Neil Gaiman www.NeilgaimanBoard.com www.NeilgaimanBoard.com The World's End Other Writers Autumnal Book Recommendations Please?
www.NeilgaimanBoard.com www.NeilgaimanBoard.com The World's End Other Writers Autumnal Book Recommendations Please?Page 1 2
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Companion to owls Member  |
That's because Wuthering Heights is ANYthing but a romance novel, despite what most people seem to think (and Hollywood would have us believe). I read it when I was 15 or so having never heard anything of it (as it's not hugely popular in Spain) -the name Brontë sounded familiar and so did the novel, and it sounded vaguely romantic (as in, the cultural movement). I was gripped from the moment where the narrator spends the night at Wuthering Heights, because of the mystery, the horrifying account in Catherine's diary of cruelty, the ghost... I love the novel because it's so wildly romantic, not in the romance sense of it, but in the sense that it's supernatural (not just the ghosts, but the odd coincidences, the unbound passions...), it's vicious, cruel and full of hatred and vengeance. Not one of the characters can be described as "good", and all of them engage in horrible behaviour. A coupe of them sort of redeem themselves in the end, but it feels more like a curse has been lifted more than them actively changing things (with the exception of Hareton, who is the only person in the book who wants to change his ways, even before Heathcliff's end). Yet you care for them, all of them. Emily Brontë is clearly sympathetic for her own characters, but she doesn't spare any ugly detail, and she is surprisingly non-judgemental -there's no censorship on her part for anyone's behaviour, no matter how hideous. I can see why, if you're expecting a love story, it can be disappointing, becaus eit's not one. It's just a tale of passion (not just love-related) and revenge. (By coincidence I was listening to the audiobook today.) Ok, recommendations: Audiobooks feel autumn-y... You can sit and paint or do whatever craft you like doing (or cleaning, as I was) and listen.  |
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I'd suggest HOOD by Stephen Lawhead.
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Bradbury's The October Country. Autumn and horror.
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Frog Dreamer Member  |
Hurray! Who could ask for anything more? ***************************** "Aaaah sweet mystery of liiife, at last I have found youuu!" -Young Frankenstein "Oh my mother Nut, stretch yourself over me, that I may be placed among the imperishable stars which are in you, and that I may not die." --From the Pyramid Texts You are an Almoner. Not to be confused with an Almonder, you deal with an entirely different kind of nut...the poor kind. You do the hard work of greasing the skids of skid row. For whenever they're in need, if no one else can help, and if they can find you, maybe they can hire...well, you, 'cause you're the Almoner. |
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Frog Dreamer Member |
I still hated it.  Different people like different things I guess.***************************** "Aaaah sweet mystery of liiife, at last I have found youuu!" -Young Frankenstein "Oh my mother Nut, stretch yourself over me, that I may be placed among the imperishable stars which are in you, and that I may not die." --From the Pyramid Texts You are an Almoner. Not to be confused with an Almonder, you deal with an entirely different kind of nut...the poor kind. You do the hard work of greasing the skids of skid row. For whenever they're in need, if no one else can help, and if they can find you, maybe they can hire...well, you, 'cause you're the Almoner. |
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Companion to owls Member |
I know, I was just offering why I love it, as you said you wer eitnerested in people's opinions
Another books that evokes Autumn and Winter for me is The Mists of Avalon. The recommendation comes with a warning, though -I loved some parts of this book (the concept, the focus on female characters, the old vs. new religion conflict thrown into it, and most of all the description of "indoorsy" life which women lead, as opposed to the outdoorsy and warlike side of the story we generally hear). But most of the characters wereannoying, some clichés were painful, and towards the end I pretty much hated everyone  I'd still recommend it though, if you don't mind reading an imperfect book, if you can read quickly (it's a long book) and if any of the good bits interest you at all. I had great nights in the darkness of my first Scottish winter, wrapped in amy blanket and drinking loads of hot chocolate in a flat with no heating |
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Elah Adonijai Member  |
From the Dust Returned (also by Bradbury) would work, too. ____________________________________________________________________ "Patriotism is defined as the last resort of a scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer i beg to submit that it is the first." - Ambrose Bierce ---------------------- A Good Scoundrel isn't Hard to Find |
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Assistant *fwap*er Member  |
Has anyone mentioned Poe? Poe is good in the fall.
******************************** The only really sane person in there is Igor, and possibly the turnip. And I'm not so sure about the turnip. ~~ Terry Pratchett |
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Wigber Member  |
Autumnal horror? Easy: Thomas Tryon's Harvest Home.
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is hogging the Comfy Chair Member  |
Finally - thank you! I've always seen Wuthering Heights as a horror novel, and thought I was alone in this. I hate it, mind, but that's not the point here! *********************** There once was a bard of Hong Kong Who thought limericks were too long. - Gerard Benson. |
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the colours . . . the colours Member  |
Keats- especially as he was born on Halloween.
*** "objective evidence & certitude are doubtless very fine ideals to play with, but where on this moonlit & dream-visited planet are they found?" William James |
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Frog Dreamer Member |
I have read and enjoyed Mists of Avalon. I think you're right about the characters. But on the whole I liked it for basically the same reasons you mentioned. I might give it a re-read... ***************************** "Aaaah sweet mystery of liiife, at last I have found youuu!" -Young Frankenstein "Oh my mother Nut, stretch yourself over me, that I may be placed among the imperishable stars which are in you, and that I may not die." --From the Pyramid Texts You are an Almoner. Not to be confused with an Almonder, you deal with an entirely different kind of nut...the poor kind. You do the hard work of greasing the skids of skid row. For whenever they're in need, if no one else can help, and if they can find you, maybe they can hire...well, you, 'cause you're the Almoner. |
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Frog Dreamer Member |
Ohhh how I love Keats. Just saying his name makes me tingle in my happy parts. Keats. Keats. John Keats.  ***************************** "Aaaah sweet mystery of liiife, at last I have found youuu!" -Young Frankenstein "Oh my mother Nut, stretch yourself over me, that I may be placed among the imperishable stars which are in you, and that I may not die." --From the Pyramid Texts You are an Almoner. Not to be confused with an Almonder, you deal with an entirely different kind of nut...the poor kind. You do the hard work of greasing the skids of skid row. For whenever they're in need, if no one else can help, and if they can find you, maybe they can hire...well, you, 'cause you're the Almoner. |
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There are so many great things about that sentence. |
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Frog Dreamer Member |
Lol. Anything I can do to help. ***************************** "Aaaah sweet mystery of liiife, at last I have found youuu!" -Young Frankenstein "Oh my mother Nut, stretch yourself over me, that I may be placed among the imperishable stars which are in you, and that I may not die." --From the Pyramid Texts You are an Almoner. Not to be confused with an Almonder, you deal with an entirely different kind of nut...the poor kind. You do the hard work of greasing the skids of skid row. For whenever they're in need, if no one else can help, and if they can find you, maybe they can hire...well, you, 'cause you're the Almoner. |
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Great wyrm of Toronto Member  |
Baltimore: Or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden.
It captures the fall mood well, FaeryBlood. ______________________________ Do not leave me with a bowl of anything for an extended period of time. |
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Fractal demiurge Member  |
Gia already mentioned it, but I can't help but reiterate: Poe.
Poe, Poe, Poe. Find one of those creaky old leather volumes of the Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, light some candles, wrap yourself in a blanket and have at. Be sure to read Tell Tale Heart in bed, with just a tiny bit of light illuminating the page *shudder* Also, you might want to pick up The Complete Sherlock Holmes while you're at it. From Hell by Alan Moore has a great October tinge to it...  **** “Chives?†“Yes, m’lud?†“Is that Ms Ephemera hovering over the croquet lawn?†“Indeed m’lud. She’s marshalled all the haggle-dans. Missy-twigs and vale-nymphs from Claypole Woods. Apparently she intends to tear this house down and dance on the ruins.†“Well, Chives, you’d better start the car, what? And pack my tennis things too†--- Joe 3Heads |
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The Hawk's Grey Feather by Patricia Keneally-Morrison. Brilliantly written coming of age tale(you might have to check Powell's or A Libris).
King Arthur in outer space! And it's the first in a trilogy (but excellent as a stand-alone)! And it has maps! And genealogy charts! And a huge cultural Gaelic glossary! And dramatis personae! And it's FUN! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Taoist “Wooo-weeee!†The bosom that can be tamed is not a real bosom. Dammit babies, you've got to be kind! ~Kurt Vonnegut |
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Companion to owls Member |
Ursula K LeGuin's Earthsea series -orat least the 1st three, I read them at the beginning of Winter on long, cold nights drinking hot chocolates under my blanket trying not to wake up my roommate.
After that I also read Joram's Sword series by Those Awful People who did the Dragonlance, but I don't want to inflict that pain on anyone so I'd un-recommend it VERY strongly. |
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Autumnal? and Horror?
The Halloween Tree, by Ray Bradbury and A Night in the Lonesome October by Rogert Zelazny (his last book before he died) The horror is what I'd consider rather mild for both, but they're GREAT!!!! |
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Neil Gaiman www.NeilgaimanBoard.com www.NeilgaimanBoard.com The World's End Other Writers Autumnal Book Recommendations Please?
www.NeilgaimanBoard.com www.NeilgaimanBoard.com The World's End Other Writers Autumnal Book Recommendations Please?