“You know my powers, my dear Watson, and yet at the end of three months I was forced to confess that I had at last met an antagonist who was my intellectual equal.”
Sherlock Holmes
-The Final Problem
Monthly Archives: August 2012
Book Review: The Omnibus of Crime by Dorothy L. Sayers (Editor)
A memorable trip for readers of the crime/mystery genre. Not all mysteries are human though; there are horror elements as well. You should be mildly ecstatic about this book because you don’t get to read stories like this anymore. More importantly, The Omnibus of Crime comes from our favorite editor Dorothy L. Sayers — an authority on detective fiction. I’d happily sell my new ipad to attend a lecture on detective stories by Mrs. Sayers.
The most attractive part of this epic collection is the Introduction itself. Sayers correctly says that The Omnibus of Crime has a little bit of everything in it. The stories mainly range between 1800s and 1920s (there is one Scottish legend as well), and they give you a bird’s-eye view of the subject. And I agree with Sayers when she writes “Every tale in this book is guaranteed to have puzzled or horrified somebody; with any luck at all, some of them may puzzle and horrify you.” Unfortunately, the collection doesn’t have a story by Sayers, who was quite a writer herself.
The Omnibus of Crime is replete with fascinating old tales; you’ll find haunted stamp albums, a professor being hunted by the last of the Furies, voyage to Mars and lots more. If this doesn’t sound appealing, it’s probably not for you.
Contents: Continue reading
Download ebook: Don Quixote by Cervantes (PDF)
It’s just absurd to review Don Quixote. It’ll suffice to say that Cervantes messes with your head and kicks ass bigtime.
The author maligns his protagonist, makes everyone despise him, and relentlessly passes judgment on Quixote’s failures and flaws in a cynical way. But Cervantes martyrs Quixote in such a dramatic fashion that the hero transcends to the level of a pure and noble individual. Any 500-year old book that can pull that off is worth 950 pages of difficult prose.
The book could have been a bit slimmer, but remember it’s an oldie. Marilyn Monroe might have dropped fifteen pounds to scorch the screen now, but 1950s didn’t demand it. Quixote, no matter how dumb & fat he is, should be on your bookshelf.
Read Don Quixote by Cervantes (PDF)
http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/cervante/quixote.pdf
Book Review: Famous Fantastic Mysteries: Great Tales of Fantasy and Horror from the Classic Pulp Magazines
Famous Fantastic Mysteries offers you 3 novellas and 27 short stories published in two vintage pulp magazines — Fantastic Novels and Famous Fantastic Mysteries – from 1900 to 1950. All pieces come with a brief introduction about the author and a short history of the story itself. Most of these stories can be categorized as horror though a few can be labeled as SF.
For pulp fans, this is a delightful journey. Reading these stories gives you a feeling of travelling in a time machine. It’s like listening to classic radio programs like “Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons”.
You will get to read forgotten pulp masters (like August Derleth) of whom you haven’t read enough. You will also come across some cool writers you haven’t heard of (Robert W. Chambers, Arthur Machen to name a few). And of course, the book features your old favorites like Lovecraft, Robert Bloch, Ray Bradbury, and Arthur C. Clark.
To enjoy this anthology, you need to be in love with the old times and should be game for a high degree of willing suspension of disbelief. Being old stuff, some stories bank on unexplored earth. “Fungus Isle” by Philip M. Fisher is one such example. Yeah, you use Google Earth, but being logical won’t help.
Expect some predictable and clichéd pieces like Max Brand’s “John Ovington Returns”. But these are largely outnumbered by a huge number of remarkable stories, which include E. F. Benson’s “The Outcast” and Howard’s “Worms of the Earth”. Nasty twists and creepy plots keep you well entertained.
Some of the stories are rather common and have been reprinted a number of times; so you might find them in many anthologies. But then, these gems might have been lost if they were not reprinted from time to time.
This is a great treasure for people who are interested in haunting aspects of pulp fiction and will also appeal to curious newbies.
Contents Continue reading
Just Another Cool BookShelf
Have you ever seen a bigger and better personal collection of old Penguin paperbacks? I haven’t, and I’m amazed. Continue reading
The Book Haven 