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Don't Look Now and Other Stories
A married couple on holiday in Venice are caught up in a sinister series of events. A lonely schoolmaster is impelled to investigate a mysterious American couple. A young woman loses her cool when she confronts her father's old friend on a lonely island. A party of British pilgrims meet strange phenomena and possible disaster in the Holy Land. A scientist abandons his scruples while trying to tap the energy of the dying mind.
Collecting five stories of mystery and slow, creeping horror, Daphne Du Maurier's Don't Look Now and Other Stories showcases her unique blend of sympathy and spinetingling suspense.
Collecting five stories of mystery and slow, creeping horror, Daphne Du Maurier's Don't Look Now and Other Stories showcases her unique blend of sympathy and spinetingling suspense.
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1971
About the author
Daphne du Maurier
332 books8,682 followersDaphne du Maurier was born on 13 May 1907 at 24 Cumberland Terrace, Regent's Park, London, the middle of three daughters of prominent actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and actress Muriel, née Beaumont. In many ways her life resembles a fairy tale. Born into a family with a rich artistic and historical background, her paternal grandfather was author and Punch cartoonist George du Maurier, who created the character of Svengali in the 1894 novel Trilby, and her mother was a maternal niece of journalist, author, and lecturer Comyns Beaumont. She and her sisters were indulged as a children and grew up enjoying enormous freedom from financial and parental restraint. Her elder sister, Angela du Maurier, also became a writer, and her younger sister Jeanne was a painter.
She spent her youth sailing boats, travelling on the Continent with friends, and writing stories. Her family connections helped her establish her literary career, and she published some of her early work in Beaumont's Bystander magazine. A prestigious publishing house accepted her first novel when she was in her early twenties, and its publication brought her not only fame but the attentions of a handsome soldier, Major (later Lieutenant-General Sir) Frederick Browning, whom she married.
She continued writing under her maiden name, and her subsequent novels became bestsellers, earning her enormous wealth and fame. Many have been successfully adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca, Frenchman's Creek, My Cousin Rachel, and Jamaica Inn, and the short stories The Birds and Don't Look Now/Not After Midnight. While Alfred Hitchcock's films based upon her novels proceeded to make her one of the best-known authors in the world, she enjoyed the life of a fairy princess in a mansion in Cornwall called Menabilly, which served as the model for Manderley in Rebecca.
Daphne du Maurier was obsessed with the past. She intensively researched the lives of Francis and Anthony Bacon, the history of Cornwall, the Regency period, and nineteenth-century France and England. Above all, however, she was obsessed with her own family history, which she chronicled in Gerald: A Portrait, a biography of her father; The du Mauriers, a study of her family which focused on her grandfather, George du Maurier, the novelist and illustrator for Punch; The Glassblowers, a novel based upon the lives of her du Maurier ancestors; and Growing Pains, an autobiography that ignores nearly 50 years of her life in favour of the joyful and more romantic period of her youth. Daphne du Maurier can best be understood in terms of her remarkable and paradoxical family, the ghosts which haunted her life and fiction.
While contemporary writers were dealing critically with such subjects as the war, alienation, religion, poverty, Marxism, psychology and art, and experimenting with new techniques such as the stream of consciousness, du Maurier produced 'old-fashioned' novels with straightforward narratives that appealed to a popular audience's love of fantasy, adventure, sexuality and mystery. At an early age, she recognised that her readership was comprised principally of women, and she cultivated their loyal following through several decades by embodying their desires and dreams in her novels and short stories.
In some of her novels, however, she went beyond the technique of the formulaic romance to achieve a powerful psychological realism reflecting her intense feelings about her father, and to a lesser degree, her mother. This vision, which underlies Julius, Rebecca and The Parasites, is that of an author overwhelmed by the memory of her father's commanding presence. In Julius and The Parasites, for example, she introduces the image of a domineering but deadly father and the daring subject of incest.
In Rebecca, on the other hand, du Maurier fuses psychological realism with a sophisticated version of the Cinderella story. The nameless heroine has
She spent her youth sailing boats, travelling on the Continent with friends, and writing stories. Her family connections helped her establish her literary career, and she published some of her early work in Beaumont's Bystander magazine. A prestigious publishing house accepted her first novel when she was in her early twenties, and its publication brought her not only fame but the attentions of a handsome soldier, Major (later Lieutenant-General Sir) Frederick Browning, whom she married.
She continued writing under her maiden name, and her subsequent novels became bestsellers, earning her enormous wealth and fame. Many have been successfully adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca, Frenchman's Creek, My Cousin Rachel, and Jamaica Inn, and the short stories The Birds and Don't Look Now/Not After Midnight. While Alfred Hitchcock's films based upon her novels proceeded to make her one of the best-known authors in the world, she enjoyed the life of a fairy princess in a mansion in Cornwall called Menabilly, which served as the model for Manderley in Rebecca.
Daphne du Maurier was obsessed with the past. She intensively researched the lives of Francis and Anthony Bacon, the history of Cornwall, the Regency period, and nineteenth-century France and England. Above all, however, she was obsessed with her own family history, which she chronicled in Gerald: A Portrait, a biography of her father; The du Mauriers, a study of her family which focused on her grandfather, George du Maurier, the novelist and illustrator for Punch; The Glassblowers, a novel based upon the lives of her du Maurier ancestors; and Growing Pains, an autobiography that ignores nearly 50 years of her life in favour of the joyful and more romantic period of her youth. Daphne du Maurier can best be understood in terms of her remarkable and paradoxical family, the ghosts which haunted her life and fiction.
While contemporary writers were dealing critically with such subjects as the war, alienation, religion, poverty, Marxism, psychology and art, and experimenting with new techniques such as the stream of consciousness, du Maurier produced 'old-fashioned' novels with straightforward narratives that appealed to a popular audience's love of fantasy, adventure, sexuality and mystery. At an early age, she recognised that her readership was comprised principally of women, and she cultivated their loyal following through several decades by embodying their desires and dreams in her novels and short stories.
In some of her novels, however, she went beyond the technique of the formulaic romance to achieve a powerful psychological realism reflecting her intense feelings about her father, and to a lesser degree, her mother. This vision, which underlies Julius, Rebecca and The Parasites, is that of an author overwhelmed by the memory of her father's commanding presence. In Julius and The Parasites, for example, she introduces the image of a domineering but deadly father and the daring subject of incest.
In Rebecca, on the other hand, du Maurier fuses psychological realism with a sophisticated version of the Cinderella story. The nameless heroine has
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July 9, 2017
*5/5* αστέρια στην βαθμίδα αξιολόγησης για μια εξωπραγματική πένα.
Χρειάζεται κάτι περισσότερο απο θεϊκό ταλέντο για να μπορέσει ένας συγγραφέας σε ελάχιστες σελίδες να δημιουργήσει την απόλυτη ολοκλήρωση.
Αυτό χαρακτηρίζεται ως μεγαλείο,
πνευματικός πλούτος,άριστη ορθολογική επιδεξιότητα και επιβλητικά άμεση χειραγώγηση των συναισθηματικών εναλλαγών.
Δηλώνω αιώνια παγιδευμένη σ'αυτό το ψυχολογικό σφυροκόπημα της Daphne du Maurier.
Η ιστορία και η πλοκή θα μπορούσαν αβίαστα να εξαπλωθούν σε ένα πολυσέλιδο μεταφυσικό έπος.
Δεν είναι ουσιώδεις οι πολλές λεπτομέρειες για την πλοκή της ιστορίας. Άλλωστε περιγράφονται στο οπισθόφυλλο και αποτελούν πλήρη σύνοψη.
Η παραλυτική έκπληξη του αναγνώστη, καθώς και η σταθερά αυξανόμενη αγωνία,αρχίζουν απο τις πρώτες σελίδες και εξελίσσονται σε ένταση και ρυθμό εναλλασσσόμενων σκηνών με γεωμετρική πρόοδο.
Οι ήρωες χωρίζονται σε δυο κατηγορίες.
Η πρώτη περιλαμβάνει την πίστη στον ορθολογισμό, τις αποδείξεις,τα επιχειρήματα και την άρνηση σε ότι αναφέρεται στο ανεξήγητο και το υπερφυσικό.
Η δεύτερη αναφέρεται στην αλήθεια της χαρισματικής πρόβλεψης. Της μεταθανάτιας ύπαρξης και της τρομακτικής ψυχικής προνοητικότητας.
Το παρελθόν επιβάλλεται στο παρόν και η επανάληψη καθιερώνει τα γεγονότα.
Ένας σκοτεινός τόπος κάπου στη Βενετία.
Παλιές εκκλησίες και στενά σοκάκια με λαβυρινθώδη μορφή.
Η γλυκιά νοσταλγία ενός μικρού παιδιού που είναι νεκρό.
Οι τραγικές φιγούρες των γονιών που αντέχουν το ανυπέρβλητο.
Ένας δολοφόνος που σκορπάει ψυχές στα σκοτεινά νερά
Μεσαιωνικές γέφυρες που ενώνουν εποχές και θρύλους.
Φιγούρες που εξαφανίζονται μετά απο κραυγές και ουρλιαχτά.
Φαντάσματα μικρών παιδιών. Δίδυμες ηλικιωμένες γυναίκες που κωπηλατούν στο μακάβριο. Θλίψη. Απόγνωση. Ανησυχία.
Ένα κόκκινο αδιάβροχο...
Θεωρώ πως πρόκειται για μοναδικό έργο τρόμου,το οποίο γοητεύει και σοκάρει επειδή καθόλη τη διάρκεια της ιστορίας ο αναγνώστης αισθάνεται άμεσα όχι την εύκολη αναπάντεχη τρομοκρατία,αλλά ένα διάχυτο,βαθύ και σκοτεινό φόβο που συσσωρεύεται και βαραίνει σαν αργός πνιγμός.
Σε αυτήν την κατάσταση προσθέτονται οι εξελίξεις και οι εναλλαγές μέχρι την τελευταία εγκληματική διάσταση.
Καλή ανάγνωση!!
Πολλούς ασπασμούς!!
Χρειάζεται κάτι περισσότερο απο θεϊκό ταλέντο για να μπορέσει ένας συγγραφέας σε ελάχιστες σελίδες να δημιουργήσει την απόλυτη ολοκλήρωση.
Αυτό χαρακτηρίζεται ως μεγαλείο,
πνευματικός πλούτος,άριστη ορθολογική επιδεξιότητα και επιβλητικά άμεση χειραγώγηση των συναισθηματικών εναλλαγών.
Δηλώνω αιώνια παγιδευμένη σ'αυτό το ψυχολογικό σφυροκόπημα της Daphne du Maurier.
Η ιστορία και η πλοκή θα μπορούσαν αβίαστα να εξαπλωθούν σε ένα πολυσέλιδο μεταφυσικό έπος.
Δεν είναι ουσιώδεις οι πολλές λεπτομέρειες για την πλοκή της ιστορίας. Άλλωστε περιγράφονται στο οπισθόφυλλο και αποτελούν πλήρη σύνοψη.
Η παραλυτική έκπληξη του αναγνώστη, καθώς και η σταθερά αυξανόμενη αγωνία,αρχίζουν απο τις πρώτες σελίδες και εξελίσσονται σε ένταση και ρυθμό εναλλασσσόμενων σκηνών με γεωμετρική πρόοδο.
Οι ήρωες χωρίζονται σε δυο κατηγορίες.
Η πρώτη περιλαμβάνει την πίστη στον ορθολογισμό, τις αποδείξεις,τα επιχειρήματα και την άρνηση σε ότι αναφέρεται στο ανεξήγητο και το υπερφυσικό.
Η δεύτερη αναφέρεται στην αλήθεια της χαρισματικής πρόβλεψης. Της μεταθανάτιας ύπαρξης και της τρομακτικής ψυχικής προνοητικότητας.
Το παρελθόν επιβάλλεται στο παρόν και η επανάληψη καθιερώνει τα γεγονότα.
Ένας σκοτεινός τόπος κάπου στη Βενετία.
Παλιές εκκλησίες και στενά σοκάκια με λαβυρινθώδη μορφή.
Η γλυκιά νοσταλγία ενός μικρού παιδιού που είναι νεκρό.
Οι τραγικές φιγούρες των γονιών που αντέχουν το ανυπέρβλητο.
Ένας δολοφόνος που σκορπάει ψυχές στα σκοτεινά νερά
Μεσαιωνικές γέφυρες που ενώνουν εποχές και θρύλους.
Φιγούρες που εξαφανίζονται μετά απο κραυγές και ουρλιαχτά.
Φαντάσματα μικρών παιδιών. Δίδυμες ηλικιωμένες γυναίκες που κωπηλατούν στο μακάβριο. Θλίψη. Απόγνωση. Ανησυχία.
Ένα κόκκινο αδιάβροχο...
Θεωρώ πως πρόκειται για μοναδικό έργο τρόμου,το οποίο γοητεύει και σοκάρει επειδή καθόλη τη διάρκεια της ιστορίας ο αναγνώστης αισθάνεται άμεσα όχι την εύκολη αναπάντεχη τρομοκρατία,αλλά ένα διάχυτο,βαθύ και σκοτεινό φόβο που συσσωρεύεται και βαραίνει σαν αργός πνιγμός.
Σε αυτήν την κατάσταση προσθέτονται οι εξελίξεις και οι εναλλαγές μέχρι την τελευταία εγκληματική διάσταση.
Καλή ανάγνωση!!
Πολλούς ασπασμούς!!
September 7, 2016
Having seen the 1973 film adaptation of "Don't Look Now" many years ago which completely freaked me out, I thought this would somewhat take the gloss off the reading experience simply because it contained one of the most shocking finales in history, but thankfully I needn't have worried. Although the other four short stories in this collection are every bit as chilling it's "Don't Look Now" that stands out from the rest as a terrifying masterpiece of slow-burning tension, which is spine-chilling as hell but also tender and intimate, a perfect distillation of the confusion and desire that attend grief for a married couple, which, as the story progresses, adventures forward through the winding streets of Venice with the logic of a nightmare. After the death of their daughter Venice to degree becomes a sort of haven for the healing process, well that's until a seriously creepy old psychic clairvoyant predicts some rather disturbing happenings. This is in essence a haunting ghost story which looks at the close affinity of a loving couple and the emotional reactions of losing a child. And it's here I will stop for reasons of not giving too much away!. All the stories are, in their own way, refusals of comfort with the one thing in common being that unpleasant things happen to people, and in one way or another, there is little chance of escapism, Du Maurier certainly knows how to hold ones attention, you may know what's coming but not necessarily in the direction that is anticipated and that's a strong attribute to have.
You could be settled into the most comfy chair on the planet, but once she starts to weave her web of unnerving horror, just don't expect to stay that way.
You could be settled into the most comfy chair on the planet, but once she starts to weave her web of unnerving horror, just don't expect to stay that way.
August 3, 2018
Daphne du Maurier takes a dip into the deep and murky waters of the human condition. What did she find there? Certainly not treasure. Egos punctured and hopes shattered, mysteries solved but in the worst way, the soul turned into a commodity, the wrecks of dreams and desires... just another day at the beach for the chilly and not particularly empathetic Ms. du Maurier, who is all too familiar with humanity's constant ability to fool itself.
The talent on display reminded me of both Ruth Rendell and Joyce Carol Oates. All three authors share the ability to effortlessly create characters that are recognizable and rooted in our reality, while maintaining a dispassionate detachment from those characters. Cold-blooded writers, writing about mainly unsympathetic people. Perhaps not a fun experience but there was certainly much to admire. Her prose is elegant; her characters are unpleasant but interesting; her themes are darkly fascinating; her disinterest in spelling things out and thus keeping her stories ambiguous is admirable.
The most famous of the collection, its title story "Don't Look Now" - about an ill-fated holiday in Venice - was certainly disturbing and memorable. And bleak. "Not After Midnight" had a strain of weird fantasy that made it all the more haunting. And bleak. "A Border-Line Case" pulls double duty as a mystery and an anti-romance; the story was continually tense. And bleak. "The Breakthrough" could have been a mournful exploration of things spiritual and material, but du Maurier's cold eye made the story feel more like a cautionary tale both desolate and eerie. And bleak.
My favorite was actually the most broadly comic: "The Way of the Cross". This scabrous farce details the trials and tribulations of a small tour group in Jerusalem. A miniature Ship of Fools. Nearly every character gets their very personalized and often quite cruel comeuppance (except for an ingenious child, who miraculously escapes punishment - but give him time). The worst, most excruciating embarrassment was surprisingly reserved for the irritable Reverend Babcock, forced to lead this band of snobs and hypocrites and liars. Poor Reverend! I actually thought du Maurier would leave him unscathed. Possibly because I saw myself in him, haha. But du Maurier makes it clear that a Reverend should not see himself as above his flock, even if he is in charge of a flock of assholes. Anyway, I laughed a lot in this story, I laughed until I choked.
The talent on display reminded me of both Ruth Rendell and Joyce Carol Oates. All three authors share the ability to effortlessly create characters that are recognizable and rooted in our reality, while maintaining a dispassionate detachment from those characters. Cold-blooded writers, writing about mainly unsympathetic people. Perhaps not a fun experience but there was certainly much to admire. Her prose is elegant; her characters are unpleasant but interesting; her themes are darkly fascinating; her disinterest in spelling things out and thus keeping her stories ambiguous is admirable.
The most famous of the collection, its title story "Don't Look Now" - about an ill-fated holiday in Venice - was certainly disturbing and memorable. And bleak. "Not After Midnight" had a strain of weird fantasy that made it all the more haunting. And bleak. "A Border-Line Case" pulls double duty as a mystery and an anti-romance; the story was continually tense. And bleak. "The Breakthrough" could have been a mournful exploration of things spiritual and material, but du Maurier's cold eye made the story feel more like a cautionary tale both desolate and eerie. And bleak.
My favorite was actually the most broadly comic: "The Way of the Cross". This scabrous farce details the trials and tribulations of a small tour group in Jerusalem. A miniature Ship of Fools. Nearly every character gets their very personalized and often quite cruel comeuppance (except for an ingenious child, who miraculously escapes punishment - but give him time). The worst, most excruciating embarrassment was surprisingly reserved for the irritable Reverend Babcock, forced to lead this band of snobs and hypocrites and liars. Poor Reverend! I actually thought du Maurier would leave him unscathed. Possibly because I saw myself in him, haha. But du Maurier makes it clear that a Reverend should not see himself as above his flock, even if he is in charge of a flock of assholes. Anyway, I laughed a lot in this story, I laughed until I choked.
August 7, 2023
Pretty Good! 🙂
All of the stories are good, but some are even better.
The title story, “Don’t Look Now”, is a story of the supernatural. A father discovers during a trip to Venice that he has precognition. Not that he believes in it. Too bad for him.
In “The Way of the Cross”, a pilgrimage to Jerusalem is turned into a pilgrimage of misery for all participants, except a little boy...
With a newlywed wife succumbing to adultery, a member of the peer, unable to turn off her snobbery... and loses her “looks”, her husband, a retired member of the military is incapable of forgetting his military life.
A nouveau rich couple is falling to pieces: The husband is having an affair with the young newlywed and his wife sees every activity as a charitable event. The parson doesn’t wish to be there, and has a humiliating incident with his pants. The old lady falls in a well and passes out.
There is no way that this story could not become my favorite.
Four stars. 💫💫💫💫
All of the stories are good, but some are even better.
The title story, “Don’t Look Now”, is a story of the supernatural. A father discovers during a trip to Venice that he has precognition. Not that he believes in it. Too bad for him.
In “The Way of the Cross”, a pilgrimage to Jerusalem is turned into a pilgrimage of misery for all participants, except a little boy...
With a newlywed wife succumbing to adultery, a member of the peer, unable to turn off her snobbery... and loses her “looks”, her husband, a retired member of the military is incapable of forgetting his military life.
A nouveau rich couple is falling to pieces: The husband is having an affair with the young newlywed and his wife sees every activity as a charitable event. The parson doesn’t wish to be there, and has a humiliating incident with his pants. The old lady falls in a well and passes out.
There is no way that this story could not become my favorite.
Four stars. 💫💫💫💫
May 14, 2021
The Year of Women--in which I'm devoting 2021 to reading female authors only--continues with Daphne du Maurier. It’s been a few years since I’ve read and loved Rebecca and have had Don’t Look Now and Other Stories on my reading docket for some time. It contains five tales published together in 1971: Don’t Look Now, Not After Midnight, A Border-Line Case, The Way of the Cross and The Breakthrough. The very first is the very best. The law of diminishing returns applied the more I read, with the collection taking a nose dive at the end of the second story and never recovering.
In Don’t Look Now, a married couple named John and Laura holiday in Venice, recovering from the death of their daughter who suffered a meningitis infection. At a restaurant, they're beguiled by a pair of middle-aged identical twin sisters, one of which appears fixated on John. He determines that twin to be blind. Laura follows the other one into the restroom and returns to confide to her husband that the blind twin had a vision of their daughter standing behind them. She added that John also has second sight but fails to realize it. Finally, the twins issue a warning that the couple will be in danger if they remain in Venice, none of which John takes seriously.
In Not After Midnight, a prep school headmaster named Timothy Grey holidays on the Greek isle of Crete. Rejecting his chalet due to his desire for privacy and for a view of the surf so he can paint, Timothy discovers his new accommodation was recently vacated by a man who drowned while swimming at night. His only real vexation is an obnoxious American guest named Stoll and the man’s silent wife. He gradually begins to spy on the couple. Adding to the intrigue is a card he discovers in the chalet written by the drowning victim, which reads “Not after midnight” and 38, the number of the chalet belonging to the Stolls.
In A Border-Line Case, 19-year-old actor Shelagh Money has returned home to look after her ill father. She's concerned that his condition might not improve quickly enough for her to accept her first major theater role, playing Viola in Twelfth Night. Her father appears on the road to recovery, reminiscing about an old navy pal named Nick Barry who he fell out of touch with. Suddenly confronting Shelagh with a look of horror, he dies. Feeling the need to reconcile her late father’s relationship with the man he was thinking about when he died, she travels to Ireland to seek the reclusive Commander Barry out.
It's always the same when you come face-to-face with death, the nurse told her, you feel you could have done more. It used to worry me a lot when I was training. And of course with a close relative it's worse. You've had a great shock, you must try and pull yourself together for your mother's sake ... My mother's sake? My mother would not mind if I walked out of the house this moment, Shelagh was on the point of saying, because then she would have all the attention, all the sympathy, people would say how wonderfully she was bearing up, whereas with me in the house sympathy will be divided. So death, Shelagh decided, was a moment for compliments, for everyone saying polite things about everybody else which they would not dream of saying at another time. Let me run upstairs for you ... Let me answer the telephone ... Shall I put on the kettle? An excess of courtesy, like mandarins in kimonos bowing, and at the same time an attempt at self-justification for not having been there when the explosion happened.
In The Way of the Cross, British tourists from Little Bletford congregate in Jerusalem, where the vicar who was scheduled to lead their tour of the Holy City falls ill and is replaced by a young minister. In The Breakthrough, an electrical engineer is loaned out by his employer to the salt marshes near Saxmere, where he discovers an eccentric scientist is working on a project to harness the lifeforce at the moment of death.
Don’t Look Now and Other Stories is grand in that each of the tales involves a British tourist or tourists who grant themselves a much-needed change of scenery only to encounter more than they bargained for. It’s sublime packaging on the part of du Maurier, or perhaps very disciplined, considering all of the stories were published the same year. Don’t Look Now is the best, an eerie exploration of the clarity and mystery of a psychic vision, or what happens when you’re provided an answer without understanding the question. It uses foreshadowing to build suspense very well. This served as source material for an offbeat thriller starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie released in 1973.
Du Maurier establishes atmosphere and parses out detail supremely well in all five of the stories, particularly Not After Midnight, which should serve as a warning that while on holiday, never ignore local superstition. She promises more than she’s able to ultimately deliver in this story. A Border-Line Case runs off the tracks at the halfway mark rather than the very end, failing to provide the necessary intrigue for all of the build-up. The Way of the Cross is self-indulgent nonsense that goes absolutely nowhere. The ideas sifted through in The Breakthrough don’t even hold up. But the overall effect, combining psychological realism with a love of the past, is one that definitely makes me want to read more from the author.
Daphne du Maurier was born in 1907 in London, England. Her father was a prominent stage actor and theater manager and her mother—until her retirement in 1910—also an actor. Some of Daphne’s early work was published in the weekly British magazine the Bystander. Her first novel, The Loving Spirit, was published in 1931. One of its fans, a World War I veteran named Frederick Browning who’d risen to the rank of major, wooed du Maurier and they married a year later. They had three children and Lady Browning continued to publish under her maiden name to great success. Jamaica Inn, Rebecca, Frenchman’s Creek, Hungry Hill and My Cousin Rachel, and her short stories The Birds and Don’t Look Now would all be adapted to film. Du Maurier rarely granted interviews for print or television and resided for much of her life privately in Cornwall, where she died in 1989.
Previous reviews in the Year of Women:
-- Come Closer, Sara Gran
-- Veronica, Mary Gaitskill
-- Clothes, Clothes, Clothes, Music, Music, Music, Boys, Boys, Boys, Viv Albertine
-- Pizza Girl, Jean Kyoung Frazier
-- My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Ottessa Moshfegh
-- Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Fannie Flagg
-- The Memoirs of Cleopatra, Margaret George
-- Miss Pinkerton, Mary Roberts Rinehart
-- Beast in View, Margaret Millar
-- Lying In Wait, Liz Nugent
-- And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie
-- Desperate Characters, Paula Fox
-- You, Caroline Kepnes
-- Deep Water, Patricia Highsmith
In Don’t Look Now, a married couple named John and Laura holiday in Venice, recovering from the death of their daughter who suffered a meningitis infection. At a restaurant, they're beguiled by a pair of middle-aged identical twin sisters, one of which appears fixated on John. He determines that twin to be blind. Laura follows the other one into the restroom and returns to confide to her husband that the blind twin had a vision of their daughter standing behind them. She added that John also has second sight but fails to realize it. Finally, the twins issue a warning that the couple will be in danger if they remain in Venice, none of which John takes seriously.
In Not After Midnight, a prep school headmaster named Timothy Grey holidays on the Greek isle of Crete. Rejecting his chalet due to his desire for privacy and for a view of the surf so he can paint, Timothy discovers his new accommodation was recently vacated by a man who drowned while swimming at night. His only real vexation is an obnoxious American guest named Stoll and the man’s silent wife. He gradually begins to spy on the couple. Adding to the intrigue is a card he discovers in the chalet written by the drowning victim, which reads “Not after midnight” and 38, the number of the chalet belonging to the Stolls.
In A Border-Line Case, 19-year-old actor Shelagh Money has returned home to look after her ill father. She's concerned that his condition might not improve quickly enough for her to accept her first major theater role, playing Viola in Twelfth Night. Her father appears on the road to recovery, reminiscing about an old navy pal named Nick Barry who he fell out of touch with. Suddenly confronting Shelagh with a look of horror, he dies. Feeling the need to reconcile her late father’s relationship with the man he was thinking about when he died, she travels to Ireland to seek the reclusive Commander Barry out.
It's always the same when you come face-to-face with death, the nurse told her, you feel you could have done more. It used to worry me a lot when I was training. And of course with a close relative it's worse. You've had a great shock, you must try and pull yourself together for your mother's sake ... My mother's sake? My mother would not mind if I walked out of the house this moment, Shelagh was on the point of saying, because then she would have all the attention, all the sympathy, people would say how wonderfully she was bearing up, whereas with me in the house sympathy will be divided. So death, Shelagh decided, was a moment for compliments, for everyone saying polite things about everybody else which they would not dream of saying at another time. Let me run upstairs for you ... Let me answer the telephone ... Shall I put on the kettle? An excess of courtesy, like mandarins in kimonos bowing, and at the same time an attempt at self-justification for not having been there when the explosion happened.
In The Way of the Cross, British tourists from Little Bletford congregate in Jerusalem, where the vicar who was scheduled to lead their tour of the Holy City falls ill and is replaced by a young minister. In The Breakthrough, an electrical engineer is loaned out by his employer to the salt marshes near Saxmere, where he discovers an eccentric scientist is working on a project to harness the lifeforce at the moment of death.
Don’t Look Now and Other Stories is grand in that each of the tales involves a British tourist or tourists who grant themselves a much-needed change of scenery only to encounter more than they bargained for. It’s sublime packaging on the part of du Maurier, or perhaps very disciplined, considering all of the stories were published the same year. Don’t Look Now is the best, an eerie exploration of the clarity and mystery of a psychic vision, or what happens when you’re provided an answer without understanding the question. It uses foreshadowing to build suspense very well. This served as source material for an offbeat thriller starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie released in 1973.
Du Maurier establishes atmosphere and parses out detail supremely well in all five of the stories, particularly Not After Midnight, which should serve as a warning that while on holiday, never ignore local superstition. She promises more than she’s able to ultimately deliver in this story. A Border-Line Case runs off the tracks at the halfway mark rather than the very end, failing to provide the necessary intrigue for all of the build-up. The Way of the Cross is self-indulgent nonsense that goes absolutely nowhere. The ideas sifted through in The Breakthrough don’t even hold up. But the overall effect, combining psychological realism with a love of the past, is one that definitely makes me want to read more from the author.
Daphne du Maurier was born in 1907 in London, England. Her father was a prominent stage actor and theater manager and her mother—until her retirement in 1910—also an actor. Some of Daphne’s early work was published in the weekly British magazine the Bystander. Her first novel, The Loving Spirit, was published in 1931. One of its fans, a World War I veteran named Frederick Browning who’d risen to the rank of major, wooed du Maurier and they married a year later. They had three children and Lady Browning continued to publish under her maiden name to great success. Jamaica Inn, Rebecca, Frenchman’s Creek, Hungry Hill and My Cousin Rachel, and her short stories The Birds and Don’t Look Now would all be adapted to film. Du Maurier rarely granted interviews for print or television and resided for much of her life privately in Cornwall, where she died in 1989.
Previous reviews in the Year of Women:
-- Come Closer, Sara Gran
-- Veronica, Mary Gaitskill
-- Clothes, Clothes, Clothes, Music, Music, Music, Boys, Boys, Boys, Viv Albertine
-- Pizza Girl, Jean Kyoung Frazier
-- My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Ottessa Moshfegh
-- Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Fannie Flagg
-- The Memoirs of Cleopatra, Margaret George
-- Miss Pinkerton, Mary Roberts Rinehart
-- Beast in View, Margaret Millar
-- Lying In Wait, Liz Nugent
-- And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie
-- Desperate Characters, Paula Fox
-- You, Caroline Kepnes
-- Deep Water, Patricia Highsmith
August 4, 2022
The following review is on 'Don’t Look Now', the first story in the book.
A married couple take a vacation in Venice trying to get over the recent death of their daughter when they notice two old ladies staring across the room at them. And so begins this strange paranormal experience. I didn’t want to get lost in reporting back on a whole book of stories, so just read this one for now . I was impressed with the Nicholas Roeg film of the book in the seventies, but this original story knocked me out. It was just so beautifully crafted from start to finish and carried so much power with it. A fascinating 2 hour read!
A married couple take a vacation in Venice trying to get over the recent death of their daughter when they notice two old ladies staring across the room at them. And so begins this strange paranormal experience. I didn’t want to get lost in reporting back on a whole book of stories, so just read this one for now . I was impressed with the Nicholas Roeg film of the book in the seventies, but this original story knocked me out. It was just so beautifully crafted from start to finish and carried so much power with it. A fascinating 2 hour read!
April 8, 2019
Η Βενετία, με τον λαβύρινθο των καναλιών της και τις πολυάριθμες γέφυρες, υπήρξε το ιδανικό περιβάλλον, εντός του οποίου η Daphne Du Maurier μπόρεσε δεξιοτεχνικά να χτίσει ένα ακόμη ατμοσφαιρικό θρίλερ μυστηρίου, όπου τα όρια μεταξύ πραγματικότητας και παραίσθησης είναι δυσδιάκριτα. Ένα κόκκινο αδιάβροχο, δύο ηλικιωμένες δίδυμες αδελφές, κι οι σκιές που αντικατοπτρίζονται, άλλοτε ονειρικά κι άλλοτε εφιαλτικά, στα νερά της πόλης των Δόγηδων, είναι μερικά από τα στοιχεία που, τόσο στο βιβλίο, όσο και στην ομότιτλη (Don’t look now) ταινία του Νίκολας Ρεγκ, δεν θα ξεχάσεις ποτέ.
February 3, 2023
The title story, "Don't Look Now," was my favorite in this collection of five short stories. A grieving husband and wife are on vacation in Venice when some strange supernatural events occur.
"The Breakthrough" involves an engineer who is sent to a remote facility where secret research is being done. It had a science fiction, mad scientist vibe.
A British schoolmaster travels to Crete to enjoy his hobby of painting by the ocean in "Not After Midnight." A strange couple in a neighboring cottage are involved in a mysterious activity when they go off in their boat every day.
A young woman's father died, and she travels to Ireland to make a connection with his former best friend. He's a recluse on an island with several secrets in "A Border-Line Case."
In "The Way of the Cross," a British group was traveling with their pastor to visit the holy sites in Jerusalem. When he falls sick, a less experienced minister is recruited to take his place. This is a story about the pilgrims themselves, their interactions, and their relationships. It was my least favorite of the group.
In each of these stories Daphne du Maurier has the characters journey from their familiar English environment to a place where they feel uncertain and frightened when strange things happen. Sometimes they don't understand the language well, and don't have a friend with whom they can share their fears. The author is very skilled in setting up suspenseful situations.
"The Breakthrough" involves an engineer who is sent to a remote facility where secret research is being done. It had a science fiction, mad scientist vibe.
A British schoolmaster travels to Crete to enjoy his hobby of painting by the ocean in "Not After Midnight." A strange couple in a neighboring cottage are involved in a mysterious activity when they go off in their boat every day.
A young woman's father died, and she travels to Ireland to make a connection with his former best friend. He's a recluse on an island with several secrets in "A Border-Line Case."
In "The Way of the Cross," a British group was traveling with their pastor to visit the holy sites in Jerusalem. When he falls sick, a less experienced minister is recruited to take his place. This is a story about the pilgrims themselves, their interactions, and their relationships. It was my least favorite of the group.
In each of these stories Daphne du Maurier has the characters journey from their familiar English environment to a place where they feel uncertain and frightened when strange things happen. Sometimes they don't understand the language well, and don't have a friend with whom they can share their fears. The author is very skilled in setting up suspenseful situations.
January 11, 2021
The film adaptation of ”Don’t Look Now” is regarded by some as one of the best pieces of British cinema. It has long been a favourite of mine and I am delighted to say I enjoyed the short story it is based upon very much, incredibly well-written. It grips you from beginning to end, slowly building that sense of foreboding. It was the opening tale in this collection of four short stories.
It follows a couple - John and his grief-stricken wife Laura, who are holidaying in Venice after the death of their daughter Christine. Whilst sitting in a restaurant, they spot a pair of middle-aged twins. One of them is blind and claims to be a psychic. She informs Laura that she could see the deceased Christine sat with the couple and even describes outfits that Christine wore. They also believe that John has psychic powers - specifically the ability to see the future, and that the spirit of Christine is trying to warn them that they are in grave danger if they stay in Venice.
The couple later receive a telephone call and are informed that their son, Johnnie, has been taken ill back in England and has to have an emergency operation. Laura leaves via plane to return to England, but not long after her departure, John spots his wife with the twins on a vaporetto. He is certain it is his wife, wearing her red coat. The red coat is the iconic imagery that makes you think of Don’t Look Now (you will see why upon its conclusion).
But, when he telephones to see how his son is doing in England, his wife Laura is there on the other end of the line. So who exactly did John see on the river, and what does this all mean?
Following Don’t Look Now there are four other stories: Not After Midnight, A Border-Line Case, The Way Of The Cross, and The Breakthrough.
DuMaurier’s short stories are best when it follows a main character’s grief. This is very prevalent in A Border-Line Case, where a young girl of nineteen, Shelagh, has recently lost her father. This grief, and honouring her late father’s wishes, are the driving force behind the plot.
All of them reach a satisfying conclusion, and I look forward to reading more of her short stories in the future, mainly ”The Birds”.
I give the collection as a whole 4.5 stars, rounded down to a 4.
It follows a couple - John and his grief-stricken wife Laura, who are holidaying in Venice after the death of their daughter Christine. Whilst sitting in a restaurant, they spot a pair of middle-aged twins. One of them is blind and claims to be a psychic. She informs Laura that she could see the deceased Christine sat with the couple and even describes outfits that Christine wore. They also believe that John has psychic powers - specifically the ability to see the future, and that the spirit of Christine is trying to warn them that they are in grave danger if they stay in Venice.
The couple later receive a telephone call and are informed that their son, Johnnie, has been taken ill back in England and has to have an emergency operation. Laura leaves via plane to return to England, but not long after her departure, John spots his wife with the twins on a vaporetto. He is certain it is his wife, wearing her red coat. The red coat is the iconic imagery that makes you think of Don’t Look Now (you will see why upon its conclusion).
But, when he telephones to see how his son is doing in England, his wife Laura is there on the other end of the line. So who exactly did John see on the river, and what does this all mean?
Following Don’t Look Now there are four other stories: Not After Midnight, A Border-Line Case, The Way Of The Cross, and The Breakthrough.
DuMaurier’s short stories are best when it follows a main character’s grief. This is very prevalent in A Border-Line Case, where a young girl of nineteen, Shelagh, has recently lost her father. This grief, and honouring her late father’s wishes, are the driving force behind the plot.
All of them reach a satisfying conclusion, and I look forward to reading more of her short stories in the future, mainly ”The Birds”.
I give the collection as a whole 4.5 stars, rounded down to a 4.
July 1, 2015
The first three stories in this collection (Don't Look Now, Not After Midnight, and A Border-Line Case) are absolutely wonderful. They're very atmospheric and, at times, chilling. I'd recommend this whole collection on those stories alone. However, it's the final two works (The Way of the Cross and The Breakthrough) that really let down this collection and thus rob it of a four-star rating. They're two bland stories that don't really offer much and only exist to disappoint.
October 2, 2022
Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news and all, but this was blander than bland, and it's absolutely killing me writing this review as it concerns one of my most loved female authors; Daphne Du Maurier.
I adore Du Maurier's writing style, and she has quite literally blew me away with her prose within other works, but unfortunately, that just wasn't enough to carry me through this collection.
The only story really worth my time was the first one 'Don't look now'. It was intriguing, with a gothic atmosphere, and a juicy twist at the end. Everything else was really tedious to read, and I struggled to persevere to the end.
Du Maurier was an amazing writer, and she wrote one of my most loved novels 'Rebecca' but quite honestly, that felt like it was in a completely different league to this.
If you're new to Du Maurier, don't begin with this one, delve into one of her full-length novels first.
I adore Du Maurier's writing style, and she has quite literally blew me away with her prose within other works, but unfortunately, that just wasn't enough to carry me through this collection.
The only story really worth my time was the first one 'Don't look now'. It was intriguing, with a gothic atmosphere, and a juicy twist at the end. Everything else was really tedious to read, and I struggled to persevere to the end.
Du Maurier was an amazing writer, and she wrote one of my most loved novels 'Rebecca' but quite honestly, that felt like it was in a completely different league to this.
If you're new to Du Maurier, don't begin with this one, delve into one of her full-length novels first.
February 17, 2023
3,5*
Que nunca se diga de Daphne du Maurier que não sabe manter o suspense até ao último parágrafo e que esse não representa um final eficaz e satisfatório. Pelo menos foi o que aconteceu nos três primeiros contos desta colectânea dos anos 70, com esta despropositada capa de filme erótico manhoso.
Em “Aquele Inverno em Veneza”, há um elemento de sobrenatural que apesar das minhas reticências, acaba por fazer sentido no fim, quando um casal a tentar recuperar da perda de uma filha conhece um estranho par de irmãs.
Em “Não Depois da Meia-Noite”, também passado no Sul da Europa, a sensação de perigo que persegue um pintor inglês numa estância turística confirma-se numa conclusão macabra e inesperada.
Em “Nas Raias da Loucura”, a autora parece perder o controlo da verosimilhança do enredo, quando uma rapariga que acabou de enterrar o pai vai à Irlanda à procura de um colega do pai, redimindo-se, ainda assim, nas últimas linhas.
Nos dois últimos contos, Du Maurier faz uma incursão na sátira de costumes e na ficção-científica respectivamente, géneros onde ela não parece estar à vontade.
Aquele Inverno em Veneza-4*
Não Depois da Meia-Noite-4*
Nas Raias da Loucura-3,5*
O Caminho do Calvário-2,5*
O Avanço da Ciência-2,5*
Que nunca se diga de Daphne du Maurier que não sabe manter o suspense até ao último parágrafo e que esse não representa um final eficaz e satisfatório. Pelo menos foi o que aconteceu nos três primeiros contos desta colectânea dos anos 70, com esta despropositada capa de filme erótico manhoso.
Em “Aquele Inverno em Veneza”, há um elemento de sobrenatural que apesar das minhas reticências, acaba por fazer sentido no fim, quando um casal a tentar recuperar da perda de uma filha conhece um estranho par de irmãs.
Em “Não Depois da Meia-Noite”, também passado no Sul da Europa, a sensação de perigo que persegue um pintor inglês numa estância turística confirma-se numa conclusão macabra e inesperada.
Em “Nas Raias da Loucura”, a autora parece perder o controlo da verosimilhança do enredo, quando uma rapariga que acabou de enterrar o pai vai à Irlanda à procura de um colega do pai, redimindo-se, ainda assim, nas últimas linhas.
Nos dois últimos contos, Du Maurier faz uma incursão na sátira de costumes e na ficção-científica respectivamente, géneros onde ela não parece estar à vontade.
Aquele Inverno em Veneza-4*
Não Depois da Meia-Noite-4*
Nas Raias da Loucura-3,5*
O Caminho do Calvário-2,5*
O Avanço da Ciência-2,5*
October 17, 2021
Quite the collection of thrillers. Not only did these short stories take me on a metaphysical haunted theme park ride but I took pleasure in travelling alongside true power of imagination and awe.
The ideas behind most of these stories express themselves as very fresh and intelligent, especially the first ‘Don’t look now’ the second ‘Not after Midnight’ & the last ‘The Breakthrough’, being surprisingly complex for short stories. I thoroughly enjoyed reading these with the total confusion and dire end of the first story, the serene setting but interminable tension build leading to eventual horror of the second and the completely insane actions of the last; keeping me hooked throughout.
I rate du Maurier’s novels highly for all the reasons stated above and more, and these stories are equal to those that I’ve read, even, perhaps offering increasingly creepier thrills to the reader.
The ideas behind most of these stories express themselves as very fresh and intelligent, especially the first ‘Don’t look now’ the second ‘Not after Midnight’ & the last ‘The Breakthrough’, being surprisingly complex for short stories. I thoroughly enjoyed reading these with the total confusion and dire end of the first story, the serene setting but interminable tension build leading to eventual horror of the second and the completely insane actions of the last; keeping me hooked throughout.
I rate du Maurier’s novels highly for all the reasons stated above and more, and these stories are equal to those that I’ve read, even, perhaps offering increasingly creepier thrills to the reader.
May 13, 2017
Happy Short Story Month! (May, 2017)
This is a collection of five short stories by Daphne du Maurier (Don't Look Now, The Breakthrough, Not After Midnight, A Border-Line Case, The Way of the Cross) which exhibit the great versatility and inventiveness of the author. The topics vary from psychic precognition, to scientific experimentation, to possible murder, to incest, and finally to various forms of public humiliation (atonement for sins?) All were interesting but I found some of the endings a bit disappointing. All in all worth reading but I have to say I appreciate du Maurier's full length novels more.
This is a collection of five short stories by Daphne du Maurier (Don't Look Now, The Breakthrough, Not After Midnight, A Border-Line Case, The Way of the Cross) which exhibit the great versatility and inventiveness of the author. The topics vary from psychic precognition, to scientific experimentation, to possible murder, to incest, and finally to various forms of public humiliation (atonement for sins?) All were interesting but I found some of the endings a bit disappointing. All in all worth reading but I have to say I appreciate du Maurier's full length novels more.
September 24, 2018
Εξαιρετική η γραφή της du Maurier. Μια μικρής έκτασης νουβέλα μυστηρίου, η οποία ολοκληρώνεται στον χρόνο που πρέπει, με τον τρόπο που όφειλε.
May 3, 2017
Ο Τζον και η Λόρα βρίσκονται σε ένα ταξίδι στην Βενετία, σε μια προσπάθεια να επουλώσουν τα ψυχολογικά τραύματα που τους έχει προκαλέσει ο θάνατος της μικρής τους κόρης. Εκεί, και πιο συγκεκριμένα σε ένα από τα νησιά της λιμνοθάλασσας της Βενετίας, το Τορτσέλλο, θα συναντήσουν 2 περίεργες Αγγλίδες δίδυμες αδελφές (η μια τυφλή και μέντιουμ) οι οποίες θα ισχυριστούν πως μπορούν αν επικοινωνήσουν με την νεκρή τους κόρη.
Η ψυχολογικά εύθραυστη Λόρα θα επηρεαστεί σε μεγάλο βαθμό από τα λεγόμενα του μέντιουμ σε αντίθεση με τον πιο ορθολογιστή Τζον, ο οποίος θα αντιμετωπίσει το όλο ζήτημα με «ελαφρότητα» παρόλο που οι προειδοποιήσεις της τυφλής αδελφής αφορούν τον ίδιο και ένα επικείμενο κακό που έρχεται προς το μέρος του.
Η Ντι Μοριέ γράφει ένα εξαιρετικό διήγημα μυστηρίου με πινελιές μεταφυσικού τρόμου. Η Βενετία αφομοιώνεται περίτεχνα μέσα στο διήγημα αναδεικνύοντας την γοητεία και το μυστήριο της μέσα σε μια γοτθική ατμόσφαιρα. Το μεταφυσικό στοιχείο σταδιακά κυριαρχεί, έτσι ώστε να παρασύρει τον ορθολογιστή Τζον στο εφιαλτικό του φινάλε.
Η ελλειπτική περιγραφή των χαρακτήρων δίνει στο διήγημα μια ιδιαίτερη χροιά κάνοντάς το ακόμα πιο σκοτεινό και μυστήριο…
5/5 απλά…
ΥΓ: Το διήγημα έχει μεταφερθεί και στον κινηματογράφο από τον Νίκολας Ρεγκ με τον τίτλο “Don’t look now” το 1973. Αριστουργηματική μεταφορά, από τον μεγάλο σκηνοθέτη, απόλυτα πιστή στο κλίμα του βιβλίου και με ένα εκπληκτικό ζευγάρι πρωταγωνιστών στους ρόλους του Τζον και της Λόρας, τον Ντόναλντ Σάδερλαντ και την Τζούλι Κρίστι… Η σκηνή σεξ του ζευγαριού παραμένει πρωτοποριακή για την εποχή της και ιδιαίτερα τολμηρή…
Η ψυχολογικά εύθραυστη Λόρα θα επηρεαστεί σε μεγάλο βαθμό από τα λεγόμενα του μέντιουμ σε αντίθεση με τον πιο ορθολογιστή Τζον, ο οποίος θα αντιμετωπίσει το όλο ζήτημα με «ελαφρότητα» παρόλο που οι προειδοποιήσεις της τυφλής αδελφής αφορούν τον ίδιο και ένα επικείμενο κακό που έρχεται προς το μέρος του.
Η Ντι Μοριέ γράφει ένα εξαιρετικό διήγημα μυστηρίου με πινελιές μεταφυσικού τρόμου. Η Βενετία αφομοιώνεται περίτεχνα μέσα στο διήγημα αναδεικνύοντας την γοητεία και το μυστήριο της μέσα σε μια γοτθική ατμόσφαιρα. Το μεταφυσικό στοιχείο σταδιακά κυριαρχεί, έτσι ώστε να παρασύρει τον ορθολογιστή Τζον στο εφιαλτικό του φινάλε.
Η ελλειπτική περιγραφή των χαρακτήρων δίνει στο διήγημα μια ιδιαίτερη χροιά κάνοντάς το ακόμα πιο σκοτεινό και μυστήριο…
5/5 απλά…
ΥΓ: Το διήγημα έχει μεταφερθεί και στον κινηματογράφο από τον Νίκολας Ρεγκ με τον τίτλο “Don’t look now” το 1973. Αριστουργηματική μεταφορά, από τον μεγάλο σκηνοθέτη, απόλυτα πιστή στο κλίμα του βιβλίου και με ένα εκπληκτικό ζευγάρι πρωταγωνιστών στους ρόλους του Τζον και της Λόρας, τον Ντόναλντ Σάδερλαντ και την Τζούλι Κρίστι… Η σκηνή σεξ του ζευγαριού παραμένει πρωτοποριακή για την εποχή της και ιδιαίτερα τολμηρή…
March 13, 2018
Excelente recopilación de relatos de la inglesa Daphne du Maurier, de la mano de La Biblioteca de Carfax, con una portada magistral de Rafael Martín Coronel. Du Maurier siempre será conocida por sus novelas ‘Rebeca’ y ‘La posada de Jamaica’, así como por su relato ‘Los pájaros’, que también tuvieron su correspondiente adaptación cinematográfica, de la mano del maestro Hitchcock.
La autora se desenvuelve muy bien en las distancias cortas. Es capaz de mantener la tensión conduciéndonos a un crescendo inesperado y angustioso. Si bien los giros finales están bien, lo que más he disfrutado ha sido la narración, el viaje hasta los mismos. Y es que estos relatos están muy bien escritos (o traducidos), la autora conoce perfectamente los resortes de tan complicada género.
Estos son los cinco relatos incluidos en ‘No mires ahora y otros relatos’ (2018):
No mires ahora (*****). Un matrimonio, que está de viaje por Venecia, se encuentra en una terraza. La historia comienza cuando el marido intenta hacer jugar a su mujer a un antiguo juego, inventarse historias sobre las personas sentadas en las otras mesas. Pero todo se complicará cuando una anciana le diga su esposa que puede ver a su hija muerta. Fascinante y estupendo relato, lleno de suspense.
El manzano (*****). El protagonista, que acaba de enviudar de su mujer, a la que no amaba, cree verla representada en un viejo manzano. Otro magnífico relato, mi favorito junto al anterior.
No después de medianoche (****). Un profesor viaja a Creta en busca de descanso y para poder pintar. El hecho de que le asignen una cabaña cuyo anterior huésped murió ahogado, tendrá sus consecuencias. Muy buen relato.
El estanque (**). Unos niños, de vacaciones junto a su familia, se divierten jugando en el bosque, cerca de un estanque que obsesiona a Deborah. Narrado a modo de falso cuento infantil, no ha acabado de gustarme.
Las lentes azules (****). Marda West está en el hospital, donde le han operado de la vista. Cuando le quinten los vendajes, y le coloquen las lentes provisionales, se llevará un gran susto. Gran relato, cercano a la ciencia ficción.
La autora se desenvuelve muy bien en las distancias cortas. Es capaz de mantener la tensión conduciéndonos a un crescendo inesperado y angustioso. Si bien los giros finales están bien, lo que más he disfrutado ha sido la narración, el viaje hasta los mismos. Y es que estos relatos están muy bien escritos (o traducidos), la autora conoce perfectamente los resortes de tan complicada género.
Estos son los cinco relatos incluidos en ‘No mires ahora y otros relatos’ (2018):
No mires ahora (*****). Un matrimonio, que está de viaje por Venecia, se encuentra en una terraza. La historia comienza cuando el marido intenta hacer jugar a su mujer a un antiguo juego, inventarse historias sobre las personas sentadas en las otras mesas. Pero todo se complicará cuando una anciana le diga su esposa que puede ver a su hija muerta. Fascinante y estupendo relato, lleno de suspense.
El manzano (*****). El protagonista, que acaba de enviudar de su mujer, a la que no amaba, cree verla representada en un viejo manzano. Otro magnífico relato, mi favorito junto al anterior.
No después de medianoche (****). Un profesor viaja a Creta en busca de descanso y para poder pintar. El hecho de que le asignen una cabaña cuyo anterior huésped murió ahogado, tendrá sus consecuencias. Muy buen relato.
El estanque (**). Unos niños, de vacaciones junto a su familia, se divierten jugando en el bosque, cerca de un estanque que obsesiona a Deborah. Narrado a modo de falso cuento infantil, no ha acabado de gustarme.
Las lentes azules (****). Marda West está en el hospital, donde le han operado de la vista. Cuando le quinten los vendajes, y le coloquen las lentes provisionales, se llevará un gran susto. Gran relato, cercano a la ciencia ficción.
August 19, 2017
An interesting collection full of stories of subtle (and in some cases, not so subtle) horror and suspense. My favourite was definitely the title story, Don't Look Now, and sadly, some stories didn't really work for me, hence the 3-star rating.
June 10, 2018
This is part of my treasured Folio collection and its a cracker.
The book collects Daphne du Maurier's macabre stories together which span her writing career.
The book contains several famous short stories which I am sure have been more succinctly and creatively reviewed than I could have achieved plus I do not give spoilers.
I think the only exception would be the Birds the last story in this collected edition and one which was the basis of Hitchcocks classic.
The reason why I focus on this one is that I can be a little more lenient with my no spoilers since I am sure everything has either heard or seen the film plus I had a rather strange experience this morning which brought the story in to focus.
I long thought that the scene in the film with the crows in the play ground was a little contrived (stay with me you will get there) as it was well know that Hitchcock would not mind bending a few rules if it meant a better cinematic experience. Well I thought that the way the birds sounded and acted was a little false.
that was till this morning - when outside the house where there is a very large tree a large number of crows started to form and yes they sounded exactly like that. I later found out they were hounding a Red Kite which was circling but still it did bring that school house scene to mind.
And so I set about reading the stories (and considering the book was 300 pages plus) I forgot how east it was to get drawn in to her work.
Enough to say that the story from this book is far more powerful and harrowing by the simplicity of which Ms du Maurier describes the events. It is times like these that remind me that re-reading a book sometimes can be even more striking that reading it for the first time.
The book collects Daphne du Maurier's macabre stories together which span her writing career.
The book contains several famous short stories which I am sure have been more succinctly and creatively reviewed than I could have achieved plus I do not give spoilers.
I think the only exception would be the Birds the last story in this collected edition and one which was the basis of Hitchcocks classic.
The reason why I focus on this one is that I can be a little more lenient with my no spoilers since I am sure everything has either heard or seen the film plus I had a rather strange experience this morning which brought the story in to focus.
I long thought that the scene in the film with the crows in the play ground was a little contrived (stay with me you will get there) as it was well know that Hitchcock would not mind bending a few rules if it meant a better cinematic experience. Well I thought that the way the birds sounded and acted was a little false.
that was till this morning - when outside the house where there is a very large tree a large number of crows started to form and yes they sounded exactly like that. I later found out they were hounding a Red Kite which was circling but still it did bring that school house scene to mind.
And so I set about reading the stories (and considering the book was 300 pages plus) I forgot how east it was to get drawn in to her work.
Enough to say that the story from this book is far more powerful and harrowing by the simplicity of which Ms du Maurier describes the events. It is times like these that remind me that re-reading a book sometimes can be even more striking that reading it for the first time.
May 20, 2018
Esta es otra estupenda recopilación de relatos de Daphne Du Maurier que también me ha encantado. Es el tercer libro que leo de la escritora este año y es que me tiene absolutamente hipnotizada con sus historias. Pronto continuaré con sus novelas.
July 29, 2021
A collection of 5 short stories by mystery writer Daphne Du Maurier featuring the classi ‘Don’t Look Now’.
“Don’t Look Now,” is one of the authors best known stories and was subsequently made into a film. It is the story of a young British couple holidaying in Venice, trying to recover after recently losing their young daughter following her death. Their break takes an unusual turn when they meet two sisters in a café. One of the sisters is blind and she claims that she can see the deceased child sitting with her parents at a nearby table. Following this meeting the story escalates with lots of events and ultimately a violent ending. The books is worth reading for this story alone although the other four stories make interesting reading if not achieving the same recognition as ‘Don’t Look Now’
Daphne Du Maurier wrote ‘Rebecca’ which is one of my favourite all time books but there is so much more of her work that deserves a read.
“Don’t Look Now,” is one of the authors best known stories and was subsequently made into a film. It is the story of a young British couple holidaying in Venice, trying to recover after recently losing their young daughter following her death. Their break takes an unusual turn when they meet two sisters in a café. One of the sisters is blind and she claims that she can see the deceased child sitting with her parents at a nearby table. Following this meeting the story escalates with lots of events and ultimately a violent ending. The books is worth reading for this story alone although the other four stories make interesting reading if not achieving the same recognition as ‘Don’t Look Now’
Daphne Du Maurier wrote ‘Rebecca’ which is one of my favourite all time books but there is so much more of her work that deserves a read.
July 3, 2019
I am a huge fan of short story collections. Instead of reading a chapter or two while waiting for the doctor you can knock out a whole story. This collection wasn’t the best of the best, but it did entertain.
“Don’t Look Now” - 4 Stars
A husband and wife on holiday after a family loss find themselves in the middle of much more than they expected.
It makes sense that this story is the one that had a movie made from it. It had great buildup and the ending was one that the reader wouldn’t expect.
A Border Line Case” - 3 Stars
A daughter decides to track down a friend from her father's past and learns that some searches are better left undone.
The ending was obvious from the beginning but it was entertaining. I liked that it wasn’t as description heavy as some of the other stories in this collection and that it read quick.
“The Breakthrough” - 3 Stars
A man sent to assist with a computer learns that science experiences in secluded locations never end well.
The beginning and middle of this one had me hooked but the ending left a lot to be desired. This was the one story I would have liked to see in novel form with more story at the back end.
“The Way of the Cross” - 2 Stars
A group traveling discover many truths about themselves while visiting a holy location.
I liked the idea behind this story but got bored with the telling of it. It was way to descriptive and took up too much of my reading time. The way the characters were written was impressive, but the excessive detail killed it for me.
“Not After Midnight” - 1 Star
A vacationing teacher has a gut feeling about another couple's invitation to spend more time together.
This one was overly dramatic and had this ridiculous buildup to nothing. I went back and read the beginning multiple times to figure out what I had missed and could not figure it out. It was like he did something shameful and everyone knew about it and left his job because of it. I am not sure what that piece had to do with the rest of the story and assume I misunderstood something about it.
“Don’t Look Now” - 4 Stars
A husband and wife on holiday after a family loss find themselves in the middle of much more than they expected.
It makes sense that this story is the one that had a movie made from it. It had great buildup and the ending was one that the reader wouldn’t expect.
A Border Line Case” - 3 Stars
A daughter decides to track down a friend from her father's past and learns that some searches are better left undone.
The ending was obvious from the beginning but it was entertaining. I liked that it wasn’t as description heavy as some of the other stories in this collection and that it read quick.
“The Breakthrough” - 3 Stars
A man sent to assist with a computer learns that science experiences in secluded locations never end well.
The beginning and middle of this one had me hooked but the ending left a lot to be desired. This was the one story I would have liked to see in novel form with more story at the back end.
“The Way of the Cross” - 2 Stars
A group traveling discover many truths about themselves while visiting a holy location.
I liked the idea behind this story but got bored with the telling of it. It was way to descriptive and took up too much of my reading time. The way the characters were written was impressive, but the excessive detail killed it for me.
“Not After Midnight” - 1 Star
A vacationing teacher has a gut feeling about another couple's invitation to spend more time together.
This one was overly dramatic and had this ridiculous buildup to nothing. I went back and read the beginning multiple times to figure out what I had missed and could not figure it out. It was like he did something shameful and everyone knew about it and left his job because of it. I am not sure what that piece had to do with the rest of the story and assume I misunderstood something about it.
January 18, 2020
Expertly wrought tales of intrigue and nastiness.
December 17, 2016
A word of caution: Do not confuse this book,
Don't Look Now and Other Stories with
Don't Look Now: Selected Stories of Daphne Du Maurier. They are not the same book. The only things they have in common are the the title story and the author. Both books are fine, mind you, but if you are participating in a group discussion and the stories you are reading aren't the same as what everyone else is reading, you will likely feel left out in the cold.
That said, this is a fine collection of stories by an exceptional author. I really enjoyed her writing style and the the way that she was able to bring various settings around the world to life. That said, I don't think any of the stories really hit it out of the park. Maybe I expect more from the author of Rebecca and Jamaica Inn but I felt like she set up several of the stories for a big finish and then....they just ended. I award this anthology ★★★½ stars out of five although at least half a star is awarded out of respect for Dame Daphne.
My thanks to the folks at the Horror Aficionados group for giving me the opportunity to read and discuss this and many other fine books.
Don't Look Now and Other Stories with
Don't Look Now: Selected Stories of Daphne Du Maurier. They are not the same book. The only things they have in common are the the title story and the author. Both books are fine, mind you, but if you are participating in a group discussion and the stories you are reading aren't the same as what everyone else is reading, you will likely feel left out in the cold. That said, this is a fine collection of stories by an exceptional author. I really enjoyed her writing style and the the way that she was able to bring various settings around the world to life. That said, I don't think any of the stories really hit it out of the park. Maybe I expect more from the author of Rebecca and Jamaica Inn but I felt like she set up several of the stories for a big finish and then....they just ended. I award this anthology ★★★½ stars out of five although at least half a star is awarded out of respect for Dame Daphne.
My thanks to the folks at the Horror Aficionados group for giving me the opportunity to read and discuss this and many other fine books.
February 24, 2018
Son 5 relatos que yo definiría de terror psicológico. El manzano ya lo había leído en otra antología y era de mis favoritos de la autora. Pero, en este caso, los otros 4 me han encantado , sobre todo el que da nombre a la antología. Me encanta la autora.
October 21, 2022
I bought this collection a few months back and then never got around to finishing it until now. Apparently insomnia has claimed me again, and I finally finished some books and put some others on the DNF list. Per usual, here are my ratings for each story in the collection. Overall I gave this 4 stars since some of the stories were baffling to me. I don't know what message I was supposed to be getting.
"Don't Look Now" (5 stars)-John and Laura are a married couple trying to rediscover each other after the lost of a child. However, something or someone still seems to be with them. I loved the Gothic elements in this story and the ending.
"Not after Midnight" (5 stars)-This story was a bit long, but I liked how it played out. A school teacher who is away on vacation to Crete starts to realize there is something sinister with a married couple that is located nearby where he is staying. He finds out the person who stayed in his chalet came to a bad end and now he's wondering if the couple could have had something to do with it. There are some horror/supernatural elements afoot here. I still wonder about the married man. But once again, solid ending.
"A Border-Line Case" (4 stars)-What a long story. A young woman and actress who decides to embark to meet a man that her late father used to be friends with. I was confused for a bit of it and wondered where du Maurier was going with things. But once again, that ending saved things.
"The Way of the Cross" (3 stars)-It started off interesting but then just meandered. Reading about a group of travelers to Jerusalem was not that interesting in the end. I kept thinking something bad was going to befall them and it just felt a bit too like a comedy of errors in the end. Also may be I am too bloodthirsty? I was like, eh no one died.
"The Breakthrough" (4 stars)-I honestly thought this one was very good. We get a nice echo of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein with a question of can a soul be captured?
"Don't Look Now" (5 stars)-John and Laura are a married couple trying to rediscover each other after the lost of a child. However, something or someone still seems to be with them. I loved the Gothic elements in this story and the ending.
"Not after Midnight" (5 stars)-This story was a bit long, but I liked how it played out. A school teacher who is away on vacation to Crete starts to realize there is something sinister with a married couple that is located nearby where he is staying. He finds out the person who stayed in his chalet came to a bad end and now he's wondering if the couple could have had something to do with it. There are some horror/supernatural elements afoot here. I still wonder about the married man. But once again, solid ending.
"A Border-Line Case" (4 stars)-What a long story. A young woman and actress who decides to embark to meet a man that her late father used to be friends with. I was confused for a bit of it and wondered where du Maurier was going with things. But once again, that ending saved things.
"The Way of the Cross" (3 stars)-It started off interesting but then just meandered. Reading about a group of travelers to Jerusalem was not that interesting in the end. I kept thinking something bad was going to befall them and it just felt a bit too like a comedy of errors in the end. Also may be I am too bloodthirsty? I was like, eh no one died.
"The Breakthrough" (4 stars)-I honestly thought this one was very good. We get a nice echo of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein with a question of can a soul be captured?
November 5, 2017
Daphne du Maurier is one of my favorite authors and she has never disappointed me thus far. These five longish short stories, each with a different focus but all surprising and unpredictable or at least to me.
*Don't Look Now (1971)- Is about a couple on vacation in Venice, trying to enjoy life after their daughter's death but circumstances and possible psychic happenings have put a wrench into those plans.
*Not After Midnight (1971) A schoolteacher on vacation to Greece finds not the rest and relaxation he was looking for but life changing circumstances, which were added by his curiosity of unexplained occurences. I had to read the beginning again to understand the ending completely.
*A Border-Line Case (1971) A young actress witnesses her father's death and his unexplained horror in this last moments when he saw her. She tried to make up to her father by helping him with a last request. This is psychologically the most disturbing story in my opinion.
*The Way of the Cross (1971) A pilgrimage to the Holy City changes all the characters but how much is influenced by the surrounding or by the unexpected self introspection.
*The Breakthrough (1966) This science fiction story is interesting since it comes from Daphne but brings questions about how much man should interfere where he does not belong.
All of these stories were engaging
*Don't Look Now (1971)- Is about a couple on vacation in Venice, trying to enjoy life after their daughter's death but circumstances and possible psychic happenings have put a wrench into those plans.
*Not After Midnight (1971) A schoolteacher on vacation to Greece finds not the rest and relaxation he was looking for but life changing circumstances, which were added by his curiosity of unexplained occurences. I had to read the beginning again to understand the ending completely.
*A Border-Line Case (1971) A young actress witnesses her father's death and his unexplained horror in this last moments when he saw her. She tried to make up to her father by helping him with a last request. This is psychologically the most disturbing story in my opinion.
*The Way of the Cross (1971) A pilgrimage to the Holy City changes all the characters but how much is influenced by the surrounding or by the unexpected self introspection.
*The Breakthrough (1966) This science fiction story is interesting since it comes from Daphne but brings questions about how much man should interfere where he does not belong.
All of these stories were engaging
April 29, 2018
Me ha encantado, sería incapaz de decir cómo lo hace, pero en la primera línea de cada relato ya sientes la inquietud y el malestar... Ahora tengo aún más ganas de leerla en novela.
May 16, 2019
Don’t Look at All
Frankly speaking, my first encounter was with Nicholas Roeg’s film starring Donald Sutherland and a wonderful Julie Christie, rather than with Daphne du Maurier’s short story itself, and I have consequently always asked myself why the title is “Don’t Look Now”. Of course, that was not the only question I was left with after watching Roeg’s fascinating screen adaptation of du Maurier’s story because Roeg is a lot more ambiguous, opaque and equivocal in his approach to the original and he overwhelms his spectators with powerful symbolism into the bargain.
Nevertheless, after reading the five tales included in this collection, I started thinking whether they might not have something in common – apart from the skilful, suggestive yet unobtrusive prose they are written in –, uniting every single one of them. Saying this, I don’t even know, hardly knowing the first thing at all about du Maurier, whether these five stories were originally included in one collection or whether their joint appearance in one volume is simply due to a publisher’s choice. Be that as it may, if it is the latter, it can be said to be a felicitous choice all the same because, as the title of the collection implies, all five tales are more or less about people’s tendency to deceive themselves, to give in to denial behaviour and to suppress part of their inner lives. Sometimes, this is quite a wise decision, sometimes it isn’t.
The titular story, Don’t Look Now, is probably the one known best. An English couple, John and Laura, lost their little daughter due to meningitis and are now spending a holiday in Venice, in the hopes of coming to terms with the death of their child. The appearance of two old Scottish ladies, however, makes them face their recent loss again because the two women claim that they can see the spirit of their dead child sitting next to them. While the wife immediately warms to the old ladies and wants more information about her daughter, the husband is annoyed because he undertook the trip in order to help his wife forget about their daughter, and now he finds those crones telling his wife that their dead child is actually with them all the time. Besides, he strongly suspects them of being fraudulent freaks. Throughout the novel one can sense that John’s primary intention is to keep his more tender feelings, amongst them his grief for his daughter, under control, and apparently for him it is more advisable to forget than to integrate sad and sorrowful memories into his life. To cope, for him means to move on, and that is also what he expects his wife to do. Still, it is not easy to live up to this determination, and so the way he sees Venice is often redolent of reminiscences of death, as for example when in the evening, apart from the hustle and bustle of tourist life, ”the long narrow boats moored to the slippery steps of cellar entrances looked like coffins.” When in the end, he complains about the silly way he dies, this may partly be because someone who never faces the inevitability of death will probably be condemned to a silly way of living in the first place, which will inevitably be rounded off with a silly way of dying. (*****)
The second story, Not After Midnight, presents us to a history teacher at a preparatory school, a man who says about himself:
Our narrator, Timothy Grey (a fitting name), may refute the charge of self-complacency, but we needn’t believe him, and what is more (or less, depending how you see it), he is most definitely a dull, conceited man. Nevertheless, when he chances to get involved with a mysterious American couple, his eventless life gets into motion and he discovers a darker side within himself, which he tries to ascribe to a hideous Grecian artefact that allegedly exerts a baleful influence on him. Of course, of course, it’s usually the artefact, isn’t it? – The story will probably baffle you for it denies you a clear explanation of the things that happen, but then you should not forget it is told by a first-person narrator. (****)
The weakest story in this collection is entitled A Border-Line Case and it is about a 19-year old actress whose father recently died. From what she gathers about his last words, she feels obliged to patch up his relationship, vicariously, with a former friend and army colleague of his, a man who lives as a recluse on a little island set within an Irish lough. Thinking at first that she is in the presence of a madman – her reception was, indeed, conducive to such a conclusion – young Shelagh finally falls for this man who is old enough to be her father. And since there is hardly anything that prepares the reader for such a development, nothing really in the way of character development or plausibility, one may safely assume that the fact that the vet is old enough to be her father may explain something about Shelagh as well. By the way, the story will then move towards a rather outré, albeit predictable twist. (*)
Rather more clever and entertaining is the fourth story, The Way of the Cross, where we have a group of English tourists – they might think of themselves as pilgrims of some sorts – in Jerusalem, trying to acquire a feeling how Jesus might have gone through his last hours before the crucifixion. But also trying to flaunt their knowledge, their piety, their moral standards, or to get into the knickers of a woman on her wedding trip. This wonderfully malicious story reminded me a lot of Katherine Ann Porter’s Ship of Fools, which is another example of intelligent character dissection. Some of du Maurier’s “pilgrims” will not be spared their comeuppance when circumstance makes them overhear people telling truths about themselves they would never have thought possible, or when even worse and more humiliating catastrophes befall them. There is little justice in this, however, in that it is not the worst of them who are made to suffer. For all that, this brilliant story, although not really plot-driven, is a perfect excursion into the deep shallows of human nature. (*****)
The collection concludes with The Breakthrough, a story in which a scientist is given the assignment to work with a colleague whose reputation is somewhat tainted by rumours of strange or useless experiments he makes. This latter man, by the name of MacLean, lost his wife years ago, and as our narrator finds out he is now working on a way of preserving the basic vital energy – he is careful to make it clear that he does not think of it in terms of a soul – that exudes the body in the moment of death and usually gets lost in the air. What a waste of energy! Just imagine how the energy stored in this spark of life could be used more productively – probably even carbon neutrally! While this rather freakish pipe-dream may be the result of MacLean’s failure to come to terms with the loss of his wife in a way, in yet another way it shows capitalism and utilitarianism at their worst: Not content to exploit human energy and creativity while humans are alive, or to regard the dead body as a depot for human spare parts, the idea now lies in turning the divine spark itself into disposable energy. This is the most frightening thought I came across in the whole book, and du Maurier has a deft hand at developing the moral implications. (****)
This was my first book by du Maurier, and on the whole I was very intrigued by her skill at handling various situations, conjuring up diverse settings and showing us elementary truths about human nature in so many different ways.
Frankly speaking, my first encounter was with Nicholas Roeg’s film starring Donald Sutherland and a wonderful Julie Christie, rather than with Daphne du Maurier’s short story itself, and I have consequently always asked myself why the title is “Don’t Look Now”. Of course, that was not the only question I was left with after watching Roeg’s fascinating screen adaptation of du Maurier’s story because Roeg is a lot more ambiguous, opaque and equivocal in his approach to the original and he overwhelms his spectators with powerful symbolism into the bargain.
Nevertheless, after reading the five tales included in this collection, I started thinking whether they might not have something in common – apart from the skilful, suggestive yet unobtrusive prose they are written in –, uniting every single one of them. Saying this, I don’t even know, hardly knowing the first thing at all about du Maurier, whether these five stories were originally included in one collection or whether their joint appearance in one volume is simply due to a publisher’s choice. Be that as it may, if it is the latter, it can be said to be a felicitous choice all the same because, as the title of the collection implies, all five tales are more or less about people’s tendency to deceive themselves, to give in to denial behaviour and to suppress part of their inner lives. Sometimes, this is quite a wise decision, sometimes it isn’t.
The titular story, Don’t Look Now, is probably the one known best. An English couple, John and Laura, lost their little daughter due to meningitis and are now spending a holiday in Venice, in the hopes of coming to terms with the death of their child. The appearance of two old Scottish ladies, however, makes them face their recent loss again because the two women claim that they can see the spirit of their dead child sitting next to them. While the wife immediately warms to the old ladies and wants more information about her daughter, the husband is annoyed because he undertook the trip in order to help his wife forget about their daughter, and now he finds those crones telling his wife that their dead child is actually with them all the time. Besides, he strongly suspects them of being fraudulent freaks. Throughout the novel one can sense that John’s primary intention is to keep his more tender feelings, amongst them his grief for his daughter, under control, and apparently for him it is more advisable to forget than to integrate sad and sorrowful memories into his life. To cope, for him means to move on, and that is also what he expects his wife to do. Still, it is not easy to live up to this determination, and so the way he sees Venice is often redolent of reminiscences of death, as for example when in the evening, apart from the hustle and bustle of tourist life, ”the long narrow boats moored to the slippery steps of cellar entrances looked like coffins.” When in the end, he complains about the silly way he dies, this may partly be because someone who never faces the inevitability of death will probably be condemned to a silly way of living in the first place, which will inevitably be rounded off with a silly way of dying. (*****)
The second story, Not After Midnight, presents us to a history teacher at a preparatory school, a man who says about himself:
”Vices, up to the present, literally none. Which is not being self-complacent, but the truth is that my life has been uneventful by any standard. Nor has this bothered me. I am probably a dull man. Emotionally I have had no complications.”
Our narrator, Timothy Grey (a fitting name), may refute the charge of self-complacency, but we needn’t believe him, and what is more (or less, depending how you see it), he is most definitely a dull, conceited man. Nevertheless, when he chances to get involved with a mysterious American couple, his eventless life gets into motion and he discovers a darker side within himself, which he tries to ascribe to a hideous Grecian artefact that allegedly exerts a baleful influence on him. Of course, of course, it’s usually the artefact, isn’t it? – The story will probably baffle you for it denies you a clear explanation of the things that happen, but then you should not forget it is told by a first-person narrator. (****)
The weakest story in this collection is entitled A Border-Line Case and it is about a 19-year old actress whose father recently died. From what she gathers about his last words, she feels obliged to patch up his relationship, vicariously, with a former friend and army colleague of his, a man who lives as a recluse on a little island set within an Irish lough. Thinking at first that she is in the presence of a madman – her reception was, indeed, conducive to such a conclusion – young Shelagh finally falls for this man who is old enough to be her father. And since there is hardly anything that prepares the reader for such a development, nothing really in the way of character development or plausibility, one may safely assume that the fact that the vet is old enough to be her father may explain something about Shelagh as well. By the way, the story will then move towards a rather outré, albeit predictable twist. (*)
Rather more clever and entertaining is the fourth story, The Way of the Cross, where we have a group of English tourists – they might think of themselves as pilgrims of some sorts – in Jerusalem, trying to acquire a feeling how Jesus might have gone through his last hours before the crucifixion. But also trying to flaunt their knowledge, their piety, their moral standards, or to get into the knickers of a woman on her wedding trip. This wonderfully malicious story reminded me a lot of Katherine Ann Porter’s Ship of Fools, which is another example of intelligent character dissection. Some of du Maurier’s “pilgrims” will not be spared their comeuppance when circumstance makes them overhear people telling truths about themselves they would never have thought possible, or when even worse and more humiliating catastrophes befall them. There is little justice in this, however, in that it is not the worst of them who are made to suffer. For all that, this brilliant story, although not really plot-driven, is a perfect excursion into the deep shallows of human nature. (*****)
The collection concludes with The Breakthrough, a story in which a scientist is given the assignment to work with a colleague whose reputation is somewhat tainted by rumours of strange or useless experiments he makes. This latter man, by the name of MacLean, lost his wife years ago, and as our narrator finds out he is now working on a way of preserving the basic vital energy – he is careful to make it clear that he does not think of it in terms of a soul – that exudes the body in the moment of death and usually gets lost in the air. What a waste of energy! Just imagine how the energy stored in this spark of life could be used more productively – probably even carbon neutrally! While this rather freakish pipe-dream may be the result of MacLean’s failure to come to terms with the loss of his wife in a way, in yet another way it shows capitalism and utilitarianism at their worst: Not content to exploit human energy and creativity while humans are alive, or to regard the dead body as a depot for human spare parts, the idea now lies in turning the divine spark itself into disposable energy. This is the most frightening thought I came across in the whole book, and du Maurier has a deft hand at developing the moral implications. (****)
This was my first book by du Maurier, and on the whole I was very intrigued by her skill at handling various situations, conjuring up diverse settings and showing us elementary truths about human nature in so many different ways.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2014
There are numerous editions of this collection, and going by the reviews here on Goodreads, not all of them contain the same stories as the one I read. For the record, my edition contained five tales - the titular Don't Look Now followed by Not After Midnight, A Border-line Case, The Way of the Cross and The Breakthrough. Altogether, I enjoyed this anthology more than either of the full-length novels I've read by the author - yes, including Rebecca. I was delighted by the strangeness of the stories, and I would (and will) read more. While I didn't think any of them were perfect, each of them (with one exception) had something deeply sinister and fascinating about them that captured my imagination and made the collection hugely memorable. I have reviewed each story individually below.
Don't Look Now
A married couple, John and Laura, are on holiday in Venice following the death of their young daughter. The story opens as they fear they are being followed by a pair of elderly twins: their joking about the sisters takes a more sinister turn when one approaches Laura and claims she can see the ghost of their daughter alongside them.
On my first attempt at reading this, I actually didn't feel much inclined to carry on with the book. I think I often find it hard to 'settle in' to short stories because compared to a full-length novel, the action seems so rushed, and that was definitely the case here. I felt there was something stilted about the dialogue and I wasn't sure I could believe in Laura's reaction to what she was told. I got about halfway through the story before I realised I wasn't sure I wanted to keep reading, and decided to read another of the stories and then make up my mind. I really enjoyed that one, and found after I'd finished it that I really wanted to find out what happened next in Don't Look Now. I'm aware of the film, but haven't seen it, so although I knew the bones of the story, I didn't know how it would end. The tension and atmosphere grew as the story progressed, I was gripped by its mystery and to be honest, I was truly quite frightened by the ending!
Not After Midnight
A solitary teacher goes to Crete and looks forward to spending his holiday alone, painting. He is determined to stay in a sea-front chalet and when he comes across No.62, with its perfect view, he is adamant that he will stay there, even when he finds out the previous occupant drowned just two weeks before his arrival. He is further dismayed when an obnoxious American staying in the same resort takes a shine to him and invites him to visit his own chalet, but 'not after midnight'.
Unlike the title story, this had my full attention from the opening paragraph. I related to certain things about the protagonist, and really disliked other things about him - he was certainly a very interesting character. The setting was portrayed incredibly well and this really added to the tone of the whole thing, the sense of dread. After all that build-up, I did find the conclusion rather unsatisfying and a bit too abrupt (there was almost something silly about it), but nevertheless, this story has stuck in my head more than any of the others.
A Border-line Case
After the death of her father, a young actress journeys to Ireland in order to visit an estranged friend of his who was best man at her parents' wedding, then mysteriously dropped out of their lives. She arrives in a strange, hostile village to find that the man lives on an island in the middle of a lake, and is either insane or a dangerous criminal - or maybe both.
This was the story I was least looking forward to. This was partly because I'd already read a summary of the book which, irritatingly, gave away what I assumed was the main twist of this story's plot - - and I just didn't think this revelation was going to be enough to make the whole saga exciting. In fact, while this was a spoiler, there was another twist right at the end which I hadn't guessed (probably because I'd been lulled into a false sense of security, thinking I knew what was going to happen!) Admittedly, I did think there was something odd and unrealistic about , but the ending made sense of this and also really shocked me.
The Way of the Cross
A group of people make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, led by a young, inexperienced vicar. The disparate group includes a snobby upper-class couple and their unnerving, precocious grandson, a middle-class couple with slight delusions of grandeur, an elderly spinster and two dissatisfied newlyweds. Numerous mishaps befall them on the trip, some amusing and others rather more macabre.
This is quite different from the other stories: it's lacking in that gothic aspect, has a greater element of humour and is driven far more by character than plot. I didn't really know what to expect from it, and was hoping it would have some darker twist, but although there were moments of humiliation for most of the characters, that never really came. I'm afraid I found this a little dull and it was definitely my least favourite of the five.
The Breakthrough
An engineer is sent to join a team of scientific researchers at a base in the middle of the Norfolk marshes. When he arrives, he finds that the place is almost deserted and what remains of the team have become obsessed with a device called Charon, which already has strange uses ('calling' animals and children from miles away, for example) and is intended for an even more sinister purpose.
Although this is the last story in the collection, it was the first one I read. I was intrigued immediately because the themes didn't resemble anything I associate with the author's work - it's almost science fiction, and feels more modern than the others. I thought it was possibly the most frightening, too: there was a truly horrifying note to the climax. While this hasn't stayed with me in quite the same way as Not After Midnight, they both share the distinction of being written in first person, which - aside from the fact that I love it anyway, which may be biasing my opinion here! - I think works incredibly well for this type of story, and contributes strongly to the creepiness of the tale.
Don't Look Now
A married couple, John and Laura, are on holiday in Venice following the death of their young daughter. The story opens as they fear they are being followed by a pair of elderly twins: their joking about the sisters takes a more sinister turn when one approaches Laura and claims she can see the ghost of their daughter alongside them.
On my first attempt at reading this, I actually didn't feel much inclined to carry on with the book. I think I often find it hard to 'settle in' to short stories because compared to a full-length novel, the action seems so rushed, and that was definitely the case here. I felt there was something stilted about the dialogue and I wasn't sure I could believe in Laura's reaction to what she was told. I got about halfway through the story before I realised I wasn't sure I wanted to keep reading, and decided to read another of the stories and then make up my mind. I really enjoyed that one, and found after I'd finished it that I really wanted to find out what happened next in Don't Look Now. I'm aware of the film, but haven't seen it, so although I knew the bones of the story, I didn't know how it would end. The tension and atmosphere grew as the story progressed, I was gripped by its mystery and to be honest, I was truly quite frightened by the ending!
Not After Midnight
A solitary teacher goes to Crete and looks forward to spending his holiday alone, painting. He is determined to stay in a sea-front chalet and when he comes across No.62, with its perfect view, he is adamant that he will stay there, even when he finds out the previous occupant drowned just two weeks before his arrival. He is further dismayed when an obnoxious American staying in the same resort takes a shine to him and invites him to visit his own chalet, but 'not after midnight'.
Unlike the title story, this had my full attention from the opening paragraph. I related to certain things about the protagonist, and really disliked other things about him - he was certainly a very interesting character. The setting was portrayed incredibly well and this really added to the tone of the whole thing, the sense of dread. After all that build-up, I did find the conclusion rather unsatisfying and a bit too abrupt (there was almost something silly about it), but nevertheless, this story has stuck in my head more than any of the others.
A Border-line Case
After the death of her father, a young actress journeys to Ireland in order to visit an estranged friend of his who was best man at her parents' wedding, then mysteriously dropped out of their lives. She arrives in a strange, hostile village to find that the man lives on an island in the middle of a lake, and is either insane or a dangerous criminal - or maybe both.
This was the story I was least looking forward to. This was partly because I'd already read a summary of the book which, irritatingly, gave away what I assumed was the main twist of this story's plot - - and I just didn't think this revelation was going to be enough to make the whole saga exciting. In fact, while this was a spoiler, there was another twist right at the end which I hadn't guessed (probably because I'd been lulled into a false sense of security, thinking I knew what was going to happen!) Admittedly, I did think there was something odd and unrealistic about , but the ending made sense of this and also really shocked me.
The Way of the Cross
A group of people make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, led by a young, inexperienced vicar. The disparate group includes a snobby upper-class couple and their unnerving, precocious grandson, a middle-class couple with slight delusions of grandeur, an elderly spinster and two dissatisfied newlyweds. Numerous mishaps befall them on the trip, some amusing and others rather more macabre.
This is quite different from the other stories: it's lacking in that gothic aspect, has a greater element of humour and is driven far more by character than plot. I didn't really know what to expect from it, and was hoping it would have some darker twist, but although there were moments of humiliation for most of the characters, that never really came. I'm afraid I found this a little dull and it was definitely my least favourite of the five.
The Breakthrough
An engineer is sent to join a team of scientific researchers at a base in the middle of the Norfolk marshes. When he arrives, he finds that the place is almost deserted and what remains of the team have become obsessed with a device called Charon, which already has strange uses ('calling' animals and children from miles away, for example) and is intended for an even more sinister purpose.
Although this is the last story in the collection, it was the first one I read. I was intrigued immediately because the themes didn't resemble anything I associate with the author's work - it's almost science fiction, and feels more modern than the others. I thought it was possibly the most frightening, too: there was a truly horrifying note to the climax. While this hasn't stayed with me in quite the same way as Not After Midnight, they both share the distinction of being written in first person, which - aside from the fact that I love it anyway, which may be biasing my opinion here! - I think works incredibly well for this type of story, and contributes strongly to the creepiness of the tale.
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