World Famous Comics: In the Land of Time: And Other Fantasy Tales (Penguin Classics)
In the Land of Time: And Other Fantasy Tales (Penguin Classics)
By: Lord Dunsany Publisher: Penguin Classics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 432 Publication Date: February 24, 2004 Release Date: February 24, 2004 Studio: Penguin Classics
Product Description: Lord Dunsany has gained a cult following for his influence on modern fantasy literature, including such authors as J. R. R. Tolkien and H. P. Lovecraft. This unique collection of short stories ranges over five decades, including the entire Gods of Pegana and such notable works as "Idle Days on the Yann" as well as several about the garrulous traveler Joseph Jorkens and the outrageous murder tale "The Two Bottles of Relish." Throughout, the stories are united by Dunsanys cosmic vision, his impeccable and mellifluous prose, and his distinctively Irish sense of whimsy.
The Birth of a Grand Fantasia ^ Lord Dunsany wrote raw fantasy. His work is like wood before it has completed a house; it is like precious gold before it has been made into a ring. Within this book you will find the resources of fantasy--the bits and pieces of the imagination that have been the tools of so many writers lingering on after this ingenious author. I suggest that everyone who has an imagination of their own glimpse into these elaborate shards of the mirror of fantasy's history so that they might know one of its fathers.
"The Bureau d'Echange de Maux," "The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth," and the stories born off of Go-by Street are my favorite from this collection. Read these for yourself--read all of the stories; you will not be disappointed.
Sharkchild Author of The Dark Verse, Volume I: From the Passages of Revenants (Imitation Leather)
marvellous reading ^ "Pegana and environs", may not be Lord Dunsany at his best. May be these stories are not for the non initiated reader, but for dunsanians, who have read and reread his stories, during years, and in that way have a thorough appreciation of his writings. The author created a mithology similar to ancient mithologies, but it does not exactly match with any of these. The tales have a nitzchean flavour (like Zarathusta). Pegana's tales also reminded me of indian mithology, specially the story of a god that beats a drum, to avoid the destruction of the manifest universe, even of the gods themselves, as a part of the universe. Shiva Nataraja, according to vedic religión also beats a drum in his cosmic dance, and gods are not inmortal in indian cosmology, but they last what a cosmic cycle, also called "manvantara" last. In the next cosmic cycles, there will be new gods, a new Indra, a new Varuna, etc. As in ancient India, the gods of Pegana are impermanent. There will be a time when the only inmortal god, "Mana Yood Sushai", will remain; when he will stop resting, he will wake and destroy the world and the gods, and afterward he will create a new world, with new gods. . I may not have appreciated fully most of pegana's stories, but "In the land of times", is definitely gorgeous and poetic. One of the best. The "tales of wonder" are better than Pegana; the "kith of the elf-folk" is an exquisite fairy tale. A methapor about our modern dreary civilized life, and its contrast with magic and the land of dreams. In the same line, are the stories "the wonderful Windows", and "The coronation of Mr. Thomas Shap"; "The ghosts" is a very good gothic story. Also gothic in spirit, is "the Bureau d'echange de Maux"; "Blagdaross", starts with a conversation between derelict objects in a waste place, like a cork, a piece of cord, and a rocking -wood horse. It is a display of a powerful imagination, and talent. A tribute to children, with their fantastic universe. The prose poem, "where the Tides Ebb and Flow", is another good piece of gothic fiction, with a sort macabre touch. I liked it. The "raft-builders" is about all devouring time, and oblivion. It is a poem about transcience. A new resemblance with indian thought. In the prose poem, "the prayer of the flowers", the flowers complain of the indifference of men to their beauty, and to beautiful natural scenary in general. They prayed to the god Pan, who in answer to their prayer, tells them to wait, and that civilization with its dreary cities and factories will not last forever. Nature will vanquish in the last. Grim civilization against nature, fantasy and magic. It was one of his concerns, and he wrote extensively about it. "the policeman prophecy", deals with the same subject. "The exiles' club", is definitely wierd. Intriguing story. It make you think about who the exiles were. "Thirteen at a table", is another good ghost story. You do not know how it will end. Is not predictable. The ludicrous Jorkens' stories are amusing. I liked "Our distants cousins", a story about interplanetary travel, and fantastic creatures, like an elephant with the size of a rat. In "helping the fairies", Dunsany, - the greatest fantasist- seems to mock superstition, and their countrymen beliefs. The compilator S.T. Joshi put together tales of different periods of Lord Dunsany career. They are representative of his changes and evolution. A well chosen selection It is a very good book. Lord Dunsany will never have the vast following of Tolkien, but he will always have a small group of readers, lovers of good literature, that will read his tales during their life..
The Fortress Unvanquishable Save for Sacnoth ^ There has never been anyone quite like Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Lord Dunsany. H.P. Lovecraft wrote clumsy imitations before discovering his own distinctive vein of glutinous, astronomical horror. Almost all heroic fantasy from the 30s till today is indebted to him, however remotely. But he is not to everyone's taste, so what is he like?
Lord Dunsany travelled much in "the East", saw ancient cities and vanishing customs and ways of life. All of his fantastic tales are born of his longing for Lost Glory, for days when the world was colossal, heroic, unquantified, golden, lawless, drastic and permeable to the marvellous. Arch humour and the intolerable mingle with adventure and wonder. He loved the King James Bible, and his own style is modelled on its Semitic cadences, at once terse and oratorical, brief archaic sentences frequently beginning with "And".
A wealthy man who could write to please himself, he was one of the first to set tales in a purely imagined world. He was not a linguist like Tolkien and his invented names have an uncouth look: Slid, Mlideen, Soorenard, Zeenar, Zumbiboo, Rhoog, Mowrah Nawut. First he wrote "The Gods of Pegâna" and "Time and the Gods", which tell of the gods that rule over his private world and their unsuitable, disconcerting dealings with humankind. These are prose poems or parables, all very short (those in "Pegâna" often less than a page.) Ambrosia for the Dunsanian, but not the best start for the unconverted.
Three other collections of wonder-tales are more substantial. "The Sword of Welleran", "The Fall of Babbulkund", "The Fortress Unvanquishable", "Idle Days on the Yann", "Carcassonne", are hard to beat as glimpses of wondrous, impossible worlds. Some of the tales are set in the "real" world; Dunsany also wrote more conventional stories, as well as plays, poetry and autobiography.
The Fantasy Masterworks paperback, containing all five fantasy collections, appears to be out of print, but this is a well-chosen selection. It prints "The Gods of Pegâna" complete, selects wisely from the longer wonder-tales, and adds some examples of Dunsany's work in other genres. Try reading one of the stories named in the paragraph above to see if you'll ever be a fan.
Wonderful find ^ Awesome stories that stick with you. I'm a Lovecraft fan, and loved hearing the earlier notes on which Lovecraft elaborated.
Absolute Wonder ^ This is the book you search for on a cool autumn evening or a late summer day. It is a book you want to read and savour. The tales are timeless, sometimes melancholic filled with fantasy, delight and the fleeting nature of life, existence and the world (or worlds) around us. Dunsany evokes the sublime, the sacred, the profane and the childlike. I'm not the greatest fan of Tolkien (I found The Lord of the Rings long-winded). But then again I prefer vignettes of life. These tales offer the vignette of the fantasy world. Gods, goddesses, warriors of old, travelers in faraway lands, story-tellers...children playing pirates... there is everything you need in this book to have - well literally - a 'second childhood'.
I loved the earlier mythological work 'The Gods of Pegana' as much as 'The Tales of Wonder'. The prose poems were equally wondrous and in a few I could see where the Argentinian author, Jorge Luis Borges was highly influenced.
If you are interested in early fantasy literature, when the genre was in its infancy, pick up this collection. It is not antique, it is not dated. The best part is the writing is readable, accessible and highly poetic. Dunsany has a way with words and his story telling ability is highly admirable. Read this and you'll want to read more of him.
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