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A Dreamer's Tales
by
Lord Dunsany
A Dreamer's Tales Here are more tales of the exotic and the wonderful, by the greatest fantasist of the Twentieth Century. Lord Dunsany (rhymes with "rainy") ranged long distances beyond the fields we know, into the lands of Dream, returning with reports that are fantastic, sparkling, and very enjoyable. Here are jeweled cities and ruined ones, sailors and kings ...more
Hardcover
Published
by Borgo Press
(first published 1910)
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My rating reflects my opinion of the Wildside Press edition, not of Dunsany's wonderful tales!
Wildside Press does much good by resurrecting rare old books, but this edition of Dunsany's classic has some of the worst typos I have ever seen. For example:
Page 34: Instead of "Never since then have I seen my city alive," Wildside has: "Now since then have I seen my city alive," disastrously reversing the meaning of the sentence, at the very climax of "The ...more
Wildside Press does much good by resurrecting rare old books, but this edition of Dunsany's classic has some of the worst typos I have ever seen. For example:
Page 34: Instead of "Never since then have I seen my city alive," Wildside has: "Now since then have I seen my city alive," disastrously reversing the meaning of the sentence, at the very climax of "The ...more
One of my ur-books, which had a lasting affect on my imagination.
My copy of this is a battered old Modern Library edition that was passed down to me by her father, who gave it to her in the 1940s. I found it on the bookshelf at about the age of ten, and was immediately captivated by Dunsany's dream prose, all wrapped up in short stories that still manage to be epic in their scope. "The Sword of Welleran".... "Poltarnees Beholder of the Ocean" (that's right, Christ...more
My copy of this is a battered old Modern Library edition that was passed down to me by her father, who gave it to her in the 1940s. I found it on the bookshelf at about the age of ten, and was immediately captivated by Dunsany's dream prose, all wrapped up in short stories that still manage to be epic in their scope. "The Sword of Welleran".... "Poltarnees Beholder of the Ocean" (that's right, Christ...more
These are wonderfully satisfying, bite-sized fantasy stories. I read them just before falling asleep, one or two at a time, on my iPod, the screen the only light in the room. My favorites were the longer ones ("Poltarnees, Beholder of the Ocean" and "Idle Days on the Yann," maybe also "Carcassonne"), so I'm very curious about The King of Elfland's Daughter. Let's see, what happens in these stories? Cities go mad or are suddenly abandoned or destroyed; corpses are de...more
These stories are mostly about creating a Romantic mood, and some don't have a plot at all. It reminded me of a couple of Gaiman's stories, like "Dream of a Thousand Cats" or "Ramadan." I read it on the kindle but I wouldn't recommend that way. It's maybe modeled on the Arabian Nights.
Some of the images I recall are:
a city gate carved from a single tusk
looking down from a mountaintop at the sea for the first time
the spirits of cities that have p...more
Some of the images I recall are:
a city gate carved from a single tusk
looking down from a mountaintop at the sea for the first time
the spirits of cities that have p...more
This collection of tales by Lord Dunsany is romantic, fantastical and somewhat macabre, each having a fitful dreaming quality to them. The reader eavesdrops on conversations between souls and bodies at the point of death and travels to some very strangely named places. This was my first taste of the author's work and has compelled me to explore further.
Nick
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Lovecraft fans, people who want to read non-tolkien fantasy
Shelves:
weird-fiction
Not as good as Lovecraft's dream-stories in my opinion, but nevertheless LOTS of really awesome ideas and concepts. This book exudes creativity.
If you are tired of modern fantasy, aka Tolkien derivatives, read this. It is in line with the arabian tales/poe/lovecraft type of fantasy which we see very little of today.
If you are tired of modern fantasy, aka Tolkien derivatives, read this. It is in line with the arabian tales/poe/lovecraft type of fantasy which we see very little of today.
Anticipándose a las visiones de Lovecraft y sus contemporáneos, Lord Dunsany abre paso a un viaje por reinos desconocidos donde esperan un mundo de revelaciones al viajero.
Lord Dunsany in top form is like the finest of poetry. Surreal,magical fantasy and a collection of stories that is darker than Sword of Welleran and Other Stories.
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I enjoyed it, specifically Poltarnees, Beholder of Ocean, Poor Old Bill, Carcassonne, and The Field. However, this cannot compare to Dunsany's earlier works, The Gods of Pegana and Time and the Gods. Hence the four stars.
Justine Highsmith
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Lovecraft enthusiasts
Recommended to Justine by:
Cal
Best surrealist/bizarre fantasy I've ever read! Being a fan of Lovecraft's writing style, I found these stories to be quite entertaining.
Funny and haunting and sinister. "Poor old bill" is a personal favorite.
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Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist, notable for his work in fantasy published under the name Lord Dunsany. More than eighty books of his work were published, and his oeuvre includes hundreds of short stories, as well as successful plays, novels and essays. Born to one of the oldest titles in the Irish peerage, he lived much of his life ...more
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“Then I perceived, what I had never thought, that all these staring houses were not alike, but different one from another, because they held different dreams.”
—
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