Customer Reviews

The five jars,

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I can't comment on the illustrations in the original edition because I have only the Ash Tree Press edition. According to the introduction, the main character is obviously meant to be M.R. James himself. I believe it. The same introduction suggests that "After Dark on the Playing Fields" from THE COLLECTED GHOST STORIES OF M.R. JAMES is related to this story. (I reread that story after reading this book and agree that it's possible.) This book is not the same as those famous ghost stories because it was meant for children. That doesn't mean that it doesn't have its chilling moments. Our hero has some close calls I certainly would prefer to avoid. The five jars of the title contain magic ointments which endow our narrator with special abilities that should be familiar to fairy tale fans. Evil creatures try to prevent him from using all of the different bottles and so making them his own. Unfortunately, you can't use more than one a night. As he uses the ointments, the middle-aged hero is more and more able to interact with animals and the invisible world. (Cat lovers will be amused to learn what cats are REALLY saying.) Even though his abilities are limited at first, they're enough to help our hero recognize that he's under attack. The discerning reader may have a shudder or two at the implications of the way so many of the evil spirits (or whatever they were) were able to assume a normal and friendly appearance. The bat ball attack was pretty good (even though, unlike Mr. James, I'm fond of bats). This story manages to combine charm with a touch of scariness. The introduction suggested that the reason it hasn't stayed in print the way his ghost stories have is because this story would have been considered TOO scary by parental standards when it was written. Well, times have changed. Today's children have routine access to much scarier stuff. If you love M.R. James' work, you'll want this book. Considering what THE FIVE JARS costs when you can find a used copy online, readers who aren't James fanatics would do well to badger for a nice modern paperback edition. (I hope there will be one. My nice reason is so others may enjoy this story. My selfish reason is that I want it to have the original illustrations so I can see more than a scanned copy of "The Bat Ball". I can't afford the Arnold edition.)