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Boo?
Last time, I wrote about the ambiguity of certain elements in Daphne Du Maurier’s Don’t Look Now , and I’d like to continue—especially since we’re dealing with scary scenes, and it’s a week closer to Halloween! I gave away the ending last time, so there’s no use pretending I didn’t. John, the narrator, pursues a figure he thinks is a child in peril who turns out to be an adult murderer (a dwarf) who kills John. The last thing he remembers is the vision he had of his wife Laur

Alan Bray
Oct 314 min read


Halloween
Last time, we talked about several different ways to look at the supernatural features of Daphne Du Maurier’s short story, Don’t Look Now . In part to recover from the death of their young daughter, a British couple are vacationing in Venice where they encounter a mysterious pair of sisters who tell them their daughter is present and concerned that something bad will happen to them. Their son, at a boarding school in England, falls ill, and the boy’s mother, Laura, returns to

Alan Bray
Oct 243 min read


Don't Look Now
Daphne Du Maurier’s Don’t Look Now  is a long short story (some 60 pages), originally published in 1970, thirty-two years after the publication of our previous selection, Rebecca, which speaks to Ms. Du Maurier’s long career. It was first published in Great Britain under a different title, Not After Midnight . The edition I’m reading is a short story collection of Ms. Du Maurier’s work entitled Don’t Look Now , published by The New York Review of Books. A famous film version

Alan Bray
Oct 175 min read


The Epilogue
Last time, I threatened to write again about Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca , focusing on the Epilogue. An epilogue is defined as “ a...

Alan Bray
Oct 103 min read


In Search Of Lost Time?
A major feature of Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca  is the way that time is presented. What stands out is the sense of present events always...

Alan Bray
Oct 34 min read


Transforming
One of the key features of fiction is the transformation of the protagonist. By this, I am not referring to a certain genre of fiction...

Alan Bray
Sep 264 min read


Damn the Rain
It has been said by the wise that music resides between the notes. In fact, I actually quote this on the main page of this site. Today,...

Alan Bray
Sep 185 min read


Rebecca
Last time, I announced I’d be talking about Daphne Du Maurier’s 1938 novel Rebecca , and many people stopped me on the street to say “...

Alan Bray
Sep 124 min read