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- Tales of Love and
Death
- by Robert
Aickman
- Introduction by Michael
Dirda
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- Robert Aickman (1914-1981) is considered by many to
be one of the finest exponents of the modern ghost story. Aickman
himself referred to his tales as ‘strange stories’, for they are often
open to more complex interpretations. His writing is subtle and poetic,
presenting us with psychological and more material terrors.Tales of Love and Death (first published in
1977) is a collection of seven mature tales by this craftsman of the
uncanny.
"Along with Walter de la
Mare, Elizabeth Bowen and a few others, Robert Aickman belongs to the
Chekhov school of the weird tale. Such writers recognise that stories
don’t require pat endings. They don’t need to close with the snap of an O.
Henry trapdoor, or the ironic twist of a Maupassant. A short story can
actually convey a more haunting depiction of the human predicament by
avoiding any kind of artificial conclusiveness. Life is messy, not neat;
most problems are never clearly resolved, but only lived with; people act
unreasonably for no apparent reason." Michael Dirda, from the Introduction
to Tales of Love and Death.
Contents: ‘Growing Boys’, ‘Marriage’, ‘Le
Miroir’, ‘Compulsory Games’, ‘Raising the Wind’, ‘Residents Only’ and
‘Wood’.
- Tales of Love and
Death is a sewn hardback of 243+ xiii pages,
printed lithographically, with silk ribbon marker, head and tailbands,
and d/w.
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- Publication 28th May 2012
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- Cover artwork by Stephen J Clark of The Singing Garden.
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- ISBN 978-1-905784-45-5
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- Limited to 350 copies.
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- £32.50/ $50 inc. p&p.
Review:
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"Dreadful
possibilities beautifully written, this Tartarus Press reprint is as
attractively constructed as its horrors are elegantly
told." - William Simmons,
Hellnotes
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Available by Robert
Aickman:
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Page updated 22nd May
2013
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