tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post3479713154134160428..comments2024-01-21T11:22:28.211-08:00Comments on The Ants Of God Are Queer Fish: Not To Mention Camels (1976) - Interworld Horror & Ultra-Purple Fun with the Media LordsDaniel Otto Jack Petersenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07278782665152906956noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-1060220988125202432014-03-27T08:23:39.045-07:002014-03-27T08:23:39.045-07:00Wonderful site! Thank you for the link!Wonderful site! Thank you for the link!Daniel Otto Jack Petersenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07278782665152906956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-87187246385661076122014-03-26T17:03:16.928-07:002014-03-26T17:03:16.928-07:00I have some pix of japanese covers on my site too....I have some pix of japanese covers on my site too. It is just work in progress and… in french (sorry) !<br />The address is :<br />www.eastoflafferty.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-57584550529789463592014-03-20T08:03:39.207-07:002014-03-20T08:03:39.207-07:00Whaaaaaat? Those are amazing!Whaaaaaat? Those are amazing!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03297494544077035828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-84528115887998919422014-03-19T11:26:02.088-07:002014-03-19T11:26:02.088-07:00Dude, I hit the jackpot on Japanese Lafferty cover...Dude, I hit the jackpot on Japanese Lafferty covers the other day. They're going up on the Facebook page soon:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%9C%AC/s?ie=UTF8&field-author=R.A.%E3%83%A9%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3&page=1&rh=n%3A465392%2Cp_27%3AR.A.%E3%83%A9%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3" rel="nofollow">AmazonLafferty</a>Daniel Otto Jack Petersenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07278782665152906956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-60526277188358006612014-03-18T17:59:07.339-07:002014-03-18T17:59:07.339-07:00Yeah, Lynch was another who could be, if nothing e...Yeah, Lynch was another who could be, if nothing else, brave enough to try it. I've only seen Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive of his, but particularly the latter is dreamlike enough, with unconventional horror elements, to evoke parts of Lafferty. Do you have any info on Japanese Lafferty fans? I'd love to see the covers! Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03297494544077035828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-90080659484755705552014-03-18T16:11:00.677-07:002014-03-18T16:11:00.677-07:00Yeah, you'd almost have to have this impossibl...Yeah, you'd almost have to have this impossible selected blend of film makers - a fusion of various aspects from the likes of the Coen Brothers, Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton, Martin Scorsese, Guillermo Del Toro, Quentin Tarantino, David Lynch, Joss Whedon, Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In) and a probably bunch of other 'world cinema' film makers I know nothing about, like Cosmatos that you mentioned (thanks for the movie recommendation). I bet there are some Japanese directors who could do some amazing stuff with Laff (and he appears to have a very enthusiastic Japanese following.) Not to mention elements of dead directors like Kubrick and Hitchcock and Leone. <br /><br />But yeah, I made sure to say this was about *adapting* Laff to film. So much of the linguistically conjured texture such as you cited about character descriptions would have to be severely muted if not lost altogether. And it'd be about picking certain stories over others, etc.<br /><br />It'd be interesting to make a list of gonzo movies that seem plausibly Laffertian - like Buckaroo Banzai, O Brother Where Art Thou, Big Fish, Time Bandits, The Straight Story (think about those old timers in that shop talking about the grabber), the first half hour of Fire Walk with Me (aspects of Twin Peaks to add a TV show), Kill Bill II, Cabin in the Woods, etc etcDaniel Otto Jack Petersenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07278782665152906956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-57789799113865629152014-03-18T11:57:52.952-07:002014-03-18T11:57:52.952-07:00Haha, glad I could help!
I can't really think...Haha, glad I could help!<br /><br />I can't really think of any filmmakers that could do Lafferty justice, visually. On the one hand, his characters and settings are very vivid. On the other, they have an ethereal quality that is very hard to pin down. What is it supposed to mean, exactly, that Amelia Lilac "seemed always to be wrapped in a lavender cloud or shadow"? Does her skin glow? Is she literally surrounded by purplish vapor? Or is this a mental impression Quiche gets based on her personality, how she carries herself in conversation? And that is a very tame example, for Lafferty.<br /><br />Panos Cosmatos might be able to do them justice. I was hugely impressed by his only film so far, Beyond the Black Rainbow. Daniel, you might want to consider it for your horror blog, if you haven't seen it already.<br /><br />Terry Gilliam also comes to mind. He seems to be able to strike a great middle ground between the grotesque and the hilarious.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03297494544077035828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-4735977324858958392014-03-18T03:49:13.346-07:002014-03-18T03:49:13.346-07:00As to Lafferty's characters not being believab...As to Lafferty's characters not being believable... that got me thinking so much, I'm gonna write a whole post about it!Daniel Otto Jack Petersenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07278782665152906956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-21519338325662261322014-03-17T17:27:55.051-07:002014-03-17T17:27:55.051-07:00I think some of Lafferty is adaptable to film, but...I think some of Lafferty is adaptable to film, but it'll never happen because it would require visionary auteurs and they'll never give Laff a look, or if they do and they fall in love with him, they'll not have the money to throw away on a brilliant film that few will watch and fewer will appreciate. (Witness the critical and popular panning of the BRILLIANT, if flawed, McCarthy/Scott film The Counselor.)<br /><br />Jean-Paul, I still haven't read the Border Trilogy or Suttree - I've read everything else by McCarthy. No Country's great, but it's probably his lightest book.<br /><br />Since the likes of Neil Gaiman and Gene Wolfe and Harlan Ellison have professed to be fans of Laff, I don't see how he doesn't get a bit more of a cult following (I think our few numbers don't even amount to *that* much, ha!).Daniel Otto Jack Petersenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07278782665152906956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-62431886512678233132014-03-17T16:32:29.790-07:002014-03-17T16:32:29.790-07:00"When film ends, here begins literature"..."When film ends, here begins literature", good definition, no ? It could explain why "The Border Trilogy" is so superior to "No Country" (in my opinion).<br />The fact is Lafferty can't be compared with nobody else. And he has not yet any followers. Strange situation. For himself. And for his fans too. <br />Alone like half a camel ?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-17654182425449558302014-03-17T13:51:37.139-07:002014-03-17T13:51:37.139-07:00Jean-Paul, I like your theory about RAL being TRP....Jean-Paul, I like your theory about RAL being TRP. Even if I know it isn't true, I might believe it anyway (Pynchon is also one of my very favorite writers).<br /><br />As to the difficulty question, I think that most readers today interested in "Sci-Fi" and "Fantasy" are most attracted to books that have a)interesting characters that they can identify with and follow for multiple books, and b) complex imaginary worlds that have concrete rules when it comes to invented technology, magic, etc. One needs to look no further that Brandon Sanderson's latest topping the NYT fiction bestseller list to see this in action. People who got into speculative fiction through The Wheel of Time or Harry Potter are looking for a very specific type of book that flows like an adventure film.<br /><br />Lafferty isn't, in short, film-able. His worlds don't behave according to easily followed rules. The characters aren't believable. (In fact, they often make the players in more mainstream SF look quite normal in comparison.) There is rarely a "bad guy". There is an abundance of metaphysics. And so on.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03297494544077035828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-3196337741775986412014-03-15T09:30:06.512-07:002014-03-15T09:30:06.512-07:00Yeah, definitely. But take someone like Gene Wolf...Yeah, definitely. But take someone like Gene Wolfe - many readers have tried him out and given up frustrated, wondering what all the fuss and admiration is about. Yet he has a large devoted readership who step up to the high demands he makes of readers. They relish this in fact. And the same is true of most 'difficult' greats, like Joyce or Faulkner or whoever. (Cormac McCarthy is my main 'literary' author that I've spent lots of time with and that some find too difficult.) <br /><br />But it seems to me that Lafferty is the *even more* rare writer who has so thoroughly invented a new way of perceiving the world in general and of telling stories in particular that one has to become sort of initiated - nay, *baptised* into - his very mode and narratology in order to really track with him. Even many of those who love his work seem to often just think that Lafferty's novels are simply 'Lafferty being crazy Lafferty, ha ha!' It's wild stuff, no doubt. But there *is* structure and control and, in my opinion, powerful effect - and not just in a fragmented 'random' way.<br /><br />All your summations of what he was doing in each of the novels you mentioned (the ubiquitous etymology, the theology in Fourth Mansions, quanta in Camels) are spot on, but there is the even deeper fact of the *way* he used these tropes or explored these themes. He was a true pioneer. He dug into, tore up, and hurled literature into truly new directions and shapes and I'm not sure the world is going to be able to follow him into the New Country he discovered. I hope we can and I hope we will...Daniel Otto Jack Petersenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07278782665152906956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-45078836609652417302014-03-15T05:24:44.799-07:002014-03-15T05:24:44.799-07:00It's an honor for me, Daniel. The main problem...It's an honor for me, Daniel. The main problem is what are we talking about when we say an author is difficult to read. I remember in the eighty's everybody saying Jacques Lacan was completely unreadable… Who could say that today, when most of his concepts are now in common use (same thing with Heidegger, no ?) First response : a question of time - a reason why great authors are condemned to a period of purgatory when they die. The case of Finnegan's Wake is harder to solve : a question of etymology and a puzzle created by mixing the words' roots. Another reason to consider a book difficult is when you don't have the knowledge needed by the subject. Einstein's general relativity theory is an example of this difficulty. Then you can be totally disappointed by the style, that is to say the special way an author transmits his private point of view, and this has something to do with poetry. Coming back to Lafferty, I think his writing is infected with all those problematics. Ktystec machine is probably easier to understand nowadays than when the novel was written. Most of the names of the characters are carefully created with a perfect command of etymology, Fourth Mansions refers to theology, and demands to the reader a good knowledge in christian mystic to be fully appreciated, and my opinion is Camels is a try to write a story that reflects or illustrates the quanta theory… So Lafferty, who set extremely high standard for himself demands the same quality from his readers. Perhaps it's the reason why he has not yet found a real popular success...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-78238550487110224342014-03-14T12:46:52.910-07:002014-03-14T12:46:52.910-07:00So glad you found us, Jean-Paul! Huge respect to ...So glad you found us, Jean-Paul! Huge respect to you that you've translated and published Lafferty. I think you're right that the main problem with his novels is *our* reading. We haven't learned the skill yet. With time, I think we can...Daniel Otto Jack Petersenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07278782665152906956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-54779346662568526862014-03-13T16:32:58.111-07:002014-03-13T16:32:58.111-07:00"Not To Mention Camels" is the first Laf..."Not To Mention Camels" is the first Lafferty's novel I ever read. & this book gave to my life a strange direction. I remember I was sure RAL was a pseudonym of Thomas Pynchon who was at that time - & still is - my favorite author. I had found lots of coincidences - the bizarre names, situations driven by the words itself instead of the story, etc. I bet with friends (of course nobody had never heard of Lafferty. I persuaded myself… & lost some bottles of champagne! When I finally realized RAL was a real person, who was still alive (it was around 1990), I couldn't believe such a genius was at this point underrated. So I have translated & published in French some short stories, then a beautiful edition of the Fourth Mansions - sold less than 600 copies - spent a lot of (my wife's) money in purchasing rare first editions of all I could find. I still don't understand why people say Lafferty's novels - particularly Camels - are difficult to understand. They probably - like the young children of Camiroi - haven't learn to slow down their reading speed… I discover your blog today. Sure It will be another glorious day in my reader life. Alleluya !Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-31153766230286990802014-03-13T13:55:56.168-07:002014-03-13T13:55:56.168-07:00*know* who (wish you could edit comments)*know* who (wish you could edit comments)Daniel Otto Jack Petersenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07278782665152906956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-27084556607947512082014-03-13T13:55:12.335-07:002014-03-13T13:55:12.335-07:00Thanks for saying so, Antonin! I never quite who ...Thanks for saying so, Antonin! I never quite who (if anyone) is reading. But I'd definitely do it even without a readership. It's one of the pure labours of love in my life. Anyway, your brain-melting ranking question is awesome! I'm going to meditate on it post-haste!Daniel Otto Jack Petersenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07278782665152906956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904298510069073946.post-61089439191905651672014-03-13T13:12:42.610-07:002014-03-13T13:12:42.610-07:00I don't always have something to add (you are ...I don't always have something to add (you are much more well versed in Lafferty than I) but I wanted to say I really look forward to these posts. Out of curiosity, how would you rank his novels on a "brain-melting" scale? Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03297494544077035828noreply@blogger.com