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A review by gsatori
In a Glass Darkly by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
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.