I just finished Jean Ray's 1943 Gothic horror novel, Malpertuis. Great stuff too, Ray's only full length novel, translated from the French, which recalls Lovecraft and Poe. It was adapted into a film from Harry Kümel (Daughters of Darkness) starring Orson Welles, which fascinated me enough to seek out the book, as the film leaves much unanswered. The book is far more vivid, grotesque, and .. unlike the film .. eventually explains all in a satisfying conclusion (the book recounts the tale of Malpertuis via different authors, although in the main, one young protagonist tells the bulk of the tale.)
The film is beautiful, but vague, and a rather truncated version of the novel. The liner notes helped me comprehend it, but the book really fleshed it out, so I'm itching to re-watch it now. It's just a shame much of Ray's more unusual imagery or plot strands didn't (or more likely, couldn't) make it on to the screen.
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