After all the acrimony on the RCMB Never Again thread I thought I would reread this story. It's in a beautifully produced book from Tartarus Press of the same title. It's an amazing story, elegantly written, with some sly plot twists that take the reader by surprise (but make sense) and an incredibly shocking scene when the protagonist is attacked. A true classic. And a good reminder, after all I have read over the past few days, just how accomplished a writer Mark Samuels really is. Which, when the dust has settled, is what will matter in the end.
As an aside, I love the irreverent descriptions one of the characters in the story gives of Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood.
Hi, David.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's a great story and a great book.
I publicly praised it when it first came out in 2003.
I'd recommend his recent Ex Occidente collection.
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I haven't read his Ex Occidente collection. On the other hand, the cheapest copy I can find is £55!
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