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Don't Look Now
Following the death of their young daughter, John and Laura visit Venice to try and escape their grief. But when the couple meet two aged sisters, one of them claims to have psychic visions of the dead girl. Tension mounts as John and Laura are led through a maze of canals and alleyways towards a dark and terrifying climax.
Paperback, Oberon Modern Plays, 96 pages
Published
September 1st 2007
by Oberon Books
(first published January 1st 1971)
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Daphne Du Maurier is very British. And I am very not. Her language leaves me at a cool, unengaged distance, mostly—which clearly isn't desirable for the kind of fiction she traffics in (i.e., horror, basically, but of a more cerebral variety). Two of the stories in this collection ('The Birds' and 'Don't Look Now') have been adapted into films by Alfred Hitchcock and Nicholas Roeg, respectively. In the former case, Du Maurier's story easily outshines Hitchcock's goofy, overlong film—and is certa...more
Feb 21, 2012
El
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Josiah, Rhonda, Kamdine
Recommended to El by:
Ivan and some other GR friends
Shelves:
nyrb-editions,
late20th-centurylit
(ETA Movie Review at the end)
It's hard to review collections of short stories. I look at collections of short stories as either being good. Or bad. Rarely am I on the fence about all the stories in the set - there's usually one or two that I enjoy, probably another one or two that I thought were lame, etc.
With Don't Look Now I can't say that I liked some and didn't like others. They were all brilliant. Du Maurier had a knack for writing purely from the imagination. I saw it first in Rebecca and...more
It's hard to review collections of short stories. I look at collections of short stories as either being good. Or bad. Rarely am I on the fence about all the stories in the set - there's usually one or two that I enjoy, probably another one or two that I thought were lame, etc.
With Don't Look Now I can't say that I liked some and didn't like others. They were all brilliant. Du Maurier had a knack for writing purely from the imagination. I saw it first in Rebecca and...more
9 likes · like · see review
I read Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca for the first time last month, and found it so intriguing that I finished it in just 2 days. I then of course became curious about her other works, and thought I'd give her short stories a try.
I admit I had no idea that Hitchcock based his movie The Birds on Du Maurier's short story by the same title (not to mention his film of Rebecca). It's not surprising, though, that Hitchcock was drawn to Du Maurier's story telling. As noted on the back cover of this book,...more
I admit I had no idea that Hitchcock based his movie The Birds on Du Maurier's short story by the same title (not to mention his film of Rebecca). It's not surprising, though, that Hitchcock was drawn to Du Maurier's story telling. As noted on the back cover of this book,...more
6 likes · like · see review
I've been in some pretty sticky situations during my stay on this rock, planet Earth, Mother Gaia, or whatever the hell we're supposed to be calling it these days, and each time, just when I think I'm about to buy the farm, my mind spins like some out of control Rolodex, memories and thoughts whirling by in an incredible, yet lucid blur, each moment of my life that led me to this point of near-death flashing by, and in that split second when I'm expecting the impact of the bullet, the knife, or...more
5 likes · like · see review
A collection of Daphne du Maurier's short stories, Don't Look Now reminds readers that du Maurier should be remembered for more than just gothic romances or adapted films. Including gems such as "The Blue Lenses" that tells the story of a woman whose eye surgery leaves her with better sight than she ever could have desired and "Monte Verita" that is a mix of love story, truth quest, and obsession, this collection offers a little bit for everyone. Any collection of du Maurier's would be incomplet...more
This collection contains nine short stories of varying length, including the one that inspired Hitchcock's The Birds. All nine stories are strong, which isn't something I often find in short story collections. When I was disappointed by the Richard Matheson collection Button, Button Uncanny Stories, I think I was expecting something like this.
As with any classic, ignore the introduction until you're finished unless you want everything spoiled for you.
As with any classic, ignore the introduction until you're finished unless you want everything spoiled for you.
2 likes · like · see review
Another well-written book. I'm getting spoiled. I haven't read anything by DuMaurier for years and had forgotten her talent which is well displayed in these stories. No wonder that two were eventually taken for films and one by Rod Serling for The Twilight zone. And I've seen them all. Truthfully, the written word is still better. Even with the images in my mind, the stories manage to give me more feelings of dread. But that has always been the ability of a truly skilled writer in my opinion.
I...more
I...more
2 likes · like · see review
Sep 29, 2012
Jessica
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
great-short-story-collections
Du Maurier is a master story teller. Whether it's the tale of a married couple on holiday in Venice in order to heal after the loss of their child, and their encounter with a blind sister who sees that child with them; or the tale of an artist on holiday in Greece to paint, inhabiting the cottage where an archaeologist last stayed and drowned, and his encounter with a strange American couple; or a woman whose father dies with an expression of anguish and astonishment on his face and her quest to...more
A spontaneous purchase. Will this be as good as the film...?
Now finished...
Don't Look Now
A short story, set in Venice, about a recently bereaved couple in a city terrorised by a murderer. Du Maurier portrays the wife (and bereaved mother) as one desperately vulnerable; the father trying to move on, motivated by the terrifying fear that if he doesn't his wife will disintegrate into utter hopelessness and despair. This is a very short story, and the film offers further exploration of the charact...more
Now finished...
Don't Look Now
A short story, set in Venice, about a recently bereaved couple in a city terrorised by a murderer. Du Maurier portrays the wife (and bereaved mother) as one desperately vulnerable; the father trying to move on, motivated by the terrifying fear that if he doesn't his wife will disintegrate into utter hopelessness and despair. This is a very short story, and the film offers further exploration of the charact...more
I found this to be an uneven collection, but there are a couple of stories (Don't Look Now and Split Second) which manage to disorientate the reader very well, and by having us see everything through the viewpoint of very unreliable narrators, we become as bewildered as they are by the failure of the world to cohere into any kind of sense. Some stories (Split Second again and Kiss Me Again, Stranger) could have worked very well as subtle interrogations of the British class system and the neuroti...more
Well-written, well constructed, patient stories that nearly all veer into the supernatural. Sometimes they border on gimicks and a few of them are twilight zone material (one, "Blue Lenses," actually was a Twilight Zone episode, I think). At least one equisite little tale "La Sainte-Vierge" comes to perfect closure and then tacks on a superfluous "explanation" of something that is otherwise fully explained by the story itself. Such sporadic moments of questionable taste exihibit Du Maurier's pop...more
Oct 03, 2008
Dottie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
1967-1997,
daphne-du-maurier
Five of the scariest tales ever encountered but the truly terrifying story was the title offering. It was years before I returned to read it again. It held up very nicely!
Du Maurier's writing does stay with the reader long after the covers of the book are closed and the volume returned to the shelf. I think I'll get a copy of the newer book bearing this title as it appears there may be different stories contatined in it and it will be interesting to do a comparison of the contents -- and to rev...more
Du Maurier's writing does stay with the reader long after the covers of the book are closed and the volume returned to the shelf. I think I'll get a copy of the newer book bearing this title as it appears there may be different stories contatined in it and it will be interesting to do a comparison of the contents -- and to rev...more
It says much for du Maurier's writing that not only some of her novels but also two of her short stories (The Birds and Don't Look Now) have been made into well-regarded movies. Don't Look Now opens this collection of five short stories. Though the plot is simple - a couple take a holiday in Venice as they try to come to terms with the death of their daughter - a sense of menace (brilliantly controlled) permeates the story.
A Border-Line Case is the atmospheric tale of actress Shelagh Money. The...more
A Border-Line Case is the atmospheric tale of actress Shelagh Money. The...more
I picked this up because I saw, in passing, someone's mention of the movie made from the title story. It raised up for me some misty memories of having seen the movie, with Donald Sutherland racing through the streets of Venice, chasing a phantasmal little girl in a red cloak...creepy stuff. I have a sideline in creepy, particularly as written by smart women like Shirley Jackson and Sarah Waters. It's a surprisingly small stable, and I'm always looking for more folks to add to it.
Du Maurier is s...more
Du Maurier is s...more
I was initially worried about this story, thinking that it was going to be something of a disappointment, leaving me hanging on the resolution like The Birds did... but it wasn't, and didn't.
This story was rather eerie, and the music that accompanied the reading heightened this effect quite a bit. Often, when I'm listening to audiobooks, I think of the story in terms of format and try to compare. I know that a reader can add or detract from the story, that sounds or music (which I'm not usually...more
This story was rather eerie, and the music that accompanied the reading heightened this effect quite a bit. Often, when I'm listening to audiobooks, I think of the story in terms of format and try to compare. I know that a reader can add or detract from the story, that sounds or music (which I'm not usually...more
Jul 14, 2010
Alan
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Aficionados of frissons and chills
Recommended to Alan by:
Clayton W.
My friend Clayton likes "The Way of the Cross" best, but to my mind that one's actually one of the weaker tales in this small collection of novellas by the celebrated du Maurier. It's an eventful enough story about a party of English travelers in Jerusalem, but I found it too pat, like an episode of Fantasy Island translated to the Holy Land—everyone has grown and learned a little something by the end.
My own loyalties are split between the eponymous title story (also made into a fine and creepy...more
My own loyalties are split between the eponymous title story (also made into a fine and creepy...more
There are numerous editions of this collection, and going by the reviews here on Goodreads, not all of them contain the same stories as the one I read. For the record, my edition contained five tales - the titular Don't Look Now followed by Not After Midnight, A Border-line Case, The Way of the Cross and The Breakthrough. Altogether, I enjoyed this anthology more than either of the full-length novels I've read by the author - yes, including Rebecca. I was delighted by the strangeness of the stor...more
4 likes · like · see review
I only read the one story, Don't Look Now, but it is definitely one to read. In it, Venice is an, eerie place, a confusing maze, a place of confusing bridges and canals. John and his wife Laura are on vacation in the city trying to recover from the death of their young daughter, when they meet elderly twin sisters, one of whom is blind and claims to be psychic. Most of the story centers on John, who is dismissive of the psychic's claim to see their daughter with them. But then mysterious events...more
This selection of 4 short stories wasn’t great. Du Maurier is exceptional at building suspense, but then once the action reaches its peak, we are often left with a substandard or ludicrous ending. I don’t have a favourite of the 4 stories as they all left me feeling pretty disappointed, however, if I had to recommend one of them, I would reluctantly choose the second tale ‘Not After Midnight’. Not because it is a good story (it really isn’t!), but because the characters are well-painted as repul...more
Aug 27, 2012
Alison
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Hitchcock fans
A very tight, creepy collection of everyday gothic short stories. The title piece is a gem. And the original prose version of "The Birds" may well be informative for Hitchcock fans. There is some wonderful postwar English noir (of a sort). My favorite may be the unsettling "Lost Horizon" with Druids of "Monte Verita." Recommended
1 like · like · see review
I followed up The Turn of the Screw with Daphne du Maurier's classic short story, Don't Look Now. Unlike Turn of the Screw, which left me irritated and puzzled, Don't Look Now delivered a satisfying thriller that kept me on the edge even though I had read the story years ago and sort of remembered how it worked.
I always thought the title was simply derived from the game that John and Laura play in the opening scene. It is, of course, but it also is a clue to how this story, and perhaps all good...more
I always thought the title was simply derived from the game that John and Laura play in the opening scene. It is, of course, but it also is a clue to how this story, and perhaps all good...more
Another book from my October reading challenge. The challenge was supposed to be horror, but so many were opposed to it, that we changed it slightly to be horror/suspense books that had been made into movies. I chose this one because I had read the others ;)
The story was OK, though I felt a little bit deceived by the description (again, man...I should stop reading the summaries). I thought that there would be more with the sisters. When I read it, though, I could really see how it would be a sus...more
The story was OK, though I felt a little bit deceived by the description (again, man...I should stop reading the summaries). I thought that there would be more with the sisters. When I read it, though, I could really see how it would be a sus...more
In brief, this is a highly literate collection of Twilight Zone episodes, a description that is both accurate yet unfair. For these stories are not merely pulp spine tinglers, yet they operate most successfully on that level. These stories are masterfully plotted and, to indulge in cliche, earn the sobriquet of "edge of your seat thrillers". The opening tale, Don't Look Now, expertly establishes a sense of dread in the first five paragraphs and keeps you gripped until the deliciously relevatory...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I knew all along how the story will end,nevertheless I enjoyed every bit of it. It is the kind of story you read on a late night train journey, on a winter night or all alone at home curled up by the fire in your comfortable armchair with a hot cup of tea. Since I read Rebbeca, I fell head over heels in love with Daphne Du Maurier and I found myself devouring her books. This is the first time I try her short stories though, and let me tell you, I found it exquisitley readable. A masterpiece of g...more
It seems like there are different versions of this book, with different tables of contents. So that's great. The one I read didn't have "The Birds" in it, for example. It was five novellas, three of which were what I would call "ghostly," if extremely subtle about it, and two that were more of the human drama school. Unsurprisingly, I liked the ghostly ones better than the others, and found the last story, "The Way of the Cross," pretty damn tedious. But the title novella was very good, as was t...more
I have never read Du Maurier before, but I quite enjoyed Hitchcock's film based on her book Rebecca. Reading her stories for the first time, I liked the way she handles psychological tension. I must admit though that except the powerful 'Don't Look Now', all the other stories in this book are so-so. These stories are like tailor-made material for Gothic thrillers. The setting, plotting, and even the character sketches seem to be heading towards a singular goal: using words to create blinders-lik...more
Crossposted/tweaked from my blog.
Originally published as Not After Midnight, this collections brings together five atmospheric short stories by Daphne du Maurier. They’re a bit of an odd bunch – a mix of the supernatural and the mundane. Some of them embrace the ‘unknown’ with psychics, pagan worship, and life after death, while others seem to be building you up towards that only to tear it away by having the explanation something completely grounded in reality. Whether you find this second-gues...more
Originally published as Not After Midnight, this collections brings together five atmospheric short stories by Daphne du Maurier. They’re a bit of an odd bunch – a mix of the supernatural and the mundane. Some of them embrace the ‘unknown’ with psychics, pagan worship, and life after death, while others seem to be building you up towards that only to tear it away by having the explanation something completely grounded in reality. Whether you find this second-gues...more
I saw this book on Amazon and knew I had to have it so that I could read the original short story that inspired the film I loved so much. I was pleasantly surprised with my purchase, as it included several other short stories, some of which proved to be even more enjoyable than the titular tale.
Don’t Look Now involves a married couple on holiday in Italy. Their young daughter had succumbed to meningitis several months prior. The wife randomly meets a blind psychic who tells her that her daughter...more
Don’t Look Now involves a married couple on holiday in Italy. Their young daughter had succumbed to meningitis several months prior. The wife randomly meets a blind psychic who tells her that her daughter...more
I purchased an old copy of this book from ebay (for about 1€). The pages are yellowed and frail and the spine is falling apart. I don't really know what to do with this, now that I've read it from back to back. Time will tell, I guess.
Whatever, let's move on to the content.
Don't Look Now: Yeah, I don't know. I didn't like the ending and the whole story is kind of pointless and random, and not suspenseful at all. I know the author can built up and create some serious tension, and resolve it just...more
Whatever, let's move on to the content.
Don't Look Now: Yeah, I don't know. I didn't like the ending and the whole story is kind of pointless and random, and not suspenseful at all. I know the author can built up and create some serious tension, and resolve it just...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The ending of Not After Midnight | 6 | 2 | May 19, 2013 09:17pm | |
| Creepiness! | 1 | 5 | Apr 04, 2013 05:56am | |
| More reprints of du Maurier books! | 1 | 10 | Nov 30, 2008 06:17pm |
If Daphne du Maurier had written only Rebecca, she would still be one of the great shapers of popular culture and the modern imagination. Few writers have created more magical and mysterious places than Jamaica Inn and Manderley, buildings invested with a rich character that gives them a memorable life of their own.
In many ways the life of Daphne du Maurier resembles that of a fairy tale. Born int...more
More about Daphne du Maurier...
In many ways the life of Daphne du Maurier resembles that of a fairy tale. Born int...more
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