Lisnaholic

The novel that Colin Wilson wrote is not in the gothic Lovecraft style, neither is it set in some murky American past, but it is a wonderful book in it's own right; Wilson's best novel imo, and a fascinating exploration of the possibilities of human consciousness. So, don't expect anything very Lovecraftian, read it with an open mind, and see if you don't agree with me - that Colin Wilson met the challenge and wrote something more exciting, more gripping than most of Lovecraft's stories.

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"Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953

grindy

You had me at "consciousness". Always interested in that,

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A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.

Lisnaholic

^ haha! Well, among other things, the book describes a (fictitious) method of expanding consciousness, so is perhaps of interest to anyone curious about, for instance, mind-altering chemicals.

BTW, for some reason, I have the idea that you are German, grindy; do you read in English, or do you have another language that you are more comfortable with?

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"Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953

grindy

I'm actually Ukrainian, but I live in Germany.
My first language is Russian, my second language is German.
I'm equally fluent in both.
But I'm also perfectly comfortable with reading in English. I have probably read more books in English than in Russian and German in the last few years.

Oh and I've done my share of mind-altering substances, so it's always interesting to read something in that vein.

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A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.

Lisnaholic

That's an impressive quantity of languages, grindy

Let me know if you buy or read The Philosopher's Stone. It is written in an easy-to-read style and I'd love to hear someone else's impression of it.

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"Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953

grindy

Thanks.

I hope I'll be able to convert the pdf I found to mobi, really prefer reading on an e-reader to using the computer.
I'll let you know once I've finished reading it, might take some time though. First I'll have to finish the book I'm currently reading and since I'm in the process of completing my BA these days, time's a somewhat scarce resource.

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A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.

Chula Vista

Bump for this.

http://www.amazon.com/Hyperion-Canto...ds=dan+simmons

Regarded as Sci Fi but definitely little bits of shades of Lovecraft style horror IMO.

One of only two books I've read 3 times.

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“The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well,
on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away
and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”

grindy

I read the book now and enjoyed the hell out of it.
Thanks for the rec.
I love his somewhat scientific, logical approach and there are a lot of themes and topics there I'm generally very interested in.
And it's amazing how he takes the opposite route of Lovecraft, replacing obscurantism with analytical, systematic explanations and still manages to convey a lovecraftian sense of awe.
If you know other, similar books, I'd be happy to read them as well.

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A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.

Trollheart

Ah, the Shrike! Love those books! Did you read "Carrion comfort"? Not Lovecraftian but I'm just tipping the thread slightly OT in case you've not read it. Amazing book.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Chula Vista

I've read:

Carrion Comfort
Song of Kali
Phases of Gravity
The Hollow Man
Summer of Night
All 4 of the Hyperion books.

The Shrike might just be one of the best fictional characters ever.

__________________

“The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well,
on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away
and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”