|
Post by ian on Jul 16, 2009 16:49:16 GMT
From the comments I've seen on here, I take it not many like his books.
So what's the problem with them?
|
|
|
Post by williemeikle on Jul 16, 2009 20:12:17 GMT
From the comments I've seen on here, I take it not many like his books. So what's the problem with them? He's definitely an acquired taste. I love a lot of his short stories... he can evoke atmosphere and unseen bogles very well. Most of his novels are harder work though. He's not big on action and there are long periods in his novels where not much happens. I've given up on several of his books, especially the later ones. That said, I like some of his earlier ones, particularly "The Hungry Moon" which has a creepy ghostly spider-thing that gave me the heebee jeebees. They're not fast reads though. I think a lot of people expect action and gore in their horror, and have read mainly that type of book. When they pick up an RC book there is a certain degree of "What the f*ck is THIS shit?" that they never get over. Plus he has a writing style that is a bit convoluted at times, and is hard to get into if you're not in the mood for it.
|
|
|
Post by garryc on Jul 17, 2009 8:27:28 GMT
Pretty much what Willie said.
I find that he tries so hard to use words that he loses sight of the goal... to actually tell a coherent tale.
|
|
|
Post by lilith on Jul 17, 2009 10:20:19 GMT
I agree with the post saying his earlier stuff was better, I recently read 'The Grin of the Dark', and although atmospheric, was pretty hard to get through. I think my sanity began to dribble away alongside the main character as the story progressed...or maybe that was his intention?!
|
|
|
Post by ian on Jul 17, 2009 10:26:16 GMT
The only book I've read written by Ramsey was Incarnate and that was 20 years ago so forgive me if I find the plot outline a little hazy. I think I enjoyed it.
Doesn't sound like it inspired me to read more of his though.
|
|
|
Post by darrelljoyce on Jul 17, 2009 13:39:47 GMT
From the comments I've seen on here, I take it not many like his books. So what's the problem with them? He's definitely an acquired taste. I love a lot of his short stories... he can evoke atmosphere and unseen bogles very well. Most of his novels are harder work though. He's not big on action and there are long periods in his novels where not much happens. I've given up on several of his books, especially the later ones. That said, I like some of his earlier ones, particularly "The Hungry Moon" which has a creepy ghostly spider-thing that gave me the heebee jeebees. They're not fast reads though. I think a lot of people expect action and gore in their horror, and have read mainly that type of book. When they pick up an RC book there is a certain degree of "What the f*ck is THIS shit?" that they never get over. Plus he has a writing style that is a bit convoluted at times, and is hard to get into if you're not in the mood for it. I'd agree with much of that, although I'd actually cite 'The Hungry Moon' as an example of all that's wrong with Campbell, rather than an example of him writing well (ie, it's too slow, too many characters, too little action, a preoccupation with irrelevant subplots at the expense of the main story ,etc).
|
|
|
Post by funkdooby on Aug 1, 2009 7:27:48 GMT
From the comments I've seen on here, I take it not many like his books. So what's the problem with them? Campbell is without question the finest living horror writer. I'm baffled he's not popular with the posters here
|
|
|
Post by Dreadlocksmile on Aug 4, 2009 11:30:42 GMT
Campbell is without question the finest living horror writer. I'm baffled he's not popular with the posters here Well, I thought 'The Face That Must Die' was a superb novel. I've not read much of Campbell's work, but on the strength of that one novel alone, I think the man's got some talent. Wasn't that keen on 'The Influence' as far as I remember.
|
|
|
Post by TheWalkinDude on Aug 4, 2009 12:09:55 GMT
i haven't read any of his stuff, though i do want to. i've been looking to get something by him, since these 2 are noted as being good i think i will purchase them!!
|
|
|
Post by Vaughan on Aug 7, 2009 22:40:02 GMT
I've only read one - Ancient Images.
It's basically about a woman driving and driving and driving and driving. She gets out of her car, talks to someone, then gets back in her car and drives and drives and drives. We got long passages describing the road, the lorries on the road, and the landscape outside the car windows as she drives and drives and drives.
He also throws in an old (fictional and missing) Lugosi and Karloff movie, a sadly undeveloped and cursory plot device. Mix in some Wicker Man-esq mumblings and you have the makings of.......... a novel that should have been at least 50 pages shorter.
Wasn't terrible though.
|
|
|
Post by funkdooby on Aug 11, 2009 19:40:37 GMT
I've only read one - Ancient Images. It's basically about a woman driving and driving and driving and driving. She gets out of her car, talks to someone, then gets back in her car and drives and drives and drives. We got long passages describing the road, the lorries on the road, and the landscape outside the car windows as she drives and drives and drives. He also throws in an old (fictional and missing) Lugosi and Karloff movie, a sadly undeveloped and cursory plot device. Mix in some Wicker Man-esq mumblings and you have the makings of.......... a novel that should have been at least 50 pages shorter. Wasn't terrible though. Heretic! Burn the witch! Etc Ancient Images was, IMHO, an outstanding novel of gathering menace and evil. Others definitely worth reading of his include The Nameless, The Long Lost, The Count Of Eleven, The Hungry Moon and Claw.
|
|
|
Post by gregjames on Nov 18, 2009 14:08:10 GMT
I think the strength of literary horror is in short fiction rather than full length novels myself. My reasoning behind this being that literary horror writers tend to go for a slow and steady build throughout the narrative with one big reveal at the end. Done right, it can work to great effect. Done wrong, you get a book that drags and drags and if the big reveal isn't up to scratch, a duff ending to round it off.
I read Grin of the Dark recently which I thought was very impressive. The one thing that tripped it up was an opening that took me three attempts to get through.
|
|
|
Post by Vaughan on Nov 18, 2009 20:37:27 GMT
To be honest, I can just about say "I don't read short fiction". It's not an absolute, of course, and I've read plenty of it. However these days I have little interest in short fiction at the moment. It's all about the novel to me.
I think what you're referring to, Greg, are problems with poor novels. There is no reason in the world why novels should drag - unless something goes wrong with them.
Take for example - James Herbert's "The Rats". You're never bored reading that. And it's not a slow building novel, it's an in your face action-fest. Totally works.
The slow brooding book, with a "big reveal" is a stylistic choice - a popular one no doubt - but not a requirement at all. Kind of like the "twist" ending, it's a convention that has been assumed as "standard" without people thinking about it too much. Perhaps we should.
Couple examples of what I mean.
Books I've recently read:
The Furies: Not a bad book. No "surprise" ending, just a logical one. It encompasses world destruction through the detonation of huge nuclear bombs on the ocean floor, and the arriving of large killer Wasps becoming the sentient species.
So the scale is huge. But stylistically, the author chose to write in the first person, and not only that, but not even from the perspective of a key world figure, but rather a cartoonist living in isolation. This meant that the scale of the story being told was very local, and very small. It ends up taking place in several small villages, and a cave. Hence, there were times when i got bored over its 213 or so pages. There simply wasn't enough going on to justify the page count.
The Portent: A James Herbert book, so you know it'll be well written. It moves at quite a pace, and has a large scale. It runs 413 pages, and I was never bored Let's face it, Herbert is a master of writing.
The problem here was that the new agey story annoyed the heck out of me. No twist endings, no real build up to a big ending - but the plot itself was just very very poor to me. I squirmed reading it.
Ice Station: By Matthew Reilly, a thriller this one, with the promise of some monstrous/sci-fi pay off. An object is found held in ice that is 400 million years old. What is it? Which nation should control whatever it is?
This runs for 689 pages. I read this in ONE sitting. All the way through. To say it has "pace" is an understatement. It just races from start to finish. There's plenty of action, some fun locations, chases, and excitement. There is a "surprise" in it, but it occurs long before the end of the book (in the final third). It was this "surprise" that spoiled what could have been a great book for me - but I won't spoil that surprise for anyone else.
MY point being, surprise endings, slow build up, or blazing speed tro hold interest are stylistic choices and horror doesn't have to be written that way.
Writing short stories is, perhaps, more difficult. Because you have fewer words to work with. But the likes of Poe and MR James were great are creating moods rather than going for a twist of a reveal ending.
On the subject of Ramsey Campbell, I've not gotten back to him. I still have a lot of books to read here. I've started a new book at the moment, a 250 page horror novel, and I'm yearning to have a go at an eco-thriller after that - the draw back being it runs to around 900 pages (of tiny type) so it'll be a real journey.
I guess what I'm trying to say here is that perhaps we are in danger of drawing lines around boxes that needn't be there.
Just my 2 cents.
|
|
|
Post by gregjames on Nov 19, 2009 16:45:54 GMT
I think what you're referring to, Greg, are problems with poor novels. Doh! It's a fair cop. I'll come quietly. I think I'll skip further analysis and leave it at 'I like some literary horror because it teaches me the big words.' Yuss.
|
|
|
Post by shaun on Nov 19, 2009 18:08:52 GMT
Ice Station: By Matthew Reilly, a thriller this one, with the promise of some monstrous/sci-fi pay off. An object is found held in ice that is 400 million years old. What is it? Which nation should control whatever it is? This runs for 689 pages. I read this in ONE sitting. All the way through. To say it has "pace" is an understatement. It just races from start to finish. There's plenty of action, some fun locations, chases, and excitement Just started reading this and can't get into it really.
|
|