Classics and the Western Canon discussion
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The Decameron discussion is lively today. After expending so much effort with Boccaccio, whether "Western Canon worthy" or no, do continue at least for tonight and hopefully beyond. I'll be back with some suggestions for Edith Wharton "ghost" stories to make our transition to
Dracula
with David for our Halloween(?) themed October/November. Happy trick or treating!
Is this the same as the free kindle version called Tales of Men and Ghosts?
I've heard George Eliot also wrote a short horror story, called The Lifted Veil.
Borum wrote: "Is this the same as the free kindle version called Tales of Men and Ghosts?"As a reminder, interim reads are short reads that will be available to read for free from various websites and a purchase of work or a specific edition will not be required.. Links will be posted.
That said, there is a free version of the kindle book on Amazon from which this interim read selection will be taken from. It appears to be the kindle edition of the Project Gutenberg version which is usually another place to look online. A perk of being a "Classics" group. :)
https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Men-Ghos...
Okay, for those of you who are ready for that palate-cleansing dish of sherbet as you transition your attention from Giovanni Boccaccio's "Prince Galeotto" (subtitle) to Bram Stoker's
Dracula
, finding that edition tucked into your bookshelves (summer read for Mrs. ...., my English teacher) or ordering the e-book or ....., let's start with "The Daunt Diana," a short story with a hint of obsessive, if not truly haunted, collecting. It can be found here: https://www.online-literature.com/wha...I first read it from Tales of Men and Ghosts , which David has graciously posted for us here and explained where and how a free version is available. But any story we discuss here for this interim will have its own direct link, like the one above.
Besides the influence of our upcoming read, selecting an Edith Wharton short story here was prompted by a NYRB announcement it was issuing a special edition of Ghosts, "compiled by Edith Wharton herself shortly before her death in 1937." (I do not have a copy.)
You might also want to take a look at this description of The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton.
A few questions to perhaps enliven our interim discussion, the first one borrowed (stolen?) from another Goodreads board:1. Do you subscribe to any book plans/subscriptions from publishers, contests, or the like? Are there any you would recommend or ones you would avoid? Are you able to keep pace with the books that are sent?
2. Are you collector -- other than of books, which I rather presume, probably inappropriately, for any Goodreads user? What do you collect and why or for how long? Even among books, do you have specializations -- genre, age, subject, binding, ...
3. Have you attended a Sotheby's or Christie's auction or visited their locations? Or a comparable dealer in your part of the world? What reactions you did you have that you would consider relevant to our story here of "Humphrey Neave"?
4. Are there other books to draw to our attention about the obsession of collecting? (My "offering": (view spoiler))
Lily wrote: "Okay, for those of you who are ready for that palate-cleansing dish of sherbet as you transition your attention from Giovanni Boccaccio's "Prince Galeotto" (subtitle) to Bram Stoker's..."Wow! Thank you. I'm looking forward to the NYRB edition which I pre-ordered. It's due to be auto-delivered on Oct 26. (So is my Penguin edition of Dracula) I'm also reading Frankenstein right now and one of the things I noticed in reading Frankenstein or Daunt Diana is that instead of feeling scared, I feel a kind of curiosity and wonder mingled with sadness and pity by reading these so called 'horror' stories.
Lily wrote: "A few questions to perhaps enliven our interim discussion, the first one borrowed (stolen?) from another Goodreads board:2. Are you collector -- other than of books, which I rather presume, probably inappropriately, for any Goodreads user? What do you collect and why or for how long?
I've been collecting odd bits of stationary.. I used to collect pens and pencils and watercolor paints but these days I'm more into notebooks and sketchbooks.. I have more than enough, but I always buy up on extra in the fear of not having any paper around to write or draw something down when I get the inspiration. I think I have a similar attitude to Neave when expensive fountain pens or paints or notebooks are simply collected for the sake of collection without any actual appreciation or daily usage. For example, I am not much into cooking or cooking utensils myself, but I used to look down on people who collect expensive cups and dishes just for the sake of collecting it and showing it off to guests instead of actually using it to eat their meals.
Lily wrote: "A few questions to perhaps enliven our interim discussion, the first one borrowed (stolen?) from another Goodreads board:4. Are there other books to draw to our attention about the obsession of collecting?
.."
It's more like predatory hunting than collecting, but I'm reminded of 'The Collector' by John Fowles.
It's interesting that Diana is the goddess of wild animals and hunt. She, like a wild animal could not be caged down in mild captivity. She was a bete (wild beast) before but became a bete a pleurer (so stupid one could cry). The collection became 'superb wild creatures tamed to become the familiars of some harmless old wizard.' However, in the end, I think that instead of being hunted, she 'hunted down' Neave (expressed as 'she's crying to me to come to her' and 'she rules there at last, she shines and hovers there above him') Like the goddess of the moon, she shines and hovers above, sending a Latmian kiss to her Endymion. We are tamed and hunted by our desire, not the other way around.
My thanks to Borum and Cphe for an energetic kick off to this discussion. I look forward to hearing from whomever I hope will create a clever and light-hearted (and whatever) motif for us.
Lily wrote: "A few questions to perhaps enliven our interim discussion, the first one borrowed (stolen?) from another Goodreads board:1. Do you subscribe to any book plans/subscriptions from publishers, conte..."
My answer to questions 1 and 3 is no, for very particular personal reasons: my parents and my partner are people who have a great deal of difficulty in letting things go, because you might need or want it someday. For example, the crib we had in the late 1970s and early 1980s is still sitting in a crawl space. Neither my siblings nor I have children, and you can see from our birth years that the likelihood of that changing is pretty slim by now. Not to mention that cribs that old are no longer considered safe. But still it sits there, waiting to be rejected. I'm not a minimalist, but I do try to clean a part of my house every day, and part of that is going through drawers and cupboards and throwing away the accumulated crap that tends to end up in such places. I'm very strict with books: no more shelves, so if I want to keep something and there's no space, another book has to go.
To question 2: I do collect fridge magnets when I travel, but again, should the fridge fill up, same policy.
Question 4: Frank Trentmann's Empire of Things is about our acquisition of clutter over the past 600 years or so, and why we have such a hard time getting rid of it. AS Byatt's Possession also comes to mind.
Wharton is demonstrating a dark outcome of Thoreau's theme of things owning their owner,And when the farmer has got his house, he may not be the richer but the poorer for it, and it be the house that has got him.
Thoreau, Henry David. Walden (p. 19). Kindle Edition.
Jen wrote: "..I'm very strict with books: no more shelves, so if I want to keep something and there's no space, another book has to go...."Someone will probably bless you one day for that discipline. One of my f2f book club pals moved entirely to kindle after dealing with her professor mother's collection. I remember enjoying Evan Osnos's kind nod to Roz Chast for Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant? when he accepted the National Book Award in 2014.
What we sometimes forget, or are too brutally reminded, is that many Americans of the generation before us endured the "Great Depression," where things acquired had a certain preciousness or need for reuse to them.
"AS Byatt's Possession also comes to mind." Do say few more words about linking Possession to this story? (I relate that more to literary archives like the British Library or the Harry Ransom Center or ...)
His face shone with extraordinary sweetness as he spoke; and I saw he'd got hold of the secret we're all after.What is the secret we're all after?
I can only come up with satisfaction when I compare it to a Seneca comment on the attainment of things:
Who was ever satisfied, after attainment, with that which loomed up large as he prayed for it?
Seneca, Epistles 118.6
I got a slightly different take on the story. It resonated with me because of the early days of my marriage.Hubby and I got married when we were both graduate students studying for our Ph.D.s. We managed financially by living off my teach assistant salary and his research assistant salary--which is another way of saying we didn't have much money. We were perfectly content with what we had. Since we wanted to avoid getting into debt, whenever we wanted to purchase something and didn't have enough money for it, we would save. I remember we saved for a couple of months before we could afford to purchase a turntable. A few months later we purchased the speakers, etc. etc. It took us quite some time before we owned a complete music set. You can imagine how thrilled we were when we listened to our first album in our new music set. Each item meant something. It embodied our hard work, our willingness to wait, our anticipation at purchasing it, and, finally, our delight when we were finally able to afford it.
Fast forward 43 years. Hubby and I celebrated our 43rd wedding anniversary in August. Nowadays, if we see something we like, we buy it. We don't need to scrimp and save for weeks; we don't need to wait until we can afford it. But because of all those factors, it doesn't mean as much as it did when we had to work for it.
Neave's first purchase of the entire collection when he came into money didn't hold the same value for him as when he had to struggle to buy one item at a time. I can relate. I firmly believe that things that come too easily don't hold the same value as things we obtain through struggle and sacrifice.
In case anyone’s interested, I wanted to share the info for this free 10/28 6 p.m. ET event including readings from some of Edith Wharton’s ghost stories. You do have to pre-register. More info here: https://www.communitybookstore.net/ny...
I had the same thought, Tamara. I was so reminded of what Charles Lamb says about treasuring things more when one has planned and scraped to buy them that I hunted up and reread his essay “Old China” where he has a character say “A purchase is but a purchase, now that you have money enough to spare. Formerly, it used to be a triumph. When we coveted a cheap luxury (and, O! How much ado I had to get you to consent in those times!)— we were used to have a debate two or three days before, and to weigh the for and against, and think what we might spare it out of. . . . A thing was worth buying then, when we felt the money that we paid for it.”
On your questions, Lily, I do subscribe to book subscriptions from time to time. Last year I tried two: a monthly subscription from the New York Review of Books (NYRB) and an annual subscription from Archipelago Books. I’m interested in reading more modern books in translation and thought this could be a good way to broaden my reading horizons. The NYRB subscription was frustrating. Every month they pick the book club book from the books they published that month. Many people like this arrangement, but my problem was most months the book I was most interested in was not the one picked for the book club! I concluded I’d be better off just ordering the books I wanted from them directly.
The Archipelago subscription has been delightful. They send copies of all the books they publish that year as they come out, so they don’t come every month. They publish fiction, essays, children’s stories, nonfiction and poetry from around the world, so my subscription included an interesting mix of authors and topics to try out. But….it is a job to keep up so I’ll probably try to catch up on my reading before I try any more subscriptions ;)
Susan wrote: "In case anyone’s interested, I wanted to share the info for this free 10/28 6 p.m. ET event including readings from some of Edith Wharton’s ghost stories. You do have to pre-register. More info her..."Thanks for the link, Susan. NYRB included an announcement in their newsletter, but I had not seen it yet. (view spoiler)
Tamara wrote: "I got a slightly different take on the story. It resonated with me because of the early days of my marriage....
I firmly believe that things that come too easily don't hold the same value as things we obtain through struggle and sacrifice.
Thanks for sharing that, Tamara. It's not actually something bought, but I've found my book reviews or journaling or any sort of writing more endearing when it's written down by hand instead of digitally online. Maybe it's the effort that is put into it, but it doesn't feel the same to go back through my blog or SNS as I do when I flip through my physical journal.
Lily wrote: "AS Byatt's Possession also comes to mind." Do say few more words about linking Possession to this story? (I relate that more to literary archives like the British Library or the Harry Ransom Center or ...) I was answering your question about other books on the topic of obsessive collecting. It's been a long time since I read the book, but as I recall, one of the central characters finds some papers in a library and steals them, which would seem to be a rather obsessive act. Later on, they dig up a body to get at letters it was buried with. They have a broader purpose than just owning the documents, but who has them and getting more is important throughout the novel.
Susan wrote: "I had the same thought, Tamara. I was so reminded of what Charles Lamb says about treasuring things more when one has planned and scraped to buy them that I hunted up and reread his essay “Old Chin..."Thanks for bringing up "Old China." You reminded me how much I love that essay as well as other essays by Lamb. I'm going to follow your lead and re-read them.
Susan wrote: "But….it is a job to keep up so I’ll probably try to catch up on my reading before I try any more subscriptions ;)."I was gifted a subscription to 'And Other Stories', I love the eclectic books I've received and the warm feeling of supporting an independent publisher, but like you I find I get behind. And sometimes it can feel like an insurmountable task looking at all my books piling up.
I have a friend who is not at all rich but enjoys buying collectors editions of 'Lord of the Rings' and first editions of other novels as possible investments. I find books absolutely beautiful, but personally I am as connected to my well thumbed cheap paperbacks as some of the more ornate books I've been gifted over the years.
A question about the story though, sorry it is probably a very obvious thing, but what is the ghost part? Is it that the objects have the power to pull the collector in in a supernatural way?
Clarisa wrote: "But….what is the ghost part?”Caught out! You are absolutely right, even though chosen from “Men and Ghosts,” except for the “supernatural pull” to which you refer, this story is more about men than ghosts. It caught my attention because, besides the release of the NYBR edition of “Ghosts,” I was in the midst of a discussion on Ecclesiastes. Someone pointed out that the book included a reference to Gilgamesh, one of those factoids that had passed out of my awareness. That very same day, the NYT carried a tidbit about the excessive competition that has surrounded antiquities related to sacred texts. For comparative enjoyment to Wharton’s tale, consider following this trail of articles:
US to return ‘priceless’ 3,500 year old Epic of Gilgamesh tablet to Iraq 30 years after it was stolen: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/23/ar...
https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics...
Https://www.NYTimes.com/2021/09/24/ar...
https://www.wsj.com/articles/hobby-lo...
{Well, the above succession of links was a disaster. My apologies. I will try to return to it on Tuesday and unscramble it. I am away from my own PC and attempting to enter this from another device. In the meantime, consider the diversion below and the links to “Kerfol” in the next post.}
Some say these antiquities take on a spiritual journey of their own, somewhat like the Diana in our story.
On a separate path, consider reading Ecclesiastes in at least two versions. We had at least four versions as we were comparing the messages in the famous passage 3:1-8 last week. Given the diversity of the translations, even of specific words, one had a sense of the spirits (human minds?) wielding their power on human imagination across the millennia.
For a “true” Edith Wharton ghost story, consider “Kerfol,” known to be fairly unique for its canine, rather than human, spirits: https://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/wha... or
https://journals.openedition.org/jsse...
The open edition link includes comments about Wharton’s feelings about animals and some of her attitudes towards writing these stories. It is seems to be more commentary than the text of the story itself, which definitely should be what appears with the first link. The time in which she lived was certainly one of seances and the telling of ghost stories was a usual pastime in her circles. She reportedly admired Henry James’ “The Turn of the Screw.”
I will get to titles and links for some other Wharton's ghost stories at least by midweek. If you find ones you particularly enjoy or even YouTube readings, do share your finds.
I rather presume readers here know that Edith Wharton was a Pulitzer prize winner, albeit not for ghost stories. For a bit of the story behind the story, see https://www.pulitzer.org/article/edit.... (Butler, who today's Columbia students probably know best for the main library on campus, was also a thwarted presidential candidate.) Wharton's family, ensconced in the "Gilded Age of America", is infamous as the origin of the phrase "Keeping up with the Jones."
I've tried to get into this story, but the fact of the matter is that novels and stories about and by the privileged classes of the East Coast and England tire me. I've read enough (i.e. a lot) of them to, within a few pages, heave a sigh of resignation before dutifully reading on. These are lives of personal indulgence lived narrowly. Perhaps that is the take-away, although I doubt that was the author's intention. Whether intended or not, it's not anything I actually care about.
Gary wrote: "I've tried to get into this story, but the fact of the matter is that novels and stories about and by the privileged classes of the East Coast and England tire me. I've read enough (i.e. a lot) of ..."[Grin!] Although I haven't taken a look at your book shelves, Gary, and although one of the chief contributors did live and work among those "privileged Northeasters, something like the work described here might feel more worthy of your time at this point in your reading life: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...
Edith Wharton certainly did live a life of privilege, despite her close-in personal acquaintance with mental illness, service during periods of war, and chafing under the strictures of her class in the period that has been called a "Golden Age" in American history. We have discussed here from time to time the very restrictiveness of the "Western Canon" itself.
I have never been a particular fan of Mrs. Wharton's writings. How did the same person write Ethan Frome and The Age of Innocence has never been intuitively obvious to me. Even while embracing the "rules" of her milieu, it has always seemed to me that she has had the willingness to be brutally cruel in her analyses, even if one must sometimes interpret the sentences written as if to be marketable to two cultures. (I think of the criticisms of The Buccaneers, unfinished at Wharton's death.)
Until the last 300 years, it has been difficult to name female authors humankind has awarded the status of belonging to the so-called Western Canon. As I have worked on this short interlude between "major" reads on this board, I was surprised to learn of the probable chicanery of connections that led to Mrs. Wharton's position as the first female honored with a Pulitzer Prize for the Novel (in only the fourth iteration of the prize),
Short stories are often where writers sharpen their skills and try out sequences of human interactions. Apparently ghost stories were one of the places where Wharton experimented with coming to terms with some of the experiences of her youth and giving voice to some of the biases, predilections of society relative to women. Probably not a topic worthy of considerable amounts of time, but also hopefully not a huge waste of time for WC readers moving from The Decameron to Dracula or indulging/engaging in other pursuits at this point of their reading oeuvre.
I think there is more to say about the Latmian kiss in comparing Neave to Endymion and the Diana to Selene but I am unsure of what lines to draw connecting them.Selene, the Titan goddess of the moon, loved the mortal Endymion. She believed him to be so beautiful that she asked Endymion's father, Zeus, to grant him eternal youth so that he would never leave her. Alternatively, Selene so loved how Endymion looked when he was asleep in the cave on Mount Latmus, near Miletus in Caria, that she entreated Zeus that he might remain that way. In some versions, Zeus wanted to punish Endymion for daring to show romantic interest in Hera. Whatever the case, Zeus granted Selene's wish and put Endymion into an eternal sleep. Every night, Selene visited him where he slept, and by him had fifty daughters
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endymio...
I will try to list a few other of Wharton's ghost stories that are available on the web. If you read one that strikes your fancy, do share your reaction/comments with the rest of us?This Google book includes: https://books.google.com/books?id=bnl...
The Duchess at Prayer
A Journey
The Triumph of Night
Bewitched
For short summaries of eleven of Wharton's ghost stories (without spoilers) check here (I don't know how many of these are available directly on Internet): https://horrordelve.com/2014/11/19/th...
Lily wrote: " For a bit of the story behind the story, see https://www.pulitzer.org/article/edit.... (Butler, who today's Columbia students probably best for the main library on campus, was also a thwarted presidential candidate.)"In your article, the criteria for the publitzer is interesting:
In his commentary Lovett included the admiring appraisal of Main Street of his fellow juror Sherman.
“Lately I’ve made three canons for the literary critic — simple and unacademic,” Sherman wrote. “The critic is to ask of a work of art:
“I. Is it alive?
“II. Am I glad that it is alive?
“III. Why?
Hernan DiazSusan wrote: "In case anyone’s interested, I wanted to share the info for this free 10/28 6 p.m. ET event including readings from some of Edith Wharton’s ghost stories. You do have to pre-register. More info her..."I hope some of you had a chance to tune in to the discussion Susan brought to our attention. It was hosted by Ed Simon with Roxana Robinson. and Hernan Diaz. (Goodreads book listings for Mr. Simon includes a fascinatingly relevant (?) title not due for publication until 2022, Binding the Ghost: Theology, Mystery, and the Transcendence of Literature..)
Ms. Robinson pointed to the links of Wharton to the traditions of Nathanial Hawthorne, with the heavy Puritan and moral attitudes. As Mr. Diaz pointed out, those include themes of retribution. The discussion included witnessing crime, dealing with it in loneliness and according to the "manners" of one's class in self protective ways, the subliminal world between measurable, quantifiable reality and feelings/emotions/sensations.
Three of the particularly notable stories for this panel seemed to be:"A Bottle of Perrier", "Kerfol" and "The Eyes."
Quotation cited: "...the eyes themselves, small glassy disks with an agate-like rim about the pupils, looked like sea-pebbles in the grip of a starfish."
Lily wrote: "...."The Daunt Diana," a short story with a hint of obsessive, if not truly haunted, collecting. ..."I suspect that the Daunt Diana may have been inspired by this one:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8561740...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8561740...
I found this tidbit fun, although I am in no position to verify its veracity: "The fourth casting was in a garden at Stanford White's Long Island estate till the family sold it back in the nineties and then the mold was destroyed."
A multitude of Diana figures:
https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=A...
Some day I'll overlap Augustus Saint-Gaudens/Stanford White lives with those of Wharton in one test of plausibility. In the meantime, just the possibility adds "haunting" richness to the tale for my reading.
Are such hazy linkages between story and "real life" around us part of the ploy of ghost stories?
In October, I like to listen to a podcast called Classic Ghost Stories. Earlier this month they did Wharton's The Pomegranate Seed: https://www.ghostpod.org/classic-ghos... I just listened to it while carving my jack o'lantern.
Jen wrote: "In October, I like to listen to a podcast called Classic Ghost Stories. Earlier this month they did Wharton's The Pomegranate Seed: ..."Thanks, Jen. Haven't listened/read yet. I'll come back to this one, possibly while kids will be passing by my inhospitable unlit front door tomorrow night!
Welcome here any comments on how you and your community are celebrating Halloween this year and how that feels different or the same after our "Covid year". I can only imagine the mixed feelings in many households, or perhaps I should say "the range of feelings across and among."
In a similar vein, do others of you, like Jen, have haunted story telling/reading traditions to go with the season. Or at Christmas, which seems to be (have been?) a British tradition?
One of the participants on the Community Bookstore discussion spoke of the view that some have said that ghost stories basically disappeared with the invention and widespread use of electric lights, that they belong to lives of flickering flames and dark corners, but in general the panel seemed to disparage such conscription into the historical dust bin, suggesting that shadow and light, haze and clarity remain basic human sensations subject to story telling in our tenacious attempts "to understand."
David wrote: "I think there is more to say about the Latmian kiss in comparing Neave to Endymion and the Diana to Selene but I am unsure of what lines to draw connecting them.Selene, the Titan goddess of the moo..."I looked up the Latmian kiss, and here you have it already all laid out, lol!
It is this last sentence that pulls it all together, "But she rules there at last, she shines and hovers there above him, and there at night, I doubt not, steals down from her cloud to give him the Latmian kiss." - clever Edith!
Here is what I see: Wharton did a retelling of the the Greek myth Selene and Endymion. In both stories you have this irrepressible pull of passion by the goddess to possess a mortal man, and to achieve it a spell is put on him. In Wharton's version you have the hunting goddess Diana ensnaring Mr. Neave through his love of hunting and collecting artwork.
You remember Neave's hands—thin, sallow, dry, with long inquisitive fingers thrown out like antennae? Whatever they hold—bronze or lace, hard enamel or brittle glass—they have an air of conforming themselves to the texture of the thing, and sucking out of it, by every finger-tip, the mysterious essence it has secreted. Well, that day, as he moved about among Daunt's treasures, the Diana followed him everywhere. He didn't look back at her—he gave himself to the business he was there for—but whatever he touched, he felt her. And on the threshold he turned and gave her his first free look—the kind of look that says: "You're mine."In Wharton's version the collectibles are the "children". Neave has this mystical connection with them. Even though it seems he wants to possess Diana, it is actually her power ensnaring him through the objects that puts the spell on him. When he gets rid of the collection the children are scattered, and he has to gather them again at great cost in order for her to come back, even during their separation she has control over him. At the end, Neave lives in a spartan flat reminiscent of the cave on Mt. Latmos. Diana wants Neave all to herself.
Wharton, Edith. Tales of Men and Ghosts (p. 29). Kindle Edition.
I looked up the Name Neave. Wharton chose it deliberately.It was a kinship name denoting close relationship to a prominent person, or perhaps an orphan who was brought up by a member of the family.
https://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Neave
Lily wrote: Welcome here any comments on how you and your community are celebrating Halloween this year and how that feels different or the same after our "Covid year". I can only imagine the mixed feelings in many households, or perhaps I should say "the range of feelings across and among."In a similar vein, do others of you, like Jen, have haunted story telling/reading traditions to go with the season. Or at Christmas, which seems to be (have been?) a British tradition?
One of the participants on the Community Bookstore discussion spoke of the view that some have said that ghost stories basically disappeared with the invention and widespread use of electric lights, that they belong to lives of flickering flames and dark corners, but in general the panel seemed to disparage such conscription into the historical dust bin, suggesting that shadow and light, haze and clarity remain basic human sensations subject to story telling in our tenacious attempts "to understand.
Where I live, Covid was not considered to be the only danger to children, the lack of social interaction and the effects of online school were also taken very seriously. There were school shutdowns for a couple of months, but then the government said it would do everything necessary to avoid them again, including a curfew and all non-essential shops being shut down for nearly 4 months so children could continue to get an education. If it's not obvious, I don't live in North America. Hallowe'en is generally a thing among students, another excuse to party. However, there's an American in my building complex who also runs an after school program and she started organising a neighbourhood trick or treating event for the kids in her program as well as the neighbours. I did the same as I always do: put on black and orange, decorated my house, bought a pumpkin, and gave out one round of candy to the kids who came in a bunch.
I started to consume more spooky content in October a few years ago. Before that I didn't make any special effort to read scary content at any one time of year. Now I look at my TBR shelf and find any supernatural content. I'm currently reading Mexican Gothic and The House of the Seven Gables in that vein. I don't normally do anything at Christmas besides eat well and hang up fairy lights. When I lived with my parents, we would rent anti-Christmas movies like Denis Leary's The Ref or classic Hollywood movies. Last year I did watch Die Hard on 25 December just for fun.
I used to tell ghost stories when I was around a fire. That doesn't happen much anymore because I don't have a fire pit and my partner doesn't like camping. But I would bust out my favourite tales in a heartbeat in the right circumstances.
As we wind down this interim discussion and turn the group's attention to
Dracula
, let me extend a special thanks to each of you who has contributed to this discussion of ghost tales among us and also to those who have or do take the time to peruse these comments. I encourage each to continue to add their own ghost story anecdotes or comments on Wharton's stories as we move on to Transylvania. Although I liked that the panel I described downplayed the impact of Henry James on Edith Wharton's writings (The line of argument was that he was enough older to be more a role model than a competitive figure.), I will encourage anyone who has not read his "The Turn of the Screw... " to find a copy and take the few minutes a read requires. In the meantime, if you have a suggestion for a favorite ghost story, please do share its title, author and availability, even as we move on to Dracula!
Classics and the Western Canon
Books mentioned in this topic
Dracula (other topics)The Turn of the Screw / The Aspern Papers and Two Stories (other topics)
Binding the Ghost: Theology, Mystery, and the Transcendence of Literature (other topics)
Ethan Frome (other topics)
The Age of Innocence (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Roxana Robinson (other topics)Hernan Diaz (other topics)
Nathaniel Hawthorne (other topics)
Ed Simon (other topics)
Evan Osnos (other topics)
More...
Please welcome Lily as she moderates this interim read between The Decameron and Dracula. I am sure it will be a treat and not a trick to have Lily guide us through at least one selection from a collection of Edith Wharton ghosts stories to to get us in the mood for Halloween. Who knew Edith Wharton wrote ghost stories? I've learned something already. Lily will be posting soon with more information about her selection. Enjoy!