Halloween Countdown 26: The Year Without a Summer

[eldritchhobbit]

This past summer marks the 200th anniversary of the infamous Year without a Summer, during which the Villa Diodati near Lake Geneva in Switzerland served as the setting of a historic literary meeting of the minds. Two of the remarkable products of that gathering (which included Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, later to become Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe

Comments

[jan_u_wine]

it's damn hysterical in the cover sheet for "Rowing" that they've put Elizabeth Hurley's name over Valentine's (and vice versa)

(that says a lot, too. What a careful production it must've been)

Haven't seen Gothic, but what a cast! *wish listing*

[eldritchhobbit]

What a careful production it must've been

LOL! I know, right?!?

[jan_u_wine]

Amy, would you be interested (and could you) in doing a joint podcast with TORN bookclub in re Interview with the Vampire on Sunday?

[eldritchhobbit]

Oh, thank you so much for this invitation! I would *love* to be part of the podcast with TORN's bookclub, but I'm afraid we had a bit of a day trip planned on Sunday, and I'm not exactly sure when we'll be back -- and, for that matter, I'm not confident of my ability to talk about Anne Rice's work without some time to prepare. I apologize! But I'd love it if you'd think of me again sometime. That would be great fun!

Re: Halloween Countdown Day 26

[acciochocolate]

Been meaning to view all these at some point.

And then there's the preface, as it were, to _Bride of Frankenstein_. ;) Mary's lovely dress is not period. Borzoi outside of Russia in 1816 weren't likely.

There's a prologue in the novelization of the TV movie "Frankenstein: The True Story" that has Mary starting to tell her story. This was only partly filmed, seemingly.

I'm rather interested in the Year w/o a Summer, including the fact that Regency romance stories rarely mention it!

Re: Halloween Countdown Day 26

[eldritchhobbit]

And then there's the preface, as it were, to _Bride of Frankenstein_. ;) Mary's lovely dress is not period. Borzoi outside of Russia in 1816 weren't likely.

LOL!

I always thought it was interesting that Elsa Lanchester played both roles. Interesting choice, given some of the autobiographical echoes in the original text.

[whswhs]

If we are talking about the Villa Diodati, I share your fondness for Gothic, which I enjoyed quite a lot, but I would prefer a novel over it: Tim Powers' The Stress of Her Regard, with its ingenious explanation of what Shelley said that his friends misheard as "eyes in her breasts!"

"Mad, bad, and dangerous to know" was one of our descriptions for our recently deceased third cat, Taiki.

[eldritchhobbit]

I've been interested in The Stress of Her Regard, but I was put off by comments I'd heard that Mary didn't have a central role. Out of Byron, Shelley, Polidori, Claire, and Mary, I found Mary by far the most important (from an intellectual history perspective) and interesting, and I didn't want to be disappointed if she was, in fact, in the novel's background. I'd be grateful for your advice!

"Mad, bad, and dangerous to know" was one of our descriptions for our recently deceased third cat, Taiki.

LOL! That's a hoot.

[whswhs]

I'm afraid it's long enough since I've reread it that I can't answer that particular question. I never had a readerly agenda that would make that point crucial for my enjoyment of it. The fact that I vividly remember PBS running into the house shouting an obscure German phrase does tend to suggest that he was a central figure, but then the obscure German phrase is exactly the sort of thing that would stick in my brain.

And I remember interviewing Powers for an SF con where he was GoH and having him talk about how Greg Benford told him that his silicon-based lifeforms were unworkable-and then told him how to cheat and make them sound plausible anyway. . . .

Anyway, to my taste Stress is one of the best things Powers wrote, second only to Declare, which has a structural tightness that his work hardly ever attains. Both have a sense of greater than human presences that evokes real terror. But I can't say how much the portrayal of MG (later MS) would frustrate you

[lizziebelle]

Semi-related to this post (and related to a previous one): I saw the National Theatre production of "Frankenstein" last night! It was the one with Benedict as the monster. Very intense!

[eldritchhobbit]

Woot! I'm so happy that you saw it. It is intense, isn't it?

[denorios]

You had me at 'Gabriel Byrne as Bryon'.

[eldritchhobbit]

What excellent taste you have! :) The film totally ruined any daydream-related time travel plans I may have made to go back and meet Byron personally, because I wouldn't want to discover that he's not Gabriel Byrne's version of himself, if that makes any sense. It really is a headcanon-worthy performance. He's Byron for me now.

This is particularly delightful to me given Gabriel Byrne's lovely reading of "The Masque of the Red Death." I can pretend that Byron is reading Poe! :D That's a win-win.

[denorios]

I'm going to have to see if I can find this to watch somewhere!