Robert Aickman

[bendk]

Quote Originally Posted by Ampersand

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

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.

[Justin Isis]

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.

[Knygathin]

Quote Originally Posted by bendk

... The only ones that seem to be missing are "A Roman Question" and "The Breakthrough." ...

... 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".

[Knygathin]

Quote Originally Posted by bendk

... He wrote of a similar scene in one of his stories where a bunch of kids hanged a dog. ...

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.

[GirlyGirlMask]

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.

[Ampersand]

Quote Originally Posted by Knygathin

Quote Originally Posted by bendk ... The only ones that seem to be missing are "A Roman Question" and "The Breakthrough." ... ... 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".

"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.

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.

[bendk]

Quote Originally Posted by Justin Isis

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.

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.

[bendk]

Quote Originally Posted by Knygathin

Quote Originally Posted by bendk ... He wrote of a similar scene in one of his stories where a bunch of kids hanged a dog. ... I don't want to read that one. Is that "Compulsory Games"?

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.

Quote Originally Posted by Knygathin

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

+1

Quote Originally Posted by James

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

hmm

[Knygathin]

Quote Originally Posted by Knygathin

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

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.