Scan barcode
funktious's review against another edition
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.5
This is a difficult book to review. On the one hand, it's clearly a deeply personal book for the author who has experienced a lot of tragedy in his life and hopefully found this exploration of supernatural fiction and the landscapes that inspired it cathartic.
But unfortunately the sheer volume of miscellany made it a difficult book to engage with. Its incredibly difficult to follow the threads of the narrative when they take so many twists and turns and you find yourself reading about a completely different subject from one paragraph to the next.
There is plenty of good reading in here and an excellent bibliography that will send you down many rabbit holes. But it wasn't the five star read I was hoping it would be from the cover and blurb.
But unfortunately the sheer volume of miscellany made it a difficult book to engage with. Its incredibly difficult to follow the threads of the narrative when they take so many twists and turns and you find yourself reading about a completely different subject from one paragraph to the next.
There is plenty of good reading in here and an excellent bibliography that will send you down many rabbit holes. But it wasn't the five star read I was hoping it would be from the cover and blurb.
amalia1985's review against another edition
You'd think that a book that ambitiously claims to trace and explore the roots of British Folklore and its huge impact on films, TV series, novels, plays, etc would be right up my alley. And, initially, it ticked all the right boxes. Ghostly roads that lead nowhere, legends, the 70s hysteria, folk-based films, myths, haunted grounds. M.R. James and his masterpieces. And Donald Pleasance. It took 100 pages until things started going awry.
At a certain point, I began to feel indifferent (at best) and exhausted (at worst). Endless name-dropping, jumping from theme to theme with a few pages and quite a few paragraphs were incoherent, written in a style that felt all over the place. In addition, the writer's thoughts started becoming more and more unclear and the constant hints of monumental misery were tiring. Plain and simple.
Also, ''people are returning to the old gods''? Are you even serious?
The pseudo-dramatic tone was almost laughable. In the end, exhausted, annoyed and disgusted, I gave up. Step off your high horse and your self-righteousness and hire an editor. Make a wish to your old gods. See where that gets you...
At a certain point, I began to feel indifferent (at best) and exhausted (at worst). Endless name-dropping, jumping from theme to theme with a few pages and quite a few paragraphs were incoherent, written in a style that felt all over the place. In addition, the writer's thoughts started becoming more and more unclear and the constant hints of monumental misery were tiring. Plain and simple.
Also, ''people are returning to the old gods''? Are you even serious?
The pseudo-dramatic tone was almost laughable. In the end, exhausted, annoyed and disgusted, I gave up. Step off your high horse and your self-righteousness and hire an editor. Make a wish to your old gods. See where that gets you...
leabharlann_de_la_witch's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.0
mike_brough's review against another edition
5.0
A journey worth taking. A melancholy mix of folklore, haunted landscapes and memoir.
Always, the owls.
Always, the owls.
nachtfalke's review against another edition
4.0
Not necessarily a book to read through in one sitting, but still so an engaging journey. Unpretentious, deep, and fun.
nicktomjoe's review against another edition
4.0
What a lot of Goodreads shelves this sits on: a personal (and very moving) memoir of bereavement; a literary tour of writers of fantasy, the macabre and ghost stories; a dazzling display of what can be done to link this writer to that, to this film star or cleric: full of “did you know?” connections and poignant family memories - holidays, bird spotting trips... and with some lovely art work from Richard Wells.
Ghostland was more personal than I had expected, rambling (or motoring) to and fro through all its subjects, but nevertheless as the quotation on the back cover claims, “psychogeography at its best.”
Ghostland was more personal than I had expected, rambling (or motoring) to and fro through all its subjects, but nevertheless as the quotation on the back cover claims, “psychogeography at its best.”
lafee's review against another edition
4.0
This is such an interesting and heartfelt book, written in the now-familiar format that seems to have become very popular in the last couple of years: a mix of grief memoir, nature writing, and travel writing, with some literary analysis thrown it. Parnell leads us through the ancient and haunted British landscape, excavating memories of his family along the way, and exploring its influence on horror film and the classic ghost story. The writing is beautiful and moving, though never mawkish, and will definitely be picking up some W.G. Sebald and Algernon Blackwood on Parnell's recommendation.