Litsy

The Haunted and the Haunters | Edward Bulwer-Lytton

pick

Another #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent pick from October—I wanted to read this because L.M. Montgomery highly recommended it in her journals. LMM loved ghost stories, so when she described this one in particular, I hunted it down and added it to our list. I‘m a coward about scary stories, so I read it in broad daylight—and didn‘t find it particularly scary. Then the night after I read it, I woke up in the middle of the night, ⤵️

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) …was convinced I heard a voice speaking in my ear, couldn‘t stop thinking about this story, and was a leeetle scared of going back to sleep. The story itself was fascinating. I loved the setup: the logical/skeptical/scientifically-minded narrator wants to stay in an actual haunted house, and he REALLY gets what he asked for! Although it gets a little too explain-y in parts, it ends up being an interesting combo of supernatural and not. 4w

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BarbaraJean

The House of the Seven Gables: A Romance | Nathaniel Hawthorne

so-so

Another belated review: this was one of the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent picks in October—and it was the slowest burn ever. I‘d read that it was slow & wordy, but man… it was really slow and really wordy. It used lots of gothic tropes without actually feeling gothic, it talked about how creepy the house was but didn‘t feel creepy, and the sinister curse didn‘t feel all that sinister. Hawthorne‘s writing really is beautiful, ⤵️

BarbaraJean Cont‘d) …but I kept waiting for something to happen—and once it does, it‘s kind of anticlimactic. I did enjoy the backstory: the generational curse, the inherited guilt, the shadowy crimes that are hinted at…I wish Hawthorne had brought those stories into the foreground rather than sketching them as the backdrop. I have a feeling that in the end, what I wanted was this same story written by a different author. 😆 4w

38 likes1 comment

BarbaraJean

The Haunted and the Haunters | Edward Bulwer-Lytton

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

Do you enjoy reading scary stories?

What types of stories are scariest to you—ghost stories, thriller, horror…?

Did you find this story particularly scary?

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

BarbaraJean I definitely don‘t read horror, and I‘m kind of a coward about scary stories. I do like to read spooky-ish books in October, but definitely spooky lite! I don‘t mind “thriller” stories, but horror is too much for me. And supernatural/demon possession stuff freaks me right the heck out. This one pushed the line for me as far as scary. Funny story: I read it during the day, because I didn‘t want to end up like LMM—too scared to turn out the light!⤵️ (edited) 1mo

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) I thought it was creepy, but not TOO scary, until I woke up in the middle of the night that night convinced I heard a voice speaking in my ear… 😱 1mo

TheAromaofBooks I am not really into scary stories. I enjoy thrillers as long as they aren't too graphic - I'm not a horror fan, but more because I don't like blood and gore. I'm not sure how much I would enjoy reading scary stories if I lived by myself (or with just an elderly grandma like LMM!). I didn't think this one was super scary, but like you I read it in broad daylight 😂 I can picture LMM reading it by lamplight in an old, creaky house and that sounds⬇ 1mo

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) much scarier! 1mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Hahaha—I hadn‘t thought about reading it in an old creaky house!! 😱 1mo

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BarbaraJean

The Haunted and the Haunters | Edward Bulwer-Lytton

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

From the setup through to the end, did the plot work for you?

What did you think of the logical/theoretical explanation the narrator inserts before the final resolution of the story?

What did you think of the discovery at the end? Was the resolution satisfying to you?

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

TheAromaofBooks Overall I liked it, but did feel like parts of it got a little lecture-y. I kind of liked having the explanations, especially the actual story behind the ghosts. 1mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Yeah, the explain-y part bored me! I kind of wanted it to be more about the ghosts and what had happened to them in life. I thought the conclusion was so interesting—kind of a combination of supernatural and not. I really liked the setup with the narrator wanting to find and stay in an ACTUAL haunted house… and then really getting what he asked for!! 1mo

19 likes2 comments

BarbaraJean

The Haunted and the Haunters | Edward Bulwer-Lytton

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

LMM often mentions Bulwer-Lytton as an author she enjoys. He‘s famous for the line: “It was a dark and stormy night” and has a bad-writing contest named after him! (www.bulwer-lytton.com/)

Did you like Bulwer-Lytton‘s writing style in this story? Why or why not?

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

TheAromaofBooks While this one didn't blow me away, I thought the writing was solid and engaging. I liked the narrator and liked the way that he was skeptical in a sense, but did believe that these crazy things could happen. 1mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks I thought the writing was solid, too. Having a logical/skeptical narrator who could be somewhat balanced in reporting what happened made the ghost story seem credible/plausible in a way! With the bits and pieces I‘ve heard about Bulwer-Lytton I thought it would be a lot more overblown/dramatic… although maybe if I were to read one of his full-length novels I would feel differently about his writing😆 (edited) 1mo

18 likes2 comments

LitsyEvents

The Haunted and the Haunters, Or, The House and the Brain | Edward Bulwer Lytton Baron Lytton

Repost for @BarbaraJean

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead: This week we‘re reading an #LMMAdjacent book—The Haunted & the Haunters by Edward Bulwer-Lytton—with a discussion on Saturday, Nov. 2nd. This is a shorter one: my Kindle edition is 68 pages. All are welcome—let me know if you‘re not tagged and you‘d like to be!

BarbaraJean Thank you for re-posting! 2mo

32 likes1 comment

BarbaraJean

The Haunted and the Haunters | Edward Bulwer-Lytton

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead: This week we‘re reading an #LMMAdjacent book—The Haunted & the Haunters by Edward Bulwer-Lytton—with a discussion on Saturday, Nov. 2nd. This is a shorter one: my Kindle edition is 68 pages. All are welcome—let me know if you‘re not tagged and you‘d like to be!

In the comments I‘ll add LMM‘s thoughts about this story⤵️

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, LitsyEvents, julieclair

BarbaraJean “After I got home for keeps I read a perfectly harrowing ghost story. It was the most gruesome thing. I read it in bed and after I had finished it do you suppose I could get out of bed to put the light out? No!! …The story was Lytton‘s ‘The Haunters and the Haunted‘ and I can conscientiously recommend it.”
—LMM Complete Journals, Vol. 2 - June 2, 1902

I‘m planning to read it during daylight just to be safe. 😆 2mo

TheAromaofBooks I don't usually read scary stories, so I'm a little terrified 😂 Also I'm only on chapter 12 of Seven Gables, but I am still plugging away! My word, NOTHING IS HAPPENING!!!! 😆 1mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Haha—yeah, I‘m not much of a scary-story person either, and in re-reading LMM‘s comment I said: what was I thinking?! I‘m NOT reading it at night 🤣 And I think Seven Gables is the slowest burn ever. He even describes what happens in a very nothing-is-happening way 😏 1mo

TheAromaofBooks I marked a sentence the other day where Hawthorne used SEVEN adjectives to describe someone in ONE SENTENCE 😂 1mo

21 likes4 comments

BarbaraJean

The House of the Seven Gables: A Romance | Nathaniel Hawthorne

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

One of the themes in the novel is the conflict between external appearance and internal consciousness. What examples of this conflict do you see—in the central characters, or even in the house itself? How do appearances and consciousness change over the course of the novel?

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

19 likes

BarbaraJean

The House of the Seven Gables: A Romance | Nathaniel Hawthorne

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent

Let‘s talk genre. Hawthorne is said to have considered this a romance—in literary terms: “a narrative, allegorical treatment of heroic fantastic or supernatural events.” I picked it for October because of the gothic elements: witchcraft/family curse/murder/creepy house. Other than “classic,” how would you classify this book, and why? “Romance” in a literary sense, gothic fiction, something else?

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

lauraisntwilder As it is, I can't really classify it, but I could see it being rewritten as a modern day thriller. 1mo

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder I have a hard time classifying it, too! There are enough elements of gothic fiction that I want to call it that, but it doesn't feel gothic in tone. And the “heroic fantastic or supernatural“ was also very slight. I would be very interested in a modern retelling that amps up those gothic elements. 1mo

lauraisntwilder @BarbaraJean I think something actually supernatural happening would've improved it! 1mo

16 likes3 comments

BarbaraJean

The House of the Seven Gables: A Romance | Nathaniel Hawthorne

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent
“…it is a weird, melancholy creation, and every few paragraphs I would stumble over a sentence that brought stinging, painful tears to my eyes… Once, tears over a book-woe were something sweetly, sadly pleasant…Still, I love the book and found pleasure in reading it…” (Journals Vol 2, p. 67)
Do you enjoy stories that prompt “tears over a book-woe”? Are there books that give you “sweetly, sadly pleasant” tears?

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

lauraisntwilder Sometimes, yes. I enjoy feeling connected to other people (even if they're fictional) through shared experiences, which is one of the best parts of reading fiction. Little Women comes to mind. Oh, Beth. ❤️ 1mo

BarbaraJean @lauraisntwilder I agree with you and LMM, I enjoy the emotional connection with characters--but I rarely shed tears over a book. And I don't dislike sad stories, but I don't usually seek out a book just because it's sad. I also tend to find hope in stories that others find depressing, so maybe that's part of it, too! 1mo

lauraisntwilder @BarbaraJean I'm very picky. I would never read any book if I thought the whole point of it was to be sad 1mo

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