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Defeated Dogs
This book is the fifth original fiction collection from one of the true eccentrics of modern British writing - stories that blend erudite skill and a startling emotional intensity, classical elegance and unexpected experimentation, sophisticated miserablism and innocent beauty. A fairy tale as dark as they come amid a shattering clash of two opposing and poisoned personalities. A Meyrink-tinged dream of atavism and Italy that awakens the dreamer to philosophy and fate. A quiet and perfectly observed journey through the far reaches of Japan. Myth-working fantasy haunted by the motley ghosts of Lord Dunsany and Matsuo Basho, and by the imps of postmodernism. A vision of the afterlife where heaven and hell are entwined in torturous symbiosis. The sinister Black Dog folklore re-imagined as a cosmology of thanatophobia. For all the diversity of styles in evidence, they are united by the author's distinctive voice - a window into a crepuscular human world torn between magic and reality, earth and infinity.
Contents:
- Introduction by Brendan Connell
- The Fairy Killer
- Dreamspace
- Tzimtzum
- Sado-ga-shima
- The Gay Wolf
- The Temple
- Lilo
- Non-Attachment
- The Broadsands Eyrie
- The Gwyllgi of the Lost Lanes
Contents:
- Introduction by Brendan Connell
- The Fairy Killer
- Dreamspace
- Tzimtzum
- Sado-ga-shima
- The Gay Wolf
- The Temple
- Lilo
- Non-Attachment
- The Broadsands Eyrie
- The Gwyllgi of the Lost Lanes
- GenresFictionShort Stories
320 pages, Paperback
First published April 20, 2013
2 people are currently reading
93 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 17, 2022
the lonely boy made a friend: a thick and furry black cloak, dog-haired but human-shaped and human-sized, and deep as the abyss when looking inside. the boy would wear his friend with a strange sort of pride, until it felt like the boy was not himself without the cloak; eventually the boy became indivisible from cloak, from his life companion. he felt like he could disappear into it, and he loved that feeling. where did the cloak start and where did the boy end? the boy's friend was once named Depression, but soon enough, it took on a new name: Muse.
this a hodgepodge collection of varying value, but with consistently high-quality writing. as has been noted before, Crisp is a painter with his prose. distance and a certain chill, a studied lack of passion, are also defining attributes. all combine into a thoughtful voice that is occasionally quite self-indulgent, but more often becomingly restrained. another virtue: even when exploring the darkest of emotional states, Crisp's ability to use words in eye-opening ways usually kept me charmed, or at least engaged. many times I paused just to repeat a phrase that described something in a way I'd never seen before, but somehow felt perfect in that moment. a lovely way with words. the author certainly has a talent for pretty nihilism.
3.5 stars. favorites in bold.
"The Fairy Killer" - it's fey child versus rationalist uncle in this story composed of floral notes, wintry atmosphere, mesmerizing displays of color, and mushroomy flights of fantasy. or are these actually fantasies? this is a delicate and satisfying tale that combines menace and wistfulness in equal measures. an author in full command of his effects.
"Dreamspace" - a father takes his daughter to an extremely hallucinatory bouncy castle. human warmth and hope are portrayed alongside irrational peril and death. I've never read a story like this one before. very impressive. sad as well, so I appreciated the small light at the end of this tunnel.
"Tzimtzum" - this angsty, jarring dream journey was unbearably pretentious and eventually unreadable. a real disappointment after the strength of the preceding stories.
"Sado-ga-shima" - Crisp recovers well in this autobiographical rumination on a visit to a lonely Japanese island. this was beautifully written and the details prosaic but still marvelously eerie. the perspective is an absorbing one: the author's view of this place seems to combine condescension, distaste, and eventually an almost inchoate longing for something he's not sure he even understands. the black dog certainly was a co-writer.
"The Gay Wolf" - the black dog of depression and alienation takes physical shape in this meta interrogation of the author's own unhappiness and lack of connection to the wider world, and to love. this was fascinating (and sad). felt like eavesdropping on a therapy session and so it provided me with a greater insight into this person Quentin S. Crisp. I was reminded of similar demonstrations of self-excoriation by Truman Capote, minus that author's egomania.
"The Temple" - slight but involving depiction of a jungle temple, its fearsome guardian, and the non-being that dwells there. felt rather like a prose poem at times. hopefully not a straight-up metaphor for Religion, because if so, then it is a rather heavy-handed one. but let's hope it's not!
"Lilo" - Glenn lives in peaceful bliss with his wife, in his ski chalet, near his two friends. it is a lovely existence, full of a gentle satisfaction with his body and mind, with the comforting coziness of his life, with his own immortality. but there are unsettling currents in this world that Glenn recognizes but is only barely able to understand. perhaps because Glenn is but a plastic doll, living in a virtual reality? this is a dreamy story with a bitter bite. I'm glad that Crisp minimized The Matrix elements and instead focused on Glenn's mental state in this virtual world, life as a perfect man in a place perfectly designed to enable that feeling of perfection, forever. Glenn is both victim and enabler.
"Non-Attachment" - Lec in Purgatory: he has resisted the lures of the Temptations, but will he be able to swallow his fears and allow the whirling blades of Non-Attachment to descend upon him? crystalline prose, an ambiguous setting, spiritual themes to contemplate... I loved this.
"The Broadsands Eyrie" - a memoir on the nature of life, loss, and lack of love. this was the third autobiographical non-story; I think it was a mistake to include it in the same collection as the first two. it felt self-indulgent, self-pitying, intolerably self-absorbed. or maybe I'm just tired of ruminations and therefore feeling not so generous. the writing itself is perfectly fine, often evocative.
"The Gwyllgi of the Lost Lanes" - the black dog takes (meta)physical form again, this time as a menacing harbinger of death. perhaps the most traditional story in the collection, which is no critique. shades of Aickman and M.R. James, with the former's focus on prosaic normality turning disquieting and abnormal, and the latter's fondness for exploring the inexplicable fates in store for those who look too long, or just long enough, in the wrong places.
this a hodgepodge collection of varying value, but with consistently high-quality writing. as has been noted before, Crisp is a painter with his prose. distance and a certain chill, a studied lack of passion, are also defining attributes. all combine into a thoughtful voice that is occasionally quite self-indulgent, but more often becomingly restrained. another virtue: even when exploring the darkest of emotional states, Crisp's ability to use words in eye-opening ways usually kept me charmed, or at least engaged. many times I paused just to repeat a phrase that described something in a way I'd never seen before, but somehow felt perfect in that moment. a lovely way with words. the author certainly has a talent for pretty nihilism.
3.5 stars. favorites in bold.
"The Fairy Killer" - it's fey child versus rationalist uncle in this story composed of floral notes, wintry atmosphere, mesmerizing displays of color, and mushroomy flights of fantasy. or are these actually fantasies? this is a delicate and satisfying tale that combines menace and wistfulness in equal measures. an author in full command of his effects.
"Dreamspace" - a father takes his daughter to an extremely hallucinatory bouncy castle. human warmth and hope are portrayed alongside irrational peril and death. I've never read a story like this one before. very impressive. sad as well, so I appreciated the small light at the end of this tunnel.
"Tzimtzum" - this angsty, jarring dream journey was unbearably pretentious and eventually unreadable. a real disappointment after the strength of the preceding stories.
"Sado-ga-shima" - Crisp recovers well in this autobiographical rumination on a visit to a lonely Japanese island. this was beautifully written and the details prosaic but still marvelously eerie. the perspective is an absorbing one: the author's view of this place seems to combine condescension, distaste, and eventually an almost inchoate longing for something he's not sure he even understands. the black dog certainly was a co-writer.
"The Gay Wolf" - the black dog of depression and alienation takes physical shape in this meta interrogation of the author's own unhappiness and lack of connection to the wider world, and to love. this was fascinating (and sad). felt like eavesdropping on a therapy session and so it provided me with a greater insight into this person Quentin S. Crisp. I was reminded of similar demonstrations of self-excoriation by Truman Capote, minus that author's egomania.
"The Temple" - slight but involving depiction of a jungle temple, its fearsome guardian, and the non-being that dwells there. felt rather like a prose poem at times. hopefully not a straight-up metaphor for Religion, because if so, then it is a rather heavy-handed one. but let's hope it's not!
"Lilo" - Glenn lives in peaceful bliss with his wife, in his ski chalet, near his two friends. it is a lovely existence, full of a gentle satisfaction with his body and mind, with the comforting coziness of his life, with his own immortality. but there are unsettling currents in this world that Glenn recognizes but is only barely able to understand. perhaps because Glenn is but a plastic doll, living in a virtual reality? this is a dreamy story with a bitter bite. I'm glad that Crisp minimized The Matrix elements and instead focused on Glenn's mental state in this virtual world, life as a perfect man in a place perfectly designed to enable that feeling of perfection, forever. Glenn is both victim and enabler.
"Non-Attachment" - Lec in Purgatory: he has resisted the lures of the Temptations, but will he be able to swallow his fears and allow the whirling blades of Non-Attachment to descend upon him? crystalline prose, an ambiguous setting, spiritual themes to contemplate... I loved this.
"The Broadsands Eyrie" - a memoir on the nature of life, loss, and lack of love. this was the third autobiographical non-story; I think it was a mistake to include it in the same collection as the first two. it felt self-indulgent, self-pitying, intolerably self-absorbed. or maybe I'm just tired of ruminations and therefore feeling not so generous. the writing itself is perfectly fine, often evocative.
"The Gwyllgi of the Lost Lanes" - the black dog takes (meta)physical form again, this time as a menacing harbinger of death. perhaps the most traditional story in the collection, which is no critique. shades of Aickman and M.R. James, with the former's focus on prosaic normality turning disquieting and abnormal, and the latter's fondness for exploring the inexplicable fates in store for those who look too long, or just long enough, in the wrong places.
January 19, 2021
I spoke earlier of the ‘purple patches’ of John Cowper Powys and indeed he sometimes out-purpled his own purple (please see my review of his novel ‘The Inmates’) – and I don’t know whether QSCrisp has read Powys, but he, too, can out-purple his own purple, out-Powys his own Powys, but with a more dependable degree, I feel, of empathy and non-grossness. QSC’s adjectival phrases like ‘eerie-solemn’, ‘hag-ancient’ and elsewhere in this book, ‘ivory-nervous’, are just one type of example. These two authors’ respective intense personal mysticisms are not identical to each other in subject-matter but are blood-brothers in sumptuous texture and spiritual ‘O Altitudo’. This QSC story is an intensely rarefied treatment (Proustian as well as Powysian) of the narrator’s boyhood memories, factored into unrequited love (and this book’s underlying theme of ‘unrequited writing’?) – and dreams, magic, love, ex oriental & ex occidente.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.
January 17, 2022
QSC’s most recent collection of short stories and his most stylistically eccentric and genre-diverse collection yet. Ranging from memoir, the weird tale, travelogue, science fiction, fantasy in two flavours: dark and Dunsanyian, it’s a rich and varied assortment of expertly crafted short fiction.
One of the many highlights is Sado-Ga-Shima - it reads as straight memoir of a couple of disquieting days sightseeing on a backwater Japanese island. I say straight memoir, and it certainly feels like memoir with its depiction of granular level reality, but it’s interesting to see how a writer mines personal experience and transforms it through language. QSC generates a rich atmosphere of sinister dread from this sparse island and its sporadic inhabitants, this is reality twisted through a paranoid lens and as disturbing as the very best of weird fiction.
One of the many highlights is Sado-Ga-Shima - it reads as straight memoir of a couple of disquieting days sightseeing on a backwater Japanese island. I say straight memoir, and it certainly feels like memoir with its depiction of granular level reality, but it’s interesting to see how a writer mines personal experience and transforms it through language. QSC generates a rich atmosphere of sinister dread from this sparse island and its sporadic inhabitants, this is reality twisted through a paranoid lens and as disturbing as the very best of weird fiction.
May 18, 2013
A diverse and wonderfully eccentric book of stories, all beautifully written. Those who are familiar with Crisp's previous work will no doubt know that he's one of the most original and elegant voices currently writing in English. Read and relish.
September 1, 2013
Originally published at Risingshadow.
Quentin S. Crisp's Defeated Dogs is one of the best short story collection's I've ever read, and it's definitely one of the best collections of the year, because it contains beautifully written stories that demonstrate how good and versatile an author Quentin S. Crisp is (I read this collection twice before I began to write this review, because all the stories deserved to be read twice). I was very impressed with the author's prose and imagination.
I first read Quentin S. Crisp a couple of years ago and I immediately liked his stories. I recently read The Cutest Girl in Class, which he co-wrote with Brendan Connell and Justin Isis, and I liked it too. I'm glad that I had a chance to read this new collection, because he's an excellent author who has plenty of imagination.
I think it's possible to say that Quentin S. Crisp is one of the best kept secrets of British speculative fiction, because not many readers have heard of him. Hopefully this collection will bring him more publicity, because his stories will be of interest to several speculative fiction readers. He is one of those authors whose stories will haunt readers for a long time after reading them.
Defeated Dogs contains an interesting introduction (written by Brendan Connell) and the following stories (the stories range from short stories to novella-length stories):
- The Fairy Killer
- Dreamspace
- Tzimtzum
- Sado-ga-shima
- The Gay Wolf (previously unpublished)
- The Temple
- Lilo (previously unpublished)
- Non-Attachment
- The Broadsands Eyrie (previously unpublished)
- The Gwyllgi of the Lost Lanes (previously unpublished)
Quentin S. Crisp's prose is beautifully descriptive, vivid and surprisingly observant. He fluently combines elegance, emotionality, magic, mysticism, fantasy, dark fantasy and horror in his stories. He writes beautiful, dark and a bit bleak stories and uses fantasy elements in a modern and fresh way. His observations about different places, people and happenings are wonderfully nuanced and full of small details. His literary and observant prose adds a fascinating element of deepness to his stories.
Quentin S. Crisp's prose can be best described as elegant and sophisticated. His prose isn't simple, but it isn't too heavy either - it somehow manages to be both and that's one of the reasons why it feels wonderfully invigorating to read his stories. His prose is so beautiful - and at times even poetic and tragic - that I have to mention that I love his prose very much. I've always liked good and well written prose, so I instantly liked the prose in these stories.
Another reason why I like the Quentin S. Crisp's prose is that he has added interesting philosophical elements to his stories. These elements add depth to the stories. For example, The Gay Wolf contains philosophical elements, because the conversations with the creature are interesting and reveal hidden feelings and longings.
Quentin S. Crisp is an author who has an ability to transfer his readers temporarily to another world with his stories. I've always considered this to be a sign of an excellent author, because only the best authors are able to write this kind of stories. I think that all readers who read these stories will forget everything else for a while and will be fascinated, impressed and even shocked by what happens in them.
Certain stories in this collection contain fantastic echoes of Lord Dunsany and his lush prose. These stories also reminded a bit of the stories written by Brendan Connell, David Rix, Nina Allan and D. P. Watt. There are also echoes of other authors, but Quentin S. Crisp has a voice of his own, because he has a distinct writing style that separates him from other authors. Although his stories are complex, they're easy to read and offer the reader a unique reading experience.
There may be readers who are not familiar with the black dog folklore, so I think it's good to say a few words about it, because understanding this folklore helps to understand certain elements in The Gwyllgi of the Lost Lanes. The black dog is a nocturnal apparition that has been regarded as a portent of death. Black dog is larger than a normal dog and is said to have glowing eyes. More information about black dog folklore can be easily found from the internet.
The Gwyllgi of the Lost Lanes gets an honorary mention from me. It's a fascinatingly dark story that contains echoes of M. R. James, Robert Aickmann and even H. P. Lovecraft (The Hound). The author has created a perfect atmosphere and writes well about the happenings. The clairvoyance session added a nice touch of weirdness to this story. The Gwyllgi of the Lost Lanes is a perfect and creepy horror story in all the possible ways.
The Fairy Killer is one of the best and most powerful stories in this collection. It's an unforgettable story about a young girl, Faye, who believes in fairies. Faye is a bit odd child and her parents have noticed it. She has trouble getting along with her uncles Jamie. Her belief in fairies, her problems with uncle Jamie and what happens after a strong disagreement with uncle Jamie about fairies, form the core of this story. The ending of this story brilliantly disturbing.
The Fairy Killer is an impressive combination of innocence, brutality and deception. I'm sure that everybody who reads this story will be impressed by the author's ability to describe how Faye feels about her uncle and his actions. She's an innocent girl who does what she has to do and doesn't feel any remorse about her actions.
The Temple is a fascinating fable-like fantasy story that reminds me of Lord Dunsany's stories. I'm not sure if other readers will be able to notice this, but in my opinion this story is also slightly reminiscent of H. P. Lovecraft's The Doom That Came to Sarnath and The Quest of Iranon. It's a beautifully written story about a mysterious temple in the woods and its guardian.
The author's interest in Japan and Japanese culture can be seen in Sado-ga-shima. It's a surprisingly personal account of events that happen in faraway Japan. It's a totally immersive and compelling story that reads like a travel documentary, but it's much more than that. The author writes about the atmosphere and the happenings in a fluent and fascinating way and lets the reader immerse himself/herself in the story. In my opinion Sado-ga-shima is a remarkable story that will hook readers immediately when they begin to read it.
Tzimtzum is a fascinating story, because it was originally published in Cinnabar's Gnosis: A Homage to Gustav Meyrink (Ex Occidente Press, 2009). I think that most readers know who Gustav Meyrink is, but I think it's good to mention that he was an Austrian author and most famous for his novel Golem. I think that Tzimtzum will be of interest to readers who like Meyrink, but other readers will also like it. I personally liked this story very much.
The Gay Wolf is a surprisingly strong story that has plenty of emotional depth. It has a fascinating dream-like quality to it, because a wolf-like creature visits the protagonist, and the protagonist dreams of the creature. In this story the author writes amazingly well about the wolf-like creature's life and what he means to the protagonist. This story is one of the most unforgettable stories I've read during the last couple of years.
Lilo is an intriguing story about Glenn who is a plastic doll and immortal. This story grows slowly into an interesting examination of Glenn's feelings, life and existence. I like the way the author writes about Glenn's life, his girlfriend and his immortality, because he explores these things perfectly. There are fascinating signs of underlying bleakness in this story.
Dreamspace, Non-Attachment and The Broadsands Eyrie are beautifully written stories that compliment the other stories and demonstrate the author's ability to write different kind of stories. Dreamspace is an interesting story about how a father and a daughter visit a new kind of a "bouncy castle" called Dreamspace. Non-Attachment is a fantastic story about getting into Heaven. The Broadsands Eyrie is an enthralling story about dreams, magic and love that will seduce the reader with beautiful prose (the author's descriptions of the Broadsands beach are beautiful).
I liked all the stories in this collection, but my favourite stories were The Fairy Killer, Sago-ga-shima, The Gwyllgi of the Lost Lanes, The Broadsands Eyrie, The Gay Wolf, The Temple and Lilo. The best story in this collection is without a doubt The Fairy Killer, because it's a dark and disturbing fairy tale for adults. It made a huge impression on me. The Gwyllgi of the Lost Lanes also gets full points from me for being an excellent horror story.
I give this collection full five stars, because it contains hauntingly beautiful stories and excellent prose. If you like beautifully written speculative fiction and want to read good stories and wonderfully observant prose, you must read this collection, because you won't be disappointed by it. This collection is a literary marvel and an unforgettable reading experience that should be treasured and cherished by as many readers as possible.
Very highly recommended!
Quentin S. Crisp's Defeated Dogs is one of the best short story collection's I've ever read, and it's definitely one of the best collections of the year, because it contains beautifully written stories that demonstrate how good and versatile an author Quentin S. Crisp is (I read this collection twice before I began to write this review, because all the stories deserved to be read twice). I was very impressed with the author's prose and imagination.
I first read Quentin S. Crisp a couple of years ago and I immediately liked his stories. I recently read The Cutest Girl in Class, which he co-wrote with Brendan Connell and Justin Isis, and I liked it too. I'm glad that I had a chance to read this new collection, because he's an excellent author who has plenty of imagination.
I think it's possible to say that Quentin S. Crisp is one of the best kept secrets of British speculative fiction, because not many readers have heard of him. Hopefully this collection will bring him more publicity, because his stories will be of interest to several speculative fiction readers. He is one of those authors whose stories will haunt readers for a long time after reading them.
Defeated Dogs contains an interesting introduction (written by Brendan Connell) and the following stories (the stories range from short stories to novella-length stories):
- The Fairy Killer
- Dreamspace
- Tzimtzum
- Sado-ga-shima
- The Gay Wolf (previously unpublished)
- The Temple
- Lilo (previously unpublished)
- Non-Attachment
- The Broadsands Eyrie (previously unpublished)
- The Gwyllgi of the Lost Lanes (previously unpublished)
Quentin S. Crisp's prose is beautifully descriptive, vivid and surprisingly observant. He fluently combines elegance, emotionality, magic, mysticism, fantasy, dark fantasy and horror in his stories. He writes beautiful, dark and a bit bleak stories and uses fantasy elements in a modern and fresh way. His observations about different places, people and happenings are wonderfully nuanced and full of small details. His literary and observant prose adds a fascinating element of deepness to his stories.
Quentin S. Crisp's prose can be best described as elegant and sophisticated. His prose isn't simple, but it isn't too heavy either - it somehow manages to be both and that's one of the reasons why it feels wonderfully invigorating to read his stories. His prose is so beautiful - and at times even poetic and tragic - that I have to mention that I love his prose very much. I've always liked good and well written prose, so I instantly liked the prose in these stories.
Another reason why I like the Quentin S. Crisp's prose is that he has added interesting philosophical elements to his stories. These elements add depth to the stories. For example, The Gay Wolf contains philosophical elements, because the conversations with the creature are interesting and reveal hidden feelings and longings.
Quentin S. Crisp is an author who has an ability to transfer his readers temporarily to another world with his stories. I've always considered this to be a sign of an excellent author, because only the best authors are able to write this kind of stories. I think that all readers who read these stories will forget everything else for a while and will be fascinated, impressed and even shocked by what happens in them.
Certain stories in this collection contain fantastic echoes of Lord Dunsany and his lush prose. These stories also reminded a bit of the stories written by Brendan Connell, David Rix, Nina Allan and D. P. Watt. There are also echoes of other authors, but Quentin S. Crisp has a voice of his own, because he has a distinct writing style that separates him from other authors. Although his stories are complex, they're easy to read and offer the reader a unique reading experience.
There may be readers who are not familiar with the black dog folklore, so I think it's good to say a few words about it, because understanding this folklore helps to understand certain elements in The Gwyllgi of the Lost Lanes. The black dog is a nocturnal apparition that has been regarded as a portent of death. Black dog is larger than a normal dog and is said to have glowing eyes. More information about black dog folklore can be easily found from the internet.
The Gwyllgi of the Lost Lanes gets an honorary mention from me. It's a fascinatingly dark story that contains echoes of M. R. James, Robert Aickmann and even H. P. Lovecraft (The Hound). The author has created a perfect atmosphere and writes well about the happenings. The clairvoyance session added a nice touch of weirdness to this story. The Gwyllgi of the Lost Lanes is a perfect and creepy horror story in all the possible ways.
The Fairy Killer is one of the best and most powerful stories in this collection. It's an unforgettable story about a young girl, Faye, who believes in fairies. Faye is a bit odd child and her parents have noticed it. She has trouble getting along with her uncles Jamie. Her belief in fairies, her problems with uncle Jamie and what happens after a strong disagreement with uncle Jamie about fairies, form the core of this story. The ending of this story brilliantly disturbing.
The Fairy Killer is an impressive combination of innocence, brutality and deception. I'm sure that everybody who reads this story will be impressed by the author's ability to describe how Faye feels about her uncle and his actions. She's an innocent girl who does what she has to do and doesn't feel any remorse about her actions.
The Temple is a fascinating fable-like fantasy story that reminds me of Lord Dunsany's stories. I'm not sure if other readers will be able to notice this, but in my opinion this story is also slightly reminiscent of H. P. Lovecraft's The Doom That Came to Sarnath and The Quest of Iranon. It's a beautifully written story about a mysterious temple in the woods and its guardian.
The author's interest in Japan and Japanese culture can be seen in Sado-ga-shima. It's a surprisingly personal account of events that happen in faraway Japan. It's a totally immersive and compelling story that reads like a travel documentary, but it's much more than that. The author writes about the atmosphere and the happenings in a fluent and fascinating way and lets the reader immerse himself/herself in the story. In my opinion Sado-ga-shima is a remarkable story that will hook readers immediately when they begin to read it.
Tzimtzum is a fascinating story, because it was originally published in Cinnabar's Gnosis: A Homage to Gustav Meyrink (Ex Occidente Press, 2009). I think that most readers know who Gustav Meyrink is, but I think it's good to mention that he was an Austrian author and most famous for his novel Golem. I think that Tzimtzum will be of interest to readers who like Meyrink, but other readers will also like it. I personally liked this story very much.
The Gay Wolf is a surprisingly strong story that has plenty of emotional depth. It has a fascinating dream-like quality to it, because a wolf-like creature visits the protagonist, and the protagonist dreams of the creature. In this story the author writes amazingly well about the wolf-like creature's life and what he means to the protagonist. This story is one of the most unforgettable stories I've read during the last couple of years.
Lilo is an intriguing story about Glenn who is a plastic doll and immortal. This story grows slowly into an interesting examination of Glenn's feelings, life and existence. I like the way the author writes about Glenn's life, his girlfriend and his immortality, because he explores these things perfectly. There are fascinating signs of underlying bleakness in this story.
Dreamspace, Non-Attachment and The Broadsands Eyrie are beautifully written stories that compliment the other stories and demonstrate the author's ability to write different kind of stories. Dreamspace is an interesting story about how a father and a daughter visit a new kind of a "bouncy castle" called Dreamspace. Non-Attachment is a fantastic story about getting into Heaven. The Broadsands Eyrie is an enthralling story about dreams, magic and love that will seduce the reader with beautiful prose (the author's descriptions of the Broadsands beach are beautiful).
I liked all the stories in this collection, but my favourite stories were The Fairy Killer, Sago-ga-shima, The Gwyllgi of the Lost Lanes, The Broadsands Eyrie, The Gay Wolf, The Temple and Lilo. The best story in this collection is without a doubt The Fairy Killer, because it's a dark and disturbing fairy tale for adults. It made a huge impression on me. The Gwyllgi of the Lost Lanes also gets full points from me for being an excellent horror story.
I give this collection full five stars, because it contains hauntingly beautiful stories and excellent prose. If you like beautifully written speculative fiction and want to read good stories and wonderfully observant prose, you must read this collection, because you won't be disappointed by it. This collection is a literary marvel and an unforgettable reading experience that should be treasured and cherished by as many readers as possible.
Very highly recommended!
March 23, 2014
The stories are varied and he doesn't just assume the conventions of past narative but justifies its usage in any particular story eg the last, which is so well done I was expecting an emotional effect at the end but I suppose that's difficult to come by reading fiction where an actor isn't easing identification and suspension of disbelief as on TV. (If ever the author is giving a reading, do go to it, because he justifies book readings with his.) I went back to Sado on my inability to explain my lack of emotional response to The Gwyllgi, where I did get the on-his-four-legs bit among dogs, where, much as I liked it, I thought the author perhaps a little bit straining for a conclusion. I'd excise the last six lines and end on the note of despair at 'it is all one'; but I'm all too aware of my presumption in saying this of an admirable book of short stories by an accomplished author whose inventiveness is to be wondered at. Nonetheless, he should avoid inviting the answer 'yes' to his question, is the mystery of that silence an empty mystery? and leave it to the reader to be feeling a mystery of silence if he's inculcated it. I loved the plasticity of Lilo.
May 16, 2014
Es más un 3.75, que conste, pero porque yo a este le pido la luna.
Tengo un blog y no sé cómo usarlo, así que me he enrollado sobre lo divino y lo humano con la excusa de haber leído a este señor:
http://monsieurvenus.wordpress.com/20...
No volveré a hacer spam, palabrita de elfo.
Tengo un blog y no sé cómo usarlo, así que me he enrollado sobre lo divino y lo humano con la excusa de haber leído a este señor:
http://monsieurvenus.wordpress.com/20...
No volveré a hacer spam, palabrita de elfo.
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