Scan barcode
dee9401's review against another edition
5.0
After reading Carmilla by itself last summer, someone suggested that I keep reading J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s works. I picked up a beautiful edition of In a Glass Darkly and read it during the last few months. I moved slowly, due to being busy and distracted, but also so that I could savor his writings. This collection of five stories (three short stories and basically two novellas) were so perfect for me that this volume has jumped high onto my favorites list.
Since I mentioned the physicality of the book, let me start there first. It’s a very nice, 1929 edition from Peter Davies, with many small, beautiful illustrations by Edward Ardizzone. There’s something to be said for a physical book. The paper is thick, the boards firm and heavy. It was solid in my hands and just a pleasure to hold. I bought it from Any Amount of Books, a fantastic shop on Charing Cross Road in London.
Turning to the stories, I’d only ever read Carmilla. At the time, I praised it as a fantastic story that predated Dracula and was just something I couldn’t stop reading. Like Laura, I was drawn to Carmilla but couldn’t explain it. The story was just as good, perhaps better, the second time through.
I had heard the name Green Tea, the first story, but knew nothing of it. It was great. The spectral monkey was awesomely spooky and terrifying. Le Fanu describes so little but says so much. Like the spectral monkey of Green Tea, the footsteps heard by no one there was simply terrifying in The Familiar, his second story. I never really was gripped by the third story, Mr. Justice Harbottle. But, I know I will return to this volume again and again over the years, so perhaps it will grow on me. The Room in the Dragon Volant was brilliant, closest to the beauty of Carmilla. The terror of paralysis, almost being buried alive, and love betrayed made for a fantastical story.
I like how Le Fanu talked about writers. In Green Tea, he talked about the relationship between writers and stimulants, something that I can relate to: “I believe that every one who sets about writing in earnest does his work, as a friend of mine phrased it, on something– tea, coffee or tobacco. I suppose there is a material waste that must be hourly supplied in such occupations, or that we should grow too abstracted, and the mind, as it were, pass out of the body, unless it were reminded often of the connection by actual sensation” (p. 23).
If I could give this book six stars, I would. I highly recommend it.
Since I mentioned the physicality of the book, let me start there first. It’s a very nice, 1929 edition from Peter Davies, with many small, beautiful illustrations by Edward Ardizzone. There’s something to be said for a physical book. The paper is thick, the boards firm and heavy. It was solid in my hands and just a pleasure to hold. I bought it from Any Amount of Books, a fantastic shop on Charing Cross Road in London.
Turning to the stories, I’d only ever read Carmilla. At the time, I praised it as a fantastic story that predated Dracula and was just something I couldn’t stop reading. Like Laura, I was drawn to Carmilla but couldn’t explain it. The story was just as good, perhaps better, the second time through.
I had heard the name Green Tea, the first story, but knew nothing of it. It was great. The spectral monkey was awesomely spooky and terrifying. Le Fanu describes so little but says so much. Like the spectral monkey of Green Tea, the footsteps heard by no one there was simply terrifying in The Familiar, his second story. I never really was gripped by the third story, Mr. Justice Harbottle. But, I know I will return to this volume again and again over the years, so perhaps it will grow on me. The Room in the Dragon Volant was brilliant, closest to the beauty of Carmilla. The terror of paralysis, almost being buried alive, and love betrayed made for a fantastical story.
I like how Le Fanu talked about writers. In Green Tea, he talked about the relationship between writers and stimulants, something that I can relate to: “I believe that every one who sets about writing in earnest does his work, as a friend of mine phrased it, on something– tea, coffee or tobacco. I suppose there is a material waste that must be hourly supplied in such occupations, or that we should grow too abstracted, and the mind, as it were, pass out of the body, unless it were reminded often of the connection by actual sensation” (p. 23).
If I could give this book six stars, I would. I highly recommend it.
octopusarms's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
cimorene1558's review against another edition
4.0
A fine bunch of creepy stories! I especially like Mr. Justice Harbottle--scary stuff!
laefe's review against another edition
3.0
Trattasi di una raccolta di racconti "del terrore" (ma dai?), di cui in realtà mi ha appassionato dall'inizio alla fine solo l'ultimo, "Carmilla". Degli altri invece di solito mi piaceva l'inizio, o qualche scena, ma mai tutto, e mai la fine, che lascia per strada l'atmosfera mistica e la tensione per fare una mini cronaca fredda degli avvenimenti.
read247_instyle_inca's review against another edition
3.0
Carmilla alone deserves a 5 star (incredible vampire story that inspired Bram Stoker). However, I felt the rest of the short stories were very repetitive.
gsatori's review against another edition
4.0
I decided to read Sheridan Le Fanu and I do not know what took so long! This Irishman paints some amazing scenes, macabre and tense, and given that these were written some two hundred years ago, they are still able to deliver chills.
"Green Tea" is a profound tale of the outer manifestation of a man's evil, and its theme of sight into a spirit world foreshadows H.P. Lovecraft's "From Beyond. " The story "The Familiar" echoes the first, but delivers a story of retribution. And what is so astonishing about that piece is the protagonist' s inability to pray, and his disbelief in God. A professed athiest!!! In the early 1800s in Ireland. I can't imagine how shocking that would have been for a reading public. And yes, we must take into some consideration the mores and values of when a book was written.
The best story remained "Carmilla." This is an early vampire story, with heavy sexual overtones, and a feeling of dread. It is amazing how well it reads, moving swiftly along to a bloody climax. Loved this book, and I am betting Bram Stoker did too, using many of the vampire conventions used by Fanu in Dracula.
"Green Tea" is a profound tale of the outer manifestation of a man's evil, and its theme of sight into a spirit world foreshadows H.P. Lovecraft's "From Beyond. " The story "The Familiar" echoes the first, but delivers a story of retribution. And what is so astonishing about that piece is the protagonist' s inability to pray, and his disbelief in God. A professed athiest!!! In the early 1800s in Ireland. I can't imagine how shocking that would have been for a reading public. And yes, we must take into some consideration the mores and values of when a book was written.
The best story remained "Carmilla." This is an early vampire story, with heavy sexual overtones, and a feeling of dread. It is amazing how well it reads, moving swiftly along to a bloody climax. Loved this book, and I am betting Bram Stoker did too, using many of the vampire conventions used by Fanu in Dracula.
lindseysparks's review against another edition
3.0
The star of this collection is definitely Carmilla. Predating Bram Stoker's Dracula by about 30 years, this was a chilling story about a lesbian vampire. Who didn't sparkle or fall in love. It's not as well developed as Dracula, but it's also much shorter so that makes sense.
I liked the first story, about a demonic monkey/hallucination partly caused by drinking too much green tea. 😂 The next two stories were too similar to this one.
The fourth story was good, but it needed to either be shorter or longer with more character development. It didn't really get good until the end but then had a great payoff.
I liked the first story, about a demonic monkey/hallucination partly caused by drinking too much green tea. 😂 The next two stories were too similar to this one.
The fourth story was good, but it needed to either be shorter or longer with more character development. It didn't really get good until the end but then had a great payoff.