I just finished Imajica, and I really liked it.
>Has anybody else read this?
>What are your thoughts on Clive Barker as a whole?
This is my first thing I've really read by him, besides The Thief of Always years ago (also very good), and apparently Imajica was one of his favorite works that he's done. There's a lot of themes and broad elements I'd love to discuss, but most would be riddled with spoilers for those who haven't read it.
>Do you think his other works are good, and worth reading?
Clive Barker
Adam Hughes
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Connor Wright
>"Let's just address what mythologies underpin most fantasy works, and that is to say, talking of the stuff that has come since Tolkien: Greek mythology, Norse mythology. They tend to be defunct mythologies of one kind or another. What I wanted to do was make a work of fantasy that took as it's basis the Christian mythology. The legends that accrue around the Christ figure."
>"My great source of inspiration that is William Blake, obviously, who says of one of his enemies, 'We both read the bible, day and night, but he reads black where I read white.' In other words, this wonderful collection of tales, The Bible, is available to him as a very private and personal source of inspiration which he can reevaluate and reinterpret by the light of his own intellect and his own imagination."
>"So, I wanted to see if I could do that. To draw the structures of the Christian stories into a work of fantasy, and make sense of them on the page as my intellect works upon them, rather than the way somebody in a pulpit might tell me to interpret those stories."
In a way, this book sort of reminds me of a work like East of Eden. Eden is like the American interpretation of the bible, where as this book is a world spanning pilgrimage through the Christian tradition seen through the eyes of fantasy, similarly to what Lord of the Rings did to it's source material.
I highly recommend this book to anyone that finds some fantasy stale with the constant retreading of ground that Tolkien, and others like him, had laid out.
The quote is from a rather cheesy interview TV show here: youtube.com
In it, there are some mild spoilers, but he does talk about what he set out to do with this book, and his approach to writing it.
>What are your thoughts on William Blake? Is he worth checking out?
Angel Wilson
that's not how you use greentext
William Wright
>Ur geentextin' wrong
There's no right or wrong way to use greentext, dipshit. What a well thought out response. People like you are the reason why discussion is such shit here these days.
Andrew Barnes
Never read him. Was impressed with how well directed Hellraiser was, he seemed to have some talent. Too bad that was his first and last.
Hunter Rogers
It wasn't his last actually! He went on to direct pic related based on his book Cabal, and also Lord of Illusions based on a short story of his! That being said, he casted Hellraiser perfectly. Ashley Laurence is so FUCKING HOT in that movie. Too bad the Hellraiser "brand" got really watered down over time like Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street. My friends and I always make fun of the ridiculousness of "Hellraiser 7:Deader" lol
Connor Wilson
I'm halfway in now and it's definitely a good read. Haven't read any other Barker but I'll buy more if Imajica doesn't fall off.
Jace Hill
Holy crap yes! If anything, the book just gets better and better as it goes on in my opinion. I had a bit of a rough time slogging through at some points, but that's probably because of my short attention span and slow reading speed. It is so worth it though. Who's your favorite character so far?
Nathaniel Lee
is that an anagram of JAMAICA?
Jacob Rodriguez
Dunno if you're memeing, but it could be! To be fair, there's a decent amount of symbolism with the character and location names in the book.
Bentley Campbell
Only had a few POV chapters with the Auturch so far but they've been good. Gentle went from uninteresting to a good character especially with pie oh pah. I'm a little indifferent to Oscar and Judith right now but I'm also wondering what Dowd is going fuck up.
>RIP Huzzah-chan.
Hopefully I'll more time to read it then I've had so far.
Mason Sanchez
Good stuff. Pie is definitely my favorite character. Huzzah and Gentle are close too. Even the characters I generally disliked all had their purpose and by the end there wasn't a single character that I disliked desu. Even the Nullianacs. Don't get me wrong, fuck those cunts, but in kind of a "love to hate way" lol
Joseph Campbell
It was a trip. Good world building but weak characterization.
Jacob Sullivan
>William Blake
He's seen as one of the greatest mystical poets ever.
Try Marriage of Heaven and Hell
Christopher Morgan
>There's no right or wrong way to use greentext
Well you've used it so badly as to prove that untrue.
Joshua Wilson
Imajica was pretty fuckin good, but it's probably the best Barker has to offer. Some of the stories in his Books of Blood are pretty based too esp. Rawhead Rex and The Midnight Meat Train
Nathaniel Ortiz
>that Kino Red Cross commercial
damn, is there a book based on this? Sorry op I haven tread any Barker but I have a first edition of Imajica and I'm looking forward to reading it.
Parker Foster
Barker was at his best in Books of Blood. None of his novels left a major impact on me and I've read the majority of them. I was about to say I wish he'd do another short story collection but I just found out he did one in 2015 so I'll check that out.
Interesting to know. I've been considering rereading Imajica, so I'll bear that in mind going into it.
My favorites are In the Hills, The Cities, When Spoilers Bleed, The Body Politic, and The Yattering and Jack.
Michael Foster
Solid opinion, though I found the characters to be the most solid and grounding aspect of Imajica, you're right in excellent world building, but I think without the protagonists, it would come up short as a great work.
Will do! Thanks for the rec!
Once again, a well thought out response. Get fucked faggot
Barker has said that it is his favorite work. I really like it because it's like I said, a fantasy book in vein of the Christian tradition, so it deals with a lot of broad strokes like God, sex, love, gender, and death. It manages to blend these so well and there is so much subtext to analyze that I could probably reread it and still find more to analyze. A good book to sink your analytical teeth into as there are lots of moving parts that seamlessly work together in harmony.
Also, I was thinking of doing The Books of Blood next, so thanks for the rec!
>first edition
Thank god you have a decent cover. Most of the covers are great, but the most recent cover on my paperback is just trash at conveying the world-spanning scope and imaginative force of Imajica. It's just a guy in sandals standing near a boat. Like, what the fuck?
John Miller
If I had to choose the "best" cover, it would be pic related considering it's evocation of yin/yang and love, a huge element of the book, while also being quite subdued.
Mason Bailey
I enjoyed it, but at the same time I wouldn´t read it again. Barker had some really interesting ideas but in some places they are thrown in without them beign properly explored, other things are drawn out to a point where they become exhausting (like that little girl they pick up from th island. She´s just kind of there) Also the ending was pretty dumb. A fucking god dying because he farts fire into his own face.
Would recommend Weaveworld. It´s shorter, and the worldbuilding is more cohesive.
Wyatt Baker
Holy fucking spoiler! The spoiler function exists for a reason you know!
Also, you thinking the ending was dumb is a pretty clear indication that you hadn't been paying attention to the larger themes of the work. Your oversimplification is a great disservice to the ending, considering that the book goes on for almost another 100 pages after that happens!
I definitely won't deny that at some points it gets a bit drawn out or "deus ex machina" with the themes and plot points (like characters finding each other by serendipitous chance), but I reject the idea that Huzzah is "just there". She has her place in the grand scheme, and what happens to her character is one of the most emotional elements of the book for me.