De Lint - Where to start?

[Angelle]

Lately, Charles De Lint's name keeps coming up, and in contexts that make me really want to find out what he's all about. But it's a bit like G.K. Chesterton, in that I look at the list of works and get completely overwhelmed.

I'd like to pick the collective Whateresque brain for a good place to dive in. Suggestions?

[kouredios]

The only De Lint I've read so far is Memory and Dream, which I really liked. I don't have any context from which to claim that it's the best to start with, just the fact that that's where I started. :)

[Random Michelle]

You should be able to start with any of his short story collections and go on from there. Dreams Underfoot is a personal favorite as is Memory and Dream. If you just want a taste of his writing style and don't want to delve into his Newford stories just yet, look for Jack of Kinrowan (or Jack the Giant Killer if its not in an omnibus.

You could also start with any of his young adult works: Seven Wild Sisters, Waifs & Strays, or The Blue Girl.

The only thing I would not recommend is starting with one of his Newford novels, since you'll enjoy those better if you already know the characters from he short stories.

But any of the short story collections should be a good palce to start. That should be: Dreams Underfoot, Memory & Dream, Moonlight & Vines, Tapping the Dream Tree(?), Waifs & Strays (I have by book database at work, but I can't remember off the top of my head everything that is a short story collections versus a novel) -- anything that says Newford.

[sarah]

I agree the short stories are the best place to start. I believe "Dreams Undefoot" comes first chronologically, though I'm not sure it matters whether you read them in order.

[Angelle]

Yay! This is very helpful - I came back to spec fic recently after 15 years of toiling in the Lit-uh-rahry fields of academia and am a bit (pleasantly) overwhelmed by all the really great stuff I've missed in the intervening time.

[beelzebubba29]

I've only read The Little Country (a few years ago), and absolutely LOVED it...and I've had Memory & Dream on the bookshelf patiently waiting for me to read it for awhile now, but I always seem to pick up something else instead. Due the various suggestions of this thread, I'll probably take it out for a spin as soon as I'm done with the Stephen White that I'm reading right now.

[Starstruck]

Start with the older stuff, pre Newford, if you can find it. Or maybe I'll always have a soft spot for Moonheart, having grown up in Ottawa.

[Nightsky]

Jack of Kinrowan isn't a Newford novel (it's set in Ottawa), but it explores many of the same themes De Lint is fond of. It'd be a good place to start, I think.

I started with the short story collection Moonlight and Vines, which did a great job introducing the recurring Newford characters.

[david-de-beer]

Yarrow was the very first of his books I've read; story about a woman who is also a writer, and has an entire world of myth inside her head. She has a guilt complex, since all she does is transcribe the stories they tell her and so she doesn't feel like a real writer. And, as (un)luck would have it, a dude shows up who likes to feed on dreams.

I liked it, but I like a lot of what De Lint does, just wish it was easier to find him locally.

Mulengro is my favorite story of his; fascinating tale featuring the gypsies in Canada. Gets quite a bit darkish, though, but nothing over the top or graphic.

I'll have to go check, but I think Subterranean Press had a short story of his online a few months ago.
http://www.subterraneanpress.com

it was either the full story or a teaser, but I'm pretty sure I saw his name there.