halibut's review against another edition
3.0
The stories focussing on artists felt less strong, with chunks feeling like essays. But there are some good stories here also, particularly a couple about factories which cast work as governed by supernaturally inhuman forces in a really interesting way. There's a frequent contrast between high and low, with metaphysical realisations brought on by dodgy guts, that keeps the themes rooted rather than feeling completely cosmic.
caitsidhe's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
astonishing collection of deeply disturbing and unsettling stories
gross_icky's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
raven_revier's review against another edition
3.0
I wonder how much different the reception of a short story is whether one reads it in a magazine or in a collection. Perhaps some of the pieces – “In a Foreign Town, In a Foreign Land” and “Severini” come to mind – in Teatro Grottesco would’ve read much better without the other ones surrounding it, I don’t know. “Teatro Grottesco” is possibly the best one in the collection. Next are “The Shadow, the Darkness”, “The Clown Puppet”.
Thomas Ligotti isn’t interested in a great many themes. We know very well that he knows how to create an atmosphere, see “In a Foreign Town, In a Foreign Land” – too bad it’s mostly atmosphere. We know very well that he knows how to spin a sentence, craft a long-winded yet clear philosophical monologue. Ligotti’s great challenge was whether he would find novel ways to say the same things over and over—personal identity is a delusion, the body is nothing but a mass of rot, unfathomable forces like to mess with our lives (worthless lives anyway!) and so on and so forth. He seems to me that he failed.
Definitely not his strongest book, despite one or two gems hidden in it, but still a decent read overall.
Thomas Ligotti isn’t interested in a great many themes. We know very well that he knows how to create an atmosphere, see “In a Foreign Town, In a Foreign Land” – too bad it’s mostly atmosphere. We know very well that he knows how to spin a sentence, craft a long-winded yet clear philosophical monologue. Ligotti’s great challenge was whether he would find novel ways to say the same things over and over—personal identity is a delusion, the body is nothing but a mass of rot, unfathomable forces like to mess with our lives (worthless lives anyway!) and so on and so forth. He seems to me that he failed.
Definitely not his strongest book, despite one or two gems hidden in it, but still a decent read overall.
marplatense's review against another edition
4.0
Oh, Thomas Ligotti… the fame precedes the name. Before reading anything from him, I’ve known that he is one of the primordial names in the weird literature genre (which sometimes seems to be a modern version of the 60s magic realism) so, when I decided it was time to join his legion, you cannot blame me for having high hopes in his art.
It has been quite a journey, I have to tell. The first stories (Derangements) have a real kafkaesque and lovecraftian feel to them, just like a lot of reviews I read beforehand mentioned so no really surprise there: they are all well written, with little mysteries all over that linger well after the tell has been told and have lot of things unsaid: right up in my alley.
Things got hard for me with the rest of the stories (the Deformations and The Damaged and the Diseased sections): the tone started to change there and although the quality of the prose kept up, it started to get harder for me to enjoy the aesthetics the author was using to carry his message. I started to feel Ligotti was exploring some of the themes I have enjoyed in Beckett’s middle period narrative (the only thing I was able to really enjoyed in Beckett, to the point Molloy, Malone, The Unnamable, First Love and Stories and Texts for Nothing would be in my list of things I need if I ever get stranded) but what I felt they were lacking is a sense of purpose, a place where the author was able to find solace, have lost and was trying to regain, the link I need to relate with his message, the companion to the aesthetic enjoyment I was having.
It took me a lot of time to finish these stories and I toyed with the idea of abandon the book altogether (after all Borges said that we should not insist with an author that we didn’t enjoy) but gladly for me, I persevered and the last story (The Shadow, The Darkness) unlocked Ligotti’s magic for me. You see, I realized Ligotti is not just telling a story just to keep us amused, he’s not that kind of guy that floods you with his pessimistic musings and then lives an altogether different life: I believe his stories represents his vision of the world and they are far less allegoric that one could believe at first.
Needless to say, I can be absolutely wrong (I have tried to read the less possible about Ligotti’s life and interviews, just not to cloud my judgement about his first pieces) but the characteristic I have just described is the main feature I like in his work. Let’s see if his next stories keep this up.
It has been quite a journey, I have to tell. The first stories (Derangements) have a real kafkaesque and lovecraftian feel to them, just like a lot of reviews I read beforehand mentioned so no really surprise there: they are all well written, with little mysteries all over that linger well after the tell has been told and have lot of things unsaid: right up in my alley.
Things got hard for me with the rest of the stories (the Deformations and The Damaged and the Diseased sections): the tone started to change there and although the quality of the prose kept up, it started to get harder for me to enjoy the aesthetics the author was using to carry his message. I started to feel Ligotti was exploring some of the themes I have enjoyed in Beckett’s middle period narrative (the only thing I was able to really enjoyed in Beckett, to the point Molloy, Malone, The Unnamable, First Love and Stories and Texts for Nothing would be in my list of things I need if I ever get stranded) but what I felt they were lacking is a sense of purpose, a place where the author was able to find solace, have lost and was trying to regain, the link I need to relate with his message, the companion to the aesthetic enjoyment I was having.
It took me a lot of time to finish these stories and I toyed with the idea of abandon the book altogether (after all Borges said that we should not insist with an author that we didn’t enjoy) but gladly for me, I persevered and the last story (The Shadow, The Darkness) unlocked Ligotti’s magic for me. You see, I realized Ligotti is not just telling a story just to keep us amused, he’s not that kind of guy that floods you with his pessimistic musings and then lives an altogether different life: I believe his stories represents his vision of the world and they are far less allegoric that one could believe at first.
Needless to say, I can be absolutely wrong (I have tried to read the less possible about Ligotti’s life and interviews, just not to cloud my judgement about his first pieces) but the characteristic I have just described is the main feature I like in his work. Let’s see if his next stories keep this up.
paulataua's review against another edition
4.0
I was totally knocked out by the first two very strange stories, ‘Purity’ and ‘The Town Manager' and then a little less by the ones that followed, but ‘Teatro Grottesco’ is certainly worth a read for those who like their world to be turned inside out. I am new to Thomas Ligotti, but will certainly read more in the near future.
aaaron's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Really enjoyed this! Really have to be in a specific mood for it though.
mcwilton1123's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
jasonsweirdreads's review against another edition
5.0
About a year ago, I made a commitment to read all the H. P. Lovecraft I could find. Finding it all was easy. You can get the entire short stories and poetry, including some essays, all in one volume for your Amazon Kindle for something like ninety-nine cents. Reading it wasn't that difficult either. If you've never read Lovecraft, or even if you have and loved it, I would highly recommend that you read a short story then go over to The H. P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast and listen to the corresponding episode. Chris and Chad, who host the show, are both awesome.
But I digress.
H. P. Lovecraft is a fascinating writer of dark fantasy/science fiction/horror. Where I simply admired the man’s work earlier, he has now become a favorite. But I am now learning of even more fascinating authors; writers who are taking horrific and weird fiction in the vein of Lovecraft in entirely new and refreshing directions.
One of these writers I’m speaking, of course, is Thomas Ligotti.
As an avid reader, I've heard of Ligotti’s fiction for years now. His work has even been recommended to me many times, but for some reason I never got around to it. Such is life. I don’t know how many books I have in my to-be-read mountain, a lot of them from authors I've never read before. Thankfully, however, I recently decided to give Ligotti’s Teatro Grottesco a try. It, of course, is brilliant. I somehow knew that it would be, and so I regret not having read this man’s work before this year.
What I like about Ligotti’s work the most is how much it seems to speak to me. Nearly every theme is a topic I have thought of more than once in one way or another. The overall landscape and pure beauty within the stories themselves is almost like opening my ribcage or cracking a hole in my skull and seeing what’s inside. Stories like Purity, The Town Manager, Sideshow and other stories, and The Red Tower were fascinating journeys into nightmares perhaps a little too familiar. Other stories, like My Case for Retributive Action and Our Temporary Supervisor come straight from my life.
These stories are not simply stories. They are art. They are a mirror to any soul with substance. I look forward to reading more from Ligotti, and I can’t recommend him enough.
But I digress.
H. P. Lovecraft is a fascinating writer of dark fantasy/science fiction/horror. Where I simply admired the man’s work earlier, he has now become a favorite. But I am now learning of even more fascinating authors; writers who are taking horrific and weird fiction in the vein of Lovecraft in entirely new and refreshing directions.
One of these writers I’m speaking, of course, is Thomas Ligotti.
As an avid reader, I've heard of Ligotti’s fiction for years now. His work has even been recommended to me many times, but for some reason I never got around to it. Such is life. I don’t know how many books I have in my to-be-read mountain, a lot of them from authors I've never read before. Thankfully, however, I recently decided to give Ligotti’s Teatro Grottesco a try. It, of course, is brilliant. I somehow knew that it would be, and so I regret not having read this man’s work before this year.
What I like about Ligotti’s work the most is how much it seems to speak to me. Nearly every theme is a topic I have thought of more than once in one way or another. The overall landscape and pure beauty within the stories themselves is almost like opening my ribcage or cracking a hole in my skull and seeing what’s inside. Stories like Purity, The Town Manager, Sideshow and other stories, and The Red Tower were fascinating journeys into nightmares perhaps a little too familiar. Other stories, like My Case for Retributive Action and Our Temporary Supervisor come straight from my life.
These stories are not simply stories. They are art. They are a mirror to any soul with substance. I look forward to reading more from Ligotti, and I can’t recommend him enough.