Scan barcode
A review by lakserk
The Wine-Dark Sea by Robert Aickman
4.0
Another Faber Aickman collection, this one is comprised of stories covering a great length of his career (1 from We Are for the Dark, 2 from Powers of Darkness, 3 from Sub Rosa, 1 from Tales of Love and Death, and 1 from Intrusions: Strange Tales). As with the Unsettled Dust, the quality fluctuates; occasionally I found myself frustrated since some parts are lengthy (though by no means loquacious – almost each Aickman sentence is a delight on its own, but there are segments that do not enhance the whole). On to the stories:
The Wine-Dark Sea: An Engishman finds himself in a small Greek island, hosted by three strange women. Excellent start, marvelous mythological atmosphere, and the weird in just the right proportions. 5/5
The Trains: Two women hiking the english countryside find themselves in an isolated country house, near train tracks. The first part (up to the arrival to the house) could have been shorter but then the story picks up and becomes spectrally dark. 4/5
Your Tiny Hand is Frozen: A man finds himself craving for a mysterious woman’s phone calls. Amazing story, really eerie and full of technological anxiety, it could well be the book’s highlight. 5/5
Growing Boys: A woman is getting more and more distanced from her twin sons who have an unusual constitution. The core plot point is one of the weirdest I’ve read; it’s also written very efficiently and despite its length the story flows quite nicely. 4/5
The Fetch: A spectral woman haunting a family. This could well have been a great story but ended up being extremely self-distracted. Most of its content could have been omitted since they have only a very passing relation to the story itself. 2/5
Inner Room: A girl gets a strange dollhouse. A masterpiece, an excellent tale, almost fairy-tale-esque and really disturbing, it antagonizes with Your Tiny Hand is Frozen for the top place. 5/5
Never Visit Venice: A man dreams for years of going to Venice and finally decides to visit. A story of highs and lows, I think it would have been much better with a bit of trimming on its first part. Still very nice and a very macabre, almost apocalyptic ending. 3.5/5
Into the Wood: A woman visits a forest resort inhabited by people with insomnia. Once more, a great idea with a less than stellar execution. This is perhaps the one Aickman story that I’d really really love to have been a bit less subtle – I’d like to learn more about what happens in the woods (and less about how the woman feels). 3/5
The Wine-Dark Sea: An Engishman finds himself in a small Greek island, hosted by three strange women. Excellent start, marvelous mythological atmosphere, and the weird in just the right proportions. 5/5
The Trains: Two women hiking the english countryside find themselves in an isolated country house, near train tracks. The first part (up to the arrival to the house) could have been shorter but then the story picks up and becomes spectrally dark. 4/5
Your Tiny Hand is Frozen: A man finds himself craving for a mysterious woman’s phone calls. Amazing story, really eerie and full of technological anxiety, it could well be the book’s highlight. 5/5
Growing Boys: A woman is getting more and more distanced from her twin sons who have an unusual constitution. The core plot point is one of the weirdest I’ve read; it’s also written very efficiently and despite its length the story flows quite nicely. 4/5
The Fetch: A spectral woman haunting a family. This could well have been a great story but ended up being extremely self-distracted. Most of its content could have been omitted since they have only a very passing relation to the story itself. 2/5
Inner Room: A girl gets a strange dollhouse. A masterpiece, an excellent tale, almost fairy-tale-esque and really disturbing, it antagonizes with Your Tiny Hand is Frozen for the top place. 5/5
Never Visit Venice: A man dreams for years of going to Venice and finally decides to visit. A story of highs and lows, I think it would have been much better with a bit of trimming on its first part. Still very nice and a very macabre, almost apocalyptic ending. 3.5/5
Into the Wood: A woman visits a forest resort inhabited by people with insomnia. Once more, a great idea with a less than stellar execution. This is perhaps the one Aickman story that I’d really really love to have been a bit less subtle – I’d like to learn more about what happens in the woods (and less about how the woman feels). 3/5