Random books from lorirorke's library

The Merck Manual of Medical Information: Second Home Edition by Mark H. (ed.) Beers

Arthur Mervyn; Or, Memoirs of the Year 1793 by Charles Brockden Brown

Bella Donna by Robert Hichens

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

The Origins of the Inquisition in Fifteenth-Century Spain by B. Netanyahu

Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens

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Friends: brunellus, gilly, Lachrymosa, Maurice_Joost, melmoth772000, VinceHancock

Interesting libraries: benwaugh, hansel714, Maurice_Joost, rachelmarlene, redredshoes, SugarCake, valancourtbooks

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lorirorke's reviews

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Member: lorirorke

Library1,401 books — see library

Reviews4 reviews — see reviews

Cloudstag cloud, author cloud

Tagsantiquarian (167), Penguin (143), British (127), Gothic (109), American (106), archaeology (65), children's (62), French (59), horror (57), Poe (45) — see all tags

GroupsAntiquarian Books, Archaeologists, Cemeteries & Gravestones, Edgar A. Poe, The Chapel of the Abyss

Favorite authorsAnne Bronte, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan POE (Shared favorites)

About me I studied archaeology in college and am currently working at the Discovery Channel. I love cemeteries and am a lapsed member of the Association for Gravestone Studies.

About my library I have a thing for darkly atmospheric books. Poe was my first love, and I followed the Gothic path to authors like the Brontes, Ann Radcliffe, Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker. I love 18th and 19th-century British lit as well as writings from Colonial America. A book's page texture and font are important to my initial enjoyment of a book (though of course the story is paramount), which is why I have so many Penguin books. I've recently begun reading French decadent literature (Huysmans is a must-read!). I find books on psychology, medicine, the occult and mild-altering substances fascinating. Archaeology has a respectable showing in my library, most especially books pertaining to American historical archaeology.

Real nameLori Rorke

LocationGaithersburg, MD

Account typepublic, lifetime

Connection NewsConnection News

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/lorirorke (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/lorirorke (library)

Member sinceJul 11, 2006

Comments from other LibraryThing-ers

(Leave a comment.)

Here's the link for Hone's Every-Day Book, v.1 (edited by Kyle Grimes at the University of Alabama, Birmingham):

http://www.uab.edu/english/hone/etexts/e...

posted by VinceHancock at 12:27 pm (EST) on Feb 15, 2008

Hi there,

As one of the few who have cited an interest in Engish antiquarian William Hone, I'm curious to know how you stumbled across his works. How do his day-books (Every-Day, Table, & Year books) strike you? And is he a fellow you mention to your friends, in any capacity, or do you quietly keep him on your shelf, for fear of puzzled looks?

I'd also be interested to hear what you think of a project I've started, which uses Hone as the primary material: the "Chronicles of William Hone" weekly podcast, located here: http://chronicleshone.blogspot.com

Do you think one can present this material to a lay audience? How much context do you think is required? I'm happy to hear any comments and criticism.

Best,

Vince Hancock

-----------------------------------
Vince Hancock
Journalist
http://home.earthlink.net/~vhhancock

posted by VinceHancock at 1:48 pm (EST) on Feb 9, 2008

I've put in a request for an Early Reviewer copy, but there's only a 1 in 40-odd chance of my getting one; if I don't, I might buy it anyway.

On closer inspection, it turns out to be about the Mary Rogers case that was the inspiration for "The Mystery of Marie Roget". There's a newish factual book about this too – "The Beautiful Cigar Girl: Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Rogers, and the Invention of Murder" by Daniel Stashower.

posted by brunellus at 5:46 am (EST) on Feb 7, 2008

The new batch of Early Reviewer books includes Joel Rose's The Blackest Bird, an 1840s murder mystery "involving gang wars, grave robbers, and clues hidden in poems by the hopeless romantic and minstrel of the night: Edgar Allan Poe" – but it's only available to those in the UK. Have you come across it? The only review on LT is very scathing.

posted by brunellus at 4:34 am (EST) on Feb 6, 2008

Hello and thank you, Lori. Let's see... recommendations. I can be more specific with the Gracq: King Cophetua and Chateau d'Argol. These are not exactly decadent, fin-de-siecle, etc. But they are beautiful, strange, unique... like a cruise to the Realm of Arnheim (a tale which apparently influenced the young ecrivain a great deal). Hunt for anything by Hans Henny Jahnn as well as the creepy, maximum-decadence of Hanns Heinz Ewers. Decadence hit these shores late and the works of those who embraced it are worth tracking down: James Huneker, Edgar Saltus, Ben Hecht, Max Bodenheim, Leonard Cline, James Branch Cabell.

Other curiosities well worthwhile: Jocelyn Brooke, François Augiéras, Horacio Quiroga, Jose d'Asuncion Silva, Valery Bryusov, Fyodor Sologub, Paul Leppin, Aleksandr Kondratiev (a portion of his "demonological" novel On the Banks of the Yaryn, has been published in The Dedalus Book of Russian Decadence. I have since discovered, speaking of graveyards, that Kondratiev is buried somewhere in New York).

posted by benwaugh at 3:10 pm (EST) on Feb 4, 2008

Dear Lori,

I too love cemeteries.

Scott

posted by rscotts at 12:56 am (EST) on Oct 30, 2007

My dear Mlle. Rorke,

I see that we are the only two Cataloguers with copies of Mr. Buchanan's British Grammar. How very odd and amusing.. I must investigate the Oeuvre of your Mr. Poe.

posted by ThomasJefferson at 8:07 am (EST) on Sep 8, 2007

Thanks for your message! It's always great to hear from fellow lovers of Gothic literature. I see from your library and profile that we have quite a few other interests in common too, from Huysmans to Harry Potter.

posted by valancourtbooks at 1:33 am (EST) on Sep 8, 2007

The Penguin book arrived for me yesterday, funnily enough. The covers are, as you'd expect, wonderful. I'm not sure they were right to make it a paperback, though – it's quite hefty, with 720 glossy pages, and even though it seems to be cleverly bound, I can't see the spine holding out over time.

You must get to Poe's grave, especially with your sepulchral tastes! If I ever get round to visiting the States, I'll definitely start with Baltimore. Have you read The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl? I find his prose style rather irritating – Poe must be turning in that premature grave of his – but the literary setting is ample compensation. (The same goes for Pearl's first novel, The Dante Club.)

And have you seen any of the 1960s Roger Corman/Vincent Price adaptations (in the loosest possible sense)? I love them as endearingly silly entertainment, but I guess some people might find them pretty awful.

And finally, may I recommend Simon Marsden's darkly atmospheric photography in Visions Of Poe (1988)?

Sorry for the barrage – there aren't enough Poe fans in my life. I'm only at the start of the path you've followed, but I do have a thing for ruined abbeys, I'm currently reading Titus Groan, and my girlfriend recently bought me The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales, so I'm sure I'll get there!

posted by brunellus at 8:02 am (EST) on Sep 5, 2007

Wonderful picture you've got there. Since you like Penguins so much, I thought you might like to hear about this book, shortly to be published. (For some reason it's not listed on the US Amazon site.)

posted by brunellus at 10:49 am (EST) on Aug 29, 2007

Lori,
Based on your comments, I highly recommend you read The Woman in Black by Susan Hill.
Ken

posted by yeoldebookwormme at 9:55 am (EST) on Mar 8, 2007

Hello Lori,

I'm new to LibraryThing and beginning to see its value.
Could you share your thoughts on 'Uncommon Ground'?
Thanks in advance.

posted by Geder at 3:52 pm (EST) on Feb 4, 2007

Hi Lori!

I found you on LibraryThing:) Your list is most impressive. There are lots of goodies on it. I shall look at it whenever I need reading inspiration. I've been reading the same two darn books (a novel and a non-fiction work)since June. Decided to put them down for now and am sticking to short stories until I have more time for longer works. If we could date when we read certain books, I bet our Jane Austins, Brontes, and Louisa May Alcotts would line up.

Love,
Gill

posted by gilly at 8:44 pm (EST) on Sep 28, 2006

Glad to see I'm not the only one who cares about page texture! I'm in the middle of "The Romans" by Kathryn Welch right now and it has glossy pages. I haven't been able to find a position yet where the light doesn't produce a horrible glare. It's really difficult to get through. Anywho, it seems like we have pretty similar tastes.

-Caroline

posted by NoGreaterLove356 at 6:56 pm (EST) on Jul 20, 2006

Enjoyed looking through your collection. Noticed plenty of my favorites in there ("Frankentein," "The Sot-Weed Factor," "The Monk," etc.). I also noticed you have "The Devil's Dictionary," which has been a favorite of mine since high school. Have you read any of Bierce's horror fiction? He wrote some pretty solid stuff that landed somewhere between Poe and Lovecraft.

Also noticed you've got some Algernon Blackwood. I've just started reading him and would love to get someone else's opinion. I have the Dover "The Best Ghost Stories" collection and I'm about half of the way through.

Have a good one.

posted by coffeezombie at 6:12 pm (EST) on Jul 16, 2006

WHAT A LOVELY, BEAUTIFUL COLLECTION!

posted by dice at 1:44 pm (EST) on Jul 12, 2006

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