Post by tomkent on Oct 20, 2010 15:28:26 GMT 1
Or more specifically the BBC Radio4 readings by Derek Jacobi. Great stories read by a brilliant thespian who gets them. They are available on itunes as audiobooks and well worth a listen (the full cast versions less so).
Seriously, name an MR James story that was not pitched just right for a short, sharp, shocking morality tale? I haven't found one. There are too many recurring themes (objects being "protected" from the idle or curious by vengeful spirits seems to be a running theme in too man) but they tend to be written with a flourish, and they found a lot of room with in the formula. a man inheriting binoculars that let you see the world through the eyes of the dead. A holidaying historian taking a souvenier from a saxon burial on the south coast. A knight templar who wants his memento back. Coins scribed with intriguing latin phrases that doom the unwary owner. And best of all, a picture of a gothic house with a skeletal figure that crawls closer and closer to the viewer each time he looks...
Seriously, name an MR James story that was not pitched just right for a short, sharp, shocking morality tale? I haven't found one. There are too many recurring themes (objects being "protected" from the idle or curious by vengeful spirits seems to be a running theme in too man) but they tend to be written with a flourish, and they found a lot of room with in the formula. a man inheriting binoculars that let you see the world through the eyes of the dead. A holidaying historian taking a souvenier from a saxon burial on the south coast. A knight templar who wants his memento back. Coins scribed with intriguing latin phrases that doom the unwary owner. And best of all, a picture of a gothic house with a skeletal figure that crawls closer and closer to the viewer each time he looks...
