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Post by helrunar on Jan 21, 2020 4:14:40 GMT
Lord Dunsany - "Autumn Cricket" is a rather sweet little tale that I either read before, or possibly read a kind of short homage to it in one of Simon Raven's novels (I've read so many of the latter now I have rather lost track). After reading it I looked up Dr W. G. Grace on the interwebs and found this interesting photo from 1899. It was a nice surprise to see that an Indian player was seated right next to the great Grace... guest of honor or international cricket star of 1899? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._G._Grace#/media/File:Gents-v-Players-1899.jpgI think the Indian gent may have been mentioned as well in one of Raven's books. Cricket is one of Raven's important themes, along with others for which I have a higher degree of reading comprehension, such as ancient Mediterranean mythology, art history, magical folklore and modern homosexual peccadillos. The Dunsany story could go in a nonexistent category with a label that would possibly read "sport and nostalgic supernatural evocations." One of the most surprising authors to show up in one of these books is V. S. Pritchett. "A Story of Don Juan" is written as if an episode of a picaresque novel (which it may well have been). Chilling isn't quite the mot juste for the final paragraph but it did make me shudder briefly. Jonathan Curling "The Restless Rest-house" was, I thought, much more successful than Curling's contribution to the Third Ghost Book. The setting is colonial (or imminently post-colonial) Africa... the interest is more ethnographic than horrific but there is a genuine supernatural manifestation to be found (not always the case with Asquith's selections). L. A. G. Strong's "Danse Macabre" is yet another telling of a story that will be familiar to most Vault residents. I thought it was effectively told without undue shillyshallying before coming round to the "big reveal" (which won't be surprising at all to the even moderately experienced reader). H.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Jan 21, 2020 9:10:15 GMT
Something called Parrish's Food was mentioned in this story and another tale (I forget which one; might have been in volume 3). I found this interesting short note about Parrish's Food: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1113565/Quote: The formula for the food was given in the 1859 edition as protosulphate of iron, phosphate of soda, phosphate of lime, phosphoric acid, carbonate of soda, carbonate of potassa, muriatic acid, water of ammonia, powdered cochineal, water, sugar, and orange-flower water.Now that's horror. H. Actually it was even more horrific than that. According to "The Illustrated Family Doctor" of 1934, Parrish's Syrup (by which name it was also known) "is a useful tonic, especially for children, and is given in doses of 1/2 to 2 drachms, frequently in conjunction with cod liver oil..." As if being ill already wasn't bad enough for the wretched child. Over the years I've owned a number of ancient medical tomes and the pompous certainty with which stuff that we now know to be dangerous garbage is wheeled out could definitely trigger any number of horror stories. I have a sneaking suspicion that folks in the 22nd century will say much the same about today's medical textbooks though.
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Post by Dr Strange on Jan 21, 2020 16:49:44 GMT
Lord Dunsany - "Autumn Cricket" is a rather sweet little tale that I either read before, or possibly read a kind of short homage to it in one of Simon Raven's novels (I've read so many of the latter now I have rather lost track). After reading it I looked up Dr W. G. Grace on the interwebs and found this interesting photo from 1899. It was a nice surprise to see that an Indian player was seated right next to the great Grace... guest of honor or international cricket star of 1899? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._G._Grace#/media/File:Gents-v-Players-1899.jpgI think the Indian gent may have been mentioned as well in one of Raven's books. That is Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji (1872-1933), aka Kumar Shri (“Honourable Prince”) Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji. From wikipedia: Often known as Ranji, he was the ruler of the Indian princely state of Nawanagar from 1907 to 1933, and a noted Test cricketer who played for the English cricket team. He also played first-class cricket for Cambridge University, and county cricket for Sussex. Ranji has widely been regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. Neville Cardus described him as "the Midsummer night's dream of cricket". Unorthodox in technique and with fast reactions, he brought a new style to batting and revolutionised the game. He is particularly associated with one shot, the leg glance, which he invented or popularised. The first-class cricket tournament in India, the Ranji Trophy, was named in his honour.
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Post by andydecker on Mar 6, 2021 13:31:26 GMT
While searching for information about translated editions I stumbled upon this. I only read the intro by Bowen so far which I thought interesting when I discovered it was from 1952. Bowen already writes about the "modern times", out with the castles and moors, in with high-rises and air conditioning. If asked I would have put such thoughts typically ten years later. The translation appeared late. A hardcover in 1971, this paperback in 1973. There are a three stories missing,Whistler, Dunsany and Curling.
I like the titel. It could be translated as "reaction time" or "moment of shock". The small title is "From the Ghost Cabinet of Lady Cynthia Asquith". The publisher did a few such anthologies at the time, some Haining and a few original collections with ghost stories from Russia, the Baltic and South-America. No pulp, but literary fiction.
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Post by andydecker on Apr 17, 2021 10:36:01 GMT
Here is the hardcover version of Lady Cynthia Asquith. It is from 1971 and I got it online for 2 Euros which is a good example how sought after these books are. Of course sometimes sellers want a lot more, but if you can wait, you get it cheap. Wunderlich Verlag, 1971,319 pages
It is a nice edition.
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rhages
New Face In Hell
Posts: 1
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Post by rhages on Sept 23, 2023 23:27:59 GMT
Dem Bones: "The first three Ghost books are always trotted out as 'classics', to be worshipped on the same pedestal as the Robert Aickman-edited Fontana Book of Ghost Stories, but neither series are without their share of bland, desperately dull make-weights, though there's probably a law against saying so".
There's no law, but if you want to demonstrate even a rudimentary level of intelligence and taste, then it would be better not to say so.
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Post by andydecker on Sept 25, 2023 7:45:04 GMT
Dem Bones: "The first three Ghost books are always trotted out as 'classics', to be worshipped on the same pedestal as the Robert Aickman-edited Fontana Book of Ghost Stories, but neither series are without their share of bland, desperately dull make-weights, though there's probably a law against saying so". There's no law, but if you want to demonstrate even a rudimentary level of intelligence and taste, then it would be better not to say so. Don't liking irony is no excuse for trollish behavior.
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