In the Land of Time: And Other Fantasy Tales (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Lord Dunsany (Author), S. T. Joshi (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: February 24, 2004

This selection brings together tales from across the author's entire career. Liberal selections of earlier tales - including the entire Gods of Pegana as well as such notable works as "Idle Days of the Yann" and "The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth" - are followed by memorable later tales, including several about the garrulous traveler Joseph Jorkens and the outrageous murder tale "The Two Bottles of Relish."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"No one has ever approached [Dunsany's] skill in suggesting, so flawlessly and with such economy of means, that the world is not exactly as we suppose."

About the Author

Baron Dunsany was born in London in 1878, the scion of an Anglo-Irish family that could trace its ancestry to the twelfth century. During his life Dunsany distinguished himself as both an author and a dramatist, he once had five plays running concurrently on Broadway, and is now recognised as a leading figure in the development of modern fantasy literature. His works include The Book of Wonder (1912), Plays of Gods and Men (1917) and The Curse of the Wise Woman (1933). S.T. Joshi is a freelance writer and editor who has previously edited Penguin Classics editions of The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories (2001) and Ancient Sorceries and Other Strange Stories (2002). Amongst his other published titles are Lord Dunsany: Master of the Anglo-Irish Imagination (1995) and The Modern Weird Tale (2001). He currently lives in Seattle, Washington.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (February 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 014243776X
• ISBN-13: 978-0142437766
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #565,882 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A rich collection of Dunsany's tales, May 2, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In the Land of Time: And Other Fantasy Tales (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Lord Dunsany may never get the vast following of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, but he does have the distinction of being one of the first fantasy writers in history. "In The Land of Time: And Other Fantasy Tales" is a collection of various stories he wrote, drawing from all of Dunsany's writing.

Among the longish (none of Dunsany's stories is really long) is Dunsany's short novel "Gods of Pegana," a collection of Dunsany's invented myths for countries that never really existed, and the novella "Sword of Welleran," in which legends come to life, including the famed sword of a hero. Not to mention a vast variety of short stories ranging from murder mysteries ("Two Bottles of Relish") to Victorian character study ("Thirteen At Table"), from horror (the creepy "Ghosts") to whimsical fantasy ("The Wonderful Window," the centaur-themed "Bride of the Man-Horse").

One of the good things about "In The Land of Time" is that except for Dunsany's war stories and club tales, just about every kind of fiction he wrote is in here. Fantasy, horror, regular fiction and invented myths -- this guy wrote 'em all. And editor S.T. Joshi does a pretty good job pulling together some of the best things Dunsany wrote. The main problem is that the collection is kind of serious. Since Dunsany could be very funny in some stories, this is leaving a big gap in the collection.

Like the fantasy writers who came after him, Dunsany dipped into myths that weren't his own (like "Charon," a memorable short story about the ferryman of the dead). At the same time, he wove his own legends and myths about gods and heroes, in a vaguely Middle-Eastern setting. If you didn't know better, you could almost believe that these legends were really from some crumbled desert city. And his slightly formal, sparklingly lush language only adds to this feeling.

"In the Land of Time: And Other Fantasy Tales" is a solid collection that shows nearly all of Lord Dunsany's considerable writing range. Dunsany's brilliant fantasy is a must-read.

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dunsany conjures worlds out of a hat, June 1, 2005

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rash67 (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In the Land of Time: And Other Fantasy Tales (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

What a marvellous writer Lord Dunsany was!

He influenced everyone, everyone who ever wrote fantasy: HP Lovecraft, Jack Vance, John Crowley, Gene Wolfe, Neil Gaiman, Clark Ashton Smith, Roger Zelazny, the list goes on and on. He has the astonding ability to conjure believeable worlds and nail them down with unsurpassed beauty in 500 word, three page stories! Like Faberge Eggs, each tiny short story conveys lost worlds of intense poetic beauty.

He loved the sounds of King James English and returned to it over and over to fashion his worlds. *The Gods of Pagana* (printed in it's entirety) is no less than a series of drole Myths about the creation of the universe, paralleling and reflecting Greco Roman myths and even Genesis. The Pagana section is really a clever story cycle and most effective if you start from the beginning and read in sequence.

Dunsany doesn't much care for our modern world, (but what's to care for?...). He comes up with names for his imaginary cities that just roll off the tongue.

Dunsany wrote a story about a thief who is being pursued, running away with his stolen loot from the house at the End of the World. He runs down a long curving staircase on steps carved into the rock. Down and down he runs pursued by the nameless terror behind him, until the steps get larger and larger and the curve gets greater until he falls off the lower edge of the world into space! Now that is vision. (I think that happened to me in a nightmare once.) A number of his stories deal with the House at the End of the World - an English country house, a stone fence and outer space beyond.

The orignal hardbound editions (not this paperback) had funny etchings to go along with the stories. These are stories you will love and treasure and if you like this book, it's well worth your time to seek out the complete *Book of Wonder* series.

He cranked out these clever little worlds in story after story, *The Book of Wonder* and it's successors, written before and during World War I. He became saddened by the War and it's results (and the next one). Dunsany continued to live until the early 1960's, or so, never to return to this form of exotic fantasy.

This book is a survey of decades of his writing. A great introduction to some of his most famous stories. The book tails off somewhat at the end with the Jorgens stories and other post WW1 stuff which is not up to the quality of the crystalline visions in his earlier works.

To think that he accomplished so much with so few words and authors today with their word processors and multi-volume series accomplish so little in comparision.

Read him. He is the source.
Cannot be more highly recommended.

And Lord Dunsany was a real titled English (or Irish) Lord, a Peer of the Realm.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolute Wonder, May 25, 2008

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Tebes "Buchlieber" (Niagara Region, ON) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: In the Land of Time: And Other Fantasy Tales (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

This is the book you search for on a cool autumn evening or a late summer day. It is a book you want to read and savour. The tales are timeless, sometimes melancholic filled with fantasy, delight and the fleeting nature of life, existence and the world (or worlds) around us. Dunsany evokes the sublime, the sacred, the profane and the childlike. I'm not the greatest fan of Tolkien (I found The Lord of the Rings long-winded). But then again I prefer vignettes of life. These tales offer the vignette of the fantasy world. Gods, goddesses, warriors of old, travelers in faraway lands, story-tellers...children playing pirates... there is everything you need in this book to have - well literally - a 'second childhood'.

I loved the earlier mythological work 'The Gods of Pegana' as much as 'The Tales of Wonder'. The prose poems were equally wondrous and in a few I could see where the Argentinian author, Jorge Luis Borges was highly influenced.

If you are interested in early fantasy literature, when the genre was in its infancy, pick up this collection. It is not antique, it is not dated. The best part is the writing is readable, accessible and highly poetic. Dunsany has a way with words and his story telling ability is highly admirable. Read this and you'll want to read more of him.