R. Campbell, Ole!

[Soukesian]

Thanks - the idea of extra-cosmic patterns is a fascinating one. I hadn't seen that as an underlying theme in Campbell's work, though, know that you point it out, it is in Voice of the Beach, one of my favorite stories of his.

(By the way,who is Kasper Gance? The name seems to be google proof. Apologies if he's some really obvious Ligotti character I should recognise - still a little groggy this morning!)

[MorganScorpion]

Quote Originally Posted by Soukesian

Thanks - the idea of extra-cosmic patterns is a fascinating one. I hadn't seen that as an underlying theme in Campbell's work, though, know that you point it out, it is in Voice of the Beach, one of my favorite stories of his. (By the way,who is Kasper Gance? The name seems to be google proof. Apologies if he's some really obvious Ligotti character I should recognise - still a little groggy this morning!)

If you spell it Ganz, you get lots of Google hits, but they are all in German.

[Evans]

Quote Originally Posted by Soukesian

Thanks - the idea of extra-cosmic patterns is a fascinating one. I hadn't seen that as an underlying theme in Campbell's work, though, know that you point it out, it is in Voice of the Beach, one of my favorite stories of his. (By the way,who is Kasper Gance? The name seems to be google proof. Apologies if he's some really obvious Ligotti character I should recognise - still a little groggy this morning!)

Its allso spelt Jasper Ganz in the texts I think - it was the name or one of the names of the Nameless cult leader in The Nameless (who for some reason allways kept his name.)

Quote Originally Posted by MorganScorpion

If you spell it Ganz, you get lots of Google hits, but they are all in German.

I think I looked it up before and came to the conclusion that Campbell had named him after a German composer.

[Soukesian]

Actually, going back to search again, I turned up S.T. Joshi's "Ramsey Campbell and modern horror fiction" on Google books. He doesn't like The Nameless very much: "cannot rank very high in Campbell's novelistic output. The whole work really does not hold together." Oh, well.

This thread makes me realise that, bar the odd story in "Best of" anthologies, I've kind of lost track of RC's work over the last ten years. Time to catch up, I reckon! Appreciate any recommendations.

[Joel]

The Grin of the Dark is Campbell's best novel of recent years, I think, and one of his three best novels ever. If you like the more Lovecraftian and folkloristic side of his work, The Darkest Part of the Woods is very fine. His most recent novel, Thieving Fear, is a brooding low-key ghost story with echoes of The Nameless and The Influence.

[Evans]

Quote Originally Posted by Joel

The Grin of the Dark is Campbell's best novel of recent years, I think, and one of his three best novels ever. If you like the more Lovecraftian and folkloristic side of his work, The Darkest Part of the Woods is very fine. His most recent novel, Thieving Fear, is a brooding low-key ghost story with echoes of The Nameless and The Influence.

I loved Thieving Fear - I think Campbell got the COCDW sort of feeling even stronger in the final chapter than in The Darkest Part of the Wood. Most of my favorite Campbell novels and stories seem to (Spoilers) revolve around the schemes of long dead magicians (Spoilers)

I havn't read The Grin of the Dark yet. I must admit I was putting it of slightly because I wasn't sure how I'd take to the narrative style - that said I listioned to an online recording of Campbell reading a chapter and it seemed to work fine.

EDIT: Oww Joel do you know if TF has got a US release yet?

Quote Originally Posted by Soukesian

Actually, going back to search again, I turned up S.T. Joshi's "Ramsey Campbell and modern horror fiction" on Google books. He doesn't like The Nameless very much: "cannot rank very high in Campbell's novelistic output. The whole work really does not hold together." Oh, well. This thread makes me realise that, bar the odd story in "Best of" anthologies, I've kind of lost track of RC's work over the last ten years. Time to catch up, I reckon! Appreciate any recommendations.

If your interested in any of his new Lovecraftian stuff the short story The Other Names is fantastic. It first appeared in the late ninties but its been quite hard to find untill recentaly.

[Nemonymous]

Quote Originally Posted by Soukesian

Appreciate any recommendations.

I love 'Grin of the Dark', although 'Incarnate' sticks in my mind as a masterpiece.

I've just this minute finished reviewing his collection of short stories (Ghosts and Grisly Things): http://weirdmonger.blog-city.com/gho...y_campbell.htm

[The New Nonsense]

I love Ramsey Campbell; however, I greatly prefer his short stories to his novels. I feel many of his novels would have been better as novellas, as they tend to contain needless material or repetitive incidents; padding, basically. After reading The Grin of the Dark, I couldn't help thinking it would have been better if he (or the editors) had cinched it up a bit. I really liked the theme A LOT, but found some of the drama between characters a bit tedious.

Ramsey Campbell continually comes up with great ideas. I'm just not convinced many of them work as well when written to novel length. By the end of the book much of the eeriness has worn off, at least for me. For example, I love Ligotti's "The Red Tower" -- it's a creepy idea -- but would it still be as effective if extended to 400 pages? Probably not.

Perhaps the problem is me. When writing something the length of a novel, generally one has to include human drama and descriptions of relatively unimportant events, like what the protagonist had for breakfast. Personally, I don't really enjoy reading about either. Perhaps that's why I gravitate towards the short story format over novels -- just a personal preference.

[hopfrog]

I, too, love Ramsey -- the writer and the bloke. He is delightful. Like you, I prefer the short stories, and haven't read many of the later novels; but I was utterly captivated with THE DARKEST PART OF THE WOODS, which I have now read twice and will read again. I love his personality in ye flesh -- he is a riot of wonderful humor -- and yet, when he speaks of writing, of the genre, he is dead serious and often brilliant. This thread has wetted my appetite to obtain and devour those of his novels that I have not consum'd, and as soon as I am finish'd with the additional work on my Centipede book, I will begin to order those novels from Amazon.

[Evans]

Quote Originally Posted by hopfrog

I, too, love Ramsey -- the writer and the bloke. He is delightful. Like you, I prefer the short stories, and haven't read many of the later novels; but I was utterly captivated with THE DARKEST PART OF THE WOODS, which I have now read twice and will read again. I love his personality in ye flesh -- he is a riot of wonderful humor -- and yet, when he speaks of writing, of the genre, he is dead serious and often brilliant. This thread has wetted my appetite to obtain and devour those of his novels that I have not consum'd, and as soon as I am finish'd with the additional work on my Centipede book, I will begin to order those novels from Amazon.

Do you have Thieving Fear Wilum? If not I'll send you a copy if you like (I've got a few to give as gifts)