The Man in The Picture [Hardcover]

Susan Hill (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 573 pages
• Publisher: The Overlook Press (2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0276442865
• ISBN-13: 978-0276442865
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ghost story of an antiquary, October 16, 2008

By 

Jay Dickson (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Man in the Picture (Hardcover)

Susan Hill's latest novella recalls the famous Edwardian ghost stories of M. R. James and the Benson brothers as much as her famous previous short novel THE WOMAN IN BLACK recalled the Victorian ghost stories of Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Henry James and John Meade Falkner. We have here many of the more familiar tropes of M. R. James's ghost stories--tales within tales, multiple narrators, bachelor antiquarians in rooms at Oxbridge, and a woman possessed by a burning revenge--and in terms of atmosphere Hill is pretty faultless. But the novella leaves too much unclear in its telling. Although you want a certain amount of mystery preserved at the end of a ghost story, there's just too much muddled at the end of this to really get the effects Hill strives for--so while most of the story is quite a page turner, the final narrative section leaves you a bit unsatisfied.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Read in a thunderstorm and not scared, March 30, 2009

By 

Meredith Fredericks "bportgirl" (Bridgeport, CT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Man in the Picture (Hardcover)

This is a well-written (until the end) little trifle, but that's all it is. I like the style, but it isn't nearly as scary as the jacket would have you believe. In fact, I read it in a thunderstorm last night -- yes, it's a very quick read -- and, upon finishing it, went down to my dark, stone basement to do the laundry. I agree with the other reviewers: It plays like that old TV episode with Roddy MacDowell and the changing picture (Was that on Dark Shadows?), but the TV version was far scarier. Still, a quick, fun read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down !, February 2, 2009

By 

Mike (NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Man in the Picture (Hardcover)

What a great little book. Not at all "frightening" the way the jacket misleads, but it's a little creepy - in the way a Twilight Zone show would be. Original !