bhaines's review against another edition
Good classic stuff. Lots of invented cities, often in collapse. Kind of an Invisible Cities vibe, "Idle Days on the Yann" especially felt like it had to be an inspiration. Always a traveler speaking with longing about a thing he will never see, or never see again. A city who taxes those passing through by making them tell an idle tale, which are collected and given to the sad king.
A guard who
Also got black riders vibes at some points with the almost goofy earnestness and angst of people in despair. And the stupid pun in "The Field."
"In Zaccarath" as good an Ozymandias take as any. Even with his sidebar about the scent of blethany.
"The Field" and "The Day of the Poll" were my least favorite.
Closes with "The Unhappy Body" which puts everything else in a more serious context and justifies the earnestness. Shares some of the depressive creative atmosphere of "The City of Dreadful Night". Lord Dunsany says
but Yeats* says that as a swan isn't a burden to the lake, neither is a man burdened by the soul that is in him.
*idk I can't remember
A guard who
turned from me and would say no more, but busied himself in behaving in accordance with ancient custom
Also got black riders vibes at some points with the almost goofy earnestness and angst of people in despair. And the stupid pun in "The Field."
...once I met with a traveler who said that somewhere in the midst of a great desert are gathered together the souls of all dead cities. He said that he was lost once in a place where there was no water, and he heard their voices speaking all the night."
But I said: "I was once without water in a desert and heard a city speaking to me, but knew not whether it really spoke to me or not, for on that day I heard so many terrible things, and only some of them were true."
And the man with the black hair said: "I believe it to be true"
"In Zaccarath" as good an Ozymandias take as any. Even with his sidebar about the scent of blethany.
"The Field" and "The Day of the Poll" were my least favorite.
Closes with "The Unhappy Body" which puts everything else in a more serious context and justifies the earnestness. Shares some of the depressive creative atmosphere of "The City of Dreadful Night". Lord Dunsany says
No sensible body cares for its soul. A soul is a little thing, and should not rule a body. You should drink and smoke more till he ceases to trouble you
but Yeats* says that as a swan isn't a burden to the lake, neither is a man burdened by the soul that is in him.
*idk I can't remember
easolinas's review against another edition
5.0
"These are the Inner Lands..." Technically that describes the fictional cities in the first story of "A Dreamer's Tales," but it could easily have described Lord Dunsany's fantastical mind. Full of invented legends and exotic characters, Dunsany's short stories are a wonderful early fantasy read.
He writes about desert cities, where the sea is only a legend; of a rocking horse that revels in a little boy's fantasies; of cities that are "quite dead; of dreams and redemption, long-dead cities that were supposedly going to last forever, prophets and swords, desert curses and terrible, beautiful gods.
There are boats on the banks of the Yann river, the "everlasting" city of Zaccarath, a stone age tale of religion and sacrifice, and the hashish man. Most striking is "The Field," in which Dunsany experiences strange feelings while sitting in a field of flowers -- a field with a terrible secret.
Dunsany had a masterful flair for exotic-edged fantasy. Before anyone had ever heard of J.R.R. Tolkien or "The Hobbit," Dunsany was spinning his stories. And while Tolkien has been the most powerful influence on modern fantasy, Dunsany did his share too -- he can be seen in descriptions of beautiful temples and desert cities.
His writing style is typical of the late 19th/early 20th century, rather formal and ornate. But the imagination of the stories frees them up. "I dreamt that I had done a horrible thing, so that burial was to be denied me either in soil or sea, neither could there be any hell for me," Dunsany says ominously at the start of one story. And half the horror of that is wondering what the horrible thing is.
Dunsany is shown in his glory in "The Dreamer's Tales," a rich collection of beautiful fantasy stories. Funny, poignant, majestic, this is a keeper.
He writes about desert cities, where the sea is only a legend; of a rocking horse that revels in a little boy's fantasies; of cities that are "quite dead; of dreams and redemption, long-dead cities that were supposedly going to last forever, prophets and swords, desert curses and terrible, beautiful gods.
There are boats on the banks of the Yann river, the "everlasting" city of Zaccarath, a stone age tale of religion and sacrifice, and the hashish man. Most striking is "The Field," in which Dunsany experiences strange feelings while sitting in a field of flowers -- a field with a terrible secret.
Dunsany had a masterful flair for exotic-edged fantasy. Before anyone had ever heard of J.R.R. Tolkien or "The Hobbit," Dunsany was spinning his stories. And while Tolkien has been the most powerful influence on modern fantasy, Dunsany did his share too -- he can be seen in descriptions of beautiful temples and desert cities.
His writing style is typical of the late 19th/early 20th century, rather formal and ornate. But the imagination of the stories frees them up. "I dreamt that I had done a horrible thing, so that burial was to be denied me either in soil or sea, neither could there be any hell for me," Dunsany says ominously at the start of one story. And half the horror of that is wondering what the horrible thing is.
Dunsany is shown in his glory in "The Dreamer's Tales," a rich collection of beautiful fantasy stories. Funny, poignant, majestic, this is a keeper.
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