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The Mystery of Choice
These classic tales, centering on an American in Breton and a local French girl include stories about the murder of a butterfly collector and the haunting spirit of a renegade priest.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1897
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About the author
Robert W. Chambers
444 books597 followersRobert William Chambers was an American artist and writer.
Chambers was first educated at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute,and then entered the Art Students' League at around the age of twenty, where the artist Charles Dana Gibson was his fellow student. Chambers studied at the École des Beaux-Arts, and at Académie Julian, in Paris from 1886 to 1893, and his work was displayed at the Salon as early as 1889. On his return to New York, he succeeded in selling his illustrations to Life, Truth, and Vogue magazines. Then, for reasons unclear, he devoted his time to writing, producing his first novel, In the Quarter (written in 1887 in Munich). His most famous, and perhaps most meritorious, effort is The King in Yellow, a collection of weird short stories, connected by the theme of the fictitious drama The King in Yellow, which drives those who read it insane.
Chambers returned to the weird genre in his later short story collections The Maker of Moons and The Tree of Heaven, but neither earned him such success as The King in Yellow.
Chambers later turned to writing romantic fiction to earn a living. According to some estimates, Chambers was one of the most successful literary careers of his period, his later novels selling well and a handful achieving best-seller status. Many of his works were also serialized in magazines.
After 1924 he devoted himself solely to writing historical fiction.
Chambers for several years made Broadalbin his summer home. Some of his novels touch upon colonial life in Broadalbin and Johnstown.
On July 12, 1898, he married Elsa Vaughn Moller (1882-1939). They had a son, Robert Edward Stuart Chambers (later calling himself Robert Husted Chambers) who also gained some fame as an author.
Chambers died at his home in the village of Broadalbin, New York, on December 16th 1933.
Chambers was first educated at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute,and then entered the Art Students' League at around the age of twenty, where the artist Charles Dana Gibson was his fellow student. Chambers studied at the École des Beaux-Arts, and at Académie Julian, in Paris from 1886 to 1893, and his work was displayed at the Salon as early as 1889. On his return to New York, he succeeded in selling his illustrations to Life, Truth, and Vogue magazines. Then, for reasons unclear, he devoted his time to writing, producing his first novel, In the Quarter (written in 1887 in Munich). His most famous, and perhaps most meritorious, effort is The King in Yellow, a collection of weird short stories, connected by the theme of the fictitious drama The King in Yellow, which drives those who read it insane.
Chambers returned to the weird genre in his later short story collections The Maker of Moons and The Tree of Heaven, but neither earned him such success as The King in Yellow.
Chambers later turned to writing romantic fiction to earn a living. According to some estimates, Chambers was one of the most successful literary careers of his period, his later novels selling well and a handful achieving best-seller status. Many of his works were also serialized in magazines.
After 1924 he devoted himself solely to writing historical fiction.
Chambers for several years made Broadalbin his summer home. Some of his novels touch upon colonial life in Broadalbin and Johnstown.
On July 12, 1898, he married Elsa Vaughn Moller (1882-1939). They had a son, Robert Edward Stuart Chambers (later calling himself Robert Husted Chambers) who also gained some fame as an author.
Chambers died at his home in the village of Broadalbin, New York, on December 16th 1933.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 29, 2023
Robert W. Chambers is now known mainly for his King in Yellow stories, but this prolific author wrote so much more, and not often in the supernatural vein. he is the least respected of the weird fiction authors, perhaps because of his strong interest in poetic romanticism, a perspective that comes across as rather airily aristocratic, and a ton of completely forgotten "popular novels" on his resume.
I imagine him like so: back from his summer abroad in France spent taking in the artists' quarters of Paris and the French countryside, falling in and out of love, he invites his weird writer friends over, much to the chagrin of his prim relatives. and so they join him: metaphysical naturalist Algernon Blackwood, malevolently acerbic journalist Ambrose Bierce, weird and morbid shut-in H.P. Lovecraft, the broodingly handsome William Hope Hodgson - as obsessed with the sea as ever, long-winded mystic Arthur Machen, and my personal favorite, the extremely mannered, eccentric, and always stylish Clark Ashton Smith. together they discuss the Arcane, and Other Dimensions, and the Horrors of the Modern World. it is a heady afternoon, the air thick with pipe smoke, the flights of imagination long and digressive. the servants come and go, agog. Robert steps out of the smoking room; a young lady's servant has dropped off her card and he must reply to her immediately. she's his most recent obsession and so he takes his time writing a flowery reply, begging the pleasure of her company and extolling her virtues. while he's busy with his affairs, his peers chuckle rather condescendingly at him. ah, Robert: a sensitive fellow and talented author, but perhaps not quite at their level - not a deep one, despite his efforts. takes himself a bit too seriously while his writing is not serious enough. perhaps a bit too eager to publish, one could say. but certainly very well-meaning! and charming as well.
🥀💀🖤
"The Purple Emperor" - it's the vindictive Red Admiral versus the monstrous Purple Emperor in this swiftly-told tale of skulduggery and murder in a rural French village. the malicious gentlemen in question are rival amateur entomologists, their nicknames given due to the butterfly most associated with each. one would never guess that the pursuit of butterflies could lead to a pool of blood in a cottage and a crumpled body hidden in an inn.
"Pompe Funèbre" & "Passeur" - two slight mood pieces contemplating death. in the first, our protagonist closely watches a sexton beetle going about its business; in the second, a man moons over a lovely ferrywoman but meets a more grave ferryman in the end.
"The White Shadow" - a young man, falling from a cliff after realizing the girl he's grown up with is now the woman he loves, has an Incident at Owl Creek Bridge experience. a year of dream-life proceeds, time in a studio with his friends and new wife, and then off to the French countryside with his sweetheart, on an extended honeymoon. young love portrayed as heavenly bliss. sadly, the reality of a bone splinter in his brain shall turn his white shadow to black. this was gorgeously written and swooningly romantic.
"The Key to Grief" - a murderer flees to the Isle of Grief and there finds the woman of his dreams. a wispy and deceptive tale. Chambers' evocative prose, intense romanticism, and descriptions of nature enchanted me.
"A Matter of Interest" - poetical dandy fresh from the Continent falls in love with a fetching young lady while on the hunt for a prehistoric creature. the 'hunt' mainly takes place on an isolated beach where the two sit and flirt with each other. this was utterly ridiculous and as light and sugary as a creampuff. happily, I like creampuffs.
"The Messenger" - a strange skull is found; the Black Priest returns! always remember: dip your bullets in holy water first, just in case. this is my second time reading this tale of an American living in Brittany with the daughter of 'The Purple Emperor' - it was just as enjoyable this time around. I could read a whole novel full of anecdotes about this little village with its amusing characters, supernatural edge, and lively banter. the last paragraph hints at such anecdotes, but alas only my imagination will supply the stories.
🖤💀🥀
3.5 stars, rounded down (sorry Robert)
I imagine him like so: back from his summer abroad in France spent taking in the artists' quarters of Paris and the French countryside, falling in and out of love, he invites his weird writer friends over, much to the chagrin of his prim relatives. and so they join him: metaphysical naturalist Algernon Blackwood, malevolently acerbic journalist Ambrose Bierce, weird and morbid shut-in H.P. Lovecraft, the broodingly handsome William Hope Hodgson - as obsessed with the sea as ever, long-winded mystic Arthur Machen, and my personal favorite, the extremely mannered, eccentric, and always stylish Clark Ashton Smith. together they discuss the Arcane, and Other Dimensions, and the Horrors of the Modern World. it is a heady afternoon, the air thick with pipe smoke, the flights of imagination long and digressive. the servants come and go, agog. Robert steps out of the smoking room; a young lady's servant has dropped off her card and he must reply to her immediately. she's his most recent obsession and so he takes his time writing a flowery reply, begging the pleasure of her company and extolling her virtues. while he's busy with his affairs, his peers chuckle rather condescendingly at him. ah, Robert: a sensitive fellow and talented author, but perhaps not quite at their level - not a deep one, despite his efforts. takes himself a bit too seriously while his writing is not serious enough. perhaps a bit too eager to publish, one could say. but certainly very well-meaning! and charming as well.
🥀💀🖤
"The Purple Emperor" - it's the vindictive Red Admiral versus the monstrous Purple Emperor in this swiftly-told tale of skulduggery and murder in a rural French village. the malicious gentlemen in question are rival amateur entomologists, their nicknames given due to the butterfly most associated with each. one would never guess that the pursuit of butterflies could lead to a pool of blood in a cottage and a crumpled body hidden in an inn.
"Pompe Funèbre" & "Passeur" - two slight mood pieces contemplating death. in the first, our protagonist closely watches a sexton beetle going about its business; in the second, a man moons over a lovely ferrywoman but meets a more grave ferryman in the end.
"The White Shadow" - a young man, falling from a cliff after realizing the girl he's grown up with is now the woman he loves, has an Incident at Owl Creek Bridge experience. a year of dream-life proceeds, time in a studio with his friends and new wife, and then off to the French countryside with his sweetheart, on an extended honeymoon. young love portrayed as heavenly bliss. sadly, the reality of a bone splinter in his brain shall turn his white shadow to black. this was gorgeously written and swooningly romantic.
"The Key to Grief" - a murderer flees to the Isle of Grief and there finds the woman of his dreams. a wispy and deceptive tale. Chambers' evocative prose, intense romanticism, and descriptions of nature enchanted me.
"A Matter of Interest" - poetical dandy fresh from the Continent falls in love with a fetching young lady while on the hunt for a prehistoric creature. the 'hunt' mainly takes place on an isolated beach where the two sit and flirt with each other. this was utterly ridiculous and as light and sugary as a creampuff. happily, I like creampuffs.
"The Messenger" - a strange skull is found; the Black Priest returns! always remember: dip your bullets in holy water first, just in case. this is my second time reading this tale of an American living in Brittany with the daughter of 'The Purple Emperor' - it was just as enjoyable this time around. I could read a whole novel full of anecdotes about this little village with its amusing characters, supernatural edge, and lively banter. the last paragraph hints at such anecdotes, but alas only my imagination will supply the stories.
🖤💀🥀
3.5 stars, rounded down (sorry Robert)
October 15, 2017
I'm such a fan of Robert W. Chambers' style. Delightful.
April 27, 2023
I enjoyed this book! It has that Chambers kind of weirdness to it, and he does something quite eerie with the concept of shadows throughout most all of the stories collected here. The title itself is a bit of a mystery. Both the title and the epigraph that kicks off the book suggest that theme of freedom of the will may play an important role; however, the stories seem to be much more about death and the liminal space between the living and the dead rather than anything to do with choice. "The Messenger," "The White Shadow," and "The Key to Grief" were particular highlights.
March 2, 2019
An excellent collection of horror tales, evocative of the dark side of Nature and what it conceals. His description and use of mounting tension is second to none. An author who knew how to chill the spine of his readers using atmosphere and beautifully dark prose
May 12, 2019
I wouldn't call this horror, except maybe the last one, but it was very gothic. And I still love his excellent prose and use of Breton celtic folklore. Still not quite as good as his more popular King in Yellow.
January 19, 2017
Chambers is again at his inscrutable craft here. Not as effective or even as The King in Yellow - but it has its moments.
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August 15, 2024Qur’an: Chapter 43, Verse 17—
Whenever one of them is notified about the same as he imputes concerning the Mercy-giving, his face becomes dark with gloom and he feels like choking
Whenever one of them is notified about the same as he imputes concerning the Mercy-giving, his face becomes dark with gloom and he feels like choking
August 16, 2014
This was not what I expected and probably more interesting than I would have thought.
February 12, 2015
horror in the style of Poe.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews