Booth #5: ThoRns Grove - Where Books Eat YOU

[Thorngrub]

I went over to post on the Bookworm's board . . .and found it (alas) locked. Seeing as how I recently lent my lockpick set out, I decided to start a new Book Board. I kinda took it upon myself, not knowing where JACkory has gone off to, and reassuring myself that he would not only allow it, but perhaps even let himself be somewhat pleased about the prospect. So JAC -- here's to you, man. As overseer of this thread, I can assure you that I will strive to maintain the respect an Insect Lounge board deserves.

I've always been more of the "confrontational" reader, although I must say I've done my fair share of honing Escapism down to an art, as well. I would say we all tend to cut our teeth at reading for escapism. We all learned to Escape through reading - - I'd even go so far as to suggest some of us couldn't imagine any other point to it (fiction especially). But my favorite type of reading is that which forces the reader to confront certain issues and truths, be they terrifying or too ugly for normal consideration. The dark underbelly of our environs, so to speak. Hence my fascination (I'd suspect) with all manner of "outre" writings, be they in the guise of horror, science fiction, poetry, surrealist manifestos, what have you. A lot of this sort of reading material forces us to come face to face with certain undesireable truths, something I guess I've always been interested in, I suppose to dispel the shadows of ignorance that would accumulate otherwise.

Hence we come to our first book in this series, a quite appropriate tome with which to kick off this excursion beneath the darker realms of literature.

P.S.

This is an Open Book Forum -- Castaways are invited to post about any and all books herein, whether confrontational, escapist, fictional, factual, or whatever. Don't be shy, all genres\types of writing are a welcome subject matter here. Consider this merely the continuation of the bookworm's board; the sequel, if you like.

[Thorngrub]

Just got this in the mail. Finally found a copy on Amazon.com, ordered it, its about time, for krine out lout, I can't believe I never had this before now.

The definitive Shirley. The quintessential Shirlian Virus. The renegade punk ass freak who'd boil you down in a vat in his cellar just to shoot up the residual drugs you built up during the 80s. Your shrunken ghost swimming up behind his eyes. John SHirley IS the ultimate "Outsider" artist writing in America today. This book is seminal proof of that.

In BRUCE STERLING's own words, "John Shirley was a total bottle-of-dirt screaming dogcollar yahoo," when describing him in contrast to the other cyber"punks" such as William Gibson or himself. William Gibson a cyberpunk? The idea becomes downright quaint & absurd when comparing him to fucking John SHIRLEY, who puts the punk right into the cyber equation. JOhn Shirley's writing gives you the impression you've somehow managed to come across publishing that should have been OUTLAWED. Shirley takes you places deep inside the human heart other writers simply won't dare to go. It can't really be justified by explanation - - you need to READ his stuff to truly understand. Writing you'd think would be made illegal, it is so cathartic & confrontational.

William Gibson himself said of John Shirley: "...cyberpunks' Patient Zero, first locus of the virus, certifiably virulent."

This book is a thousand hits of acid. It is a heroin injection with a dirty needle.
It is the literary equivalent of a street mugging. Only what is demanded of you is not your money, but your awakening. There is no room to hide when reading a John Shirley story. You have been cornered by the feral prince of the underground himself, and just when you think you'll be left for dead in the back alleyway, instead you find yourself painfully alive and awake and aware, with the dawning realization you have been spared by someone who could easily have had their way with you. Only until later does it become obvious that John Shirley has had his way with you. Only being in John's presence - i.e, reading his semiautobiographical punk literature - is like having been liberated instead of assaulted. An assault on your preconceptions and safe comfy haven you like to think of as "the real world", sure. As I'm equally sure many today would prefer NOT to be so liberated, thank U very much Mr. Shirley. But in this increasingly fascist dystopia we like to feel so safe in thinking of as "home", I personally shall be eternally grateful that this dogcollar streetpunk took me unaware one day, as I was crossing a back alley of pulp literature, and assaulted me with a savage grace I still recall fondly to this day. All he demanded of me was my blinders. I handed them over gladly. I have been breathing the potent fumes of truth ever since.

[Thorngrub]

John Shirley's BIO:

darkecho.com/JohnShirley/jsbio.html


John Shirley's Site:

www.darkecho.com/JohnShirley

[kmc]

I highly recommend that everyone (whenever they find the time) reads the Supreme Court of Massachusetts's decision to overturn the banishment of Naked Lunch, along with Alan Ginsburg's defense of the book. Nothing like hearing a literary genius explain the merits of a book to a bunch of legal cases who could not begin to grasp the depth Burroughs was trying to achieve.

Brings to bear the question of whether or not literary censorship should ever be allowed...I am of the liberal persuasion in this, of course, as I am sure Thorn is as well, but I would love to hear a reasoned defense of the censorship of literature.

I know this isn't the place for this, thornster. Sorry in advance.

[strat-0]

Note: Jac locked some of threads in the Lounge.

[Thorngrub]

kmc said:

I highly recommend that everyone (whenever they find the time) reads the Supreme Court of Massachusetts's decision to overturn the banishment of Naked Lunch, along with Alan Ginsburg's defense of the book. Nothing like hearing a literary genius explain the merits of a book to a bunch of legal cases who could not begin to grasp the depth Burroughs was trying to achieve.

Brings to bear the question of whether or not literary censorship should ever be allowed...I am of the liberal persuasion in this, of course, as I am sure Thorn is as well, but I would love to hear a reasoned defense of the censorship of literature.

I know this isn't the place for this, thornster. Sorry in advance.

Au contraire, ken: This is precisely the place for it. Bravo! for posting such a relevant comment man. Seriously - - that is exactly the type of thing that I would most welcome on this particular board. And of course - - I couldn't agree more (with what you said).

Censorship = Control (and lord knows we got enuff of that to deal with...)

conversely

Govt By & For The People = the necessary disavowal of CENSORSHIP = USA

[Thorngrub]

admin said:

Note: Jac locked some of threads in the Lounge.

Hence this very continuation of his bookworm's thread.

JAC & I get along fine. I would not have started this board had I thought, even for a moment, that it would go against JAC's wishes. I intend to further his standards for board protocols, despite the apparant fact we are here to discuss cutting edge matters such as when CENSORSHIP becomes necessary (if ever). There is no reason we cannot discuss such matters in a fair & balanced, not to mention adult, manner. I intend to keep the yahoos in line, should any dare to venture into this place with spurious ejaculations.

[strat-0]

I don't think Jac will mind. Knock yourself out. Such issues are vital. Like whether it's a right under freedom of speech to yell "fire" in a crowded theater. Just lookout for those spurious ejaculations!

[JACkory]

From a new batch of weirdness at Nausea & Bliss (www.nauseaandbliss.blogspot.com)...











...Thanks, Thorny, for the promo space.
I know it's not "book-oriented", but in a way, it kinda is, since Nausea & Bliss is basically an odd photo/art cyber-book...

[Thorngrub]

them is some strange pics . . .. . .I was cruisin thru that blog, pretty waayyyrrrddd... keep it goin man . . .

[Thorngrub]

I ordered a BUTTload of books, through Amazon.com, it was great, I found 9 out of print, highly coveted paperbacks that are impossible to find, let's see if I can't reproduce their covers here:

First off, I scored John Shirley's extremely rare, *first ever* novel, Dracula In Love:



It actually says on the cover: "More shocking than DRACULA and INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE!" I thought that was pretty funny . . .

Here's the scoop on it (I got online):

"Although Dracula In Love was not published until after Transmaniacon -- both in 1979) -- it is the first novel John Shirley wrote. He started writing it about age 17 while living in Portland. Somewhat given to youthful excess, Dracula in Love is still a remarkably readable book and displays the unique and energetic imagination that marks all of Shirley's work. The book's protagonist discovers (at age 33) he is the son of the being upon whom so many tales are based, but this creature is even more powerful and frightening than the myths have made him to be. Ignore the stereotypical shtick cover, Shirley's updated Dracula possesses (or is possessed by) a sexual organ with eyes and inhabited by its own predatory spirit as well as an appreciation of the contemporary submachine gun. The author has described it as starting "with Vlad the Impaler in modern times -- you find out about this tragedy in his life that propels him into vampirism. He's at war with God. So it's a broad coincidence. It's a very intense, twisted book fueled by my adolescent sexuality which was running my life. It was my puerile attempt to make a mystical statement. At the end of the story, Dracula gets absorbed by this earth goddess. Actually, he's drawn into her vagina and goes through a transformation, recognizes his true nature then goes into a communion with God. All this is part of a vampire novel which must have totally baffled most vampire novel fans." William Gibson has called it "an amiably twisted psycho-sexual footnote to Bram Stoker." Author Nancy Collins has said this novel inspired Sunglasses After Dark and its protagonist Sonja Blue. "

Yeah I'm psyched to read it.

[Thorngrub]

I also, at long last, got my sweaty mitts on this incredibly-hard-to-spot book, I've looked for it avidly in used bookstores for over a decade, never even seen it till it arrived in the mail from Amazon.com:



Here's the synopsis, taken from Shirley-san's site:

(sorry, its kinda long)

"One of the first truly visceral horror novels, hard to believe CELLARS was published in 1982 -- pre-Barker and pre-splatterpunk.

Within CELLARS the savvy Shirley reader will find much of the demon-seeds further amplified in his later dark fiction. Tom Winstead in the ST. JAMES GUIDE TO HORROR, GHOST & GOTHIC WRITERS sums it up as a "fairly graphic...story of a sort of demonic manifestation in the underworld of New York City. A writer who is skeptical about the supernatural is called upon to assist the police in solving a rash of horrible cult mutilation murders, The writer's employer shows undue interest in the case, and though the writer quits his employ, continues to pay him handsomely to assist the police. In the company of a psychic woman he has been interviewing, and who quickly becomes his lover, they track down the secrets taking place beneath New York, the rebirth of the cult of Ahrinam, Many of the themes in this book foreshadow a much more successful use in the novel WETBONES."

Well, more or less. Mostly less. There's a great deal more to CELLARS than Mr. Winstead notes. Lanyard, the writer, is a prototype of Shirley's "seeker-hero," but with no spiritual grounding, only skepticism. The world and his life are a mess, yet he feels there has to be "a hidden pattern that made sense of all the random damage that was done to people. Life had to be more than a great obstacle course...There had to be some hidden pattern making sense of it all. Beneath it all."

New York City, circa 1981, is vividly depicted -- kinky sex, disco decadence, drugs both chic ( the days when cocaine was considered "not really addictive") and dirty (junkies in shooting galleries), porn, the street life, pre-sanitized Times Square -- and it's all placed in the pressure cooker of an October made supernaturally hotter than August.

CELLARS is significantly subterranean. The killings are take place beneath the city and the city itself is a place where any ordinary drain becomes a direct connection to a gruesome death. Drains go "into the secret places under the city's skin where tubular infinities of liquefied civilization pumped through crumbling pipes, gurgling." There are forgotten tunnels, a concealed lake, a secret subway, a covert temple -- a literal first circle of Hell.

As Halloween approaches, more are sacrificed to the Head Underneath, power currents feed the evil and children become murderous monsters. Lanyard and Madeline (and hardly anyone else) survive some very nasty things. (Including, for Lanyard, a seductive woman who suddenly has "four glistening, transparent, rubbery tendrils extending from her vagina, wriggling like the antennae of silverfish; beckoning, dripping yellow ooze..." A female counterpart of DRACULA IN LOVE!)

CELLARS in unrelentingly dark, and it is Shirley's only novel so completely so. Protagonist Lanyard has not sunk low enough to find the power beneath despair. He has nowhere to go to find strength. There is no glimmer of redemption, no spark of hope, no acknowledgment of a moral balance, no evidence that there IS anything "beneath it all" except depravity and wickedness. Written during his sojourn in New York City during a period in his life when he switched from abusing psychedelics to abusing harder narcotics (although he never wrote on drugs), Shirley was deeply punished with depression. He saw only dark side at the time and CELLARS reflects this. Of all Shirley's novels this might be the one that could be most interestingly re-written. "

Yeah, so I'm in for a real Shirley-feast with these pups.

[Thorngrub]

A little over halfway through DRACULA IN LOVE, and all I can say is, it is some sick shit. Lucidly written before he was 20, this hard-to-find first novel of John Shirley's is a testament to the fact that he's "got it", when it comes to writing no-holds-barred, visceral horror with a surprisingly moral foundation. Of course, the morality inherent to his work is far more pronounced in his later novels, such as DEMONS and CRAWLERS and THE VIEW FROM HELL and SPIDER MOON, to name but a few examples. So far, DIL is a riveting portrayal of an executive who receives a letter from Dracula himself - Vlad the Impaler incarnate and very real - stating that he is about to arrive in San Francisco to an old Estate he has bought up, and is interested in meeting his son. The son who was the product of a terrible rape the dark prince committed years ago.

This book is absolutely NOT for the squeamish: its bizarre, hallucinatory tone & unflinching description of atrocities painful to have to imagine goes far beyond anything you may have casually encountered in the likes of Stephen King or Dean Koontz. This is truly horrific material, and if you're a purveyor of such fare, or of horror literature in general, you may want to try and track yourself down a copy of this.

Ye have been duly warned.

[Thorngrub]

I finally received in the mail a tome I have been coveting for a good while:



FLOWERS FROM HELL: A SATANIC READER

Published by Creation Press from England (one of my favorite presses), this is an absolutely indispensable tome featuring many excerpts from classic pieces of literature devoted to everyone's favorite arch-villain, Ol' Scratch. Here is a capsule blurb, from amazon.com:

"Many of the world's greatest authors and artists have been inspired by Satan. Brought together in a definitive yet eclectic volume, this essential anthology of Luciferian literature charts the progress of Devil as muse via the short stories, novels and poetry of centuries past. Edited, and with an in-depth introduction by Nikolas Schreck. Includes writings by Baudelaire, Crowley, Goethe and Mark Twain amongst others. "

The introduction alone, by editor Nikolas Schreck, is practically worth the price of admission itself. An incredibly lucid overview of the history of Satan in Western literature, this introductory essay delves deeply into the various authors who most famously propelled the fallen angel, in particular the 4 cornerstones of his impending legend: Dante's Inferno, Marlowe's Tragical History Of Doctor Faustus, Milton's Paradise Lost, and Goethe's Faust: Ein Tragodie. In addition to these fine excerpts, there are 3 stories about the Devil by Edgar Allan Poe, The Litanies Of Satan by Charles Baudelaire, Mark Twain's last known work The Mysterious Stranger, and several other equally fascinating selections.

I would heartily recommend this to any and all devotees of religion, mysticism, and classic literature in general. It is truly a rich cross-section examining the myth of Lucifer from various angles and perspectives that should prove indispensable to readers regardless of their spiritual proclivities.

[phil]

GEEZ ! Some nice dreams you must be having ...