Monday, February 14, 2011

Books read in 2011: No. 10 - The Willows

The Willowsby Algernon Blackwood

Started: February 14
Finished: February 17

Notes: I've read a few of this classic horror writer's short stories in the past, but I'm not overly familiar with him. To correct that lack in my education, I spotted this short freebie e-book on Amazon recently and decided to give it a shot. Also, this short story was mentioned by name in a Ray Bradbury story I read recently, so that turned me towards this reading material. Really, this is more of a short story, but it came in e-book format, so I'm counting it as a book.

Mini review: An excellent longer short story! Almost a novella. I've read that Lovecraft considered this his favorite short story, and it's no wonder why. Blackwood's tale here has a very Lovecraftian feel to it, and I'm not surprised it had a major influence upon Lovecraft the writer. Published in 1907, modern readers might find this tale a bit slow, as I did at first, but it does get going in an eerie fashion that is quite superb. Truly glad I read this one.

1 comment:

Charles Gramlich said...

I read this story quite a long time ago and thoguht it was great. I can understand why it's been reprinted so many times.