I was semi-homeless and living in Prague near Kafka's grave when I read The Castle, and yeah.
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Sunday, 31 March 2019 18:58 (five years ago) link
A propos:
https://hornet.com/stories/rocky-horror-castle-oakley-court/
The castle from Rocky Horror is now a hotel and you can stay there.
My advice? Don't order the meatloaf.
― Gunther Gleiben (Ye Mad Puffin), Sunday, 31 March 2019 19:02 (five years ago) link
the best fictional castle is the one you build for yourself
― El Tomboto, Sunday, 31 March 2019 21:55 (five years ago) link
on graph paper, in 6th grade, with colored pencils
the one of the mind in hannibal
― fremme nette his simplicitte (darraghmac), Sunday, 31 March 2019 22:20 (five years ago) link
I just want to say that is an A+ list of castles
― the late great, Sunday, 31 March 2019 22:53 (five years ago) link
castles rule
― cheese canopy (map), Sunday, 31 March 2019 23:44 (five years ago) link
tombot otm
― gbx, Monday, 1 April 2019 00:05 (five years ago) link
map is also otm
Minas Morgul.
Tombot OTM, though, with an honorable mention to the castle a friend of mine drew that was in the shape of the anarchy symbol.
― Mazzy Tsar (PBKR), Monday, 1 April 2019 00:45 (five years ago) link
tombototm
― Karl Malone, Monday, 1 April 2019 01:08 (five years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/pdbdknj.jpg
― ciderpress, Monday, 1 April 2019 01:16 (five years ago) link
When I was a kid I told my mom to bring back several boxes of sugar cubes from the grocery store. And she did! I glued them together and made my castle. She didn't really question any part of it, the asking or the gluing.
Went with Dracula's castle.
― brownie, Monday, 1 April 2019 01:20 (five years ago) link
thank u v much the late great
ciderpress otm-- it can now be revealed that all votes for the "other" option are in fact votes for that castle
― difficult listening hour, Monday, 1 April 2019 02:39 (five years ago) link
Write in for the vampire castle
― Simon H., Monday, 1 April 2019 02:45 (five years ago) link
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b0/Castle_Roogna-Piers_Anthony.jpg/220px-Castle_Roogna-Piers_Anthony.jpg
j/k
― mookieproof, Monday, 1 April 2019 02:54 (five years ago) link
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/30/CastleofLlyr1stEdition.JPG/220px-CastleofLlyr1stEdition.JPG
not j/k
― mookieproof, Monday, 1 April 2019 02:56 (five years ago) link
spiral castle is the prydain representative because i remembered it more vividly (despite llyr being my fave and most frequently reread book in the series, do love a sea castle)-- not least for its expertly timed exit.
― difficult listening hour, Monday, 1 April 2019 03:33 (five years ago) link
this thread definitely needs a mention of this book
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51-jBcDYjOL._SX372_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Monday, 1 April 2019 07:33 (five years ago) link
What no Hyrule Castle ffs
― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Monday, 1 April 2019 07:57 (five years ago) link
https://static.247tickets.com/o_1c0qdepqh1s69dfrelomcf1o2k11.jpg
― ogmor, Monday, 1 April 2019 08:27 (five years ago) link
when it comes to video game castles castle figaro is kind of cool
― Jaki Liebowitz (rushomancy), Monday, 1 April 2019 11:49 (five years ago) link
I feel like the inn and the village are the geographical nightmares of "The Castle" but it's been a while and i might be misremembering
― The Xylems of the Limes (Noodle Vague), Monday, 1 April 2019 12:16 (five years ago) link
Wow, thank you! I used to check this book out of the library all the time when I was a kid, but haven’t thought of it in 30 years.
― Mazzy Tsar (PBKR), Monday, 1 April 2019 13:27 (five years ago) link
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S/abebooks-seller-images/TOLCOT/14304966851._SY1500_.jpg
― Angry Question Time Man's Flute Club Band (Tom D.), Monday, 1 April 2019 14:09 (five years ago) link
Iain Banks also has castles in Walking on Glass, Song of Stone, and Inversions, but nothing as memorable as the humongous upscaled Fastness Serehfa in Feersum Enjinn.
― what if bod was one of us (ledge), Monday, 1 April 2019 14:55 (five years ago) link
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xfebcSb66NI/WmFqMoTYUUI/AAAAAAAABXY/KgEBSPWmrSQeM-9iUTi6pifara-0xcC3wCLcBGAs/s1600/Castle_Wittgenstein_Mordheim.png
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/a_5-drHA3Vc/maxresdefault.jpg
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/7/79/Lindblum.jpg
― ogmor, Monday, 1 April 2019 15:18 (five years ago) link
Bluebeard's or gtfo
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Monday, 1 April 2019 15:24 (five years ago) link
https://www.roadunraveled.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/led-zeppelin.jpg
Dunluce castle, country Antrim^
― d'ILM for Murder (Hadrian VIII), Monday, 1 April 2019 15:27 (five years ago) link
― d'ILM for Murder (Hadrian VIII), Monday, 1 April 2019 15:28 (five years ago) link
The castle in Ico, easily
― flamboyant goon tie included, Monday, 1 April 2019 15:31 (five years ago) link
piranesi must imply a fictional castle or two in carceri d'invenzione; they can't all be endless subterranean diabloscapes
― difficult listening hour, Monday, 1 April 2019 15:34 (five years ago) link
Castle Rackrent, unless that’s a real castle (I haven’t read the book, just bringing it up as a good castle name)
― A funny tinge happened on the way to the forum (wins), Monday, 1 April 2019 15:36 (five years ago) link
houses of the holy art all-time of course BUT photographing a castle does not turn it fictional and you can tell don delillo i said so
― difficult listening hour, Monday, 1 April 2019 15:44 (five years ago) link
no but the "sacrifice" and all the stories I projected onto it at age 12 do
― d'ILM for Murder (Hadrian VIII), Monday, 1 April 2019 15:48 (five years ago) link
wait a second: are all castles fictional
― difficult listening hour, Monday, 1 April 2019 15:51 (five years ago) link
the king is mad: he thinks his house is a castle
― difficult listening hour, Monday, 1 April 2019 15:53 (five years ago) link
xp but there's a pictorial narrative in that art, it is staged
― d'ILM for Murder (Hadrian VIII), Monday, 1 April 2019 15:54 (five years ago) link
i will grant at least that questions of artifice and ontology are smack within the purview of the fictional castles thread, tho obviously secondary to the determination of the best fictional castle.
― difficult listening hour, Monday, 1 April 2019 16:08 (five years ago) link
this morning i'm wondering who'd bother inventing a fiction without a castle tbh
― difficult listening hour, Monday, 1 April 2019 16:10 (five years ago) link
The Library of Babel and even more so the Name of the Rose's palimpsest of that library are pretty much castles in all bar name and Eco's might be my fave non-video game castle
― The Xylems of the Limes (Noodle Vague), Monday, 1 April 2019 16:15 (five years ago) link
There must be a ton of Oulipo castles...Calvino's Castle of Crossed Detinies and I know Queneau did a choose-your-own-adventure story about a castle. There have to be others? Castles are def ripe for recursive/discursive games.
― d'ILM for Murder (Hadrian VIII), Monday, 1 April 2019 16:20 (five years ago) link
*Destinies
― d'ILM for Murder (Hadrian VIII), Monday, 1 April 2019 16:21 (five years ago) link
are video games the ideal media for castles? xps!
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/dc/Castles_Coverart.png/220px-Castles_Coverart.png
hyrule was another deliberate and now-inscrutable cut (it does function better as destination than setting imo, even in link to the past, so fans should vote kafka) but i should have included durlag's tower.
― difficult listening hour, Monday, 1 April 2019 16:26 (five years ago) link
I tried to think of video game castles for this thread and decided they're all too small to be satisfactory but as mental soaces i've inhabited i feel them more than most fictions
― The Xylems of the Limes (Noodle Vague), Monday, 1 April 2019 16:28 (five years ago) link
suikoden probably deserves a shoutout re: video game castles that are setting rather than destination
― ciderpress, Monday, 1 April 2019 16:37 (five years ago) link
Cloppa Castle theme tune, written by one of *Nirvana.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk_J9h9VNbw
*the UK one
― Angry Question Time Man's Flute Club Band (Tom D.), Monday, 1 April 2019 17:20 (five years ago) link
The Library of Babel and even more so the Name of the Rose's palimpsest of that library are pretty much castles in all bar name
Hm, not entirely sure about this. What is it that makes a castle a castle?
Was thinking about Calvino castles earlier but couldn't think of a specific one, my mind was more focused on the many castles of Invisible Cities.
― emil.y, Monday, 1 April 2019 17:30 (five years ago) link
Mistrinaut
― Lil' Brexit (Tracer Hand), Monday, 1 April 2019 18:01 (five years ago) link
Thinking gothicism and a kind of fractal endlessness emily bit yeah i'm only wibbling
― The Xylems of the Limes (Noodle Vague), Monday, 1 April 2019 18:55 (five years ago) link
https://assets.catawiki.nl/assets/2016/11/3/3/0/8/308dae04-a1f1-11e6-944d-c2ec2412e9ab.jpg
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Monday, 1 April 2019 23:54 (five years ago) link
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/xnkAAOSwntRcaW-3/s-l1600.jpg
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Monday, 1 April 2019 23:56 (five years ago) link
first drawing of scrooge mcduck's ancestral home by carl barks, from "the old castle's secret" (1948)
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ImxZM-RBi-8/WMC0dhFXaBI/AAAAAAAABIk/gwCSH7MXmOEri0oiftqqh1_rWPRXk-n-ACLcB/s1600/ducktales_trailer_007.jpg
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Tuesday, 2 April 2019 00:02 (five years ago) link
Tracer Hand - thanks for the link, never heard of that.
One of Ogmor's images is by Ian Miller, who has drawn a lot of very good castles, including Gormenghast.
I feel a little ashamed I cant think of more because castles are one of my absolute favorite things but I hope to update this thread in the future with more finds.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Friday, 5 April 2019 20:10 (five years ago) link
Just remembered the castle drawings by Victor Hugohttps://benedante.blogspot.com/2016/06/victor-hugos-drawings.html
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Friday, 5 April 2019 20:34 (five years ago) link
Howl's Moving Castle, with Cadtle Greyskull a close second
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Friday, 5 April 2019 20:39 (five years ago) link
The Library of Babel and even more so the Name of the Rose's palimpsest of that library are pretty much castles in all bar name and Eco's might be my fave non-video game castle― The Xylems of the Limes (Noodle Vague), Monday, April 1, 2019 6:15 AM Bookmark Flag Post PermalinkHm, not entirely sure about this. What is it that makes a castle a castle?Was thinking about Calvino castles earlier but couldn't think of a specific one, my mind was more focused on the many castles of Invisible Cities.― emil.y, Monday, April 1, 2019 7:30 AM Bookmark Flag Post PermalinkThinking gothicism and a kind of fractal endlessness emily bit yeah i'm only wibbling― The Xylems of the Limes (Noodle Vague), Monday, April 1, 2019 8:55 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― The Xylems of the Limes (Noodle Vague), Monday, April 1, 2019 6:15 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― emil.y, Monday, April 1, 2019 7:30 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― The Xylems of the Limes (Noodle Vague), Monday, April 1, 2019 8:55 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
for me the castle's key architectural feature (distinguishing it from a mere palace) is fortification; and its key etymological feature is its derivation from castrare-- to cut off. a castle can certainly be a mind or universe unto itself (fractal endlessness) but for it to be a castle there must also be an outside it is fortified against. in elsinore to be overthrown from within is also to be captured from without, because death is only change. the forest and the mountains (and the carvers' houses) are as much a part of the conceptual architecture of gormenghast as the castle itself. the library of babel imo is a palace-- it's all there is.
― difficult listening hour, Tuesday, 9 April 2019 01:47 (five years ago) link
derivation from castrare
woah, deep dive into the essential boyhood-ness of castles
― cheese canopy (map), Tuesday, 9 April 2019 01:55 (five years ago) link
Crenellation or gtfo
― Gunther Gleiben (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 9 April 2019 18:18 (five years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Tuesday, 30 April 2019 00:01 (five years ago) link
Ranier Wolf just over Frank.
― Vernon Locke, Tuesday, 30 April 2019 01:49 (five years ago) link
i still haven't voted. leaning gormenghast.
― difficult listening hour, Tuesday, 30 April 2019 01:56 (five years ago) link
Watched Howl's Moving Castle again yesterday, still good
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Tuesday, 30 April 2019 02:01 (five years ago) link
act iv might steal it for elsinore. it's the way it looks on the page: all those little bitty scenes, characters running screaming in and out of them like rooms, gaps opening in the text like teeth falling from a skull. and structuring it all, this frantic series of settings:
IV.1: A room in the castle.IV.2: Another room in the castle.IV.3: Another room in the castle.IV.4: A plain in Denmark.IV.5: Another room in the castle.IV.6: Another room in the castle.IV.7: Another room in the castle.
frankly shocked there's no modernist novel called another room in the castle
― difficult listening hour, Tuesday, 30 April 2019 02:05 (five years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Wednesday, 1 May 2019 00:01 (five years ago) link
good spread
― difficult listening hour, Wednesday, 1 May 2019 04:10 (five years ago) link
Old Lunch, thank you for remembering Otranto. I had a spaced-out think once about a South Korean film adaptation of the novel after watching The Wailing. Think it would do well tbh.
― fancy the Dirkishness of carrying Doré a round (fionnland), Wednesday, 1 May 2019 07:34 (five years ago) link
I think I voted Kafka
― Pontius Pilates (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, 1 May 2019 10:26 (five years ago) link
Just finished looking at Art Of Ian Miller and the castles are just spectacular.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, 22 August 2022 19:33 (one year ago) link
Moon's Spawn
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fcmKMSyToyw/WKTocIUT0iI/AAAAAAAAPOY/vGtzs7BrXs8si3PmOIL6QOZhMt2_i8onQCLcB/s1600/Malazan%2BBook%2Bof%2Bthe%2BFallen.jpg
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Monday, 22 August 2022 20:17 (one year ago) link
Belated write-in for The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit
― Lear, Tolstoy, and the Jack of Hearts (Lily Dale), Monday, 22 August 2022 22:41 (one year ago) link
Castle, We Have Always Lived in the, Shirley Jackson
― Infanta Terrible (j.lu), Tuesday, 23 August 2022 00:24 (one year ago) link
see also: Castle, I Capture the, Dodie Smith
― Lear, Tolstoy, and the Jack of Hearts (Lily Dale), Tuesday, 23 August 2022 02:02 (one year ago) link