The unifying thread in the best stories is a mysterious, fictional play - also called The King in Yellow - which is said to drive anyone who reads it into a state of gibbering madness. Of course, Chambers teases us with snippets of this forbidden text but never lets us see the full thing, much like … Continue reading The King in Yellow: A Curious Case of Cosmic Horror and Turn-of-the-Century Angst
Tag: books
Holy Hype and Heavenly Hardships: A Witty Take on The Song of Bernadette
The Song of Bernadette. A tale so steeped in piety, suffering, and miraculous visions that one might think Franz Werfel and Henry King teamed up to make us all feel like we’ve been woefully underachieving in our spiritual lives. Between the novel’s lofty prose and the film’s reverent close-ups of Jennifer Jones looking like she’s … Continue reading Holy Hype and Heavenly Hardships: A Witty Take on The Song of Bernadette
To the Devil a Disappointment: Wheatley’s Satanic Soap Opera
Dennis Wheatley’s To the Devil a Daughter was supposed to be a spine-tingling foray into occult horror, but I found myself laughing more often than shivering. From the first page, I was ready for a clever, suspenseful narrative, only to be greeted by a clunky mix of melodrama, cardboard characters, and a plot that wobbled like an … Continue reading To the Devil a Disappointment: Wheatley’s Satanic Soap Opera
Frozen Lives: A Starkfield Symphony of Misery
Prepare yourself, because we’re in for a bit of a journey here - one that’s as layered and compelling as a Starkfield winter storm. I find myself utterly fascinated by the characters in this novel, each of them a study in human frailty and resilience, so after this initial critique, I’ll be diving deeper into … Continue reading Frozen Lives: A Starkfield Symphony of Misery
Death by Drapery: Tolstoy’s Morbid Masterpiece and the Mediocrity of Ivan Ilyich
The Death of Ivan Ilyich, or as I like to call it, 'How to Have a Midlife Crisis While Actively Dying.' This novella by Tolstoy is less a story and more a literary post-mortem of a man who spends his life climbing the social ladder only to realise, with the grim clarity of impending death, … Continue reading Death by Drapery: Tolstoy’s Morbid Masterpiece and the Mediocrity of Ivan Ilyich
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