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Don't Look Now: Selected Stories of Daphne Du Maurier
An NYRB Original
Daphne du Maurier wrote some of the most compelling and creepy novels of the twentieth century. In books like Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel, and Jamaica Inn she transformed the small dramas of everyday life—love, grief, jealousy—into the stuff of nightmares. Less known, though no less powerful, are her short stories, in which she gave free rein to her imaginati...more
Daphne du Maurier wrote some of the most compelling and creepy novels of the twentieth century. In books like Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel, and Jamaica Inn she transformed the small dramas of everyday life—love, grief, jealousy—into the stuff of nightmares. Less known, though no less powerful, are her short stories, in which she gave free rein to her imaginati...more
Paperback, 368 pages
Published
October 28th 2008
by NYRB Classics
(first published January 1st 1971)
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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 o...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 o...more
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Sue
rated it
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.
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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 char...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 char...more
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...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.
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 conten...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 conten...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.[return][return]A Border-Line Case is the atmospheric tale of actress She...more
I read this book for the NYRB book group which you can find (and join) it <a href=http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/683970-don-t-look-now-discussion">here</a>. Like any, or at least most anthologies, it had it's highs and lows, and this was a bit more evident in this one because it started out with a couple of the heaviest hitters and then went downhill a bit, though it does close with the mesmerizing Monte Verità. Still, overall, it's a very entertaining collection of storie...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...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...more
El
rated it
Recommends it for:
Josiah, Rhonda, Kamdine
Recommended to El by:
Ivan and some other GR friends
Shelves:
nyrb-editions,
late20th-centurylit
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 The House on the Strand...more
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 The House on the Strand...more
Alan
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
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 i...more
My own loyalties are split between the eponymous title story (also made i...more
A bit inconsistent, to tell you the truth. Some of the stories are excellent (my favs: "Don't Look Now," "The Birds", "Monte Vièrge", "Kiss Me, Stranger"), others lagged as the reader is waiting for the expected twist to come and feels like she is wasting her time until it arrives.
The atmosphere is impressive in most of the stories, however. And weirdness is one of my favorite traits in any form of art. So it was a bit of a shame that some of t...more
The atmosphere is impressive in most of the stories, however. And weirdness is one of my favorite traits in any form of art. So it was a bit of a shame that some of t...more
It being my turn to select for my book group in October, I felt something macabre was in order. I considered “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and “The Turn of the Screw,” or something by Clive Barker. I then remembered that earlier this year we read two Maugham stories ("Rain" and "The Letter" - both brilliant BTW) which proved a big hit with the members, so I thought: why not "Don't Look Now" and "The Birds"? Though I had never read these, I had seen both ...more
We picked this up thinking it would be great reading for the Halloween season. I liked the short stories, because I could finish one during a short wait, without a big time commitment.
This edition had the following short stories:
Don't Look Now **** Psychics, peril and self-fulfilling prophecies in Venice.
The Birds ***** Disturbing, and less hopeful for than the Hitchcock version (as much as I like that too). One has to wonder how long humans can hold out...more
This edition had the following short stories:
Don't Look Now **** Psychics, peril and self-fulfilling prophecies in Venice.
The Birds ***** Disturbing, and less hopeful for than the Hitchcock version (as much as I like that too). One has to wonder how long humans can hold out...more
I really enjoyed this collection on the whole, though was only really BLOWN AWAY by a couple of the stories. The way they create this tense atmosphere where you know something is going to be revealed, even if the "surprise" is often clumsy or leaving you with a "that's it?" type feeling. I don't read horror or psychological thrillers often, so this is pretty interesting territory for me.
Probably the thing that creeps me out about the reveals of each story is they ...more
Probably the thing that creeps me out about the reveals of each story is they ...more
I had no idea that Daphne Du Maurier had, in addition to authoring Rebecca had also written the source material for another great Hitchcock film 'The Birds.' If it is possible, the short story may be scarier. Du maurier is a master of the gothic story - the one that scares you out of your pants and keeps you up at night without resorting to violence or gore.
I liked this collection. 'The Birds' is definitely the best work here, but 'Monte Verita' and 'Split Second' were close. The...more
I liked this collection. 'The Birds' is definitely the best work here, but 'Monte Verita' and 'Split Second' were close. The...more
DuMaurier's short stories, the source for so many films, including The Birds, are gems. She is a gifted writer at building suspense and creating an eerie or disconcerting atmosphere.
Yet she also seems to tap into deeper human fears and her novels and short stories far surpass other writers of thrillers.
The Birds in particular is strikingly different than the film. Set in a remote British coastal town not long after the end of World War II the fears the bird evokes in the...more
Yet she also seems to tap into deeper human fears and her novels and short stories far surpass other writers of thrillers.
The Birds in particular is strikingly different than the film. Set in a remote British coastal town not long after the end of World War II the fears the bird evokes in the...more
When this was selected for October for the NYRB Classics Group, I was willing but skeptical. I expected the stories to be similar to Rebecca, a very gothic novel which I characterized as being about "mysterious dead wives and big bleak mansions" when I read it.
I was pleasantly surprised. These still have some of the gothic tone, but there is more of a horror in the familiar that I'm used to from the old-fashioned horror short story, and Daphne du Maurier fits right into t...more
I was pleasantly surprised. These still have some of the gothic tone, but there is more of a horror in the familiar that I'm used to from the old-fashioned horror short story, and Daphne du Maurier fits right into t...more
Collection of nine short stories. Each one reads as if it could have been a Twilight Zone episode--macabre, suspenseful, ironic, or unexpected. To me the best one is clearly the title story, "Don't Look Now," which is excellent. I would recommend this collection based on that story alone. Also included: "The Birds," on which the Hitchcock film was based; "Escort," about a ship trying to evade a submarine during wartime; "Split Second," a woman takes a...more
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
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 perha...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 perha...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 wou...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 wou...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 t...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
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 deliciousl...more
Du Maurier writes tight economical stories that are propulsive and creepy. Her writing style is tense and terse, but her subject matter is eerie, violent, sexy and supernatural. When reading this, it's pretty easy to see why Hitchcock and Nicholas Roeg turned her short stories into movies.
Really great stories: "The Birds" is even better then the movie and also focuses on one sea-bound family against nature. "Split Second" is a great Twilight Zone style story. "...more
Really great stories: "The Birds" is even better then the movie and also focuses on one sea-bound family against nature. "Split Second" is a great Twilight Zone style story. "...more
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Fantastic collection of creepy stories. Favorites are "Blue Lenses" and the title story which was successfully transformed into a movie with Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. A less successful movie translation was that of "The Birds" which is one of the stories included here, as well. Both the story and the film are fantastic, but I would argue that the film is not a very faithful adaptation, and I've read that Du Maurier was never pleased with it (though she loved Hit...more
I don’t really know what I was expecting — something Gothic, something vaguely sepia-hued [a rather curious detail in how I read works older than fifty years]. I suppose I was ready for something quaintly Gothic. I don’t know what that means either.
Well, it was a great collection, ridiculously so — my introduction to du Maurier couldn’t have been any better. Made up of nine very long stories [thus, book's ridiculous fatness], all finely wrought [which makes for a finely wrought fat b...more
Well, it was a great collection, ridiculously so — my introduction to du Maurier couldn’t have been any better. Made up of nine very long stories [thus, book's ridiculous fatness], all finely wrought [which makes for a finely wrought fat b...more
Du Maurier's best is still "Rebecca." This collection of stories was spotty. I did not realize that she was the author of "The Birds," from which Hitchcock developed his movie of the same name. In this case, as in most, the written version is superior. A couple of the stories had surprising, twisted endings and all carried some suspense and mysticism. The sense of place as a haunting presence is palpable. One story, "Monte Verita", crossed too much into the rea...more
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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 ta...more
More about Daphne du Maurier...
In many ways the life of Daphne du Maurier resembles that of a fairy ta...more
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