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jeanne_i_d's review against another edition
5.0
I highly recommend this collection for fans of fantastic literature or of short stories in general. You will love most, hate some and if you are like me, there will be a few you just don't even understand (what was that bus scene about in "Visitor From Down Under"??). Whether you take your time working your way through this massive collection as I did (read over 20 years) or read all 967 pages in one sitting - it is worth the time.
I was a little sad to finish this book after all the years we have spent together but luckily I recently found a copy of [b:Black Water 2: More Tales of the Fantastic|147802|Black Water 2 More Tales of the Fantastic|Alberto Manguel|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387740006s/147802.jpg|1146288] in a used bookstore. I plan to finish this collection faster than than the first volume, shooting for five years this time.
sarah_stokes's review against another edition
This generous anthology is jam-packed with fascinating, instructive work and was my introduction to many magical writers beyond the traditional English-speaking fare. Delighted to discover that a second volume was published back in 1990 - heading to pick up a copy now...
elizafiedler's review against another edition
2.0
Hard to imagine that even in 1991 this passed as a diverse collection of stories. I don't even think the title is accurate. It's not really a collection of fantastic literature. It's a collection of solidly white canonical authors who happened to write a ghost story or a mildly unsettling story that one time, with a few token stories by women and people of color. Occasionally there's a piece of genuine supernatural horror, but they're few and far between. And even among white cis male authors, Tolkien and Lewis are missing. Because they're too popular for 1991? There are too many other obvious omissions to name. I grant you Lavalle, LeGuin, Bradbury, and one or two others.
It's also guilty of egregious orientalism. There are a few stories with origins in East Asia and the Middle East, but they're not translations from stories in those languages. They're English translations of adaptations in French, Spanish, etc., with no claim to accuracy to the source text or oral tradition. Even for 30 years ago, this is not a good look.
It's also guilty of egregious orientalism. There are a few stories with origins in East Asia and the Middle East, but they're not translations from stories in those languages. They're English translations of adaptations in French, Spanish, etc., with no claim to accuracy to the source text or oral tradition. Even for 30 years ago, this is not a good look.
neven's review against another edition
4.0
A wonderful collection—uneven as they usually are, but the high notes are unforgettable. Hunt it down if you like hard-to-classify, weird fiction.
neven's review
4.0
A wonderful collection—uneven as they usually are, but the high notes are unforgettable. Hunt it down if you like hard-to-classify, weird fiction.
thesubmariner's review
adventurous
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
What a journey. As an admirer of fantastic short stories this was such a comfort read. Usually, I would read a few stories or around 50 pages or so before bedtime and later lay in the bed thinking and visualizing about what I read. This was also an educational experience for I learned about writers with some insight from Alberto Manguel who had the pleasure to know many of the Argentinian writers from this anthology. However, I don’t think this anthology is for everyone because most of the stories are from the 19th and early 20th century and have a certain charm about them. Not to mention the writing style. You need to be in a specific mood while reading these stories. I will definitely read part 2 in the near future and reread most of these stories and maybe review them individually.
I grouped stories by star (*) rating in alphabetical order.
5*:
"Autumn Mountain" - short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1921) 5*
The Bottle Imp - novelette by Robert Louis Stevenson (1891) 5*
Clorinda - short story by André Pieyre de Mandiargues (1960) 5*
Death and the Gardener - short fiction by Jean Cocteau (1923) 5*
"A Dog in Dürer's Etching "The Knight, Death and the Devil" - short story by Marco Denevi (1983) 5*
A Dream short story by Edward William Lane [as by Anonymous; from The Arabian Nights Entertainments] (1983) 5*
The Dream - short story by O. Henry (1910) 5*
Enoch Soames - novelette by Max Beerbohm (1916) 5*
The Fisherman and His Soul - novelette by Oscar Wilde (1891) 5*
The Friends - short story by Silvina Ocampo (1959) 5*
From "Peter and Rosa" - short fiction by Karen Blixen (as by Isak Dinesen) (1983) 5*
How Wang-Fo Was Saved - short story by Marguerite Yourcenar (1936) 5*
Insomnia - short story by Virgilio Piñera (1946) 5*
In the Penal Colony - novelette by Franz Kafka (1919) 5*
Lady Into Fox - novella by David Garnett (1922) 5*
Lord Mountdrago - novelette by W. Somerset Maugham (1939) 5*
The Monkey's Paw - short story by W. W. Jacobs (1902) 5*
Pomegranate Seed - novelette by Edith Wharton (1931) 5*
The Queen of Spades short story by Alexander Sergeievitch Pushkin (1834) 5*
The Rocking-Horse Winner short story by D. H. Lawrence (1926) 5*
The Sick Gentleman's Last Visit - short story by Giovanni Papini (1906) 5*
Split Second - novelette by Daphne du Maurier (1952) 5*
The Wizard Postponed - short story by Jorge Luis Borges (1933) [as by Don Juan Manuel] 5*
4-5*:
The Captives of Longjumeau - short story by Léon Bloy (1893) 4-5*
Climax for a Ghost Story - short story by I. A. Ireland (1919) 4-5*
The Feather Pillow - short story by Horacio Quiroga (1907) 4-5*
From "A School Story" - short fiction by M. R. James (1911) - read full version on: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_School_Story 4-5*
Importance - short story by Manuel Mujica Láinez (1978) 4-5*
An Injustice Revealed - short story by Anonymous (?) 4-5*
An Invitation to the Hunt - short story by George Hitchcock (1960) 4-5*
The Lady on the Grey - short story by John Collier (1951) 4-5*
Laura - short story by Saki (1914) 4-5*
Of a Promise Kept - short story by Lafcadio Hearn (1901) 4-5*
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas - short story by Ursula K. Le Guin (1973) 4-5*
The Playground - short story by Ray Bradbury (1952) 4-5*
Tattoo - short story by as by Junichiro Tanizaki (1910) 4-5*
The Third Bank of the River - short story by João Guimarães Rosa (1962) 4-5*
The Travelling Companion - short story by Hans Christian Andersen (1835) 4-5*
The Visit to the Museum - short story by Vladimir Nabokov (1958) 4-5*
4*:
August 25, 1983 - short story by Jorge Luis Borges (1983) 4*
The Argentine Ant - novelette by Italo Calvino (1952) 4*
The Door in the Wall - short story by H. G. Wells (1906) 4*
Father's Last Escape - short story by Bruno Schulz (1937) 4*
The Friends of the Friends - novelette by Henry James (1896) 4*
From the "American Notebooks" - short fiction by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1983) 4*
The Grey Ones - short story by J. B. Priestley (1953) 4*
Home - short story by Hilaire Belloc (1910) 4*
House Taken Over - short story by Julio Cortázar (1946) 4*
How Love Came to Professor Guildea - novella by Robert S. Hichens (1897) 4*
A Little Place Off the Edgware Road - short story by Graham Greene (1939) 4*
The Mysteries of the Joy Rio - short story by Tennessee Williams (1954) 4*
The Pagan Rabbi - novelette by Cynthia Ozick (1966) 4*
The Sight - short story by Brian Moore (1977) 4*
The State of Grace - short story by Marcel Aymé (1944) 4*
The Storm - short story by Jules Verne (1886) 4*
The Tall Woman - novelette by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón (1882) 4*
Venetian Masks - short story by Adolfo Bioy Casares (1982) 4*
A Visitor from Down Under - short story by L. P. Hartley (1926) 4*
The Wish House - short story by Rudyard Kipling (1924) 4*
3-4*
The Bureau d'Echange de Maux - short story by Lord Dunsany (1915) 3-4*
Certain Distant Suns - short story by Joanne Greenberg (1983) 3-4*
The Curfew Tolls - short story by Stephen Vincent Benét (1935) 3-4*
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar - short story by Edgar Allan Poe (1845) 3-4*
Et in Sempiternum Pereant - short story by Charles Williams (1935) 3-4*
John Duffy's Brother - short story by Flann O'Brien (1940) 3-4*
The Large Ant - short story by Howard Fast (1960) 3-4*
The Lemmings - short story by Alex Comfort (1946) 3-4*
A Scent of Mimosa - short story by Francis King (1975) 3-4*
Seaton's Aunt - novelette by Walter de la Mare (1922) 3-4*
The Signalman - short story by Charles Dickens (1866) 3-4*
The Story of a Panic - novelette by E. M. Forster (1904) 3-4*
I grouped stories by star (*) rating in alphabetical order.
5*:
"Autumn Mountain" - short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1921) 5*
The Bottle Imp - novelette by Robert Louis Stevenson (1891) 5*
Clorinda - short story by André Pieyre de Mandiargues (1960) 5*
Death and the Gardener - short fiction by Jean Cocteau (1923) 5*
"A Dog in Dürer's Etching "The Knight, Death and the Devil" - short story by Marco Denevi (1983) 5*
A Dream short story by Edward William Lane [as by Anonymous; from The Arabian Nights Entertainments] (1983) 5*
The Dream - short story by O. Henry (1910) 5*
Enoch Soames - novelette by Max Beerbohm (1916) 5*
The Fisherman and His Soul - novelette by Oscar Wilde (1891) 5*
The Friends - short story by Silvina Ocampo (1959) 5*
From "Peter and Rosa" - short fiction by Karen Blixen (as by Isak Dinesen) (1983) 5*
How Wang-Fo Was Saved - short story by Marguerite Yourcenar (1936) 5*
Insomnia - short story by Virgilio Piñera (1946) 5*
In the Penal Colony - novelette by Franz Kafka (1919) 5*
Lady Into Fox - novella by David Garnett (1922) 5*
Lord Mountdrago - novelette by W. Somerset Maugham (1939) 5*
The Monkey's Paw - short story by W. W. Jacobs (1902) 5*
Pomegranate Seed - novelette by Edith Wharton (1931) 5*
The Queen of Spades short story by Alexander Sergeievitch Pushkin (1834) 5*
The Rocking-Horse Winner short story by D. H. Lawrence (1926) 5*
The Sick Gentleman's Last Visit - short story by Giovanni Papini (1906) 5*
Split Second - novelette by Daphne du Maurier (1952) 5*
The Wizard Postponed - short story by Jorge Luis Borges (1933) [as by Don Juan Manuel] 5*
4-5*:
The Captives of Longjumeau - short story by Léon Bloy (1893) 4-5*
Climax for a Ghost Story - short story by I. A. Ireland (1919) 4-5*
The Feather Pillow - short story by Horacio Quiroga (1907) 4-5*
From "A School Story" - short fiction by M. R. James (1911) - read full version on: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_School_Story 4-5*
Importance - short story by Manuel Mujica Láinez (1978) 4-5*
An Injustice Revealed - short story by Anonymous (?) 4-5*
An Invitation to the Hunt - short story by George Hitchcock (1960) 4-5*
The Lady on the Grey - short story by John Collier (1951) 4-5*
Laura - short story by Saki (1914) 4-5*
Of a Promise Kept - short story by Lafcadio Hearn (1901) 4-5*
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas - short story by Ursula K. Le Guin (1973) 4-5*
The Playground - short story by Ray Bradbury (1952) 4-5*
Tattoo - short story by as by Junichiro Tanizaki (1910) 4-5*
The Third Bank of the River - short story by João Guimarães Rosa (1962) 4-5*
The Travelling Companion - short story by Hans Christian Andersen (1835) 4-5*
The Visit to the Museum - short story by Vladimir Nabokov (1958) 4-5*
4*:
August 25, 1983 - short story by Jorge Luis Borges (1983) 4*
The Argentine Ant - novelette by Italo Calvino (1952) 4*
The Door in the Wall - short story by H. G. Wells (1906) 4*
Father's Last Escape - short story by Bruno Schulz (1937) 4*
The Friends of the Friends - novelette by Henry James (1896) 4*
From the "American Notebooks" - short fiction by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1983) 4*
The Grey Ones - short story by J. B. Priestley (1953) 4*
Home - short story by Hilaire Belloc (1910) 4*
House Taken Over - short story by Julio Cortázar (1946) 4*
How Love Came to Professor Guildea - novella by Robert S. Hichens (1897) 4*
A Little Place Off the Edgware Road - short story by Graham Greene (1939) 4*
The Mysteries of the Joy Rio - short story by Tennessee Williams (1954) 4*
The Pagan Rabbi - novelette by Cynthia Ozick (1966) 4*
The Sight - short story by Brian Moore (1977) 4*
The State of Grace - short story by Marcel Aymé (1944) 4*
The Storm - short story by Jules Verne (1886) 4*
The Tall Woman - novelette by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón (1882) 4*
Venetian Masks - short story by Adolfo Bioy Casares (1982) 4*
A Visitor from Down Under - short story by L. P. Hartley (1926) 4*
The Wish House - short story by Rudyard Kipling (1924) 4*
3-4*
The Bureau d'Echange de Maux - short story by Lord Dunsany (1915) 3-4*
Certain Distant Suns - short story by Joanne Greenberg (1983) 3-4*
The Curfew Tolls - short story by Stephen Vincent Benét (1935) 3-4*
The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar - short story by Edgar Allan Poe (1845) 3-4*
Et in Sempiternum Pereant - short story by Charles Williams (1935) 3-4*
John Duffy's Brother - short story by Flann O'Brien (1940) 3-4*
The Large Ant - short story by Howard Fast (1960) 3-4*
The Lemmings - short story by Alex Comfort (1946) 3-4*
A Scent of Mimosa - short story by Francis King (1975) 3-4*
Seaton's Aunt - novelette by Walter de la Mare (1922) 3-4*
The Signalman - short story by Charles Dickens (1866) 3-4*
The Story of a Panic - novelette by E. M. Forster (1904) 3-4*
uncleflannery's review
5.0
So far, SO incredible! Alberto Manguel wrote one of my favorite reference books, "A Dictionary of Imaginary Places," and this is as imaginative, as literate, as carefully considered a collection as any I have ever, ever read, each piece lovingly introduced by the editor with all the necessary biography to put each piece in context and also bridge time & place seamlessly... from Jean Cocteau to Jules Verne to Borges and O. Henry with not a page out of place... highly recommended, one of the best anthologies I've ever encountered.
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