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The Master of Silence: A Romance
Large Format for easy reading. Bacheller's novels are primarily concerned with early American life in the North Country of New York State. In 1900 his novel Eben Holden, A Tale of the North Country, proved a major success. According to the New York Times it was the 4th best-selling novel in the United States that year.
- GenresClassics
94 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1892
About the author
Irving Bacheller
176 books5 followersAddison Irving Bacheller was an American journalist and writer who founded the first modern newspaper syndicate in the United States.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 14, 2016
The Master Of Silence is the second Irving Bacheller title I've read, but it was the first he wrote. Published in 1892, this book tells the story of young Kendric Lane, who is sent off to Liverpool at age 15 to apprentice in a cotton importing business. His father had died, leaving Kendric (and the family property) under the care of a guardian and Kendric's stepmother.
One day our hero had a mysterious visitor, an old man who could neither speak nor hear, and who showed up on his doorstep on a stormy night with a letter from Kendric's uncle in America. This is the beginning of a long adventure for Kendric, who eventually manages to find his uncle and meet a cousin he never knew he had. Cousin Rayel has been kept in complete isolation from the world; raised to be what Kendric's uncle believes is the perfect man. Taught to use mental powers that most people never even imagine, he is a commanding presence, tall and strong, the very image of a hero. (And he has a pet lion!)
What happens when Kendric's old uncle dies? Who in reality is the somewhat sinister Count de Montalle? And what about that lion?
At first I was not sure what to expect from this book. It had elements of wild fantasy, and a superbly creepy old mansion full of spider webs and rattlesnakes. But it was not exactly a spooky story, just suspenseful and very interesting. There was a lot of the 'if only I had known' style in the first few chapters, but then Bacheller settled into the story itself, sweeping the action right along to a fairly predictable but logical and satisfying ending.
This was a quick, entertaining read and I am very much looking forward to working my way through Mr. B's other titles at Project Gutenberg.
One day our hero had a mysterious visitor, an old man who could neither speak nor hear, and who showed up on his doorstep on a stormy night with a letter from Kendric's uncle in America. This is the beginning of a long adventure for Kendric, who eventually manages to find his uncle and meet a cousin he never knew he had. Cousin Rayel has been kept in complete isolation from the world; raised to be what Kendric's uncle believes is the perfect man. Taught to use mental powers that most people never even imagine, he is a commanding presence, tall and strong, the very image of a hero. (And he has a pet lion!)
What happens when Kendric's old uncle dies? Who in reality is the somewhat sinister Count de Montalle? And what about that lion?
At first I was not sure what to expect from this book. It had elements of wild fantasy, and a superbly creepy old mansion full of spider webs and rattlesnakes. But it was not exactly a spooky story, just suspenseful and very interesting. There was a lot of the 'if only I had known' style in the first few chapters, but then Bacheller settled into the story itself, sweeping the action right along to a fairly predictable but logical and satisfying ending.
This was a quick, entertaining read and I am very much looking forward to working my way through Mr. B's other titles at Project Gutenberg.
April 28, 2020
Well written, intriguing and sad tale! Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe and Sherlock Holmes sprang to mind at various times throughout the book.
September 30, 2012
Interesting if weird novel. A young man leaves England and his love to search for his uncle in Canada. When he finds him, he is shocked to meet his cousin, the superhuman Rayel. Rayel cannot speak, but can read the truth of a person's mind and set it into paintings. In time, the two leave their uncle to live in the wider world, and Rayel's gentleness and peculiar gifts are put to the test as he moves like an angel among our fallen world.
It's a short, sometimes preachy novel, but the unusual topic made it stick out for me. Rayel is a master of silence because words lie, according to the belief of the uncle. He's an inversion of the typical Ubermann tropes-his otherness and alien nature make him more moral and religious, and not less. It's a different take on the subject, and while it's not handled all that well, I found it compelling enough to overlook the preachiness, lack of focus, and brevity of the book.
It's a short, sometimes preachy novel, but the unusual topic made it stick out for me. Rayel is a master of silence because words lie, according to the belief of the uncle. He's an inversion of the typical Ubermann tropes-his otherness and alien nature make him more moral and religious, and not less. It's a different take on the subject, and while it's not handled all that well, I found it compelling enough to overlook the preachiness, lack of focus, and brevity of the book.
September 4, 2013
A beautiful and quite short novel, written on an unusual topic. A young man Kendric Lane leaves Liverpool to find his uncle in Canada, and meets his cousin brother Rayel who holds the power of reading minds and detect truth and lies. There is an element of mystery/thriller in it, with a sweet romance and friendship. Overall a good read. Rayel Lane is an overtly sensitive character, his appearence is pretty interesting. There is a pleasant similarity (I found) between Chaffins, a friendly family to Kendric Lane, with the Weasley family. Teenage Hester Chaffin, the pretty heroine reminded of Giny Weasley (their reactions seeing the hero were same, so were those brown eyes). Hester's brother and Kendric's friend Philbert was a shadow of Ronald Weasley. It'd be better to read some more of Rayel's experiences though.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews