I omitted this one. The Lives They Left Behind is a very moving indictment of psychiatric care in America during the 20th century. The Willard Psychiatric Center in upstate New York closed in 1995. Some 400 or so suitcases of personal belongings that residents brought with them over the years were found in the attic. The authors use the contents of the suitcases to paint and tell their stories. As I say, moving; but often shocking...
I should have qualified. The persons had all passed on by a considerable time; at the time of research and publication.They could easily return these because as a result of the tragedy of deinstitutionalization these people are now on every street corner raving at all who pass by.
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I've just finished this. When it comes to films, horror is one of my favourite genres but not one I usually venture into when I'm choosing a new book.
While the story of this is intriguing, the layout, journal entries from different characters, also tie in well but I didnt find the horror aspect of it good at all. Maybe I was expecting too much from a book.
When it comes to horror in particular...maybe films are just better?
Very well put Rob...slow burn describes it perfectly. By no means a bad read, just not what I expected and certainly wouldn't put me off reading more of that genre in the future.It's definitely not a schlock horror novel, but firmly in the gothic horror genre, it's a slow burn given the epistolary style, but imho this gives the reader the opportunity to let their imagination run riot, rather than having every scene set out for them. For me this makes the book a more immersive experience rather than having it described in a more cinematic style, which is pretty much an inevitability in modern horror novels, because cinema.
It's a fascinating, but uneven, book. Inherently misogynistic, with a slight homoerotic undertone that, to me, Stoker felt he had to overcompensate by the staking of Lucy (the most horrible part in the book). Lucy's only crime was being slightly flirtatious and flighty.View attachment 61586
I've just finished this. When it comes to films, horror is one of my favourite genres but not one I usually venture into when I'm choosing a new book.
While the story of this is intriguing, the layout, journal entries from different characters, also tie in well but I didnt find the horror aspect of it good at all. Maybe I was expecting too much from a book.
When it comes to horror in particular...maybe films are just better?
It's a fascinating, but uneven, book. Inherently misogynistic, with a slight homoerotic undertone that, to me, Stoker felt he had to overcompensate by the staking of Lucy (the most horrible part in the book). Lucy's only crime was being slightly flirtatious and flighty.
I'm concerned that we never get to the real Dracula; apart from him talking of his Szekely history. Later on, he is sidelined and viewed through the standpoint of others.
The book can be interpreted many ways: through the lens of Marxism; fear of ‘the other'; contagion; miscegenation and so on.
it does have its plusses: the use of modern media; wax cylinders, stenograph, telegraph, railway timetables, typewriters, Kodaks and so on is interesting. But then you get Van Helsing the Dutchman coming out with ‘Mein Gott!'. Also, D dies by a stab with a khukri knife; no stake etc. Very clumsy. That's one of my editions you have, incidentally.
As to films being better, it depends what you want from your book.
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