Present Books In Pursuance Of The Wine-Dark Sea
Original Title: | The Wine-Dark Sea |
ISBN: | 0749301724 (ISBN13: 9780749301729) |
Edition Language: | English |
Robert Aickman
Paperback | Pages: 452 pages Rating: 4.1 | 1381 Users | 149 Reviews
Define Epithetical Books The Wine-Dark Sea
Title | : | The Wine-Dark Sea |
Author | : | Robert Aickman |
Book Format | : | Paperback |
Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 452 pages |
Published | : | March 8th 1990 by Mandarin (first published January 1st 1988) |
Categories | : | Horror. Short Stories. Fiction. Fantasy. Weird Fiction. Gothic. Ghost Stories |
Commentary During Books The Wine-Dark Sea
From Publishers WeeklySince his death several years ago, British writer Aickman's reputation has continued to grow among connoisseurs of the horror story. Unlike much of the current form, full of blood, monsters and melodrama, Aickman's stories achieve a quieter, more subtle and, in several ways, more lasting sense of disquiet. His lucid, finely tuned prose moves imperceptibly from the small crises and celebrations of ordinary life into another sphere. In these 11 stories, the occasion may be a walking tour of Northern England, a birthday present of a Victorian dollhouse or a stay at a Swedish sanatorium for insomniacs, but it simultaneously traps the characters with dread and opens them up to a new awareness of a greater, deeper and more dangerous world. A remarkable collection by an author who deserves to be better known.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Rating Epithetical Books The Wine-Dark Sea
Ratings: 4.1 From 1381 Users | 149 ReviewsDiscuss Epithetical Books The Wine-Dark Sea
Robert Aickman wrote long, leisurely, surreal, brilliant horror stories that are absolutely mesmerizing. He was a master of subtle but vital details that come back to haunt you long after you've finished the story.Robert Aickman was not one of the big names in horror during his lifetime and he remains an unfairly neglected author. He won the World Fantasy Award for his story Pages from a Young Girls Journal, which is, ironically, one of his weakest stories (in my opinion, although others seem to like it more than I did). Aickman did not write stories that would make you jump out of your seat in terror. He wrote stories that leave the reader disturbed, with a sense of having had a brush with the uncanny.
Having been a one-time lover of traditional stories by some of the greats of the last century or century and a half, I was much more at home with these tales than I might have been otherwise, assuming that I was in for tales of horror and the macabre.What we have here are subtle tales that evoke more with atmosphere and themes of travel and disturbing discoveries than outright hack and slash.My personal favorite was a retelling of Death in Venice with a particularly fantastical bent and no sign
I picked this up because of the strong, repeated recommendations Neil Gaiman has written of Aickman's work over the past little while. This is not the first time that Gaiman has steered me wrong; despite my great love for his writing, he and I evidently have very different tastes.Aickman is very good at creating an atmosphere of unease, but his language is so proper and restrained even when he is describing sex or murder that it effectively created a wall that kept me from being fully immersed.
A fine collection of quiet horror stories masterfully written. Some of these tales were genuinely wonderful, classics of the genre. and stood out, even amongst their most excellent peers. Highly recommended to fans of intelligent, articulate prose, and quiet, unsettling horror.
This is the third Aickman collection I've read, and like the others, this gets 5 stars.The stories here seem longer than the other two collections I've read and I think that works well for Aickman's style. You can really "settle into" these stories.Aickman's anti-modernist views came through in this collection more clearly than in the previous two I've read. These build throughout and are released poignantly in the final story "Into the Wood."The Wine-Dark Sea - This has a rather familiar theme
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