Ruinenlust and Weird Fiction

yellowish haze

yellowish haze

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On my blog, Confusio Linguarum, I am planning to devote a series of posts to the theme of Ruinenlust - the feeling of being irresistibly drawn to crumbling buildings and abandoned places. The first two of them will serve as a short introduction to Ruinenlust, whilst the rest will deal with the presence of the emotion in some works of weird fiction, starting from the early Gothics up to modern masterpieces of the genre.
This will be posted in the form of a compilation of quotes, photos and videos related to the subject in question. I hope you enjoy it!

confusio linguarum: Ruinenlust: An Introduction #1

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I am looking forward to the rest of your posts, this is of immense interest to me. My travel blog - link in my signature line - serves as my repository for thousands of photographs I have taken from hundreds of ruined sites. I almost always travel seeking ruins. A couple of years ago I also wrote a book about ruins in Singapore, where I live. I am always thinking of publishing more material on the teleology and aesthetics of ruination.

There is a great Ligotti quote about the allure of ruins, I think it is from My Work Is Not Yet Done, something about a ruined world being the opposite of the world of work.
 
Excellent idea for a thread, Slawek.

Look forward to examples of this you have found in the works of weird fiction.

Some of my favorite ruins are abandoned amusement parks.

[nomedia="https://www.pinterest.com/zylersmama/abandoned-amusement-parks/"]1000+ images about abandoned amusement parks on Pinterest | Abandoned amusement parks, Amusement parks and Abandoned[/nomedia]



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHEHPBTctZs
 
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xylokopos said:
I am looking forward to the rest of your posts, this is of immense interest to me. My travel blog - link in my signature line - serves as my repository for thousands of photographs I have taken from hundreds of ruined sites. I almost always travel seeking ruins. A couple of years ago I also wrote a book about ruins in Singapore, where I live. I am always thinking of publishing more material on the teleology and aesthetics of ruination.

There is a great Ligotti quote about the allure of ruins, I think it is from My Work Is Not Yet Done, something about a ruined world being the opposite of the world of work.
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Congratulations on the book, xylokopos. This title sounds most interesting.

I don't remember the Ligotti quote you mention, let me see if I can locate it.

bendk said:
Look forward to examples of this you have found in the works of weird fiction.
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Thanks, Ben. I will be posting those on a weekly basis. I don't think my choices will be much of a surprise for TLO members, but then I couldn't find a universal retrospective article about Ruinenlust in weird fiction. I hope my short compilations will serve as food for thought to those interested in the subject.
 
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I know this sounds like a trivial question but how should the German word "ruinenlust" be pronounced? Is it a four syllable word as in "ru-in-en-lust" or something else?
 
That Ramsay tower is a remarkable image, Slawek. It makes me want to lock myself away for a month, draw the curtains, and immerse myself in weird fiction. Ten years ago, when I first discovered TLO, I thought you had great talent as a photographer. If you ever publish a book of photography, I'll be among the first to buy a copy.

M.
 
Thank you, Matthew. These are the kindest words I ever heard about my photography. My wife always tells me that I take terrible pictures of people, so I prefer to devote my sessions to photographing books. Maybe I should think about publishing a photographic album for bibliophiles?

Here are two additional compilations:
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picture.php

Ruinenlust in Weird Fiction #7: Joel Lane

There is still one left. This one will be devoted to a Polish writer everyone at TLO should hear about: Wojciech Gunia.
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"Thank you, Matthew. These are the kindest words I ever heard about my photography. My wife always tells me that I take terrible pictures of people, so I prefer to devote my sessions to photographing books. Maybe I should think about publishing a photographic album for bibliophiles?"

Don't listen to your wife. Who cares about people? Matthew's right: you're very good with books, why not publish a photo book on books? The field's wide open. I'd buy one as well.

BTW, I'm totes jel about those Angerhuber books. They seem to be impossible to get ahold of. I'm only slightly mollified by the fact that I'm not fluent in German.
 
Kevin said:
Who cares about people? Matthew's right: you're very good with books, why not publish a photo book on books? The field's wide open. I'd buy one as well.
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Thanks, Kevin. I will need to consider this in the future!

BTW, I'm totes jel about those Angerhuber books. They seem to be impossible to get ahold of. I'm only slightly mollified by the fact that I'm not fluent in German.
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Well my German is far from fluent, but it's good enough to appreciate Angerhuber's prose. I know that three years ago Rainfall books was planning to reissue Nocturnal Products, but to no avail. I myself do not even have this collection, so I felt the need to obtain her works in German. Once I am back to blogging later in spring I will be posting some material about her books on Confusion Linguarum. I will make sure to report it in the thread dedicated to her.
 
Thank you so much for these articles! I'm glad my appreciation for ruination is shared; your Grabinski article is excellent- I must reread On the Hill of Roses!
 
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Thanks for reading, Raul. And I appreciate the fact that you posted "The Ruined Grave" when I started the thread. I should be able to find time to read it soon!

I will posting the final part of Ruinenlust over the weekend or early next week. This will be something unique, as it will be a the first English-language short article about Wojciech Gunia and some of his works all in the context of the "pleasure of ruins." Gunia, according to many, is the most important Polish weird fiction author writing today. To miss him on Confusio Linguarum would be a terrible oversight. More about him soon.
 
I hope you'll like it! I imitated Markitty and Grabinski and added some of my own interests and neuroses. There's some physical ruination and also some philosophical, linguistic ruination (the main attraction).
 
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