Secure Your Copy The Thing From The Lake Articulated By Eleanor M. Ingram Made Available In Book
loved the twist in this story! The book just drew me in, Here i thought the girl was a spirit trapped in the human realm and had fallen for a man whom she continue to visit at nights, just to find out she was an actual human who had been sneaking in and out of the man's house.
It really proved how strong prayer is, It got rid of the that evil spirit who had latched himself unto that young girl and the main character, I like the fact that he held is ground and didn't allow it to drive him out, This is definitely one of my favorite books so far this year, I have to admit to a frugality when it comes to most books, Don't get me wrong, just as any / every bibliophile has a number of first edition, leatherbound, signed books, I have my share, However, I have an admitted addiction to read as much as I can before I leave this good, God's green Earth, So consequently, I buy most of my books on the cheap and there's nothing cheaper than free, Sometimes things come into my possession by mere circumstance, or kismet, The Thing from the Lake was sent to me as a suggested read from one of the many online apps that beg me to buy more books, I mean, what's a man to do I had never heard of Eleanor Ingram, She died in, in relative obscurity at, the year that this novel was published, There's not a lot I could find out about her, although she did have other published books and stories, One of the fun things about this book is that it is really big on setting, mood, and tone, Clearly, Ingram had a way of telling a creepy story, The main character buys a house in Connecticut and has his newly married cousin move into the house to take care of it for him with her spouse with the condition that he will have a guest room in the home so that he can occasionally leave the city behind to compose new music in a rustic milieu.
The thing is that there appears to be a malevolent spirit that wants to haunt the house and our main character is falling in love with another mysterious presence that visits at night.
This is a wonderfully, horrific tale with some fascinating themes, I loved the Lovecraftian way the story is told, and clearly is reminiscent of Poe, Blackwood, Machen, and Hodgson, The book is out of print so a hard copy will cost overbucks, but is available for free over various platforms including Gutenberg, I am pleasantly surprised and I will classify this novel as a classic, because it satisfies my three criteria of paradigm creating, exceptionalism, and longevity, This book is more thanyears old and it reads like a modern "haunted house that doesn't know it's haunted," narrative, I listened to this while using my treadmill, Kind of curious to see if I could adapt to this type of "reading" as Stephen King suggests is the best way to read a book because as he says good books are those that can be read out loud and I am aiming to read more and decided this is the way I can "read" two books at once.
So, I'm going to give some audio books a shot to enjoy two books at the same time, One to actually read, and one to listen to, This was my first attempt at an audio version,
I enjoyed the atmosphere of the book and the story itself moved along nicely with well developed characters, The ending was a surprise and one that goes against the very nature of these types of books back when the author wrote it and I think would have been more appreciated fifty years out.
I'm giving it four though I need to base that on listening to the story rather than actually reading it which I think allows for more insight into the style and theme of a story which I think is weakened to really take in with an audio version.
I didn't realize this book was first published in, but that is probably due to the translation, It seems modern at first but you quickly realize that's not the case, There are a lot of old fashioned views present in this short novel which are especially evident in the main character, Roger,
The premise is interesting, and at first the story is too but then it starts to steer from that to a more romantic storyline if you can actually call it that.
The protagonist Roger becomes infatuated by a braid of hair yeah, hair, and by the woman who it belongs to, Not only does he not know her, he doesn't know what she looks like or if she's even real and not some weird hallucination, That basically fuels the plot together with what seems to be an actual supernatural being and Roger's mission to discover what kind of being is threatening him and his mysterious lady.
The ending itself is so so underwhelming it's sad, Overall, the story was fine, a bit boring at parts, but it was ok, It is more of a romance with supernatural elements,
A Classic that needs to be read by all, Scary and brilliant, ghosts, witches and demons perhaps on their way, I loved it The Thing From The Lake, by Eleanor Marie Ingram, Read by Roger Melin,
This will necessarily include the Amazon free ebook edition of The Thing From The Lake, by Eleanor Marie Ingram, but also the free Librovox recording brilliantly read by Roger Melin.
I enjoy walking, reading, and listening simultaneously, Multitasking, right
Straight away lets saystars, I'm so inconsistent about handing outthis one however, I loved and recommend, Not only is it a wonderful book by Ms, Ingram, the reading by Roger Melin is quite poetic, I mean that literally. Listening to him read the story it feels like a wonderful story told in the form of a poem, That is not actually the case, and maybe “just reading it" a person wouldn't get that impression, I did, listening and reading along, I loved Roger, the character, and the reader of the book,
You can gain more than I might tell by reading the blurb on Goodreads, I don't think the blurb by the amazing reader, Roger Melin, is entirely accurate, Roger Locke, our primary protagonist doesn't actually do any 'fixing up' of his newly acquired country home, The fixing up gets done, but you read about it, Or listen or both.
Most of the story I felt I knew just slightly more than Roger Locke knows as the protagonist and primary point of view character, I knew enough to want him to leave when the mysterious woman in the dark warns him to leave, And there is yourstars, I was wanting the characters to do things the way I wanted them to do things, So Eleanor had me totally involved in HER story,
Generally, Roger Locke, from the earlys, is a composer of popular music, which had the “grown up” respect of rock and roll of thes.
It makes him good money, He buys a house on a 'swamplake' “in the country”, It is broken down and unkept for more than a decade, On the night of his purchase he decides to stay in the broken down place, planning to have contractors come and make all the improvements he will want in the immediate future.
Something happens that night, A ghost like encounter with 'the girl' in the complete darkness, And later, as foretold by the pleasant 'girl' in the dark something evil comes to visit, There begins the adventure of Roger Locke, Never in any of the visits by the pleasant girl or the evil thing, is there any light, The girl even extracts a promise he will never try to turn on the light when she visits,
I read some reviews that say it is comparable to a Stephen King story, First, the author finishes the story, so it isn't like King in that respect, but remember I listened as well as read and the reader was downright poetic and that doesn't promote a great sense of dread one might get engrossed in in a Stephen King story.
The climax and conclusion were unexpected, or a surprising twist that I may or may not have expected but was pleased with how the story turned in any case.
Like books of the age, like Sherlock Holmes stories, there is a visit from Phillida's father, a scientific type who hearing all of what has gone on trys to put a nice scientific coat around it.
That's fun too. This little gem of a short novel combines weird fiction, radium age scifi, mystery, and romance into a very strange jambalaya that somehow works,
It is not very grand in scale, A pop music writer wants to help his young cousin, who just eloped with a man whom the family does not approve, He allows them to stay in his old farmhouse by a lake that he bought as a retreat to do his composing in exchange for the newlyweds helping with the upkeep of the property.
But his generosity isn't completely selflessyou see, he could use the company, because he gets a few odd visitors in the middle of the night,
Most of the novel is just a very sweet and touching family drama that would play well as a BBC television period piece, The new husband of the cousin, for example, turns out to be a real noble and gentle soul, not the golddigging heartbreaker he is assumed to be by the main protagonist.
It is rewarding to read about the progression of the odd trio's relationship as they grow closer while living on the farmhouse,
In the meantime, sometimes the story dives into Lovecraft country, There is a scene which I won't spoil involving a ponytail that sent serious shivers up my spine as well as any creepy work by M, R. James. There's also witchcraft and an interdimensional being that is very reminiscent of, but long predates, Stephen King's "It, " The author even seems to imply that the titular "Thing" occupies the same universe as William Hope Hodgson's "Borderland, " Fun stuff for fans of weird fiction,
The end gets wrapped up a bit too nicely and is inconsistent with the tone of the rest of the novel, feeling more like the conclusion of a Scooby Doo episode.
But despite the inconsistencies and weird mishmash of genres, this was an enjoyable read, and deservesto hopefully encourage more readers to check out this quaint classic.
I tried liking this book for some time, and it never gelled, In fact, after the plot stops being about "The thing from the lake"pages in and is more about how this one lonely dude has a really big hard on for this long haired woman that visits him in the night.
. . and how awesome that is, .
. and how you know like, don't sacrifice yourself for me because I love you, . . and might be allegory about nocturnal emissions as much as anything and the euphoria versus guilt of having them, . . for the majority of the book: I started going off, There are about three scenes that are worth reading, but the conclusion really is par for the course, Seeing as this is one of those books out in the public domain which doesn't seem to have a real inprint edition, it might be neat to see what kind of books didn't become popular.
Outside of that, the biggest thing going for the book is that it's a very early example of the dark romance genre, technically, I never really understand those mysterious love storieshow does someone honestly fall in love with a ghost What is your end game with that how do you carrying on a prosaic life afterward but The Thing from the Lake is most lovely when the remarkable descends to the prosaic, especially in the case of Ethan, known as "Drawls" by his wife a college dropout herself, happily descending from abstract erudition to housewifery, a iceskating cabaret performer to turns out to be a steady, reliable husband and husbandman.
Similarly, Desire, the ghostly woman who relates the dark tales of fate and doom of her family, is not all smoke and mirrors, The protagonist, Roger, is of strong will, naturally, but when he isn't battling unseen forces, he's a practical and kind writer of popular musica fitting profession for someone with just one foot in the etheral world.
Hmmm. Well, let's see. Ah err. It was gooooooood No wait, it was interesting, . . Yes, it was very interesting, It came across to me as if Emily Post's Etiquette was written as a ghost/water demon story, I think. Ah. I'm really not sure how to feel about this one, It was weird, but interesting and dated, this book was ok. some notes on it
cousin roger was pretty cool putting up his newly wed cousin amp her unknown husband,
chapterand now u tell me she isn't a ghost how does that work exactly
oh I see,
right swamp gas . Recensione originale: sitelink wordpress. com/
La casa gridava affinché la aiutassi, Con queste parole inizia il romanzo misconosciuto dell'altrettanto misconosciuta sitelinkEleanor M, Ingram.
Non sono riuscita a trovare informazioni sull'autrice, se non la nazionalità americana e le date di nascita e di morte, A quanto pare ha scritto sitelinkdegli altri libri, di cui però non so niente, Non ricordo nemmeno come sono venuta a conoscenza di questo libro, che giaceva nel mio Kindle da diversi anni, Molto probabilmente per puro caso,
È un grosso peccato che questo libro sia sconosciuto ovviamente mai tradotto in italiano, dato che è sconosciuto anche in patria, A me è piaciuto moltissimo, e proverò a parlarvene brevemente, avvisandovi però che trovo difficile parlarne senza svelare parti importanti della trama,
Un musicista newyorkese di discreta fama decide di comprare una casa nella campagna del Connecticut, La casa è abbandonata da molto tempo e non in buono stato, ma a Roger Locke piace e non ci pensa troppo, Come dicevo, il musicistanarratore inizia subito il suo racconto dicendoci che la casa lo chiamava, gridando, per chiedere il suo aiuto, Già nella seconda frase ci dice che non si tratta però di una casa infestata, quanto piuttosto di una casa "assediata", Ciò che la minaccia infatti non vive all'interno della casa stessa ma, come dice il titolo, nel lago che si trova proprio nei pressi, sul terreno della fattoria.
Già dalla prima notte che Roger dorme nella casa si trova di fronte a una misteriosa presenza femminile che non riesce a vedere, ma di cui riesce solo a toccare una sontuosa treccia di capelli.
Poi c'è uno stacco, e seguiamo Roger a New York, dove deve andare a prendere sua cugina Phillida alla stazione, Phillida, o Phil come la chiama lui, è una ragazza diciannovenne che studia all'università per seguire il volere dei genitori, entrambi accademici di fama, ma che odia studiare, Si scoprirà prestissimo che la ragazza si è sposata in segreto, alcuni mesi addietro, con un pattinatore/ballerino che lavora in un cabaret di New York, Sdegno da parte dei genitori, ovviamente, e perfino da parte di Roger, che pure è un artista, ma si ritiene di un livello superiore rispetto a un ballerino di cabaret.
Tuttavia, Roger offre ai due di prendersi cura della sua casa nel Connecticut appena acquistata, dove in seguito andrà a trovarli e si ritroverà al cospetto di due misteriose presenze avvertite soltanto da lui.
Il romanzo intreccia dunque una vicenda mondana con una storia di fantasmi e stregoneria, e dal mio punto di vista amalgama molto bene le due storie facendole intrecciare in maniera estremamente interessante.
È forte il contrasto fra l'esperienza orrorifica di Roger nella casa che Ethan Vere e Phillida hanno reso così accogliente e gradevole, E proprio questo contrasto così palese rende tanto più intriganti gli incontri "soprannaturali" di Roger,
Ho trovato la storia ben costruita, interessante, appassionante, Il climax finale : forse è la parte meno riuscita del romanzo, ma è comunque abbastanza adeguata alla storia, anche se non del tutto.
Il finale vero e proprio, quello della soluzione del mistero, è invece interessante,
A mio parere un romanzo molto interessante e molto piacevole da leggere, che sarebbe opportuno riscoprire, .