J. S. Le Fanu's Uncle Silas

[Extollager]

Uncle Silas (1864) is a Victorian classic of eerie mystery. It has been praised by ghost story master M. R. James (who introduced an edition of the novel) and other readers for 150 years. It gets compared to Wilkie Collins's best novels. Abridged versions appear to be common. The Dover and Oxford World's Classics paperbacks (pictured in the bottom row below) should be complete.

[URL='https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiZ2J-PucHWAhVnilQKHYVfDGkQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fhauntedhearts.wordpress.com%2Fcategory%2Funcle-silas-by-sheridan-le-fanu%2F&psig=AFQjCNFsslO9Nrquryn1ZuW6njofPgHUhw&ust=1506466974763243'][/URL]
[URL='https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjM7c2AucHWAhXhilQKHcArC9gQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.abebooks.co.uk%2Fbook-search%2Ftitle%2Funcle-silas%2Fauthor%2Fsheridan-le-fanu%2Ffirst-edition%2F&psig=AFQjCNFsslO9Nrquryn1ZuW6njofPgHUhw&ust=1506466974763243']
It might be long enough to take some readers pretty well up to Hallowe'en. Here's a place for discussion of this novel.[/URL]

 

[J Riff]

Having never read this - it's excellent so far, 5 chapters in, easily as interesting as Camilla. Some archaic words too, and sentences like 'She was transformed into a great gaping reptile'. Excellent.

 

[J Riff]

Carmilla. Well this is really good now, can't stop reading it.

 

[Extollager]

I've ordered a copy of the World's Classics paperback pictured above, and hope to get into it pretty soon after it arrives.

 

[J Riff]

Fantastic writing. I'm at chapter 40. Uncle Silas - though much discussed, doesn't show up until chapter 33. * The 1st person writing, whatever it's called, omnivorous, is also fantastic. Some men may shy away from a 1st person, 14 year-old rich girl POV but hey what amazing sentences. paragraphs, punctuation, metaphors, odd words, you-name-it - none of which interferes with the great characters, description, or plotting. It moves forward. Just occasionally it seems to slow a bit, but I can't wait to see what happened to Charke, and how Madame 'Rogers' will reappear and be vanquished.

 

[Extollager]

Enticing comments, J Riff!

 

[J Riff]

Done and finiched. Now I wait for opinions from those who have read and admired this fine book. *

 

[J Riff]

All right, I will meander on a bit, while waiting for others, I hope Teresa gives us some insight into this book, it is a great one.
Want to look up a few words? Dive in, I think I looked up about 20. Lots of fun words - scurrilities, drugget, plus variations of words that make sense but aren't in the dictionary. Lots and lots of huge sentences and great descriptive metaphor.
Other odd things - our 1st person MC, Maud, after a few comments like 'Young persons, esp. girls, will understand what I mean when.." A bit of self-intro, then nothing until about Chapter 35, when our MC makes one of a handful of comments about herself. "I am normally this, that.." - for the first time in the book. Normally, people would use such remarks to start the book off. *
Then, somewhere around chapter 40, it turns into Monty Python, very briefly, then off somewhere else.
A hard book to describe simply - there's real tongue-in-cheek going on sometimes, but very circumspect. Our MC is pure and good, but Silas is a dope fiend, yet this never seems to collide until the end.
The characters explode to life in this book, using dialogue and description they are suddenly just there, seemingly with no effort. Amazing, real glad I read this, 30 years after reading Carmilla, and thinking I knew Fanu's writing.
And now I find there's a movie from 1947, over 2 and a half hours long.... sigh* Clik*

 

[Extollager]

Still waiting for my copy to arrive!

 

[HareBrain]

About to start this. I found a secondhand copy of the Folio Society edition last week, nicely produced and illustrated to look like it was published in the author's time. In the mood for a bit of gothicity.

 

[J Riff]

The quality of the writing may knock ya back a bit. There are sentences and paragraphs, in this book... well read on. I had to stop and put the book down, to chuckle and shake my head, going 'my, my...' a few times.

 

[HareBrain]

Very much enjoying it so far. I think it adds to it that my edition is a period-feel one, with some brilliant illustrations and a wonderfully creepy cover in gold blocking on green cloth (a robed skeletal figure pointing to an hourglass with a solar eclipse in the background). The only thing against it is so! many! commas! at least near the beginning.