(no subject)

We watched The Haunting last night at Bainbridge, which I had never seen before.

I have a hard time separating my own emotional reaction to the film from what I would say about it to other people. I have an uncomfortable relationship with The Haunting of Hill House, in that I love the book and think it's gorgeous and wonderful and shivery, but I find Eleanor to be very disquieting to read about because I identify with her so strongly. I am not Eleanor but I could be/could have been Eleanor very easily (there but for the grace of god) and so I find her rather terrifying. Watching the film is much the same thing (except that we cannot be quite so firmly and fully in Eleanor's head, even with her constant voice-overs), to the point that I'm not at all sure what the movie is like for people who don't have that extra element of horror working for them. (This film is also especially terrifying for people who, like me, have a particular fear of narrow unstable staircases.)

I would recommend it, I think, because it's a visually pretty film and I'm fairly certain it would be scary for other people. It's a good haunted house story and worth seeing. But I really recommend reading the book, which is not just a good haunted house story but a great one.

(no subject)

Friends, I come to you requesting recommendations. I am in the market for a new series of mystery/detective novels, because I am in that kind of mood and none of the ones I have are crying out for a reread. Thus, I ask for your assistance.

Mystery series I have read and enjoyed:
- Sherlock Holmes (including many and various ridiculous pastiches)
- Lord Peter Wimsey
- Nero Wolfe
- Albert Campion

There are probably others that I am forgetting, but those are the main ones. Once upon a time in middle school I read a hell of a lot of Agatha Christie but I have apparently erased all of the from my memory, except for the solutions to And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express.

Things I like in a mystery/detective novel/series:
- For the detective to be more interesting than the mystery. He/she is is, after all, a person I'm going to have to spend a good bit of time with.
- If it's historical, I like it to be recent enough that I have at least a general knowledge of what the laws are. (So, y'know, I do not care terribly much for mysteries set in ancient Rome or whatever.) I am not married to this, though.
- If it's a series, I like to have an interesting recurring supporting cast. Again, people I'm going to be spending time with.
- If there's fanfic, so much the better.
- The same goes for audiobooks. Double for audiobooks, even.

Things I do not like:
- Mysteries solved in any way by the detective's pets
- The kind of mystery novel that has recipes in the back
- Novels where the mystery doesn't get solved.
- Most (but not all) hardboiled noir-ish detective novels. I mean, recommend them if you've got them but they tend not to be my thing.


Any recommendations? (Thank you in advance.)