MobileRead October 2012 Discussion: Carmilla by J. Sheridan LeFanu (spoilers)

[WT Sharpe]

Now that I can accept. It does appear that Laura was struggling between her own innate desires and what the society of her day expected of her.

[John F]

The book didn't do much for me.

Coincidentally, the book I'm currently reading (Anno Dracula, Dracula Cha Cha Cha), has a couple of passing references to Carmilla (the character) in it.

[caleb72]

I liked this story in the sense that I thought the language was quite well done and I did like the idea of the story, a parasite being placed in the midst of a household in this manner.

However, what I suffered from here (as I do with most older classic horror stories) is the lack of immediacy in the writing. I have to work extra hard to place myself in the position of any of the characters which is a shame because in this case I would have found some scenes quite chilling.

This is not the fault of the novella as it's a product of its time. I have similar problems with H G Wells and Henry James, I have to work hard to get the atmosphere intended in the telling.

I can see why people would have issues with the explanation part at the end, but for me it seemed like it wasn't the point of the story. To me, the point was the chilling bedroom scenes, the insidious nature of Carmilla's friendship with Laura. So it doesn't surprise me that this could have been a cautionary tale about lesbianism or something similar.

What is that strange girl doing with your daughter behind closed doors?

Anyway - I liked it, it was a quick read, but I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get the impact I would have liked from it.

[usuallee]

Nice creepy little tale, I enjoyed it.

[fantasyfan]

I think that the references to Carmilla's "family" is a way giving what is a rather short localised novella an extended context. It means that Carmilla is only one facet of a problem which is part of the wider world of the book. She dies but there are others. They continue.

Personally, i found the actual horror of the tale lay in the psychological terror combined with a diseased acquiescence created in the mind of Laura. There is also the reference to the fact that a mindset which puts total reliance on "natural" explanations can be disastrous. This is even more powerfully seen in another novelette, "Green Tea". That awful, awful Monkey could be a psychological construct or it could be real. Maybe it's both. The altogether too facile "natural" assurances of Dr Hesselius at the end really fail to convey any certainty. And I don't think they are meant to do so.

BTW, one of the interesting features of the Scholarly Edition is the wealth of material about other literary references to the vampire including complete texts, e.g. Stoker's "Dracula's Guest" which are in an extended appendix.

[din155]

I got the audiobook from the LibriVox. The attraction between Carmilla and Laura came out even more prominently in the audiobook, which was a bit distracting at few places as it made me wonder if I had downloaded the right book . I would not call it horror but a good selection overall.

[WT Sharpe]

I got the Audiovox version and the ebook versions, but abandoned the audio version and read the ebook. The audiobook was good, but this one for whatever reason was more enjoyable in my opinion in print.

[din155]

Horror is one of the few genre that I can't really get into reading. The only way I could have read it was audiobook. In hindsight, I would have read it, had I started the ebook first.

[Billsuits1]

I loved this one, as well. This book was a great read and brings in many parts of the Vampire legend. It builds off of early 19th century tales.

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by fantasyfan

I think that the references to Carmilla's "family" is a way giving what is a rather short localised novella an extended context. It means that Carmilla is only one facet of a problem which is part of the wider world of the book. She dies but there are others. They continue.

Personally, i found the actual horror of the tale lay in the psychological terror combined with a diseased acquiescence created in the mind of Laura. There is also the reference to the fact that a mindset which puts total reliance on "natural" explanations can be disastrous.

I agree with you on this.

As for the lebianism... While I agree that Laura seemed quite conflicted - attraction & attention vs social norms - I think Carmilla's advances were strictly a well practiced means to an end. I think that at some point, she found that young, innocent, lonely girls made easy marks. There would be no competition for her attention.

Overall, after a relatively slow and plodding start, this turned into something quite striking. It wasn't the story itself, which was very predictable, but the legend of the vampire given at the end, that I found interesting.