What Book Did You Read Last Night??? (3 Viewers)

Finally finished Milkman. I don't think I enjoyed it, it was a stressful read, but its an excellently written book and does something new and relevant with a well hashed out narrative.
 
On my list for the year, I've heard similar reviews of it being a difficult but rewarding read.
 
I went back through what I've read across the past 7 or 8 years and it turns out I've read very little that fits your criteria. Here's a list of gothic and weird fiction from the past 12 years (not all novels, some are short story collections,in two cases the material inside is older, and some of these I've covered in the recent posts):
The Dummy & Other Uncanny Stories - Nicholas Royle (2018)
Genuinely one of the best collections of stories I've read ever. I only read it a few months ago (it's fairly new) and I actually want to read it again already. It's published by Swan River Press in Dublin so you'd be supporting a great publisher but it is pricier than your average book because it's a small press edition.

Sparks in the Fire - Rosalie Parker (2018)
See my previous posts.

The Devil’s Hoof – Jonathon Barry (2017)
Gothic novel set in south Dublin/north Wicklow, based around nefarious goings-on at the Hellfire Club. A British officer is sent out to investigate grisly murders and all sorts of divilment is afoot. It's grand, mainly interesting for its setting for me, but not amazing.

The House of Silence – Avalon Brantly (2017)
This is a very special book and not one to go in to lightly. It's a sequel to William Hope Hodgson's The House on the Borderland (1908) which is basically the greatest work of weird fiction ever published. It is in a different league entirely to anything Lovecraft managed to conjure up (and Lovecraft cites Hodgson as an influence). So if you haven't read that, not only is this book wasted on you, you need to read it anyway because it's amazing. It is also worth reading Hodgson's last novel, The Night Land (1912), an expressionist romance based in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity has retreated to giant glass pyramids because the world has been plunged into darkness and monsters are everywhere. It's a difficult but I think hugely underrated book that Brantley's The House of Silence is best appreciated in light of it. The only problem is that The House of Silence is currently only available as a very expensive limited edition that costs over a €200 new from the publisher. I got the less limited edition (which was still expensive at around €50-60) but that appears to be sold out. Not sure if it's available electronically but it is brilliant and worth all of the above effort.

The Moons at Your Door – Various, edited by David Tibet (2016)
Anthology of Tibet's favourite stories, most of them are old. Some are obscure so worth delving into to try new authors.

Muladona - Eric Stener Carlson (2016)
See my previous posts.

The Spectral Link – Thomas Ligotti (2014)
Short novel by Ligotti that I read when it came out and remember nothing about it apart from feeling underwhelmed by it.

The Loney - Andrew Michael Hurley (2014)
You've probably read this but it's one that most people seem to really dig. I liked it up to a point (the atmosphere is top notch) but felt it fizzled out at the end.

Flowers of the Sea - Reggie Oliver (2013)
See my previous posts.

Teatro Grottesco – Thomas Ligotti (2006)
A collection of Ligotti's best short stories and possibly the most important weird fiction since the days of Lovecraft/Hodgson/Ashton Smith/Machen. Essential.
The Avalon Brantley book has been reprinted in paperback:
- Zagava
 
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This. Had never heard of her or this novel but picked it up because I liked the cover and it had recommendations from JG Ballard and Doris Lessing. Also because it's short. I'm with MDR on this one these days. Anyway, it's a very bizarre and somewhat unsettling novel about mental disintegration and climate disaster. Very fractured narrative. Constant shifting between what is happening to the protagonist and what he images might be happening elsewhere or might be hallucinating. I really liked it a lot.

Anna Kavan is something of a tragic character. Heroin addict for most of her life. Troubled in many ways. Published in 1967 but seems very contemporary to me.
 
View attachment 12665

This. Had never heard of her or this novel but picked it up because I liked the cover and it had recommendations from JG Ballard and Doris Lessing. Also because it's short. I'm with MDR on this one these days. Anyway, it's a very bizarre and somewhat unsettling novel about mental disintegration and climate disaster. Very fractured narrative. Constant shifting between what is happening to the protagonist and what he images might be happening elsewhere or might be hallucinating. I really liked it a lot.

Anna Kavan is something of a tragic character. Heroin addict for most of her life. Troubled in many ways. Published in 1967 but seems very contemporary to me.
Bought this, never read it and lost it. Worth going back to?
 
I would say yes, it is worth it. But its certainly pretty bleak stuff.
 
Finally finished Milkman. I don't think I enjoyed it, it was a stressful read, but its an excellently written book and does something new and relevant with a well hashed out narrative.
Even more finally finished this yesterday (such a slow reader). I liked it. I know a lot of people had a lot of trouble with the style but I warmed to it quickly and it really worked for me. Helped you glide over some difficult subject matter.
 
View attachment 12665

This. Had never heard of her or this novel but picked it up because I liked the cover and it had recommendations from JG Ballard and Doris Lessing. Also because it's short. I'm with MDR on this one these days. Anyway, it's a very bizarre and somewhat unsettling novel about mental disintegration and climate disaster. Very fractured narrative. Constant shifting between what is happening to the protagonist and what he images might be happening elsewhere or might be hallucinating. I really liked it a lot.

Anna Kavan is something of a tragic character. Heroin addict for most of her life. Troubled in many ways. Published in 1967 but seems very contemporary to me.
Sounds really interesting, going to read this!
 

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