Customer Reviews

Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (Transaction Large Print Books)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It would be tough to identify a writer whose ghost stories are more effective than those of Montague Rhodes James. Edith Wharton and Shirley Jackson are among the few whose work approaches that of James. If you are a connoisseur or collector, this title would be among the last you would part with as you sold your collection one volume at a time to buy life-sustaining soup. Atmosphere (both psychological and positional), character development, settings - all of these are handled with mastery. Buy this book, retreat to a quiet room lit by a single lamp (and, preferably, a sputtering fire), and enjoy!

I love M.R. James! His work is fairly hard to find these days, so getting two full volumes of his stories for FREE is definitely exciting. My five-star rating of this book though, is geared toward the work itself-- this Kindle edition isn't very convenient...there is no interactive table of contents, so I went in and highlighted the title of each story and now use the "my notes and markings" menu as a table of contents. Pain in the butt, but works just fine. Despite all this, I would encourage anyone who likes a good spooky story to pick up this title and its second volume, which has my favorite, "O, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad".

Montague Rhodes James (1862-1936), Vice-Chancellor at Cambridge, Director of the prestigious Fitzwilliam Museum, and later Provost of Eton, was possibly the world's greatest authority on medieval manuscripts. He is thought to have studied nearly twenty thousand documents. He also wrote ghost stories.

Ghost Stories of an Antiquary was published in a limited edition in 1904 and reprinted nine times in the next decade. He subsequently published three other collections - More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911), A Thin Ghost and Others (1919), and A Warning to the Curious (1926). M. R. James greatly admired the supernatural fiction of J. Sheridan LeFanu and thought of himself as simply a follower in LeFanu's footsteps.

In the interesting introduction to this Dover edition E. F. Bleiler writes that the "evil that dieth not, but lieth in wait" is a common theme in these chilling stories. This evil that dieth not is best left undisturbed. The curious ones, those seekers of forgotten lore, often discover that knowledge comes at a high price. And the reader may find that sleep comes less easy.

I quite enjoyed this short collection and I am sure that it will appeal to any reader of Victorian ghost stories. A few may seem somewhat familiar as undoubtedly the tales of M. R. James have long served as a source of inspiration for later stories and screenplays.

The stories in this collection include Canon Alberic's Scrap-book, Lost Hearts, The Mezzotint, The Ash-tree, Number 13, Count Magnus, Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad, and The Treasure of Abbott Thomas.

First of all, keep in mind that this is NOT the DOVER paperback edition of these stories, which is superb. This one is from Wildside Press, and I'll get to that presently.
The great MR James wrote several volumes of ghostly tales, and this one- his 1st- is without a doubt the best of them. Stories such as "Count Magnus", "The Ash-Tree", "The Mezzotint" and (my favorite MRJ of all) "Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book" make for truly creepy reading for the judicious few. These are my favorites, but they are all excellent ("The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" even throws in a couple of adventure and detective fiction elements!).
James was a scholar, and it shows. Most of these stories have a fairly lengthy build-up, full of historical/architectural/literary references before the wierd stuff sets in. Rather than bludgeoning you over the head, these stories subtly sneak up behind you, then whisper (rather than shout) "BOO!" at just the right moment. His timing was superb.
I agree with the earlier reviewer who stated that many of these do not involve traditional ghosts, and that is true. James was, for the most part more interested in awful, ancient survivals from the misty past. His protagonists run afoul of these malevolent evils by innocently digging into things that are probably better left alone.
A word on this edition- While Wildside Press is to be commended for keeping these immortal tales available in an inexpensive edition, this one is a bit of a letdown.
I was hoping for at least a new introduction (hopefully not by the insufferable S.T. Joshi), but that isn't the case, since there is no intro at all. More seriously, the editors have taken several liberties with the text, which I think very little of... my 1st clue should have been the title "Canon Alberic's Scrapbook", which is incorrect- "Scrap-book" is always hyphenated in this title, so why change a good thing? The worst transgression that the editors/publishers have made however, is the complete omission of the wonderful illustrations by James McBryde that have always been included with GSOAA. This is almost criminal, since these drawings are so good. Kind of like printing Dunsany's "Tales of Wonder" without the Sidney Simes illustrations.
So, fabulous stories, not so great edition, but better than none, if you haven't read these gems. I strongly recommend seeking out the DOVER edition, it should be pretty easy to find.

One of the great aspects of the Kindle is the ability to discover classic authors we may never have chanced upon before because of the prohibitive cost of their books. But now that out of copyright books are available for free, I suspect there will be a torrent of interest in many unfairly neglected authors.

M.R. James certainly falls into this category - Ghost Stories of an Antiquary contains several mesmerising ghost stories that will stay with you long after you have read them. James' prose style is deceptively simple, but it has a hypnotic effect that allows him to really engage with the reader's imagination.

I do not want to say too much about the specific stories as I do not want to give away some of the terrific ideas that James plays with.

If you are a fan of ghost stories, you must give James' stories a read.

P.S. To the reviewer who complains that James' writing is not like Dan Brown's - to many of us that is a huge compliment.

I read M. R. James's collection of ghost stories shortly after discovering the more well-known Algernon Blackwood, a master of suspense and the fear of the unknown. In comparison to Blackwood's reliance on keeping his readers in the dark as to why supernatural events occur, James is slightly more forthcoming about the circumstances behind his hauntings, providing more detail on why they happen and what's behind them.

The key to any truly scary story is subtlety. Footsteps on the staircase can be more terrifying than a bloodied corpse when one is in the right frame of mind, and James captures the steady encroachment of the unknown on ordinary just as Blackwood does. But where Blackwood creates terror by offering no explanation on why so many terrifying things occur in the midst of mundane life, James manages to ratchet up the fear by describing the effect that supernatural happenings have on people.

Horror is created not through description, but through the reader's imagination; characters come into contact with the supernatural, and respond by fainting, or refusing to be left alone at night, or - in the worst case scenario - dying of horror. Each story is told by an anonymous narrator, recounting various stories in a casual, matter-of-fact, chatty tone that adds to the realism of the stories, and (in an odd way) the inherent creepiness of the tale.

Also included is a wry sense of humor in the narrator's storytelling tactics, as here: "Tea was taken to the accompaniment of a discussion which golfing persons can imagine for themselves, but which the conscientious writer has no right to inflict upon any non-golfing persons."

All of James's stories take place in the 1800s, and because M. R. James lived from 1862 to 1936, the time period has an authenticity that is really only achieved from someone who lived within it, and one will quickly find that the author's interest in archeology and biblical and artistic history are subjects that weigh heavily in the stories themselves, popping up frequently throughout this particular compilation.

It is also worth saying that to say that these are "ghost" stories is a misnomer. Rather, most of the supernatural forces at work in this book are demonic in nature, which may be quite significant in certain readers' enjoyment of the book. Ghosts and demons are not the same thing, and in James' work it is largely hellish forces that make up the terrifying aspects of these nine stories.

In "Canon Alberic's Scrapbook" a Cambridge scholar comes to a small village near Toulouse in order to explore Saint Bertrand's Church. Once there however, he finds only a nervous sacristan, a surfeit of strange noises, and a scrapbook composed by Canon Alberic, one that contains a terrifying picture of demon. All who see it cannot help but feel that it has been "drawn from the life." The sacristan seems relived to hand the scrapbook over to a new owner, but of course the scholar is about to find out the cause of the sacristan's nervous disposition.

Beginning on a slightly weak note, this story probably should have been buried deeper in the anthology in order to get a stronger start. If "Canon Alberic's Scrapbook" one doesn't particularly grab you, I'd advise not to just give up here.

"Lost Hearts" is a much more successful story in which a young orphan boy is sent to live with his uncle, a man who has an unusual interest in how old his nephew is. Making friends with the servants, young Stephen soon realizes that there's something odd about the house, what with the disappearance of two other children who once lived there.

After nightmares about a bathtub, mysterious tears in his night-shirt, and voices in the wine cellar, Stephen's uncle calls him to his study in order to impart some news...

"The Mezzotint" is my favourite in this collection; in which an art dealer comes across a painting of a house in which a figure seems to move across the lawn at intervals - and then into an open window in order to take something from within the house.

Perhaps the most striking thing about this story is the matter-of-fact way in which the protagonist and his friends deal with the situation, and yet it still manages to be an eerie, spine-chilling experience.

"The Ash Tree" is another good one. Castingham Hall has an ash tree on its grounds, a landmark that was said to be the tree where a witch gathered cuttings for her spells. The witch is tried and hanged, imparting ominous final words for the family: "there will be guests at the hall."

The sins of the fathers are visited upon the sons when the most recent Castringham not only disturbs the grave of the witch, but decides to sleep in the bedroom in which his grandfather was found dead - the room outside of which the ash tree grows.

"Number 13" plays with the old superstition concerning the unlucky nature of that number and the decision of many hotels to avoid having a thirteenth room (instead skipping from room twelve to fourteen).

Mr Anderson is researching the church history of Denmark, staying in a hotel in which a past tenant was said to have sold his soul to "the enemy". Staying in room 12, it isn't long before he notices something very strange about his neighbor, as well as the hotel itself.

"Count Magnus" is another excellently told story in which the narrator pieces together the research and experiences of a man writing a travelogue on Scandinavia. Refraining from telling us how he came about his information, the narrator recounts the information left to him about how a man discovered the history of Count Magnus de la Gardie, and his terrifying legacy.

It is the way in which this particular story is told that makes it so memorable. We get all the pieces, but the narrator doesn't put them together for us, ending the story on a chilling note of both mystery and discovery.

"Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad..." seems to be James's most famous story, in which an unimaginative professor is advised by a colleague to investigate a Templar preceptory site whilst on holiday, where he finds a strange whistle. Cleaning it up and blowing a note on it, the professor is soon being haunted by a violent wind, the image of a man being pursued by a strange creature on the beach, and an unwelcome presence in his room.

The collection's final story "The Treasure of Abbott Thomas" harks back to its first one, in regards to its historical interest. Mr Somerton is tracking the location of a legendary treasure said to have been hidden centuries ago by Abbott Thomas. After decoding a message concealed in a stained-glass window, he rushes off to Steinfield in order to investigate further.

The narrative leaves him at this stage and focuses on his friend Mr Gregory, who receives a letter from Mr Somerton's manservant, begging him to come to the aid of his friend. There Gregory hears Somerton's strange tale of what was awaiting him at the bottom of Abbott Thomas's well of treasure...

All in all, this is a rewarding collection of stories, which have just the right touch of detail and subtlety that makes the best supernatural stories so terrifying. But as is the way with compilations of short-stories, it's often difficult to find the right collection that doesn't double-up stories with other volumes. It's probably best to hunt around for a bit in order to get the best possible value for your money by purchasing an anthology that contains all of James's work.

I can say nothing about James' work that hasn't been said already. He perfected the literary ghost story and influenced many writers and artists. However, this Kindle version of his first book, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, is just okay. My main complaint is that the TOC doesn't link to the stories (the same goes for the Kindle version of his More Ghost Stories). Also, the formatting seems a little wonky at the beginning, but that's not a big deal. On the other hand, the book is free.

For those who haven't read any of his tales, this is a great opportunity for you to discover some masterfully atmospheric and creepy writing. If you enjoy this book, I recommend picking up a good, annotated collection of his many stories and essays. There are several available, but I can only vouch for the high quality of the Oxford, Penguin Classics, and Ash-Tree Press collections, with the Ash-Tree book being the most complete by a long shot.

This is not a review, just an information for other users. This edition of Ghost Stories Of An Antiquary contains also the collection More Ghost Stories, so all the stories included in the Part 2 that you can find on Amazon are already present here.

Highly recommended. This is the first collection of ghost stories by M.R. James, one of the masters of the form (though in truth some of these stories would probably best be regarded as "weird tales" rather than ghost stories per se). The effect of the stories is created by a combination of factors: the author's clear feel for moldy, musty old places, and his knack at describing them; the articulate manner in which the stories are narrated and in which the scholarly characters express themselves; and the fact that limited description is given to the supernatural creatures themselves, so that the reader's imagination is sensitized to the horror of what is (not) described. This collection includes some of James's best-known stories, including "Oh Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad," widely regarded as his masterpiece.

Well, if you are familiar at all with this type of writing, then you cannot have helped but cross paths with M.R.James. If not, don't expect the obvious skeleton in the closet or the cliche'd distant howling at the moon. James will succeed, with your help,in placing you in the empathetic position of strongly identifying with the narrator, or a helpless secondary character in his story. Suspend time and disbelief and be welcomed to his world. You'll be powerless to resist so be well prepared. Turn ALL the lights on and forget a good night's sleep. Not going to happen. Your identification allows James, through masterful writing ,to transport you to the very center of what you instinctively know will be one of the most subtle yet frightening literary experiences of your life. Believe me, you'll be so glad to be able to remind yourself afterward that this is just a collection of "stories". There will be lingering after-effects however and you'll never forget these stories once you've read them. You'll be reached and overpowered on a very primitive psychological level, just as the characters in James' stories have been. The surviving characters recover from their experiences at the end of the stories....but are never again the same. Neither will you be....