Resumen
Resumen de Una advertencia para los curiosos y otros cuentos de fantasmas
Para quién es
Readers who love firelit storytelling, old churches, antiquarian puzzles and the shiver of a calm voice describing something wrong. Fans of English folklore and country walks will feel at home here.
De qué trata este libro
A calm voice, a quiet English setting, and then something is wrong. M. R. James, the Cambridge scholar who made the ghost story a well-mannered art, published this volume of six tales in 1925. Antiquarians, clergymen, dealers and old women with long memories fill these pages, and the horrors rise from the objects and places they handle. Begin with a doll's house and the dealer who is glad to see it go.
En este resumen
- 1A bargain doll's house shows a crimeFree
- 2Prayer books that open by themselves
- 3A pamphlet hints at something in a wood
- 4Heavy binoculars that see too much
- 5A buried crown and a guardian that follows
- 6A grandmother's tale before bedtime
Idea clave 1 de 6
A bargain doll's house shows a crime
The first tale opens in an antique shop. Mr Dillet haggles with the dealer Mr Chittenden over a Gothic doll's house and settles near sixty guineas. The dealer's wife thanks God when it leaves. That detail is the first hint that something is wrong.
Dillet sets out the tiny gentleman, the lady, the children, the servants and a white-haired old man in the four-poster. That night a bell strikes one, though no striking clock is within earshot. The house glows and grows into a real mansion seen from afar. Dillet watches two lit windows and a coach arriving with torches.
Then he follows parish records to an older house. A box of toys, a missing history and a bell are enough to unsettle a reader.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about Una advertencia para los curiosos y otros cuentos de fantasmas
What is A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories about?
It collects six supernatural tales by M. R. James, among them a haunted doll's house, self-opening prayer books, a screaming wood, strange binoculars, a buried crown and a grandmother's story. Each one follows an antiquarian detail into the uncanny.
Which stories are in this collection?
The six are The Haunted Doll's House, The Uncommon Prayer Book, A Neighbor's Landmark, A View from a Hill, A Warning to the Curious and An Evening's Entertainment. The volume appeared in 1925 as a further collection of the author's work.
Is A Warning to the Curious based on a true story?
No, it is fiction, but it draws on real English folklore. The legend of three holy crowns guarding the coast, and the lost crown found at Rendlesham in 1687, are used as a background for the invented tale.
What is the setting of the title story?
The title story takes place in Seaburgh, a small town on the east coast of England with a flint church, windmills and a Martello tower. It is drawn from the author's memories of the Suffolk coast and the narrator's fond description.
Is this a good book for someone new to M. R. James?
It is a fine starting place. The tales are short, the voices are lively, and each is built around a clear puzzle, such as an odd object or a local rumour, so a reader is drawn along naturally.