With M. R. James, amongst the finest ghost stories in the language--a review of E. F. Benson's collected short stories . Memorable, "How Fear Departed from the Long Gallery," "The Room in the Tower," and "Mrs. Amworth." While I don't agree with the blogger in Benson's wider range (M. R. James has quite a range from "Casting the Runes" to "Count Magnus" to "'Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad," and Lovecraft also had a large range from "Cool Air" to "Whisperer in the Darkness" to "Color Out of Space" not to mention the central position of the Mythos. But that said, I cannot argue with the reviewer's admiration of the quality and range of Mr. Benson's wonderful collection. Well worth one's time if one is into October Reading. And what is particularly nice is that Benson does offer us, occasionally, the real and true, dyed-in-the-wool ghost story--a rarity...
Apart from Mark Shea, the Corner, and Touchstone, I don't KNOW any of these blogs! And yet, I do not feel "out of the swim," or if I am out of the swim, I really am not too frantic about it.
ReplyDeleteListing "best blogs" is sort of silly given that no one has read a fraction of the available blogs. It's like listing the "50 Best Snowflakes".
ReplyDeleteDear TS,
ReplyDeleteWonderful! Thank you.
Dylan,
As always a pleasure to hear from you. Thank you.
shalom,
Steven