reader, and already have too many unread volumes in my library. This one would likely remain standing on the shelf. I try hard to avoid the habit of buying more books than I can actually read, to keep things sensible. And several other favorite authors await my attention.

The only stories I urgently would like to add to my three (rather well-rounded) Aickman collections, are "Wood" and "The Unsettled Dust". Preferably not in books full of other stories. Perhaps they eventually become available as ebook files. But until then their possible literary events tease and stir my imagination and curiousity, ... which is not a bad thing.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

:) The photographs are really only mysterious when the author forgets that he ripped them from the Tartarus Press Aickman documentary. I quite enjoyed the blog post, but the knowledge of who took the photos, where they were taken, and the dates, does make some of his speculations rather redundant.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

The 80s TV version of The Hospice has popped up on YouTube recently:


The first two thirds are very faithful, but then it took a decidedly non-Aickman turn. Still worth a watch. I hope more surface. I know The Inner Room survives.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

I just finished the first volume of his Great Ghost Stories series. It's the received wisdom that writers should never anthologize their own stories but he puts himself and Elizabeth Jane Howard in his selections of the greatest ghost stories of all time! And even more incredibly, they stand up pretty well in this company.

The intro is quite startling as he says there are only 40 (if I remember correctly) first rate ghost stories.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

Please, nobody take the bait this time.

Top ten Robert Aickman stories:

The Inner Room
The Same Dog
The Stains
The Trains
Wood
The Cicerones
The Swords
The Hospice
The School Friend
Ravissante

Re: Robert Aickman
 

Recent article on Aickman I forgot to post on here:

https://www.newstatesman.com/culture...-weird-fiction

Re: Robert Aickman
 

Top ten Robert Aickman stories:

The Inner Room
The Same Dog
The Stains
The Trains
Wood
The Cicerones
The Swords
The Hospice
The School Friend
Ravissante

I love these tales, though I am also extremely fond of ‘The Wine-Dark Sea’ and ‘Your Tiny Hand is Frozen.'

Re: Robert Aickman
 

Your Tiny Hand Is Frozen, No Stronger Than a Flower, Into the Wood and Bind Your Hair narrowly missed out. He wrote so many amazing stories.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

This thread is inspiring me to dive into a reread of Aickman; it's been over a year since I read any of his works!

Re: Robert Aickman
 

Start from We Are for the Dark, and don't skip Elizabeth Jane Howard's excellent contributions. Perfect Love and Three Miles Up are amazing.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

As far as I remember, it is intimated that the spectral residents on the island represent victims of Red Terror massacres committed years or decades earlier, but even that I think is never fully established. I'm sure it can be read as an oblique anticommunist polemic of sorts, but as usual with Aickman I think there's also a suggestion of more at work than meets the eye. It only ever struck me as a relatively straightforward ghost story, but no less mysterious or eerie for that.

As for top Robert Aickman stories:

Ringing the Changes
The Cicerones
Just a Song at Twilight
The View
The Stains
The Next Glade
Wood

Not saying they're necessarily his best, but they definitely come to mind fastest as ones I'm fondest of. Speaking of The Cicerones, the short film of it from some years back is available at YouTube:


Overall, I'm not crazy about it, though I respect the attempt. But, for a few minutes, between about 2:05 and 5:05, I think it works really well in translating the story to the screen, particularly in capturing the visual illusion of the figure at the altar.