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Post by dem bones on Jun 22, 2010 8:21:03 GMT
I read elsewhere that it is thought by some to be a vampire story & that's yet another aspect of it that went over my head. It's not the first time that's happened, though - there's a Robert Aickman vampire tale where I completely missed that it was one as well! Would that be The Insufficient Answer, Lord P? Vampire bibliographers have included it in their listings for years and I think in this instance they're probably right. Young Cust is sent to Slovenia to interview reclusive sculptress Lola Hastings, and discovers the Schloss Mariantonio to be a very weird set up indeed, almost the the Hospice with a full-on Gothic makeover, cells, tombs, etc. The alleged key to the story is Miss Franklin's reference to Whitby in her fever delirium which suggests that the imprisoned model Felicity is a victim of Dracula (!). Doubtless all this would have passed me by were it not for a comment on the episode in Bleiler's Guide To Supernatural Fiction which I knew of before i tackled the story. monker, am with you on All Hallows. I also struggled with what some critics claim to be his masterpiece in the field, Out Of The Deep, although I really should reread both before attempting any kind of comment. Have a feeling he's another author whose work is best appreciated when encountered in anthologies, or at least, am not sure I could read an entire de la Mare collection one story after the other.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jun 22, 2010 9:56:13 GMT
I read elsewhere that it is thought by some to be a vampire story & that's yet another aspect of it that went over my head. It's not the first time that's happened, though - there's a Robert Aickman vampire tale where I completely missed that it was one as well! Would that be The Insufficient Answer, Lord P? Spot on Mr D! It was some time after I read it that I found its title included in a list of vampire stories and realised it probably was one
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Post by monker on Jun 22, 2010 10:23:14 GMT
monker, i'm with you on All Hallows. i also struggled with what some critics claim to be his masterpiece in the field. I quite liked it, it's just the fact that it left me with the impression that I was missing something. It was all just a few noises, the word of a priest (or whatever he was), who seemed more world weary than frightened, and an apparent stray animal. Inconclusive and possibly allegorical?
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Post by Dr Strange on Jun 23, 2010 10:32:48 GMT
...possibly allegorical? Very likely - I read it again last night, but I am none the wiser. I think it's maybe got something to do with loss of faith, maybe as a reaction to the Great War (as that gets a mention) - the church being surreptitiously taken over and rebuilt by demonic forces is an interesting image though, and I wonder if it's a reference to vicars encouraging men to fight in WW1 with the old "God is on our side" line? The other thing I was struck by is how much it reminded me of Aickman's "The Cicerones" (for obvious reasons).
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