What are you reading?

[George Barry Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close George Barry]

Paul, if you're reading it in English which translation do you have? Gilbert's? Buss's?

[Paul L Scholar of Sleaze Find all posts View Profile Close Paul L]

Paul, if you're reading it in English which translation do you have? Gilbert's? Buss's?

I'm currently reading the translation by Robin Buss, George. Last time I read this, it was in the mid-1990s. (I was a university student at the time.) That would have been the translation by Stuart Gilbert. I think that translation was a bit of a slog, if my memory is accurate; I'm finding Buss' translation much more readable.

[George Barry Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close George Barry]

I'm going to reread The Plague, it's been a while. I have the Buss translation at hand, I'll go with that. Just ordered Robin Buss's book "Italian Films", written about twenty years ago. I've not read any of his cinema writings.

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

I'll have to give the Plague a reading with that translator.

[George Barry Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close George Barry]

I have not read a novel that I've liked more. I read The Plague several times, years and years ago. It along with Moby Dick and Kafka's The Trial were probably the most influential novels I read as a teenager.

[Lorne Marshall Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lorne Marshall]

I finished SHIVERS. It had some good tales, a few of which I believe I had previously read in some "Best of" collections ("Hermanos de el Noche" by Bentley Little, Edward Lee's "Portrait of a Sociopath," and "The Green Face" by Al Sarrantonio). My favorites were Graham Masterson's "The Sympathy Society" and Nancy A. Collins's "Tender Tigers." The piece that seemed the least necessary wasn't fiction but a chronicle written by Richard Laymon's daughter about some get-together she had with various genre writers, pre-Horrorfind. (Speaking of her dad, I'm almost done with ONE RAINY NIGHT, which has been interesting so far.)

Now, on to SHIVERS II...

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

I'm currently reading DO WHAT YOU WANT: THE STORY OF BAD RELIGION and re-reading MINISTRY: THE LOST GOSPELS by Al Jourgensen.

[David H Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close David H]

Nobody Does It Better: The Complete Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of James Bond by Mark Altman & Edward Gross. Really entertaining book. Also been reading some old MAD movie parodies here and there since Mort Drucker died. The man was a genius. Also picked up a Cracked or two because John Severin is also a genius, but the writing is nowhere near as good as MAD. Comics-wise I've been on a Badger kick since '80s Eclipse titles are dirt cheap and the Badger is a fun read.

[Tom Clark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tom Clark]

Topology of a Phantom City - Been attempting to read all of Alain Robbe-Grillet's books since the beginning of the year. This one is particularly interesting because one, it was his first novel after a seven year break but more importantly, woven into the novel is the text that was originally included in a set of etchings by Paul Delvaux called "Constructing a Ruined Temple to the Goddess Vanadé". Probably not the best place to start for anyone unfamiliar with ARG's nouvelle roman style, but if you can imagine "reading" one of his films, that's basically what his books are like. Get lost in the labyrinth.

[Nabonga Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Nabonga]

Veronica - The Autobiography Of Veronica Lake
Pretty interesting reading about what went on in the movie business in the 40's. Lake has always fascinated me and when this went into reprint recently I jumped at it. Previously it went for crazy money.

Nobody Belongs Here More Than You
Quirky novels by multi artist Miranda July. I found her movie (Me And You And Everyone We Know) which was all the rage some years ago a bit overrated and I haven't seen any of her other films or works since. I found this book in the discount bin one day at the book store and figured what the hell, it's cheap so why not? I'm almost half way through and most of it is pretty good actually.

[Marshall Crist Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Marshall Crist]

I finished SHIVERS. It had some good tales, a few of which I believe I had previously read in some "Best of" collections ("Hermanos de el Noche" by Bentley Little, Edward Lee's "Portrait of a Sociopath," and "The Green Face" by Al Sarrantonio). My favorites were Graham Masterson's "The Sympathy Society" and Nancy A. Collins's "Tender Tigers." The piece that seemed the least necessary wasn't fiction but a chronicle written by Richard Laymon's daughter about some get-together she had with various genre writers, pre-Horrorfind. (Speaking of her dad, I'm almost done with ONE RAINY NIGHT, which has been interesting so far.)

Now, on to SHIVERS II...

It's even forever since I read ONE RAINY NIGHT, but I remember it being a fun ride.

[Lorne Marshall Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lorne Marshall]

Finally finished ONE RAINY NIGHT. Definitely an intriguing premise, with some clever surprises in the last few scenes. I enjoyed it much more than RESURRECTION DREAMS. My impression of Laymon from these two (I don't recall much about THE CELLAR) is that the his books are unnecessarily long considering the lack of complexity in the stories. I'm not sure if it was common practice for paperback originals, but I assume it's because Leisure/Dorchester probably paid by the word or something like that? (And he must have gotten a higher price for using the word rump, as it seems to appear on every other page. )

Below is a list of the others I have from Laymon (I believe in chronological order) that I have yet to read. Note that none are the ones Marshall and Paul recommended - THE WOODS ARE DARK, THE BEAST HOUSE or THE ISLAND - so I'll have to think about picking those up at some point.

BLOOD GAMES
ENDLESS NIGHT
IN THE DARK
BITE
BODY RIDES
AMONG THE MISSING
COME OUT TONIGHT
NIGHT IN THE LONESOME OCTOBER
NO SANCTUARY
TO WAKE THE DEAD

Not sure when I'll start the next one. Right now I'm still working on PAPERBACKS FROM HELL and SHIVERS II, and I added a non-fiction book on politics (which I won't describe any further since this is not the appropriate forum in which to do so).

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

THE BLOOD AND THE SWEAT: THE STORY OF SICK OF IT ALL'S KOLLER BROTHERS-Howie Abrams
WHAM! GEORGE MICHAEL AND ME-Andrew Ridgeley

[Marshall Crist Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Marshall Crist]

Lorne, THE WOODS ARE DARK is my favorite Laymon book due to its gruesomeness and unrelenting action, but IN THE DARK may be his “best” book in terms of psychological intrigue. It really stood out to me as I was plowing through his body of work. I highly recommend it.

[Paul L Scholar of Sleaze Find all posts View Profile Close Paul L]

Ah, Richard Laymon. That name is a blast from the past.

Marshall, I remember THE WOODS ARE DARK as one of my favourite of his novels too, though admittedly it must be nearly 30 years since I read many of them.

Currently reading:
WEIRD WOODS - TALES FROM THE HAUNTED FORESTS OF BRITAIN, an anthology of vintage spooky stories published as part of the British Libraries Tales of the Weird series.