The Haunted Doll's House (Penguin 60s)
by M. R. James, Robert Louis Stevenson
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The Haunted Dolls' House and Other Ghost Stories (Penguin Classics) by M. R. James (2006)Tags
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I've never been a fan of short stories and this book sadly hasn't done much to sway me. I found a whole stack of Pengiun 60's books in a charity shop and i'm off to Paris tomorrow so decided to get a couple for the journey, i didn't want a long book that would need my complete attention or take up space in my bag. So i bought this one and The pit and the dendulum by Edgar Allan Poe which i plan to read on the trip. Out of the three stories Stevenson's The Body Snatchers is defiantly the best. It offers a lot more in such few pages than either of the stories by M R James. Whilst i didn't expect too much from the book, i did actually really enjoy The Body Snatchers. The Doll's House and The Rose Garden however really didn't bring anything show more to the table for me. Maybe its the older style of writing although easy to read and get to grips with, i didn't find myself in suspense or curious or actually bothered about either story at all. Maybe Stevenson is a much better writer but having not read any other books by either author i cant really judge that. I am however glad that a story by Stevenson had been included, it would have been rather disappointing if it hadn't based on the other two short stories. show less
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Novelist, poet, and essayist Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. A sickly child, Stevenson was an invalid for part of his childhood and remained in ill health throughout his life. He began studying engineering at Edinburgh University but soon switched to law. His true inclination, however, was for writing. For several years show more after completing his studies, Stevenson traveled on the Continent, gathering ideas for his writing. His Inland Voyage (1878) and Travels with a Donkey (1878) describe some of his experiences there. A variety of essays and short stories followed, most of which were published in magazines. It was with the publication of Treasure Island in 1883, however, that Stevenson achieved wide recognition and fame. This was followed by his most successful adventure story, Kidnapped, which appeared in 1886. With stories such as Treasure Island and Kidnapped, Stevenson revived Daniel Defoe's novel of romantic adventure, adding to it psychological analysis. While these stories and others, such as David Balfour and The Master of Ballantrae (1889), are stories of adventure, they are at the same time fine studies of character. The Master of Ballantrae, in particular, is a study of evil character, and this study is taken even further in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886). In 1887 Stevenson and his wife, Fanny, went to the United States, first to the health spas of Saranac Lake, New York, and then on to the West Coast. From there they set out for the South Seas in 1889. Except for one trip to Sidney, Australia, Stevenson spent the remainder of his life on the island of Samoa with his devoted wife and stepson. While there he wrote The Wrecker (1892), Island Nights Entertainments (1893), and Catriona (1893), a sequel to Kidnapped. He also worked on St. Ives and The Weir of Hermiston, which many consider to be his masterpiece. He died suddenly of apoplexy, leaving both of these works unfinished. Both were published posthumously; St. Ives was completed by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, and The Weir of Hermiston was published unfinished. Stevenson was buried on Samoa, an island he had come to love very much. Although Stevenson's novels are perhaps more accomplished, his short stories are also vivid and memorable. All show his power of invention, his command of the macabre and the eerie, and the psychological depth of his characterization. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Penguin 60s (27)
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Common Knowledge
- Disambiguation notice
- This version of The Haunted Dolls' House, released as part of the Penguin 60s collection, should not be combined with other editions. It is a collection of 2 M. R. James stories ("The Haunted Dolls' House" and "The Ros... (show all)e Garden") and 1 Robert Louis Stevenson story ("The Body Snatcher").
Proper separation is made more difficult because the ISBN of the Penguin 60s mini-book (0146000188) seems to have been used for some editions of the Penguin Classics book - the second volume of the collected ghost stories of M R James.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Horror
- DDC/MDS
- 823.0873308 — Literature & rhetoric English & Old English literatures English fiction By type Genre fiction Adventure fiction Horror and ghost fiction Ghost fiction Anthologies
- LCC
- PR6019 .A565 .A15 — Language and Literature English English Literature 1900-1960
- BISAC
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- 95
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- Reviews
- 1
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- (3.25)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
- ASINs
- 1
