To Charles Fort, with Love
by Caitlín R. Kiernan
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To Charles Fort, With Love is award-winning fantasist Caitlín R. Kiernan's third collection of short fiction, a haunting parade of the terrible things which may lie beyond the boundaries of science, the minds which may exist beyond psychology, and the forbidden places which will never be located in any orthodox globe. To quote the object of Kiernan's affection, meta-poet and arch-enemy of dogma Charles Hoy Fort, "The little harlots will caper, and freaks will distract attention, and the show more clowns will break the rhythm of the whole with their buffooneries-but the solidity of the procession as a whole: the impressiveness of things that pass and pass and pass, and keep on and keep on and keep on coming." A deceptively even dozen, this collection includes Kiernan's celebrated stories "Onion" and "Andromeda among the Stones," as well as a number of more obscure pieces. Though Kiernan was recently praised as "the new Lovecraft," these stories stand as testimony that she will never be merely the "new" anyone, that hers is a unique and demanding voice entirely unlike any other. "Enigmatic short stories are written in lyrical prose that sweeps the reader completely into strange dark worlds where characters choose to embrace madness over the mundane and nightmares offer guidance as well as fear." "Fans of horror fiction who are just discovering Kiernan's rare gifts should use this volume as a stepping-stone to her equally brilliant novel show lessTags
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Member Reviews
It's probably not fair to only give this three stars when my only real issue with it is that I don't particularly care for horror. There's some really fantastic imagery and tight little portraits of characters that make these short stories very neatly done, and if you're into Lovecraft or a creeping sense of unease then I'd definitely pass these along.
I found them a little light on actual plot to my taste - several of them came across more like paintings than stories, which is not what I'm generally looking for. There are definitely some seeds of neat ideas though, and on most of those the end-notes indicate that one of her novels ended up based around the story.
Ultimately I'm glad I picked it up, but I think I'm going to stick with her show more novels in general. show less
I found them a little light on actual plot to my taste - several of them came across more like paintings than stories, which is not what I'm generally looking for. There are definitely some seeds of neat ideas though, and on most of those the end-notes indicate that one of her novels ended up based around the story.
Ultimately I'm glad I picked it up, but I think I'm going to stick with her show more novels in general. show less
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302+ Works 8,722 Members
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2005
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- Members
- 121
- Popularity
- 268,519
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.94)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 2
