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My Bones and My Flute
Only when he is on board the steamer halfway to their remote destination up river in Guyana does Milton Woodsley realize that there is more to Henry Nevinson’s invitation to spend time with his family in their jungle cottage. Milton, an artist, thinks he has been invited to do some paintings for Nevinson, a rich businessman. But when the Nevinsons mention a flute player that no one else can hear, Woodsley begins to glean that there is more to their stay. Told in Woodsley’s skeptical, self-mocking and good-humored voice, Mittelholzer creates a brilliantly atmospheric setting for his characters and their terrified discovery that this is not a place where they can be at home.
174 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
31 people are currently reading
1377 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Mittelholzer
37 books41 followersEdgar Mittelholzer is considered the first West Indian novelist, i.e. even though there were writers who wrote about Caribbean themes before him, he was the first to make a successful professional life out of it. Born in Guyana (then British Guiana) of Afro-European heritage, he began writing in 1929 and self-published his first book, Creole Chips, in 1937.
Mittelholzer left Guyana for Trinidad in 1941, eventually migrating to England in 1948, living the rest of his life there except for three years in Barbados, and a shorter period in Canada. Between 1951 and 1965, he published twenty-one novels, and two works of non-fiction, including his autobiographical, A Swarthy Boy.
"Mittelholzer's novels include characters and situations from a variety of places within the Caribbean. They range in time from the earliest period of European settlement to the present day and deal with a cross section of ethnic groups and social classes, not to mention subjects of historical, political, psychological, and moral interest. In addition, eight of Mittelholzer's novels are non-Caribbean in subject and setting. For all these reasons he deserves the title of "father" of the novel in the English-speaking Caribbean" - Encyclopedia of World Biography.
Among Edgar Mittelholzer's many honours was to have been the first West Indian to be awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Writing (1952). He died by his own hand in 1965, a suicide by fire predicted in several of his novels.
He published The Mad MacMullochs, written in 1953 and first published in 1959, under the pseudonym H. Austin Woodsley.
Excerpts from:
Peepal Tree Press
http://www.peepaltreepress.com/
Fifty Caribbean Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook by Daryl Cumber Dance.
Mittelholzer left Guyana for Trinidad in 1941, eventually migrating to England in 1948, living the rest of his life there except for three years in Barbados, and a shorter period in Canada. Between 1951 and 1965, he published twenty-one novels, and two works of non-fiction, including his autobiographical, A Swarthy Boy.
"Mittelholzer's novels include characters and situations from a variety of places within the Caribbean. They range in time from the earliest period of European settlement to the present day and deal with a cross section of ethnic groups and social classes, not to mention subjects of historical, political, psychological, and moral interest. In addition, eight of Mittelholzer's novels are non-Caribbean in subject and setting. For all these reasons he deserves the title of "father" of the novel in the English-speaking Caribbean" - Encyclopedia of World Biography.
Among Edgar Mittelholzer's many honours was to have been the first West Indian to be awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Writing (1952). He died by his own hand in 1965, a suicide by fire predicted in several of his novels.
He published The Mad MacMullochs, written in 1953 and first published in 1959, under the pseudonym H. Austin Woodsley.
Excerpts from:
Peepal Tree Press
http://www.peepaltreepress.com/
Fifty Caribbean Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook by Daryl Cumber Dance.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
August 14, 2024
My Bones and My Flute is a short but fantastic Guyanese ghost story. It's atmospheric and suspenseful and has an intriguing and original plot.
I have only one complaint about this novel: the main characters are beyond frustrating. I mean, okay, let's say that you're being haunted, you know who's haunting you, you know why he's haunting you, you know what you have to do to stop the haunting, and you even have a document that gives you some hints as to how to do the thing you have to do in order to stop the haunting. So what do you do? Well, if you're the Nevinson family (plus Milton), you apparently sit around and do nothing (except get haunted). For days on end. While the haunting gets more and more dangerous. Even right before the climax of the story, when time was of the essence, they were dinking around instead of actually working on de-haunting themselves. It was the ghostly haunting equivalent of starting your term paper the night before it's due.
But, still, this was a really good ghost story, good enough that I'm willing to (mostly) overlook the dangerously lackadaisical behavior of the main characters (after a wee bit of complaining). 4.45 stars, rounded down.
I have only one complaint about this novel: the main characters are beyond frustrating. I mean, okay, let's say that you're being haunted, you know who's haunting you, you know why he's haunting you, you know what you have to do to stop the haunting, and you even have a document that gives you some hints as to how to do the thing you have to do in order to stop the haunting. So what do you do? Well, if you're the Nevinson family (plus Milton), you apparently sit around and do nothing (except get haunted). For days on end. While the haunting gets more and more dangerous. Even right before the climax of the story, when time was of the essence, they were dinking around instead of actually working on de-haunting themselves. It was the ghostly haunting equivalent of starting your term paper the night before it's due.
But, still, this was a really good ghost story, good enough that I'm willing to (mostly) overlook the dangerously lackadaisical behavior of the main characters (after a wee bit of complaining). 4.45 stars, rounded down.
July 6, 2016
Another one that hits the high notes of my own shrieks of delight, My Bones and My Flute follows the story of the Nevinson family in 1930s British Guyana. Along with the chronicler of this story, Milton Woodsley, one by one the Nevinsons fall victim to an old curse that threatens to lead them to their doom. The first symptom they notice is eerie flute music that no one else can hear, but this is only a prelude to the horrors of what's coming next.
I've posted about this book here at my reading journal, but I'll just say this:
Like most of the books I read, My Bones and My Flute can be read strictly for its surface value -- in this case, a creepy, mysterious ghost story where the tension ratchets over the course of the book -- or for people like me who want to dive deeper, there's certainly plenty of food for thought lurking beneath: race, the immense power of the jungle landscape, Guyana's troubled slave past, and much, much more. If you decide to check out this book, do not under any circumstances read the introduction, since it pretty much reveals everything and would kill the suspense and the tension.
No matter how you choose to read it, My Bones and My Flute is a fine ghost story that had me flipping pages until I'd finished, and it is so very well done that without hesitating for a second, I immediately picked up another of Mittelholzer's Caribbean novels. My only issues: there are some pretty overwrought, overwritten sections in this book that are almost laughable and the ending sort of left me with a few more questions, but on the whole, it is one that serious readers of older supernatural stories will not want to miss. Quite frankly, I feel like I hit paydirt when I discovered this novel, and I can't wait to read the next one, Shadows Move Among Them. If you're into rare and obscure finds, this one should most definitely be a part of your library.
I've posted about this book here at my reading journal, but I'll just say this:
Like most of the books I read, My Bones and My Flute can be read strictly for its surface value -- in this case, a creepy, mysterious ghost story where the tension ratchets over the course of the book -- or for people like me who want to dive deeper, there's certainly plenty of food for thought lurking beneath: race, the immense power of the jungle landscape, Guyana's troubled slave past, and much, much more. If you decide to check out this book, do not under any circumstances read the introduction, since it pretty much reveals everything and would kill the suspense and the tension.
No matter how you choose to read it, My Bones and My Flute is a fine ghost story that had me flipping pages until I'd finished, and it is so very well done that without hesitating for a second, I immediately picked up another of Mittelholzer's Caribbean novels. My only issues: there are some pretty overwrought, overwritten sections in this book that are almost laughable and the ending sort of left me with a few more questions, but on the whole, it is one that serious readers of older supernatural stories will not want to miss. Quite frankly, I feel like I hit paydirt when I discovered this novel, and I can't wait to read the next one, Shadows Move Among Them. If you're into rare and obscure finds, this one should most definitely be a part of your library.
September 11, 2012
I first read this book in the '70's and was totally enthralled with the ghostly tale. I enjoyed it so much that I went to great lengths to find another copy.
This time round I have read it sporadically and thus, disappointingly, have lost the excitement it first created. It is, however a wonderful book, well worth reading.
This time round I have read it sporadically and thus, disappointingly, have lost the excitement it first created. It is, however a wonderful book, well worth reading.
January 26, 2014
This is one of the best ghost story novels I've read since Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House or Susan Hill's The Woman in Black. Set in the jungles of Dutch Guyana during the 1930s, Mittelhozer's only horror novel makes the most of the scare potential of that setting, as four people who have come in contact with a cursed manuscript are haunted by the approaching sound of a ghostly flute, and struggle to both come up with a solution to their inevitable demise and maintain their day to day sanity as the sound moves closer and closer. Mittelhozer does an excellent job of slowly raising the tension to the point where the novel reaches a point of Lovecraftian hysteria by the end, but earning it without the sometimes purple prose Lovecraft favored. It's a smart, subtle ghost story that should be much better known. I had to pay over $30 for a paperback from the 1980s, the last time the novel was reissued. So here's hoping it becomes more widely available again soon.
July 2, 2015
This was a wonderfully written tale. It was published in 1955 and the male author 's chauvinism showed through pretty heavily at times. I had quite a few chuckles in these spots, which I am sure was not intended by the author as this is billed as a horror.
January 17, 2009
Was on my reading list in the 11th grade. Scariest book I've ever read - without a doubt! Those teachers have no idea how many 11th graders they traumatized!
November 20, 2007
This is a wonderful caribbean mystery story, at certain times you actually feel as though you're on that ferry going up the river, hearing the sounds of that mysterious flute.
March 22, 2023
Intense. Vivid scenery. Suffocating darkness. Fright nights then days. Loved it. Not in-your-face spooky but enough to unnerve any reader with an overactive imagination.
Readers may want to savor this novel for its beautiful descriptive passages. It's not just a ghost story. It's a tale about humanity. Loved how Mittelholzer stripped the main character down to the bare bones. Layered with complexities. Displaying some disturbing thoughts on death, women, race and life.
SPOILER:
Found the writing too formal in some places. I couldn't swallow the recklessness of the characters involvement with the manuscript. Why they didn't scour the lands immediately for the bones, flute and musket is beyond me. Yes, fear played a part and they didn't know where to begin to search but, eventually, little clues materialized.
Endearing suspense, however. Will get the other books mentioned at the back of this novel.
Readers may want to savor this novel for its beautiful descriptive passages. It's not just a ghost story. It's a tale about humanity. Loved how Mittelholzer stripped the main character down to the bare bones. Layered with complexities. Displaying some disturbing thoughts on death, women, race and life.
SPOILER:
Found the writing too formal in some places. I couldn't swallow the recklessness of the characters involvement with the manuscript. Why they didn't scour the lands immediately for the bones, flute and musket is beyond me. Yes, fear played a part and they didn't know where to begin to search but, eventually, little clues materialized.
Endearing suspense, however. Will get the other books mentioned at the back of this novel.
October 16, 2012
What a great book! For years I wanted to read it but never knew anyone that owned a copy, until my friend Maria graciously offered to lend me hers. I definitely wasnt disappointed! Creepy, spooky ghost story that I was careful not to read too close to my bedtime hehehe.
July 12, 2010
This was a great horror story and mystery - a mix of Caribbean darkness and English ghost story.
February 22, 2012
First west indian horror book that i read. It was beautifully written and it captivated the reader from start to finish.
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November 20, 2024Τίτλος: My Bones and my flute
Συγγραφέας: Edgar Mittelholzer
Έτος Έκδοσης: 1955
Είδος: ιστορικό, ιστορία φαντασμάτων.
Αναγνωστική Απόλαυση: 8/10
Όπως είχα πει σε άλλη κριτική όταν διαβάζεις ένα βιβλίο από κάθε χώρα και ειδικά όταν αυτή η χώρα έχει μόνο ένα βιβλίο που να μπορείς να βρεις εύκολα είναι κάπως ρίσκο να βρεις κάτι που να σ’ αρέσει.
Αυτή τη φορά ήμουν τυχερός διότι με αυτό το βιβλίο και έμαθα και ψυχαγωγήθηκα ταυτόχρονα.
Αναγνωστική Άνεση: 6/10
Άνετη γραμματοσειρά αλλά η ράχη δεν ήταν εύκαμπτη όσο θα ήθελα και το εξώφυλλο σκληρό σχεδόν σαν χαρτόνι.
Βαθμός Πρότασης: 8/10
Αν μεταφραστεί ποτέ στα ελληνικά σας το προτείνω για να διαβαστεί την περίοδο το Χάλοουιν αλλά και τον υπόλοιπο χρόνο φυσικά ειδικά το καλοκαίρι.
Βαθμός Μάθησης: 8/10
Από τη μία σε ψυχαγωγεί και από την άλλη μαθαίνεις για την κουλτούρα αυτής της χώρας που ονομάζεται Γουιάνα (πρώην Βρετανική Γουιάνα).
Διαβάζοντας μια ιστορία φαντασμάτων μαθαίνεις για την επανάσταση των σκλάβων εναντίον των Ολλανδών αποίκων το 1763 και φυσικά ο βαθμός μάθησης ενισχύεται από την εκτενή εισαγωγή για το συγγραφέα και το έργο του.
Σύνολο: 7.5/10
Συγγραφέας: Edgar Mittelholzer
Έτος Έκδοσης: 1955
Είδος: ιστορικό, ιστορία φαντασμάτων.
Αναγνωστική Απόλαυση: 8/10
Όπως είχα πει σε άλλη κριτική όταν διαβάζεις ένα βιβλίο από κάθε χώρα και ειδικά όταν αυτή η χώρα έχει μόνο ένα βιβλίο που να μπορείς να βρεις εύκολα είναι κάπως ρίσκο να βρεις κάτι που να σ’ αρέσει.
Αυτή τη φορά ήμουν τυχερός διότι με αυτό το βιβλίο και έμαθα και ψυχαγωγήθηκα ταυτόχρονα.
Αναγνωστική Άνεση: 6/10
Άνετη γραμματοσειρά αλλά η ράχη δεν ήταν εύκαμπτη όσο θα ήθελα και το εξώφυλλο σκληρό σχεδόν σαν χαρτόνι.
Βαθμός Πρότασης: 8/10
Αν μεταφραστεί ποτέ στα ελληνικά σας το προτείνω για να διαβαστεί την περίοδο το Χάλοουιν αλλά και τον υπόλοιπο χρόνο φυσικά ειδικά το καλοκαίρι.
Βαθμός Μάθησης: 8/10
Από τη μία σε ψυχαγωγεί και από την άλλη μαθαίνεις για την κουλτούρα αυτής της χώρας που ονομάζεται Γουιάνα (πρώην Βρετανική Γουιάνα).
Διαβάζοντας μια ιστορία φαντασμάτων μαθαίνεις για την επανάσταση των σκλάβων εναντίον των Ολλανδών αποίκων το 1763 και φυσικά ο βαθμός μάθησης ενισχύεται από την εκτενή εισαγωγή για το συγγραφέα και το έργο του.
Σύνολο: 7.5/10
December 16, 2023
A wonderful read, and a true Caribbean classic that should be recommended reading. Not only a ghost story, My Bones and My Flute rips the scab off and exposes the strained race relations and societal conditions that existed during enslavement and post-emancipation in British Guiana.
July 3, 2025
A haunting slow burn of a novel. The sights, sounds and scents of the Guyanan jungle are beautifully described; descriptions of frogs, insects, burbling rivers, moonscapes, fireflies are lasting impressions.
December 18, 2023
For the most part I really enjoyed it! There is an incredible build up of tension and some genuinely chilling moments.
I had trouble looking past some of the casual sexism and racism that is present throughout, unclear on if this was coming from the character narrating the tale or the author. At times it really prevented me from enjoying the story.
I had trouble looking past some of the casual sexism and racism that is present throughout, unclear on if this was coming from the character narrating the tale or the author. At times it really prevented me from enjoying the story.
February 2, 2014
Discovered this book in my University library, it had only been borrowed once before in the many years it had been on the shelf. I could not put it down, the mystery of the flute had bewitched me as it did the protagonist.
Mittelhozer is now on my top 5 favourite authors list. I'm proud to share roots with this phenomenal writer.
Mittelhozer is now on my top 5 favourite authors list. I'm proud to share roots with this phenomenal writer.
February 3, 2017
Greatness.
April 6, 2018
It’s a shame there aren’t many Caribbean horror novels. But if there were many, this book should be the standard by which they are written.
November 8, 2019
Around the world book challenge #28
Country/País: Guyana
(Review in English below)
Esta es una historia de fantasmas que ocurre en la selva de Guyana. Los huesos y la flauta de un antiguo dueño de una plantación holandesa de la zona, no podrán encontrar descanso hasta que sean enterrados debidamente.
El señor Ralph Nevinson se encuentra con un manuscrito maldito, en el que se expresa la voluntad de Jan Pieter Voorman, el difunto que no puede descansar en paz. A partir de allí, eventos extraños comienzan a suceder a él y su familia, y en consecuencia también a su acompañante en esta aventura, el joven Milton Woodsley, que es nuestro narrador.
Increíblemente descriptivo, es imposible no imaginar el contexto y la atmósfera que se respira en la historia. Pero por alguna razón, el libro me resultó... soporífero. No me malinterpreten, no es un libro aburrido. Sino que cada dos renglones me daba sueño, y era difícil mantener la atención. En parte puede deberse al lenguaje grandilocuente que utiliza el narrador.
Por otro lado, el racismo es de un tenor insoportable! En el prólogo hay unas notas al respecto del desprecio que sentía el autor a sus orígenes, y por eso desarrolló un gran interés en la cultura en particular alemana.
En cuanto al lugar que ocupa la mujer en esta historia, bueno, como bien se pueden imaginar, es el papel de frágil, que necesita de un hombre que tome la iniciativa. En particular a nuestro protagonista le gusta que las mujeres sean así, ya que son más femeninas etc, etc. Entiendo la época en que fue escrito, pero... no puedo evitar que me caiga mal.
Realmente la historia es súper interesante pero en mi opinión hay muchos factores que jugaron en contra y por lo tanto no la disfruté tanto como esperaba...
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
This is a ghost story that occurs in the jungle of Guyana. The bones and flute of a former owner of a Dutch plantation in the area will not be able to find rest until they are properly buried.
Mr. Ralph Nevinson finds a cursed manuscript, which expresses the will of Jan Pieter Voorman, the deceased who cannot rest in peace. From there, strange events begin to happen to him and his family, and consequently also to his companion in this adventure, the young Milton Woodsley, who is our narrator.
Incredibly descriptive, it is impossible not to imagine the context and atmosphere in the story. But for some reason, the book was ... soporific. Don't get me wrong, it's not a boring book. But every two lines made me sleepy, and it was hard to keep my attention. It may be due to the grandiloquent language used by the narrator.
On the other hand, racism is unbearable! In the prologue there are some notes about the author's contempt for his origins, and that is why he developed a great interest in German culture in particular.
As for the place that women occupy in this story, well, as you can imagine, it is the role of the fragile one, which needs a man to take the initiative. In particular, our protagonist likes women to be like that, since they are more feminine etc, etc. I understand the time it was written, but ... I can't help but dislike it.
The story is super interesting but in my opinion there are many factors that played against it and therefore I did not enjoy it as much as I expected ...
Country/País: Guyana
(Review in English below)
Esta es una historia de fantasmas que ocurre en la selva de Guyana. Los huesos y la flauta de un antiguo dueño de una plantación holandesa de la zona, no podrán encontrar descanso hasta que sean enterrados debidamente.
El señor Ralph Nevinson se encuentra con un manuscrito maldito, en el que se expresa la voluntad de Jan Pieter Voorman, el difunto que no puede descansar en paz. A partir de allí, eventos extraños comienzan a suceder a él y su familia, y en consecuencia también a su acompañante en esta aventura, el joven Milton Woodsley, que es nuestro narrador.
Increíblemente descriptivo, es imposible no imaginar el contexto y la atmósfera que se respira en la historia. Pero por alguna razón, el libro me resultó... soporífero. No me malinterpreten, no es un libro aburrido. Sino que cada dos renglones me daba sueño, y era difícil mantener la atención. En parte puede deberse al lenguaje grandilocuente que utiliza el narrador.
Por otro lado, el racismo es de un tenor insoportable! En el prólogo hay unas notas al respecto del desprecio que sentía el autor a sus orígenes, y por eso desarrolló un gran interés en la cultura en particular alemana.
En cuanto al lugar que ocupa la mujer en esta historia, bueno, como bien se pueden imaginar, es el papel de frágil, que necesita de un hombre que tome la iniciativa. En particular a nuestro protagonista le gusta que las mujeres sean así, ya que son más femeninas etc, etc. Entiendo la época en que fue escrito, pero... no puedo evitar que me caiga mal.
Realmente la historia es súper interesante pero en mi opinión hay muchos factores que jugaron en contra y por lo tanto no la disfruté tanto como esperaba...
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
This is a ghost story that occurs in the jungle of Guyana. The bones and flute of a former owner of a Dutch plantation in the area will not be able to find rest until they are properly buried.
Mr. Ralph Nevinson finds a cursed manuscript, which expresses the will of Jan Pieter Voorman, the deceased who cannot rest in peace. From there, strange events begin to happen to him and his family, and consequently also to his companion in this adventure, the young Milton Woodsley, who is our narrator.
Incredibly descriptive, it is impossible not to imagine the context and atmosphere in the story. But for some reason, the book was ... soporific. Don't get me wrong, it's not a boring book. But every two lines made me sleepy, and it was hard to keep my attention. It may be due to the grandiloquent language used by the narrator.
On the other hand, racism is unbearable! In the prologue there are some notes about the author's contempt for his origins, and that is why he developed a great interest in German culture in particular.
As for the place that women occupy in this story, well, as you can imagine, it is the role of the fragile one, which needs a man to take the initiative. In particular, our protagonist likes women to be like that, since they are more feminine etc, etc. I understand the time it was written, but ... I can't help but dislike it.
The story is super interesting but in my opinion there are many factors that played against it and therefore I did not enjoy it as much as I expected ...
August 29, 2023
I was really disappointed by this. From early on I was put off but I kept reading because I was interested in the setting and because other reviews suggested that the book was genuinely scary at some point, had an interesting ending, and there were deeper things going on. I didn't really find the story creepy, the ending was incredibly dumb, and despite the occasional mention of something that would be interesting to go deeper on (eg the ghost was killed in a slave rebellion) the book absolutely refuses to even gesture at any significance.
The characters are irritating, stupid and shallow. To the extent their personalities exist, they're simply reflective of class, gender and race prejudices with no details and no hint of complication. Apart from the caretaker character Rayburn - who's depicted as a racist stereotype - the other 4 characters are all from the Guyanese elite. The 2 men are smart, brave and strong, the 2 women are stupid, weak and whiny. It's unpleasant to read.
Despite being a relatively short book, it feels extremely padded. Pages are filled with basically the same sort of thing happening over and over, with no new description, no interest. From early on escalation is threatened but for a couple of weeks they just sort of get away with ignoring it. The worst thing is that they don't do anything! Everything in the book happens to them and despite instructions on laying the ghost to rest in the face of otherwise certain death they just do nothing. They're unbearably passive despite the narrator grunting on about how scary it is but also how smart and strong he is. There's even one moment where the narrator admits the reader is probably thinking "why didn't you go out and try and put the ghost to rest" and just sort of waves it off as them being scared. But otherwise you're all thinking you're going to die??? It's unbearably dumb.
And then in the end, suddenly resolution is thrust upon them in a way which involves very minimal contribution from themselves (and the logic of the ghost by the end of the book is basically completely different from at the start). And it involves one of the stupidest ghost origin stories I've ever heard - this guy invoked dark evil forces to It was funny but just made the whole thing feel even dumber retrospectively.
The book is full of misogyny and to a lesser extent racism, but the racism is even more shocking (one character just casually uses the n word). Again, I only carried on reading because I was led to believe there was something deeper here. There really isn't. The setting is unusual but the creepiness potential is squandered in a daft story that doesn't develop any tension and ends stupidly. Bad book.
The characters are irritating, stupid and shallow. To the extent their personalities exist, they're simply reflective of class, gender and race prejudices with no details and no hint of complication. Apart from the caretaker character Rayburn - who's depicted as a racist stereotype - the other 4 characters are all from the Guyanese elite. The 2 men are smart, brave and strong, the 2 women are stupid, weak and whiny. It's unpleasant to read.
Despite being a relatively short book, it feels extremely padded. Pages are filled with basically the same sort of thing happening over and over, with no new description, no interest. From early on escalation is threatened but for a couple of weeks they just sort of get away with ignoring it. The worst thing is that they don't do anything! Everything in the book happens to them and despite instructions on laying the ghost to rest in the face of otherwise certain death they just do nothing. They're unbearably passive despite the narrator grunting on about how scary it is but also how smart and strong he is. There's even one moment where the narrator admits the reader is probably thinking "why didn't you go out and try and put the ghost to rest" and just sort of waves it off as them being scared. But otherwise you're all thinking you're going to die??? It's unbearably dumb.
And then in the end, suddenly resolution is thrust upon them in a way which involves very minimal contribution from themselves (and the logic of the ghost by the end of the book is basically completely different from at the start). And it involves one of the stupidest ghost origin stories I've ever heard - this guy invoked dark evil forces to It was funny but just made the whole thing feel even dumber retrospectively.
The book is full of misogyny and to a lesser extent racism, but the racism is even more shocking (one character just casually uses the n word). Again, I only carried on reading because I was led to believe there was something deeper here. There really isn't. The setting is unusual but the creepiness potential is squandered in a daft story that doesn't develop any tension and ends stupidly. Bad book.
January 4, 2024
This is a really hard book to either rate or review because it is beautifully written, a fascinating work of Caribbean/Guyanese literature that while published in 1955 was written at least a decade earlier and an excellent, though for me flawed, ghost story. The edition I read was brilliant - though honestly the introduction, while excellent, was stodgy and enough to almost stop me reading the novel. It would have been far better placed after the novel then preceding it.
As a weird/occult novel this is so far beyond the usual dross by Lovecraft or any of his far to numerous acolytes/imitators that it is a work that truly deserves the title of 'classic'. Although it is a compliment to compare 'My Bones and My Flute' to MR James it is a two way tribute which casts as much honour on James as he casts on Mittelholzer. It is a final crafted short novel - it is utterly of its time (so complaints of misogyny are as pointless as they would be with Dickens or Austen) and its particular colonial setting makes any accusations of racism so ridiculous as to make fools of anyone who raises the question without acknowledging or understanding the context and setting.
So why do I have reservations?
They are nothing to do with the novel, or author, but the genre. Mittelholzer used the myths and folklore of Guyana and the Caribbean in his works and I respect that and also I respect when he wrote the novel, back in the late 1930's or early 40's but I just can't be scared by a ghost and vague demonic horrors and powers and how they can interfere with ordinary men and women.
Theodore Adorno said their can be no poetry after Auschwitz, well for me there can be no ghost stories after Auschwitz either because the supernatural has never done anything as hideous as what humanity has done. It is no coincidence that ghost hunters go to abandoned hospitals, mansions, hotels, towns, monasteries, etc. to pick up the 'psychic' residue of souls not at rest yet have never ventured into the deaths camps of WWII or the Soviet gulags not even to such, comparably, minor sites as Oradour-sur-Glane, Lidice or Srebrenica.
That may make make me a rather priggish spoil sport and when faced with a novel of this depth and excellence I feel terrible because I can't enter into the spirit of it with sufficient suspension of belief. But if a work deserves it 'My Bones and My Flute' does - again I stress that every word by Lovecraft could be lost to ensure this novel's survival - and I am sure I will read more of this first rate and wonderful author.
As a weird/occult novel this is so far beyond the usual dross by Lovecraft or any of his far to numerous acolytes/imitators that it is a work that truly deserves the title of 'classic'. Although it is a compliment to compare 'My Bones and My Flute' to MR James it is a two way tribute which casts as much honour on James as he casts on Mittelholzer. It is a final crafted short novel - it is utterly of its time (so complaints of misogyny are as pointless as they would be with Dickens or Austen) and its particular colonial setting makes any accusations of racism so ridiculous as to make fools of anyone who raises the question without acknowledging or understanding the context and setting.
So why do I have reservations?
They are nothing to do with the novel, or author, but the genre. Mittelholzer used the myths and folklore of Guyana and the Caribbean in his works and I respect that and also I respect when he wrote the novel, back in the late 1930's or early 40's but I just can't be scared by a ghost and vague demonic horrors and powers and how they can interfere with ordinary men and women.
Theodore Adorno said their can be no poetry after Auschwitz, well for me there can be no ghost stories after Auschwitz either because the supernatural has never done anything as hideous as what humanity has done. It is no coincidence that ghost hunters go to abandoned hospitals, mansions, hotels, towns, monasteries, etc. to pick up the 'psychic' residue of souls not at rest yet have never ventured into the deaths camps of WWII or the Soviet gulags not even to such, comparably, minor sites as Oradour-sur-Glane, Lidice or Srebrenica.
That may make make me a rather priggish spoil sport and when faced with a novel of this depth and excellence I feel terrible because I can't enter into the spirit of it with sufficient suspension of belief. But if a work deserves it 'My Bones and My Flute' does - again I stress that every word by Lovecraft could be lost to ensure this novel's survival - and I am sure I will read more of this first rate and wonderful author.
November 15, 2020
I first read this book when I was about 9 or 10 having bought it in a jumble sale. At this age I found it frighteningly creepy, my abiding memory of it being a disembodied hand crawling up the ball at night. (However, on re-reading, this doesn’t actually occur in the book).
Ever since then, it has been part of my tsondoku collection. Reading it as an adult (and retired life-scientist) I found myself reaching for the dictionary to look up certain words, e.g. matutinal (used especially in entomology to describe things happen g in the early morning, crepuscular (occurring in the pre-dawn), salempeter (I originally assumed this to be a corruption of salamander, and it is indeed a kind of lizard nowadays known as a tegu. (I did at one stage discover it's Latin binomial but have mislaid where I found it). I also found myself looking up candleflies which are a luminescent moth, as opposed to fireflies which are beetles. In addition I decided to look up Morris chair, where Wikipedia helpfully provided a list of books in which this is mentioned. I found I had encountered it before in Doeothy Sayers’ ’Strong Poison’, and that they are so-naned because they were designed /adapted by William Morris’ company, Morris & Sons. A most engrossing book. N.b. The first Reviewer (Nancy) warned against reading the Introductory Note as it totally reveals the a plot and would spoil the build-up of tension. I followed this advice and read the I.N. at the end. I don’t think it would have spoiled the enjoyment for me. (I discovered,after reading other online comments about this book, that my copy is the 1955 edition published by Seckrt & Warburg - which is difficult to get hold of 😊).
Ever since then, it has been part of my tsondoku collection. Reading it as an adult (and retired life-scientist) I found myself reaching for the dictionary to look up certain words, e.g. matutinal (used especially in entomology to describe things happen g in the early morning, crepuscular (occurring in the pre-dawn), salempeter (I originally assumed this to be a corruption of salamander, and it is indeed a kind of lizard nowadays known as a tegu. (I did at one stage discover it's Latin binomial but have mislaid where I found it). I also found myself looking up candleflies which are a luminescent moth, as opposed to fireflies which are beetles. In addition I decided to look up Morris chair, where Wikipedia helpfully provided a list of books in which this is mentioned. I found I had encountered it before in Doeothy Sayers’ ’Strong Poison’, and that they are so-naned because they were designed /adapted by William Morris’ company, Morris & Sons. A most engrossing book. N.b. The first Reviewer (Nancy) warned against reading the Introductory Note as it totally reveals the a plot and would spoil the build-up of tension. I followed this advice and read the I.N. at the end. I don’t think it would have spoiled the enjoyment for me. (I discovered,after reading other online comments about this book, that my copy is the 1955 edition published by Seckrt & Warburg - which is difficult to get hold of 😊).
September 12, 2023
“You know enough now of our experiences, I am sure, to agree with me that a story like this is not the kind of thing any normal civilized person would care to go rushing into print. If these were times when the psychic was not looked upon as something surrounded with an unscientific aura - that is to say, a subject about which nothing rationally concrete can be stated and hence one to be treated with smiles and gentle waggings of the head - my task would be a much easier one. But the harshness of our materialistic age is such that I suppose we cannot be blamed for scoffing at that which does not conform with the physical laws that drive us on day after day in our blind, itching urge for survival. What can we prove about ghosts and ectoplasm and all the rest of it!
AsI write, Iam weighed down all the while with the depressing knowledge that perhaps not two per cent of my readers will credit a word of what I am now putting myself to so much trouble to do. Indeed, I have already acquired a feeling of shrugging fatality in the matter. So long, I keep telling myself, as I succeed in satisfying myself that I have done a good job in recording every salient and relevant incident with as great a faithfulness as is humanly possible, why should I bother? Smile with the scoffers, but retain
my good humour in the serene knowledge that I have been guilty of no prevarication.”
AsI write, Iam weighed down all the while with the depressing knowledge that perhaps not two per cent of my readers will credit a word of what I am now putting myself to so much trouble to do. Indeed, I have already acquired a feeling of shrugging fatality in the matter. So long, I keep telling myself, as I succeed in satisfying myself that I have done a good job in recording every salient and relevant incident with as great a faithfulness as is humanly possible, why should I bother? Smile with the scoffers, but retain
my good humour in the serene knowledge that I have been guilty of no prevarication.”
December 18, 2025
Very enjoyable ghost story. Yes, it’s frustrating to watch these people sit around while a demon tells them, “I’m going to kill you if you don’t find my fucking bones.” I really liked Milton, even if he is pompous and egotistical, both in the story and in his narration of it, though he insists he’s improved since then. He clearly cares about those around him, he just stuffs his head full of intellect and doesn’t have a way to relate that to regular folk. The ghost itself was cool, I loved the part where they finally go out to look, and they get dragged through the jungle by some supernatural force. It made a wonderfully horrifying visual in my head. Mitteholzer understood, like Lovecraft, that some of the most terrifying things are things we find unnatural.
February 18, 2022
I had a copy of this book in 60s/70s, but somehow misplaced it. Remembering it recently I managed to borrow a copy from the library and so glad I did. It's an excellent, old style ghost story, excitingly written, gripping and chilling. It was written in the 50s and refers to the 30s, so the easily offended may find that it offends them. More fool them. This is an excellent story, cleverly told (by an author of mixed parentage). I read it in just a few days so gripping was it. One of the best ghost stories I have read.
December 28, 2023
A well written ghost story that has layers to be unwrapped. Is is also a social commentary on Guianan society at the time, with its racial hierarchies. narrated by Milton 20 years later, looking back at himself as a young man, pompous and self-assured. The haunting starts gently, with just the sound of a flute, but soon becomes more intense. The authors descriptions are apt and vivid. The sounds of frogs croaking, the bark of the baboon, the sound of wind through the trees: you feel that you are there. This makes the haunting even more credible.
September 10, 2017
Read this at about 12/13 years and remember being totally spooked out (at least partially because it's set in my hometown) but not much else about the story. So re-read and the dialogue is stilted at times, with casual misogyny and racism added in but for some reason it still filled me with a tenseness. I'm an avid horror/suspense reader so I'm surprised this relatively tame tale could move me but it did and I have to recommend!
February 14, 2019
Suprising read. Very well written with some beautiful descriptions.
The tiered timeframing of a '50s book writing of event in Guiana of the '30s concerning a 18th century Dutch haunting gave it a unique setting.
It wares its influences on its sleeve and the tone of writing is quite self-aware.
The small cast is given ample time for quite some good character display throughout the short span of the book.
The tiered timeframing of a '50s book writing of event in Guiana of the '30s concerning a 18th century Dutch haunting gave it a unique setting.
It wares its influences on its sleeve and the tone of writing is quite self-aware.
The small cast is given ample time for quite some good character display throughout the short span of the book.
June 28, 2020
This is a good creepy Caribbean ghost story and I'm sorry I hadn't read it sooner, or heard of it for that matter. (Thank you to the friend who recommended it.) Set in then British Guiana in the 1930s, it follows a young man as he tries to save a family friend and family from a cursed manuscript. But the story also deals with issues of race and class prejudice and how they affect the way situations are handled.
August 20, 2022
Aye, real good. Love this Caribbean horror, I like how each chapter ended on a kind of cliffhanger, it made me needing to know more ><
Really good pacing, wrt the flute playing and hearing it.
Really excellent use of the Guyanase bushland, the forests, the rivers, the mangrove. It feels how I want a Cairbbean horror, not stuck in a house, but out in the Bush. The Bush does be scary if you don't know your way.
Really good pacing, wrt the flute playing and hearing it.
Really excellent use of the Guyanase bushland, the forests, the rivers, the mangrove. It feels how I want a Cairbbean horror, not stuck in a house, but out in the Bush. The Bush does be scary if you don't know your way.
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