Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
Four Weird Tales
This collection assembles four of Blackwood's greatest stories: "The Insanity of Jones," "The Man Who Found Out," "The Glamour of the Snow," and "Sand."
Paperback, 188 pages
Published
December 20th 2006
by 1st World Library
(first published 2005)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
185)
The Glamour of Snow is a great ghost story written well and prob the best of the four. 3/5
The Man who Found Out is a great philosophical short story that about how the meaning of life and what that information can do to a man. 3/5
The Insanity of Jones is a decent story that got me hooked to read the next three stories because it was just a weird offside tale from the start. 2/5
Sand is the longest, overwritten, slowest paced, dullest, boring and most confusing tale of the bunch. If these short st...more
The Man who Found Out is a great philosophical short story that about how the meaning of life and what that information can do to a man. 3/5
The Insanity of Jones is a decent story that got me hooked to read the next three stories because it was just a weird offside tale from the start. 2/5
Sand is the longest, overwritten, slowest paced, dullest, boring and most confusing tale of the bunch. If these short st...more
There are two stories that really shine out in this collection. Both The Glamour of Snow and The Man Who Found out are excellent examples of classic horror stories - the other two not so much.
The Insanity of Jones, I found to be rather bland and a little on the dull side. As for Sands, the longest and most overwritten story in this collection, it nearly put me off seeking out anymore of Blackwood's works in the future.
Eh, it passed a long bus journey.
The Insanity of Jones, I found to be rather bland and a little on the dull side. As for Sands, the longest and most overwritten story in this collection, it nearly put me off seeking out anymore of Blackwood's works in the future.
Eh, it passed a long bus journey.
As a lover of Algernon Blackwood's writing I personally found his tales intriguing and page turning. If one isn't accustomed to what some term the older writing style they might find this to be less than the horror they expect. When reading Blackwood you must use your imagination, discard ideas of normalcy, forget your basic definition of horror and simply open yourself up to weird and obscure.
Three perfectly serviceable weird tales, and one really long, really dull story (Sand), with a painfully unsatisfying ending. I think, before writing Sand, someone told him his stories were too concise. And he felt the need to rise to the challenge.
May 04, 2012
Darla Ebert
added it
Each story was inimitably (and I mean that) INIMTABLY descriptive. However too ocultish. I was disappointed. I should have known by the title.
"THE GLAMOUR OF THE SNOW" is excellent! worth the price of admission.
"THE MAN WHO FOUND OUT" is very interesting piece of horror philosophy.
"THE INSANITY OF JONES" is decent.
"SAND" (by far the longest) is long and overwritten to the point of tiresome.
Blackwood sometimes mires himself with long passages of pointless description.
"THE MAN WHO FOUND OUT" is very interesting piece of horror philosophy.
"THE INSANITY OF JONES" is decent.
"SAND" (by far the longest) is long and overwritten to the point of tiresome.
Blackwood sometimes mires himself with long passages of pointless description.
What to say...In short, I got through it. Just did not pull me into any of the stories or want to read it again.
I thought this book was a good read. The stories "Snow" and "Sand" were my favorites although I did think that Sand was drawn out and was a bit dry. ( Pardon the pun.) If you have a love affair with language you will undoubtedly enjoy this book.
Tame, but not a complete throw-away. A couple of interesting concepts almost completely redeems this book.
Supernaturalist writing.
Jun 16, 2013
Chris X
marked it as classic-literature
Jun 07, 2013
Heather
is currently reading it
May 30, 2013
M
marked it as to-read
May 21, 2013
Nathan
marked it as to-read
May 19, 2013
Karla
is currently reading it
May 14, 2013
Jennifer Sullivan
marked it as to-read
May 14, 2013
Daniel
marked it as to-read
May 07, 2013
Iguanapaws Emerson
marked it as to-read
Apr 30, 2013
Igraine
marked it as auf-gar-keinen-fall
Apr 16, 2013
Anji
marked it as to-read
Apr 13, 2013
Tiffany
is currently reading it
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Blackwood was born in Shooter's Hill (today part of south-east London, but then part of northwest Kent) and educated at Wellington College. His father was a Post Office administrator who, according to Peter Penzoldt, "though not devoid of genuine good-heartedness, had appallingly narrow religious ideas".Blackwood had a varied career, farming in Canada, operating a hotel, as a newspaper reporter in...more
More about Algernon Blackwood...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
Dec 02, 2012 05:18am