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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
3|5
A very interesting idea and for sure Daphne du Maurier’s writing is extremely atmospheric. If you never tried one of her books and you’d like a taste of her writing, this could be a very decent start (again, especially for the way she can convey a gothic atmosphere so well).
A very interesting idea and for sure Daphne du Maurier’s writing is extremely atmospheric. If you never tried one of her books and you’d like a taste of her writing, this could be a very decent start (again, especially for the way she can convey a gothic atmosphere so well).
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Breakthrough by Daphne du Maurier
If anyone knows how to pull you into a completely different atmospheric setting, it's Daphne du Maurier. The Breakthrough is set in a bleaky English county called Suffolk. The narrator, Stephen Saunders, on a request from his chief, arrives in Suffolk on a rainy day to assist a dear friend of his chief, Mac. Funnily enough, I witnessed a case of pathetic fallacy while reading this story, where my own journey mirrored the narrator's. Both of us arrived at our destination with dampened spirits, dissatisfied with everything lay before us.
The narrator, upon meeting Mac, is completely pulled into his experiments, something he had not bargained, but something that could get the human race closer to achieving immortality. It is interesting how Maurier merges the spiritual with the scientific trying to prove how energy can neither be created nor destroyed. Mac attempts to tap into this potent energy, long after we are gone. However, Maurier, through the narrative argues that if energy survives, so does our soul and what it desires. The story reminded me of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley with its deliberation upon how emotional connections can outlast even the most progressive developments of science, and how imperative it is to own up your own actions and the consequences they entail. At the heart of the book lies the grief of losing someone and how much one craves, consciously or unconsciously to know what happens to the love and connections we inexplicably feel for those who no longer live amongst us.
If anyone knows how to pull you into a completely different atmospheric setting, it's Daphne du Maurier. The Breakthrough is set in a bleaky English county called Suffolk. The narrator, Stephen Saunders, on a request from his chief, arrives in Suffolk on a rainy day to assist a dear friend of his chief, Mac. Funnily enough, I witnessed a case of pathetic fallacy while reading this story, where my own journey mirrored the narrator's. Both of us arrived at our destination with dampened spirits, dissatisfied with everything lay before us.
The narrator, upon meeting Mac, is completely pulled into his experiments, something he had not bargained, but something that could get the human race closer to achieving immortality. It is interesting how Maurier merges the spiritual with the scientific trying to prove how energy can neither be created nor destroyed. Mac attempts to tap into this potent energy, long after we are gone. However, Maurier, through the narrative argues that if energy survives, so does our soul and what it desires. The story reminded me of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley with its deliberation upon how emotional connections can outlast even the most progressive developments of science, and how imperative it is to own up your own actions and the consequences they entail. At the heart of the book lies the grief of losing someone and how much one craves, consciously or unconsciously to know what happens to the love and connections we inexplicably feel for those who no longer live amongst us.
The Breakthrough by Daphne Du Maurier is a sci-fi suspense novella/short story.
Stephen has been transferred from a job he really enjoys to the dull looking Saxmere, where his technical qualifications are desperately needed for one particular project. The experiments are headed by his boss's colleague MacLean, who is an enthusiast scientist, very particular in his ways and a fanatic, he charms Stephen to stay and help him out for his strange experiment. What happens next is what we must find out.
Du Maurier creates an effortlessly dark atmosphere, I could feel something disturbing from the moment he reached Saxmere. The scientific approach and the experiments on exploring life after death and their consequences were both interesting and disturbing for me, the story was a total page turner and keeps you on edge with a moral conflict.
The ending seemed a little rushed and there wasn’t a clear conclusion, but I think her motive behind leaving it that way was to make you think and imagine... what next?
Unsettling, mysterious and unexpected!
I totally recommend this one and give it :
⭐⭐⭐.75/5
Stephen has been transferred from a job he really enjoys to the dull looking Saxmere, where his technical qualifications are desperately needed for one particular project. The experiments are headed by his boss's colleague MacLean, who is an enthusiast scientist, very particular in his ways and a fanatic, he charms Stephen to stay and help him out for his strange experiment. What happens next is what we must find out.
Du Maurier creates an effortlessly dark atmosphere, I could feel something disturbing from the moment he reached Saxmere. The scientific approach and the experiments on exploring life after death and their consequences were both interesting and disturbing for me, the story was a total page turner and keeps you on edge with a moral conflict.
The ending seemed a little rushed and there wasn’t a clear conclusion, but I think her motive behind leaving it that way was to make you think and imagine... what next?
Unsettling, mysterious and unexpected!
I totally recommend this one and give it :
⭐⭐⭐.75/5
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
‘The Breakthrough’ is science fiction short story by Daphne du Maurier where a renegade scientist is intent on inventing technology that is able to capture a person’s consciousness after death.
This is the first work by du Maurier that I’ve read, although I’ve been planning on reading her gothic novel ‘Rebecca’ for some time, and I found ‘The Breakthrough’ to be an enjoyable entry point. The prose was sharp and economic and very much lent itself to the suspenseful tone of the book. I also very much liked the premise and plot of the book. I am always keen on science fiction that is centred around ethical problems, which was very much the case in the premise of this story.
My only critique is that this story could have very much been turned into a novella or novel. I found myself wanting to know more about the characters and the fate of the technology used here. Whilst it does still certainly work in the form of a short story, I think there was more that could have been explored.
Overall, this was an enjoyable and captivating read. I am eager to read more of du Maurier’s longer works.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes