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The Breaking Point: Stories
In this collection of suspenseful tales in which fantasies, murderous dreams and half-forgotten worlds are exposed, Daphne du Maurier explores the boundaries of reality and imagination. Her characters are caught at those moments when the delicate link between reason and emotion has been stretched to the breaking point. Often chilling, sometimes poignant, these stories display the full range of Daphne du Maurier's considerable talent.
255 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1959
180 people are currently reading
2836 people want to read
About the author
Daphne du Maurier
472 books9,858 followersDaphne du Maurier was born on 13 May 1907 at 24 Cumberland Terrace, Regent's Park, London, the middle of three daughters of prominent actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and actress Muriel, née Beaumont. In many ways her life resembles a fairy tale. Born into a family with a rich artistic and historical background, her paternal grandfather was author and Punch cartoonist George du Maurier, who created the character of Svengali in the 1894 novel Trilby, and her mother was a maternal niece of journalist, author, and lecturer Comyns Beaumont. She and her sisters were indulged as a children and grew up enjoying enormous freedom from financial and parental restraint. Her elder sister, Angela du Maurier, also became a writer, and her younger sister Jeanne was a painter.
She spent her youth sailing boats, travelling on the Continent with friends, and writing stories. Her family connections helped her establish her literary career, and she published some of her early work in Beaumont's Bystander magazine. A prestigious publishing house accepted her first novel when she was in her early twenties, and its publication brought her not only fame but the attentions of a handsome soldier, Major (later Lieutenant-General Sir) Frederick Browning, whom she married.
She continued writing under her maiden name, and her subsequent novels became bestsellers, earning her enormous wealth and fame. Many have been successfully adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca, Frenchman's Creek, My Cousin Rachel, and Jamaica Inn, and the short stories The Birds and Don't Look Now/Not After Midnight. While Alfred Hitchcock's films based upon her novels proceeded to make her one of the best-known authors in the world, she enjoyed the life of a fairy princess in a mansion in Cornwall called Menabilly, which served as the model for Manderley in Rebecca.
Daphne du Maurier was obsessed with the past. She intensively researched the lives of Francis and Anthony Bacon, the history of Cornwall, the Regency period, and nineteenth-century France and England. Above all, however, she was obsessed with her own family history, which she chronicled in Gerald: A Portrait, a biography of her father; The du Mauriers, a study of her family which focused on her grandfather, George du Maurier, the novelist and illustrator for Punch; The Glassblowers, a novel based upon the lives of her du Maurier ancestors; and Growing Pains, an autobiography that ignores nearly 50 years of her life in favour of the joyful and more romantic period of her youth. Daphne du Maurier can best be understood in terms of her remarkable and paradoxical family, the ghosts which haunted her life and fiction.
While contemporary writers were dealing critically with such subjects as the war, alienation, religion, poverty, Marxism, psychology and art, and experimenting with new techniques such as the stream of consciousness, du Maurier produced 'old-fashioned' novels with straightforward narratives that appealed to a popular audience's love of fantasy, adventure, sexuality and mystery. At an early age, she recognised that her readership was comprised principally of women, and she cultivated their loyal following through several decades by embodying their desires and dreams in her novels and short stories.
In some of her novels, however, she went beyond the technique of the formulaic romance to achieve a powerful psychological realism reflecting her intense feelings about her father, and to a lesser degree, her mother. This vision, which underlies Julius, Rebecca and The Parasites, is that of an author overwhelmed by the memory of her father's commanding presence. In Julius and The Parasites, for example, she introduces the image of a domineering but deadly father and the daring subject of incest.
In Rebecca, on the other hand, du Maurier fuses psychological realism with a sophisticated version of the Cinderella story.
She spent her youth sailing boats, travelling on the Continent with friends, and writing stories. Her family connections helped her establish her literary career, and she published some of her early work in Beaumont's Bystander magazine. A prestigious publishing house accepted her first novel when she was in her early twenties, and its publication brought her not only fame but the attentions of a handsome soldier, Major (later Lieutenant-General Sir) Frederick Browning, whom she married.
She continued writing under her maiden name, and her subsequent novels became bestsellers, earning her enormous wealth and fame. Many have been successfully adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca, Frenchman's Creek, My Cousin Rachel, and Jamaica Inn, and the short stories The Birds and Don't Look Now/Not After Midnight. While Alfred Hitchcock's films based upon her novels proceeded to make her one of the best-known authors in the world, she enjoyed the life of a fairy princess in a mansion in Cornwall called Menabilly, which served as the model for Manderley in Rebecca.
Daphne du Maurier was obsessed with the past. She intensively researched the lives of Francis and Anthony Bacon, the history of Cornwall, the Regency period, and nineteenth-century France and England. Above all, however, she was obsessed with her own family history, which she chronicled in Gerald: A Portrait, a biography of her father; The du Mauriers, a study of her family which focused on her grandfather, George du Maurier, the novelist and illustrator for Punch; The Glassblowers, a novel based upon the lives of her du Maurier ancestors; and Growing Pains, an autobiography that ignores nearly 50 years of her life in favour of the joyful and more romantic period of her youth. Daphne du Maurier can best be understood in terms of her remarkable and paradoxical family, the ghosts which haunted her life and fiction.
While contemporary writers were dealing critically with such subjects as the war, alienation, religion, poverty, Marxism, psychology and art, and experimenting with new techniques such as the stream of consciousness, du Maurier produced 'old-fashioned' novels with straightforward narratives that appealed to a popular audience's love of fantasy, adventure, sexuality and mystery. At an early age, she recognised that her readership was comprised principally of women, and she cultivated their loyal following through several decades by embodying their desires and dreams in her novels and short stories.
In some of her novels, however, she went beyond the technique of the formulaic romance to achieve a powerful psychological realism reflecting her intense feelings about her father, and to a lesser degree, her mother. This vision, which underlies Julius, Rebecca and The Parasites, is that of an author overwhelmed by the memory of her father's commanding presence. In Julius and The Parasites, for example, she introduces the image of a domineering but deadly father and the daring subject of incest.
In Rebecca, on the other hand, du Maurier fuses psychological realism with a sophisticated version of the Cinderella story.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 212 reviews
October 16, 2023
The story opens with a married woman recovering in the hospital after eye surgery. Marda West is patiently waiting for her vision to be restored. At first, she cannot see anything. She spends much time conjuring up images of the doctor and nurses. She imagines what they could look like based on their voices and her own intuition. One nurse that cares for her has a particularly sweet voice, and Marda thinks of this woman as a kind and caring person.
That day comes when the bandages are to be removed and the temporary blue lenses fitted. This means that she can see again but through a blue hue due to the blue lenses. The doctor explains that this effect is only temporary. Everything will come to normal when the blue lenses are replaced with the regular ones.
The problem, however, is that the woman with the blue lenses in her eyes starts seeing things the way she could never have imagined. Not only does the hospital staff look not as she expected but even her husband has changed his appearance. They are all transformed into strange creatures that combine human and animal traits.
With horror, she realizes that even people in the streets, complete strangers, have been transformed. Are they more like humans or are they more like animals? Who can tell?
I know, this description sounds vague but I am trying to avoid spoilers.
All the assumptions Marda has been making are torn to pieces. The reality the young woman has to face is weird, grotesque, and mostly hostile. She becomes afraid of the people who surround her. Marda attempts to grasp what is happening but she fails. She is scared and disoriented. She needs someone to prove to her that she is in her right mind. But our heroine comes to understand that she has no one to turn to for help. Even her husband cannot be trusted. It is sometimes from the familiar that we experience our biggest fear.
The story subtly ridicules the pseudo-scientific concept of physiognomy which was taken seriously during the Victorian era.
According to one definition, physiognomy believes that studying a person’s facial features or expressions is indicative of their personality or behaviour.
In reality, Marda should learn that someone with a pretty face may turn out to be a slithering snake at heart.
Daphne du Maurier is known for her talent to blend the real and the imaginary by creating suspenseful stories where ordinary events are combined with unexpected twists and a pinch of magic.
The Blue Lenses is one of those novellas with a twist ending and slightly sprinkled with psychological issues. I found it a good read for a cozy autumn evening.
That day comes when the bandages are to be removed and the temporary blue lenses fitted. This means that she can see again but through a blue hue due to the blue lenses. The doctor explains that this effect is only temporary. Everything will come to normal when the blue lenses are replaced with the regular ones.
The problem, however, is that the woman with the blue lenses in her eyes starts seeing things the way she could never have imagined. Not only does the hospital staff look not as she expected but even her husband has changed his appearance. They are all transformed into strange creatures that combine human and animal traits.
With horror, she realizes that even people in the streets, complete strangers, have been transformed. Are they more like humans or are they more like animals? Who can tell?
I know, this description sounds vague but I am trying to avoid spoilers.
All the assumptions Marda has been making are torn to pieces. The reality the young woman has to face is weird, grotesque, and mostly hostile. She becomes afraid of the people who surround her. Marda attempts to grasp what is happening but she fails. She is scared and disoriented. She needs someone to prove to her that she is in her right mind. But our heroine comes to understand that she has no one to turn to for help. Even her husband cannot be trusted. It is sometimes from the familiar that we experience our biggest fear.
The story subtly ridicules the pseudo-scientific concept of physiognomy which was taken seriously during the Victorian era.
According to one definition, physiognomy believes that studying a person’s facial features or expressions is indicative of their personality or behaviour.
In reality, Marda should learn that someone with a pretty face may turn out to be a slithering snake at heart.
Daphne du Maurier is known for her talent to blend the real and the imaginary by creating suspenseful stories where ordinary events are combined with unexpected twists and a pinch of magic.
The Blue Lenses is one of those novellas with a twist ending and slightly sprinkled with psychological issues. I found it a good read for a cozy autumn evening.
July 25, 2025
3,5/5
September 24, 2024
This is a 1950s collection of Daphne du Maurier’s short stories, but not her famous The Birds or Don’t Look Now. I enjoyed the first two stories, The Alibi and The Blue Lenses. The rest I found pretty run of the mill. Most show her gothic touches or at least a touch of macabre. Her novels suit me better. The stories here remind me quite a bit of the 1960s American TV show Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone.
June 15, 2022
Having read only novels by Daphne du Maurier so far, I was keen to explore some of her short stories, and Daphne du Maurier Reading Week hosted by Ali at Heavenali seemed the perfect time to do it, so for the second of my two reads for this week (the first was a reread of My Cousin Rachel), I picked The Breaking Point, a collection first published in 1959. This is a collection of eight stories, most with darker themes (with the exception of one I think), and most also with a bit of a twist. We meet a range of characters, from a child to a hunter to royalty, and also do some travelling, from Venice to Greece to even a Ruritanian kingdom.
The first story, The Alibi is about James Fenton, an ordinary salaried man, out on a Sunday afternoon walk with his wife when something in him snaps. Suddenly disgusted with the world around him, he comes up with a sinister plan—to randomly murder someone. He picks a shabby home in a shabby neighbourhood, where the caretaker is a young woman with a child, and leases a room there in the guise of an artist seeking a quiet space to work. When he arrives there with his art supplies, he begins to find that he is actually enjoying the process of painting. In this story, like in My Cousin Rachel, which I just revisited, I felt du Maurier like a puppet master played with us as well, getting us to see certain things, and then throwing in a twist, and then a further one which we don’t see coming at all. This was a really enjoyable one for me.
The Blue Lenses is probably my favourite, and also the most unnerving in the book, where it isn’t perhaps only the main character who is wondering what game is being played with her, but us as well. We have Marda West in hospital for an eye surgery which is supposed to return her vision to her; there is to be a fitting of temporary blue lenses followed by permanent ones. She is full of hope and excited to see her husband again but also all the nurses and doctors who have been attending her. But when she opens her eyes after her surgery she is greeted not by the sight of people but of various animals—each person she sets her eyes on is one, a cow, a dog, a snake, and an ape. No matter where she looks. Is this just her mind playing games with her or is there a deeper conspiracy involved? Another one with a twist (perhaps not as much of a surprise as in the first story, but one nonetheless), and one which would make a fairly fun Halloween read.
Next was Ganymede, where our narrator who usually spends his vacation with his sister and her family, finds himself heading to Venice for his sister cannot have him down this year. There, after dinner one evening, he sees and is immediately smitten by a young waiter, whom he begins to refer to as Ganymede. He begins to return every evening, and tries to help when he learns the young man wants to work in England. But soon he becomes embroiled with the young man’s not so savoury uncle as well. In this one, we are pretty much told right at the start (and would have probably guessed even if we weren’t) that this will only lead to doom, but what we don’t see coming is the little twist du Maurier throws in at the end. While I enjoyed the surprise at the end, I was a little uncomfortable with this one because of the age of the young man.
The next story, The Pool is that of a thirteen-year old girl, Deborah who is spending her summer with her younger brother Roger at their grandparents. She likes spending time in the garden but more so near a pool in the woods (‘The woods were made for secrecy.’) to which she has been making offerings—like her prized ‘lucky’ pencil. Trying to give her brother other games to play, she gets away and is drawn more and more by the pool’s magic, and the dark images it seems to throw up. While the themes here of a secret space, and loss are dark, I didn’t somehow enjoy this one as much as the previous ones because from those, I was expecting a story on very different lines than this one turned out. Perhaps if I read it separately, it would fare far better.
The Archduchess, the next story was also very different from the initial stories. Set in a Ruritanian kingdom, Ronda, where is found (or was found) a spring with water that would give one eternal youth. This is a magical kingdom where people are content and happy, traditions are followed and life goes on. But then a couple of people, one discontented and another greedy begin to stir up trouble, and the idyll is lost forever. While this may have been set in a fictional space, its exploration of the seeds of discontent media could (and does) stir up was very well done. No twists or surprises here, but still a very good story.
The lightest story in the book was The Menace, the story of Barry Jean, an English-born Hollywood star, popular, well loved, who has lived life just as dictated by his wife May and his staff, is suddenly found wanting when the ‘feelies’ require him to show certain emotion on a gadget which he fails to do. His wife and friends try to right things but the solution it seems lies somewhere else altogether. This one was very different from anything I’ve read and really also from all the other stories in the book, and it certainly brought a smile to my face.
In The Chamois, we meet Stephen who is obsessed with hunting a chamois to such an extent that he cancels his holiday plans and rushes off with his wife to the Pindus in Greece where chamois have been sighted. Narrated by his wife, who is unhappy in their relationship but accompanies him all the same, we travel with them to Greece where they have a rat-faced cook and creepy goatherd for company. Then guided by the goatherd who makes our narrator uncomfortable, they set off. This story was a touch confusing for me, for while I followed the bits about the changes this trip brings to their understanding of each other and their relationship, I was a little unsure about the actual hunt, and its outcome. Also being a story about hunting I wasn’t able to enjoy it as I would other themes.
The book closes with another differently dark story, The Lordly Ones where a mute boy Ben is misunderstood by his parents, who seem to have little idea how to bring him up or look after him and subject him to verbal and physical abuse. When the family moves from Exeter to the moors, he little understands where and why they are going. Once there, another bit of misunderstanding of what (or who) the moors are leads him to come across another family which he finds very different from his own. While Ben finds some comfort in them, it is sadly not one that can last.
Exploring a range of themes, from murder and conspiracy to politics, from love and breakups to loss and absence of love, this turned out to be a (mostly) enjoyable collection of stories, some playing with one’s mind, and others with one’s emotions.
The first story, The Alibi is about James Fenton, an ordinary salaried man, out on a Sunday afternoon walk with his wife when something in him snaps. Suddenly disgusted with the world around him, he comes up with a sinister plan—to randomly murder someone. He picks a shabby home in a shabby neighbourhood, where the caretaker is a young woman with a child, and leases a room there in the guise of an artist seeking a quiet space to work. When he arrives there with his art supplies, he begins to find that he is actually enjoying the process of painting. In this story, like in My Cousin Rachel, which I just revisited, I felt du Maurier like a puppet master played with us as well, getting us to see certain things, and then throwing in a twist, and then a further one which we don’t see coming at all. This was a really enjoyable one for me.
The Blue Lenses is probably my favourite, and also the most unnerving in the book, where it isn’t perhaps only the main character who is wondering what game is being played with her, but us as well. We have Marda West in hospital for an eye surgery which is supposed to return her vision to her; there is to be a fitting of temporary blue lenses followed by permanent ones. She is full of hope and excited to see her husband again but also all the nurses and doctors who have been attending her. But when she opens her eyes after her surgery she is greeted not by the sight of people but of various animals—each person she sets her eyes on is one, a cow, a dog, a snake, and an ape. No matter where she looks. Is this just her mind playing games with her or is there a deeper conspiracy involved? Another one with a twist (perhaps not as much of a surprise as in the first story, but one nonetheless), and one which would make a fairly fun Halloween read.
Next was Ganymede, where our narrator who usually spends his vacation with his sister and her family, finds himself heading to Venice for his sister cannot have him down this year. There, after dinner one evening, he sees and is immediately smitten by a young waiter, whom he begins to refer to as Ganymede. He begins to return every evening, and tries to help when he learns the young man wants to work in England. But soon he becomes embroiled with the young man’s not so savoury uncle as well. In this one, we are pretty much told right at the start (and would have probably guessed even if we weren’t) that this will only lead to doom, but what we don’t see coming is the little twist du Maurier throws in at the end. While I enjoyed the surprise at the end, I was a little uncomfortable with this one because of the age of the young man.
The next story, The Pool is that of a thirteen-year old girl, Deborah who is spending her summer with her younger brother Roger at their grandparents. She likes spending time in the garden but more so near a pool in the woods (‘The woods were made for secrecy.’) to which she has been making offerings—like her prized ‘lucky’ pencil. Trying to give her brother other games to play, she gets away and is drawn more and more by the pool’s magic, and the dark images it seems to throw up. While the themes here of a secret space, and loss are dark, I didn’t somehow enjoy this one as much as the previous ones because from those, I was expecting a story on very different lines than this one turned out. Perhaps if I read it separately, it would fare far better.
The Archduchess, the next story was also very different from the initial stories. Set in a Ruritanian kingdom, Ronda, where is found (or was found) a spring with water that would give one eternal youth. This is a magical kingdom where people are content and happy, traditions are followed and life goes on. But then a couple of people, one discontented and another greedy begin to stir up trouble, and the idyll is lost forever. While this may have been set in a fictional space, its exploration of the seeds of discontent media could (and does) stir up was very well done. No twists or surprises here, but still a very good story.
The lightest story in the book was The Menace, the story of Barry Jean, an English-born Hollywood star, popular, well loved, who has lived life just as dictated by his wife May and his staff, is suddenly found wanting when the ‘feelies’ require him to show certain emotion on a gadget which he fails to do. His wife and friends try to right things but the solution it seems lies somewhere else altogether. This one was very different from anything I’ve read and really also from all the other stories in the book, and it certainly brought a smile to my face.
In The Chamois, we meet Stephen who is obsessed with hunting a chamois to such an extent that he cancels his holiday plans and rushes off with his wife to the Pindus in Greece where chamois have been sighted. Narrated by his wife, who is unhappy in their relationship but accompanies him all the same, we travel with them to Greece where they have a rat-faced cook and creepy goatherd for company. Then guided by the goatherd who makes our narrator uncomfortable, they set off. This story was a touch confusing for me, for while I followed the bits about the changes this trip brings to their understanding of each other and their relationship, I was a little unsure about the actual hunt, and its outcome. Also being a story about hunting I wasn’t able to enjoy it as I would other themes.
The book closes with another differently dark story, The Lordly Ones where a mute boy Ben is misunderstood by his parents, who seem to have little idea how to bring him up or look after him and subject him to verbal and physical abuse. When the family moves from Exeter to the moors, he little understands where and why they are going. Once there, another bit of misunderstanding of what (or who) the moors are leads him to come across another family which he finds very different from his own. While Ben finds some comfort in them, it is sadly not one that can last.
Exploring a range of themes, from murder and conspiracy to politics, from love and breakups to loss and absence of love, this turned out to be a (mostly) enjoyable collection of stories, some playing with one’s mind, and others with one’s emotions.
April 15, 2017
Du Maurier is just an absolute master of the short story. Each story transported me to a different world and I lingered there only long enough to soak up the magic of the writing, before I was plunged headfirst into yet another tale.
December 3, 2023
Another Literary Birthday Challenge book, this collection of nine stories by Daphne du Maurier was interesting and thought-provoking. Each selection gives us a front row seat to witness the Crisis Moments of various character's lives.
In the title story, we meet James Fenton, who decides one Sunday that he simply cannot stand the routine of his life any longer. But what he does to shake up that routine is most unusual. This story started off amazingly intense, but I was not satisfied with the ending. The last few scenes felt muddled, but then our hero was more than a bit muddled himself anyway, so perhaps it was a fitting way to wrap up that part of his life.
I thought The Blue Lenses was wonderfully creepy, and the tension from start to finish was unending. Marda West has had an eye operation (we are not told why she needed it in the first place, but apparently it was something quite common) and has temporary lenses inserted into her eyes. She was told she would see much clearer than ever before, and that was no lie. What does she see so clearly after the bandages are removed? I won't tell, but it was frightening and would have sent me running screaming into the night along with Marda.
Other favorites were The Lordly Ones, where a mute young boy finally finds friends who understand him; The Menace, a story about a world famous actor who overcomes a crisis without even realizing it: his handlers would be shocked if they knew the truth about what Barry Jeans had done the night they lost him while trying to 'fix' his problem. I also got a kick out of The Limpet, a perfect portrait of a manipulative, stalking, I don't know what all other terms to use woman who cannot now understand why she has been so unhappy all of her life.
Daphne du Maurier is a master at creating atmospheres of intensity and sometimes chilling slices of life. This collection is another example of her skill and I enjoyed it very much.
In the title story, we meet James Fenton, who decides one Sunday that he simply cannot stand the routine of his life any longer. But what he does to shake up that routine is most unusual. This story started off amazingly intense, but I was not satisfied with the ending. The last few scenes felt muddled, but then our hero was more than a bit muddled himself anyway, so perhaps it was a fitting way to wrap up that part of his life.
I thought The Blue Lenses was wonderfully creepy, and the tension from start to finish was unending. Marda West has had an eye operation (we are not told why she needed it in the first place, but apparently it was something quite common) and has temporary lenses inserted into her eyes. She was told she would see much clearer than ever before, and that was no lie. What does she see so clearly after the bandages are removed? I won't tell, but it was frightening and would have sent me running screaming into the night along with Marda.
Other favorites were The Lordly Ones, where a mute young boy finally finds friends who understand him; The Menace, a story about a world famous actor who overcomes a crisis without even realizing it: his handlers would be shocked if they knew the truth about what Barry Jeans had done the night they lost him while trying to 'fix' his problem. I also got a kick out of The Limpet, a perfect portrait of a manipulative, stalking, I don't know what all other terms to use woman who cannot now understand why she has been so unhappy all of her life.
Daphne du Maurier is a master at creating atmospheres of intensity and sometimes chilling slices of life. This collection is another example of her skill and I enjoyed it very much.
October 9, 2018
I`m not a short story fan but I enjoyed most of this collection, especailly the first three.
June 4, 2022
Μια από τις πιο πρωτότυπες νουβέλες της Ντάφνυ ντυ Μωριέ, η οποία εντυπωσιάζει με την κλιμακούμενη πλοκή της και τις εσωτερικές συγκρούσεις της ηρ��ϊδας. Είναι ένα καθαρόαιμο ψυχολογικό θρίλερ, το οποίο απογειώνεται καί από την τελική λύση του μυστηρίου.
Σίγουρα, η κάθαρση του τέλους αποζημιώνει καί τους ήρωες του βιβλίου καί τον έκπληκτο αναγνώστη. Μόνο... που θα ήθελα να έχει, τουλάχιστον, ακόμα, 20 σελίδες.
Βαθμολογία: 4,3/5 ή 8,6/10.
Σίγουρα, η κάθαρση του τέλους αποζημιώνει καί τους ήρωες του βιβλίου καί τον έκπληκτο αναγνώστη. Μόνο... που θα ήθελα να έχει, τουλάχιστον, ακόμα, 20 σελίδες.
Βαθμολογία: 4,3/5 ή 8,6/10.
March 7, 2016
I found these stories to be very dark but beautifully written.
Daphne never fails.
Luckily I still have a few novels yet to read!
Daphne never fails.
Luckily I still have a few novels yet to read!
August 31, 2013
I'm not a short story "person," so caveat lector. I don't want to be like those music critics who hate Liszt, and review a concert where someone plays all Liszt and can't find a single good thing to say. (There are such people.)
Du Maurier's stories in this collection, some of them, reminded me of Roald Dahl or Patricia Highsmith. The Alibi was Dahlesque. A man named James Fenton is suddenly sick of his wife and his staid family life, of cocktail hour with the neighbors, and he resolves to go knock on a random door and murder someone. He wanders through a lower middle class neighborhood in London and settles on the home of Anna Kaufman, a German immigrant whose husband has ditched her, and her young son. He asks to rent a basement room from Kaufman, where he will perform his criminal deed. She is delighted at the extra income. She asks him what he will be doing in the room, and he quickly invents an avocation: he is a painter, and he will begin by painting her son's portrait. He comes back the next day with all his painting materials and begins painting. I will now reveal the entire plot:
In the Twilight Zonesque The Blue Lenses, a woman undergoes surgery to restore her sight, but
My favorite story was Ganymede. A classical scholar has been dismissed from his job for "unsavoury practices" and is spending time in Venice. He is immediately drawn to a young waiter on the Piazzo San Marco, precisely the way Aschenbach was obsessed with Tadzio in Death in Venice, and gives him the name 'Ganymede'. ("The myth [of Ganymede] was a model for the Greek social custom of paiderastía, the socially acceptable erotic relationship between a man and a youth," Wikipedia informs.) He contrives to spend as much time around Ganymede as possible, and agrees to write him a letter of recommendation for a hotel job in London. Ganymede himself is adept at getting what he wants from the narrator, in particular a trip on a speedboat to the Lido with Ganymede's fulsome uncle doing the driving. On the Lido the narrator meets Ganymede's mother and sister and generally has an awful time, as the family excluding Ganymede is coarse and repulsive. On the trip back, Ganymede decides to water ski. The narrator is not a practiced boater, and literally "doesn't know the ropes."
The other stories left me cold.
Contents:
The alibi -- The blue lenses -- Ganymede -- The pool -- The archduchess -- The menace -- The chamois -- The lordly ones.
May 5, 2012
I bought this book at a used book store. The only reason I bought it was because I had foolishly walked into a shop with only two dollars in my hand. I did my rounds in the shop, looked at the "used" prices etched in pencil, and realized that the only thing I could afford was a musty, dogeared copy of this book, circa 1959.
The old woman (gray hair, scrunchie, knitting, et al.) beamed at me from the register. "Oh, have you read much Du Maurier at?" she asked.
"Only Rebecca, I couldn't put it down."
"Oh well, I think you'll really enjoy this too. I love your outfit by the way. Great colours."
I gave her my two dollars and left.
And the gray hair, scrunchied, old lady was right. I fell in love with this book. Daphne Du Maurier leaves a note to her readers in the book:
"There comes a moment in the life of every individual when reality must be faced. When this happens, it is as though a link between emotion and reason is stretched to the limit of endurance, and sometimes snaps. In this collection of stories, men, women, children, and a nation are brought to the breaking point. Whether the link survives or snaps the reader must juge for himself."
Du Maurier is an effective, but subtle story teller. She doesn't try to drive a nail through your head to get her point across, but in every story, each character's breaking point is clear. The stories in this book are so wonderfully dark and unsettling, it's like reading a collection from the twilight zone.
But what's even more unsettling is how believable the characters are. In the alibi, a man bored of his mundane life decides to go on killing spree, and instead finds solace in painting his would-be victims. It's an illustration of how regular people just SNAP and go into the realms of insanity. The Archduss portrays the idyllic kingdom of Rhonda as it is torn down by two men because of their spite and their greed.
However, the true piece de resistance is The Blue Lenses, where a woman is cursed (or gifted?) with the ability to see people as they truly are-- as animals.
if you have the chance to pick up this book, do it. Even the less impressive stories in this collection are still pretty good.
The old woman (gray hair, scrunchie, knitting, et al.) beamed at me from the register. "Oh, have you read much Du Maurier at?" she asked.
"Only Rebecca, I couldn't put it down."
"Oh well, I think you'll really enjoy this too. I love your outfit by the way. Great colours."
I gave her my two dollars and left.
And the gray hair, scrunchied, old lady was right. I fell in love with this book. Daphne Du Maurier leaves a note to her readers in the book:
"There comes a moment in the life of every individual when reality must be faced. When this happens, it is as though a link between emotion and reason is stretched to the limit of endurance, and sometimes snaps. In this collection of stories, men, women, children, and a nation are brought to the breaking point. Whether the link survives or snaps the reader must juge for himself."
Du Maurier is an effective, but subtle story teller. She doesn't try to drive a nail through your head to get her point across, but in every story, each character's breaking point is clear. The stories in this book are so wonderfully dark and unsettling, it's like reading a collection from the twilight zone.
But what's even more unsettling is how believable the characters are. In the alibi, a man bored of his mundane life decides to go on killing spree, and instead finds solace in painting his would-be victims. It's an illustration of how regular people just SNAP and go into the realms of insanity. The Archduss portrays the idyllic kingdom of Rhonda as it is torn down by two men because of their spite and their greed.
However, the true piece de resistance is The Blue Lenses, where a woman is cursed (or gifted?) with the ability to see people as they truly are-- as animals.
if you have the chance to pick up this book, do it. Even the less impressive stories in this collection are still pretty good.
September 4, 2011
"There comes a moment in the life of every individual when reality must be faced. When this happens, it is as though a link between emotion and reason is stretched to the limit of endurance, and sometimes snaps." -- from the author's note introducing the collection
Eight stories comprise this work, written at a period in her life when Daphne du Maurier, exhausted beyond endurance, waited for that snap. du Maurier came to speak of this collection as a curative, saying that writing these had been as therapy. In each story it's abundantly clear when breaking point has been reached, and I can see the catharsis implicit in the writer's determination of what will come to the characters after crisis: they don't just lie down and die at the snap, she makes them act, they are not allowed to give up. The stories are practiced, and almost uniformly dark and creepy, building a sense of dread and discomfort. They all read like twilight zone episodes, and some of them echoed other stories for me: "Ganymede" is her frightening take on Mann's "Death in Venice", whereas "the Pool" reminded me a lot of Arthur Machen's "the Ceremony". The "Archduchess" is a du Maurier-twisted Shangri-la. The only story where the stakes are high but not crippling, and the breaking point is lighter fare, is one about an actor who struck me as an Humphrey Bogart/Gary Cooper/Cary Grant amalgam, "the Menace". She isn't really breaking new ground here but even working in well trod territory as she is, these stories are spooky and the short form allows her certain stylistic flairs i see less of in her novels (she seems to have developed distinct stylistic approaches to her short and her longer narratives even if she tends to dwell on similar themes in all her works.) I think the most best and most effective are "the Blue Lenses" (this book has also been collected under this name, and other stories) and the last, and shortest, "the Lordly Ones". That one is really bizarre.
Eight stories comprise this work, written at a period in her life when Daphne du Maurier, exhausted beyond endurance, waited for that snap. du Maurier came to speak of this collection as a curative, saying that writing these had been as therapy. In each story it's abundantly clear when breaking point has been reached, and I can see the catharsis implicit in the writer's determination of what will come to the characters after crisis: they don't just lie down and die at the snap, she makes them act, they are not allowed to give up. The stories are practiced, and almost uniformly dark and creepy, building a sense of dread and discomfort. They all read like twilight zone episodes, and some of them echoed other stories for me: "Ganymede" is her frightening take on Mann's "Death in Venice", whereas "the Pool" reminded me a lot of Arthur Machen's "the Ceremony". The "Archduchess" is a du Maurier-twisted Shangri-la. The only story where the stakes are high but not crippling, and the breaking point is lighter fare, is one about an actor who struck me as an Humphrey Bogart/Gary Cooper/Cary Grant amalgam, "the Menace". She isn't really breaking new ground here but even working in well trod territory as she is, these stories are spooky and the short form allows her certain stylistic flairs i see less of in her novels (she seems to have developed distinct stylistic approaches to her short and her longer narratives even if she tends to dwell on similar themes in all her works.) I think the most best and most effective are "the Blue Lenses" (this book has also been collected under this name, and other stories) and the last, and shortest, "the Lordly Ones". That one is really bizarre.
July 26, 2021
Classic Du Maurier. Nightmarish and unsettling, with a low-key macabre humour, and written so eloquently. This would have made an excellent Twilight Zone episode. Who knows? Maybe it is one.
August 7, 2014
I found this collection more of a mixed bag than the two volumes of du Maurier short stories I've previously read (Don't Look Now & Other Stories and The Birds & Other Stories). The eight stories can roughly be divided into: four very good, one okay (if strange), and three I disliked. Still, a couple of them were among my favourites from all three books. I still have The Doll: Short Stories to read, but I think I might give these a rest for now and come back to that book when the others aren't so fresh in my mind.
The Alibi
In perhaps the most obvious example of a 'breaking point' seen in this collection, John Fenton decides - very suddenly, during a walk with his family - that he can no longer continue with his life as it is. He randomly picks out a house and is overcome with a desire to murder its occupants, a poor young woman and her son. To explain his presence there he comes up with the explanation that he is an artist who needs somewhere to paint: he is surprised to find himself actually enjoying the charade, and forgetting his original plan. He begins to live a double life in order to continue painting, but it can't go on forever...
I have to say this is one of the most powerful and resonant stories I have read. It isn't even explicitly scary in any obvious way, but there is an awful sense of dread and doom throughout the whole thing, and the fact that ... somehow this was absolutely terrifying to me. I actually had a nightmare after reading this story and it made me both excited and fearful about reading the rest of the stories in The Breaking Point.
The Blue Lenses
Marda West wakes in hospital following an operation to improve her eyesight. She is told she has been temporarily fitted with a pair of blue lenses, which will shortly be replaced by a permanent pair, but cannot be removed in the meantime. To her horror, she finds that the blue lenses allow her to see those around her in a rather different way.
This is a very famous story so I already had a good idea of its premise before I read it. I must say that I actually find the idea of having an operation on your eyes and having lenses fitted in them to be a lot more frightening in itself than what Marda could see - just thinking about it makes me feel quite ill. I imagine the same will be true of many readers, so there is already a disturbing atmosphere to the whole thing before you even get to the supposedly scary bit. There's an inevitable comedic element but it's handled, and balanced, very well with a greater sense of dread, and Marda's disbelief and fear is very well realised.
Ganymede
An older man, who describes himself as a 'classical scholar', holidays in Venice and becomes infatuated with a (very) young waiter, who he dubs Ganymede. His obsession with the boy leads him into an unwise involvement with a dubious Italian businessman and his family, and ultimately results in tragedy.
Don't Look Now is famously set in Venice, but I thought the setting was used much more effectively in this lesser-known story. I loved the narrative style, the development of the protagonist's character and the extremely sinister note of the ending, but I found the progression of the plot rather predictable. I can't say I was surprised by what happened to 'Ganymede', and I rather wished the outcome could have been different, and the story longer.
The Pool
Deborah, a young girl visiting her grandparents' home, finds herself repeatedly drawn to a mysterious pool in their garden. The mystery deepens when, during the night, she wanders outside alone and seems to enter a magical world. Is this real or part of a dream?
I don't have much to say about this. It's very beautifully written, perhaps more so than any of the others in this collection, but I wasn't at all interested in what happened. Admittedly, my interest was dulled from the start when I realised the main characters were children, and I was also disappointed to find it was a type of parable rather than a genuinely mystical tale.
The Archduchess
The fairytale-like story of a fictional European kingdom, Ronda, one of the last countries to become a republic. The unnamed narrator recounts how its revolution came to happen, with a focus on one particular royal figure, the beautiful and possibly immortal Archduchess.
I'm afraid I didn't like this at all and it was rather a difficult task to actually get through it, even though it wasn't particularly long. I grew absolutely sick of the endless repetition of Rondaquiver, Rondahof, Rovlvula etc and I didn't care whatsoever about anyone in the story - the fact that it's so obviously fantastical removes any emotional impact. I guess it's supposed to be a fable of sorts, and certainly ironic, but I feel like that kind of thing has been done many times before, and much more effectively, elsewhere.
The Menace
Barry Jeans, known as 'The Menace', is an ageing movie star whose reputation is threatened by the introduction of 'feelies' - a type of filmmaking which records the actors' emotions, and requires on powerful conviction in order to work. Concerned that Barry's career will be over if his 'force' isn't strengthened, his wife and colleagues set about trying to achieve this through a variety of means.
This is a really odd story - unnecessarily complicated in its setup, I thought, for the very simple message it ended up trying to communicate. I didn't find the characterisation of Barry believable at all, either. The more I think about this story the more questions I have about it - for example, what was all that stuff about the kids dancing on the beach and everyone having to leave...? I got the point of the story, but I didn't get anything else about it, if that makes any sense at all.
The Chamois
This follows a married couple who journey to Greece to hunt the chamois, a rare deer. It's told from the point of view of the long-suffering wife, who seems to be growing sick of her husband's obsession. However, upon reaching the Greek mountains she finds herself both exhilarated and terrified by the inhospitable habitat of their quarry.
After three disappointing stories, I was relieved to find The Chamois enjoyable. It's unique amongst the stories collected here in that it has a surreal edge which increases in intensity as it goes on, until the end comes and you're not quite sure what's just happened. The way it was written brought to mind some of Angela Carter's short stories. Very atmospheric and pleasingly unusual.
The Lordly Ones
Like The Birds, which concluded with The Old Man, this collection is rounded up with a very short story which lasts just a few pages. This one is about a mute boy named Ben who is taken to the moors by his parents: it is horribly bleak, as it's obvious even within such a short tale that Ben's parents are neglectful and, sometimes, abusive. The twist, too, is similar to that of The Old Man, but it's much easier to see this one coming, and it's not as effective: though poignant, it doesn't seem very realistic.
The Alibi
In perhaps the most obvious example of a 'breaking point' seen in this collection, John Fenton decides - very suddenly, during a walk with his family - that he can no longer continue with his life as it is. He randomly picks out a house and is overcome with a desire to murder its occupants, a poor young woman and her son. To explain his presence there he comes up with the explanation that he is an artist who needs somewhere to paint: he is surprised to find himself actually enjoying the charade, and forgetting his original plan. He begins to live a double life in order to continue painting, but it can't go on forever...
I have to say this is one of the most powerful and resonant stories I have read. It isn't even explicitly scary in any obvious way, but there is an awful sense of dread and doom throughout the whole thing, and the fact that ... somehow this was absolutely terrifying to me. I actually had a nightmare after reading this story and it made me both excited and fearful about reading the rest of the stories in The Breaking Point.
The Blue Lenses
Marda West wakes in hospital following an operation to improve her eyesight. She is told she has been temporarily fitted with a pair of blue lenses, which will shortly be replaced by a permanent pair, but cannot be removed in the meantime. To her horror, she finds that the blue lenses allow her to see those around her in a rather different way.
This is a very famous story so I already had a good idea of its premise before I read it. I must say that I actually find the idea of having an operation on your eyes and having lenses fitted in them to be a lot more frightening in itself than what Marda could see - just thinking about it makes me feel quite ill. I imagine the same will be true of many readers, so there is already a disturbing atmosphere to the whole thing before you even get to the supposedly scary bit. There's an inevitable comedic element but it's handled, and balanced, very well with a greater sense of dread, and Marda's disbelief and fear is very well realised.
Ganymede
An older man, who describes himself as a 'classical scholar', holidays in Venice and becomes infatuated with a (very) young waiter, who he dubs Ganymede. His obsession with the boy leads him into an unwise involvement with a dubious Italian businessman and his family, and ultimately results in tragedy.
Don't Look Now is famously set in Venice, but I thought the setting was used much more effectively in this lesser-known story. I loved the narrative style, the development of the protagonist's character and the extremely sinister note of the ending, but I found the progression of the plot rather predictable. I can't say I was surprised by what happened to 'Ganymede', and I rather wished the outcome could have been different, and the story longer.
The Pool
Deborah, a young girl visiting her grandparents' home, finds herself repeatedly drawn to a mysterious pool in their garden. The mystery deepens when, during the night, she wanders outside alone and seems to enter a magical world. Is this real or part of a dream?
I don't have much to say about this. It's very beautifully written, perhaps more so than any of the others in this collection, but I wasn't at all interested in what happened. Admittedly, my interest was dulled from the start when I realised the main characters were children, and I was also disappointed to find it was a type of parable rather than a genuinely mystical tale.
The Archduchess
The fairytale-like story of a fictional European kingdom, Ronda, one of the last countries to become a republic. The unnamed narrator recounts how its revolution came to happen, with a focus on one particular royal figure, the beautiful and possibly immortal Archduchess.
I'm afraid I didn't like this at all and it was rather a difficult task to actually get through it, even though it wasn't particularly long. I grew absolutely sick of the endless repetition of Rondaquiver, Rondahof, Rovlvula etc and I didn't care whatsoever about anyone in the story - the fact that it's so obviously fantastical removes any emotional impact. I guess it's supposed to be a fable of sorts, and certainly ironic, but I feel like that kind of thing has been done many times before, and much more effectively, elsewhere.
The Menace
Barry Jeans, known as 'The Menace', is an ageing movie star whose reputation is threatened by the introduction of 'feelies' - a type of filmmaking which records the actors' emotions, and requires on powerful conviction in order to work. Concerned that Barry's career will be over if his 'force' isn't strengthened, his wife and colleagues set about trying to achieve this through a variety of means.
This is a really odd story - unnecessarily complicated in its setup, I thought, for the very simple message it ended up trying to communicate. I didn't find the characterisation of Barry believable at all, either. The more I think about this story the more questions I have about it - for example, what was all that stuff about the kids dancing on the beach and everyone having to leave...? I got the point of the story, but I didn't get anything else about it, if that makes any sense at all.
The Chamois
This follows a married couple who journey to Greece to hunt the chamois, a rare deer. It's told from the point of view of the long-suffering wife, who seems to be growing sick of her husband's obsession. However, upon reaching the Greek mountains she finds herself both exhilarated and terrified by the inhospitable habitat of their quarry.
After three disappointing stories, I was relieved to find The Chamois enjoyable. It's unique amongst the stories collected here in that it has a surreal edge which increases in intensity as it goes on, until the end comes and you're not quite sure what's just happened. The way it was written brought to mind some of Angela Carter's short stories. Very atmospheric and pleasingly unusual.
The Lordly Ones
Like The Birds, which concluded with The Old Man, this collection is rounded up with a very short story which lasts just a few pages. This one is about a mute boy named Ben who is taken to the moors by his parents: it is horribly bleak, as it's obvious even within such a short tale that Ben's parents are neglectful and, sometimes, abusive. The twist, too, is similar to that of The Old Man, but it's much easier to see this one coming, and it's not as effective: though poignant, it doesn't seem very realistic.
December 7, 2017
Nothing short of commendable. I loved all the stories. Each led the protagonist to his/her breaking point who later emerges beatific or beaten.
Best of the list:
The Blue Lenses
The Alibi
Ganymede
The Archduchess
*********************************************
"The Alibi" – In an attempt to escape his dull existence John Fenton starts a double life, randomly picking a house he plans to murder its occupants, a single mother and her son, but instead finds release in painting them in oils...
"The Blue Lenses" – After several weeks recovering from eye-surgery a woman has her bandages removed. To her astonishment and then horror people viewed through the implanted blue lenses are seen as animals: cows, weasel, snakes, frogs etc. Further surgery is later required...
"Ganymede" – A classical scholar becoming besotted with a young waiter in Piazza San Marco whilst holidaying in Venice, with tragic results...
"The Pool" – A girl escapes from her younger brother and is enticed via an overgrown garden pool into a secret magical world...
"The Archduchess" – Tells of how revolution and death come to the idyllic European kingdom of Ronda.
"The Menace" – Movie heart-throb Barry Jeans has been top of the box-office ratings for many years but with the advent of the 'feelies' (where actors are wired-up and their feelings recorded for playback) he is found wanting...
"The Chamois" – A hunter travels to Kalabaka in the Pindus of Greece to hunt the elusive chamois...
"The Lordly Ones" – A mute boy moves with his parents from Exeter to the 'moors' where one nights he meets and joins "The Lordly Ones"...
(Credit: Wiki)
Best of the list:
The Blue Lenses
The Alibi
Ganymede
The Archduchess
*********************************************
"The Alibi" – In an attempt to escape his dull existence John Fenton starts a double life, randomly picking a house he plans to murder its occupants, a single mother and her son, but instead finds release in painting them in oils...
"The Blue Lenses" – After several weeks recovering from eye-surgery a woman has her bandages removed. To her astonishment and then horror people viewed through the implanted blue lenses are seen as animals: cows, weasel, snakes, frogs etc. Further surgery is later required...
"Ganymede" – A classical scholar becoming besotted with a young waiter in Piazza San Marco whilst holidaying in Venice, with tragic results...
"The Pool" – A girl escapes from her younger brother and is enticed via an overgrown garden pool into a secret magical world...
"The Archduchess" – Tells of how revolution and death come to the idyllic European kingdom of Ronda.
"The Menace" – Movie heart-throb Barry Jeans has been top of the box-office ratings for many years but with the advent of the 'feelies' (where actors are wired-up and their feelings recorded for playback) he is found wanting...
"The Chamois" – A hunter travels to Kalabaka in the Pindus of Greece to hunt the elusive chamois...
"The Lordly Ones" – A mute boy moves with his parents from Exeter to the 'moors' where one nights he meets and joins "The Lordly Ones"...
(Credit: Wiki)
December 9, 2020
4,5 estrellas
Ocho historias oscuras, dramáticas, melancólicas e inquietantes, donde los personajes principales alcanzan o se acercan a lo más oscuro de la naturaleza human. Escrito en 1959, un periodo desesperanzador y oscuros en la vida de la escritora (esposo ingresado en un hospital psiquiátrico en Londres) y el descubrimiento de un affaire de este con una mujer en la localidad de Cornualles donde residía el matrimonio. Llevaron a Daphne a un colapso nervioso. Su estado emocional la llevaría a escribir esta serie de relatos que alcanzan el punto más álgido entre lo real y lo onírico.
Una escritora Brillante.
Ocho historias oscuras, dramáticas, melancólicas e inquietantes, donde los personajes principales alcanzan o se acercan a lo más oscuro de la naturaleza human. Escrito en 1959, un periodo desesperanzador y oscuros en la vida de la escritora (esposo ingresado en un hospital psiquiátrico en Londres) y el descubrimiento de un affaire de este con una mujer en la localidad de Cornualles donde residía el matrimonio. Llevaron a Daphne a un colapso nervioso. Su estado emocional la llevaría a escribir esta serie de relatos que alcanzan el punto más álgido entre lo real y lo onírico.
Una escritora Brillante.
April 3, 2018
This was as weird as any of her stories. Short quick read.
May 28, 2022
I think perhaps my favourite collection of short stories I’ve ever read. The range is astonishing, the stories are complicated, haunting and relevant several decades later. Beautiful.
May 7, 2023
Some stories were quite good. Some seemed out of place. Some were just 'meh'. The good were good. The average were not. Lost a couple of stars for me for the inconsistency.
May 17, 2020
4.5 Stars
Aside from Rebecca (which I love), I probably prefer du Maurier’s stories to her novels. There’s something about the short form that seems to suit this author’s style, a heightening of the creeping sense of dread that runs through much of her work.
The Breaking Point is a characteristically unsettling collection of eight stories, many of which blur the lines between the real and the imaginary. They’re wonderfully creepy, often tapping into our deepest fears and suspicions, our latent sources of restlessness and anxiety. As the title suggests, each story pivots on a moment of crisis in an individual’s life, a time when the protagonist’s emotions are stretched to the extreme. Whether that person snaps or survives remains the critical question, something du Maurier leaves for the reader to ponder and decide.
In The Alibi – one of my favourites in the collection – we meet James Fenton, a middle-aged man who feels trapped in the routine of his marriage, desperate to break free from his conventional lifestyle. Suddenly, out of the blue, Fenton is seized by the forces of evil, prompting thoughts of violence and murder. With this in mind, he picks a house a random, posing as a respectable man looking to rent a room. Luckily for Fenton, the occupant is Anna, a poor refugee desperately in need of money to support her young son, Johnnie – little does Anna know what might be in store for her when Fenton makes his request.
‘What would you want the room for?’ she asked doubtfully.
There was the crux. To murder you and the child, my dear, and dig up the floor, and bury you under the boards. But not yet.
‘It’s difficult to explain,’ he said briskly. ‘I’m a professional man. I have long hours. But there have been changes lately, and I must have a room where I can put in a few hours every day and be entirely alone. You’ve no idea how difficult it is to find the right spot. This seems to me ideal for the purpose.’ He glanced from the empty house down to the child, and smiled. ‘Your little boy, for instance. Just the right age. He’d give no trouble.’ (p.6)
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2020...
Aside from Rebecca (which I love), I probably prefer du Maurier’s stories to her novels. There’s something about the short form that seems to suit this author’s style, a heightening of the creeping sense of dread that runs through much of her work.
The Breaking Point is a characteristically unsettling collection of eight stories, many of which blur the lines between the real and the imaginary. They’re wonderfully creepy, often tapping into our deepest fears and suspicions, our latent sources of restlessness and anxiety. As the title suggests, each story pivots on a moment of crisis in an individual’s life, a time when the protagonist’s emotions are stretched to the extreme. Whether that person snaps or survives remains the critical question, something du Maurier leaves for the reader to ponder and decide.
In The Alibi – one of my favourites in the collection – we meet James Fenton, a middle-aged man who feels trapped in the routine of his marriage, desperate to break free from his conventional lifestyle. Suddenly, out of the blue, Fenton is seized by the forces of evil, prompting thoughts of violence and murder. With this in mind, he picks a house a random, posing as a respectable man looking to rent a room. Luckily for Fenton, the occupant is Anna, a poor refugee desperately in need of money to support her young son, Johnnie – little does Anna know what might be in store for her when Fenton makes his request.
‘What would you want the room for?’ she asked doubtfully.
There was the crux. To murder you and the child, my dear, and dig up the floor, and bury you under the boards. But not yet.
‘It’s difficult to explain,’ he said briskly. ‘I’m a professional man. I have long hours. But there have been changes lately, and I must have a room where I can put in a few hours every day and be entirely alone. You’ve no idea how difficult it is to find the right spot. This seems to me ideal for the purpose.’ He glanced from the empty house down to the child, and smiled. ‘Your little boy, for instance. Just the right age. He’d give no trouble.’ (p.6)
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2020...
May 5, 2024
For me, this is a mixed bag. This collection includes eight short stories, most of them challenging to read because they are quite disturbing. Apparently, the writer was experiencing a nervous breakdown herself at the time she wrote these stories.
March 30, 2019
Originally published in 1959 and written at a time when du Maurier herself said she had been close to a nervous breakdown, the eight stories in this collection are particularly dark and unsettling.
There is a paragraph just before the introduction in my Virago edition of the book which gives an idea of the common theme linking the stories and why the title The Breaking Point was chosen:
There comes a moment in the life of every individual when reality must be faced. When this happens, it is as though a link between emotion and reason is stretched to the limit of endurance, and sometimes snaps. In this collection of stories, men, women, children and a nation are brought to the breaking-point. Whether the link survives or snaps, the reader must judge for himself.
I enjoyed this book, but I found the first three stories by far the strongest and some of the others slightly disappointing in comparison. The first story in the book, The Alibi, gets the collection off to a great start. A man, bored with his life, his marriage and his daily routine, makes an impulsive decision to rent a room in a house chosen at random. Adopting a new identity, soon he is spending every spare moment at the house, but what is his real motive for doing this? This is a creepy and disturbing story; the suspense builds and builds as we wait to see whether it will end in the way we hope it won’t!
The Blue Lenses is a very strange story about Marda West, a woman who has been having eye surgery. When her bandages are removed and she is fitted with a new pair of lenses, she finds that the people around her look very unusual – in fact, you could say that she is finally seeing them for what they really are. I can’t say much more without completely spoiling the story, but Marda’s situation is both frightening and fascinating. I loved this story and thought the twist at the end was perfect.
The next one, Ganymede, reminded me of Death in Venice by Thomas Mann, both in setting and in plot. A man is visiting Venice for a relaxing October break when a young man working in a restaurant catches his eye. As the days go by, he becomes more and more obsessed with the young waiter, whom he thinks of as ‘Ganymede’. This is another very suspenseful story, as it quickly becomes obvious that things are not going to go smoothly for our narrator – and in du Maurier’s hands, Venice becomes an eerie and sinister setting where we know some sort of tragedy is going to happen.
In the next story, The Pool, we meet Deborah and Roger, two children staying at their grandparents’ house for the summer. One day Deborah escapes from her younger brother and enters the woods nearby, where she discovers a pool which seems to lead into a secret world. I didn’t like this story as much as the first three – although, as always, du Maurier’s descriptions are beautiful and vivid. The Archduchess, which follows, is an account of a revolution in a fictional European country called Ronda. This was the only story in the collection that actually bored me – there seemed to be a huge amount of world-building and scene-setting, with very little plot or depth of character – but it’s possible that I didn’t fully understand what she was trying to say.
I wasn’t sure what to make of The Menace either. It seemed like a science fiction story at first, about a new filming technology known as ‘feelies’ where actors are wired up to a machine powered by their own life-force. This aspect of the story is never really explained, but I did enjoy getting to know actor Barry Jeans as we follow him through a twenty-four-hour period and I loved the ending. The Chamois is another of the weaker stories in the collection, but still an interesting one. A woman travels to Greece with her husband so that he can hunt chamois, but as they climb further into the mountains, the cracks in their marriage start to show and the woman’s deepest fears become exposed.
Finally, The Lordly Ones is a great story to finish with. Ben is a young mute boy who feels neglected and unloved by his parents. When the family move to a new house in the countryside, he escapes to the moors one night and for the first time in his life feels welcomed and cared for by another family he thinks of as The Lordly Ones. This is a very short story with a clever twist at the end that made me want to go back to the beginning and read it again!
Overall, I do recommend The Breaking Point but if you’re new to du Maurier’s short stories, I would suggest reading The Birds or Don’t Look Now collections first as I thought they were stronger. I still have The Doll, her collection of ‘lost’ stories to read, and will try to get to that book soon.
There is a paragraph just before the introduction in my Virago edition of the book which gives an idea of the common theme linking the stories and why the title The Breaking Point was chosen:
There comes a moment in the life of every individual when reality must be faced. When this happens, it is as though a link between emotion and reason is stretched to the limit of endurance, and sometimes snaps. In this collection of stories, men, women, children and a nation are brought to the breaking-point. Whether the link survives or snaps, the reader must judge for himself.
I enjoyed this book, but I found the first three stories by far the strongest and some of the others slightly disappointing in comparison. The first story in the book, The Alibi, gets the collection off to a great start. A man, bored with his life, his marriage and his daily routine, makes an impulsive decision to rent a room in a house chosen at random. Adopting a new identity, soon he is spending every spare moment at the house, but what is his real motive for doing this? This is a creepy and disturbing story; the suspense builds and builds as we wait to see whether it will end in the way we hope it won’t!
The Blue Lenses is a very strange story about Marda West, a woman who has been having eye surgery. When her bandages are removed and she is fitted with a new pair of lenses, she finds that the people around her look very unusual – in fact, you could say that she is finally seeing them for what they really are. I can’t say much more without completely spoiling the story, but Marda’s situation is both frightening and fascinating. I loved this story and thought the twist at the end was perfect.
The next one, Ganymede, reminded me of Death in Venice by Thomas Mann, both in setting and in plot. A man is visiting Venice for a relaxing October break when a young man working in a restaurant catches his eye. As the days go by, he becomes more and more obsessed with the young waiter, whom he thinks of as ‘Ganymede’. This is another very suspenseful story, as it quickly becomes obvious that things are not going to go smoothly for our narrator – and in du Maurier’s hands, Venice becomes an eerie and sinister setting where we know some sort of tragedy is going to happen.
In the next story, The Pool, we meet Deborah and Roger, two children staying at their grandparents’ house for the summer. One day Deborah escapes from her younger brother and enters the woods nearby, where she discovers a pool which seems to lead into a secret world. I didn’t like this story as much as the first three – although, as always, du Maurier’s descriptions are beautiful and vivid. The Archduchess, which follows, is an account of a revolution in a fictional European country called Ronda. This was the only story in the collection that actually bored me – there seemed to be a huge amount of world-building and scene-setting, with very little plot or depth of character – but it’s possible that I didn’t fully understand what she was trying to say.
I wasn’t sure what to make of The Menace either. It seemed like a science fiction story at first, about a new filming technology known as ‘feelies’ where actors are wired up to a machine powered by their own life-force. This aspect of the story is never really explained, but I did enjoy getting to know actor Barry Jeans as we follow him through a twenty-four-hour period and I loved the ending. The Chamois is another of the weaker stories in the collection, but still an interesting one. A woman travels to Greece with her husband so that he can hunt chamois, but as they climb further into the mountains, the cracks in their marriage start to show and the woman’s deepest fears become exposed.
Finally, The Lordly Ones is a great story to finish with. Ben is a young mute boy who feels neglected and unloved by his parents. When the family move to a new house in the countryside, he escapes to the moors one night and for the first time in his life feels welcomed and cared for by another family he thinks of as The Lordly Ones. This is a very short story with a clever twist at the end that made me want to go back to the beginning and read it again!
Overall, I do recommend The Breaking Point but if you’re new to du Maurier’s short stories, I would suggest reading The Birds or Don’t Look Now collections first as I thought they were stronger. I still have The Doll, her collection of ‘lost’ stories to read, and will try to get to that book soon.
April 7, 2016
A woman is recovering in hospital after eye surgery in which lenses have been implanted. When the bandages are removed the woman is astonished that everyone she sees has the head of an animal.
The woman has gained the ability to see people with the head of an animal that best expresses their qualities.
An entertaining story that is different any other I have read.
The woman has gained the ability to see people with the head of an animal that best expresses their qualities.
An entertaining story that is different any other I have read.
September 8, 2019
3.5/5
August 4, 2025
Po znakomitej antologii Autorki „Ptaki i inne opowiadania”, którą miałam okazję czytać ponad dwa lata temu również w pięknej butikowej oprawie doczekaliśmy się w tym wydaniu kolejnych opowiadań Daphne du Maurier „Niebieskie soczewki i inne opowiadania”. I po absolutnie doskonałych „Ptakach”, które w sumie zdominowały tamten zbiór obawiałam się, czy ten mu dorówna. Jak się okazało, zupełnie niepotrzebnie, bo aż pięć z ośmiu historii w nim zawartych wywarło na mnie niezatarte wrażenie, a moje myśli samoczynnie biegną ku nim, mimo że od lektury minęło trochę czasu.
Wszystkie łączy to, że bohaterowie znajdują się w swoim życiu na rozdrożu i doświadczają pewnego przełomu, który diametralnie odmienia ich życie.
Opowiadanie „Niebieskie soczewki” słusznie zyskało miano tytułowego, bo choć początkowo jego tematyka może wywoływać uśmiech, gdy główna bohaterka zamiast ludzkich twarzy widzi zwierzęce, to szybko odkrywamy jej dużo głębsze przesłanie. Pokazuje, że wszyscy skrywamy za maskami przywdziewanymi na użytek innych nasze prawdziwe ja. Zamknięte głęboko, którego czasem nawet sami sobie nie uświadamiamy. A gdyby maski opadły? Aż boję się pomyśleć, jakim zwierzęciem okazałabym się w oczach bohaterki.
Kolejnym, które poruszyło struny mojego serca było pełne nostalgii opowiadanie „Staw”. Było niczym pełen nieposkromionej i zabarwionej mrokiem fantazji powrót do dzieciństwa. Do czasów, gdy wszystko wydawało się możliwe. Dobitnie pokazujący, co bezpowrotnie tracimy wchodząc w dorosłość.
„Alibi” to znowuż bardzo mocny i niepokojący początek zbioru. Ukazuje człowieka, który, by przerwać codzienną rutynę wynajmuje pokój w przypadkowo wybranym domu. Nie kieruje nim jednak chęć wsparcia biednej, samotnej matki. Prawdziwy motyw skryty jest w głębokim mroku.
Uśmiech wzbudziło natomiast opowiadanie „Groźny”. To historia Barry’ego, słynnego aktora, którego kariera może szybko i boleśnie upaść, jeśli siła jego głosu nie dostosuje się do wymogów nowej technologii. Widzimy tu, jak bardzo oczekiwania ludzi mogą się różnić, jak inne rzeczy są dla nas ważne i sprawiają nam przyjemność. I co równie istotne, jak często zdarza nam się mierzyć innych swoją miarą.
Ostatnim, o którym chcę Wam wspomnieć jest „Arcyksiężna” różniąca się w dużym stopniu od pozostałych, bo bohaterem jest tu cały kraj. Widzimy, jak idylliczna kraina, miodem i mlekiem płynąca, pełna piękna, młodości i erotyzmu jest stopniowo zabijana przez najniższe ludzie pobudki. Znajdziemy w nim wiele mechanizmów manipulacji, tak dobrze nam znanych z codziennych doniesień medialnych.
Mniejsze wrażenie zrobiły na mnie opowiadania „Ganimedes”, „Polowanie” i „Niebianie”, ale myślę, że i one znajdą swoich miłośników.
Daphne du Maurier udowodniła po raz kolejny, że jest znakomitą obserwatorką skupiającą się szczególnie na mrocznej stronie człowieka - jego frustracji, lęku, żądzy władzy, kompleksach i samotności. Atmosferę niepokoju buduje krok po kroku, niemal niedostrzegalnie pokazując, że największe lęki rodzą się w naszej własnej wyobraźni.
Wszystkie łączy to, że bohaterowie znajdują się w swoim życiu na rozdrożu i doświadczają pewnego przełomu, który diametralnie odmienia ich życie.
Opowiadanie „Niebieskie soczewki” słusznie zyskało miano tytułowego, bo choć początkowo jego tematyka może wywoływać uśmiech, gdy główna bohaterka zamiast ludzkich twarzy widzi zwierzęce, to szybko odkrywamy jej dużo głębsze przesłanie. Pokazuje, że wszyscy skrywamy za maskami przywdziewanymi na użytek innych nasze prawdziwe ja. Zamknięte głęboko, którego czasem nawet sami sobie nie uświadamiamy. A gdyby maski opadły? Aż boję się pomyśleć, jakim zwierzęciem okazałabym się w oczach bohaterki.
Kolejnym, które poruszyło struny mojego serca było pełne nostalgii opowiadanie „Staw”. Było niczym pełen nieposkromionej i zabarwionej mrokiem fantazji powrót do dzieciństwa. Do czasów, gdy wszystko wydawało się możliwe. Dobitnie pokazujący, co bezpowrotnie tracimy wchodząc w dorosłość.
„Alibi” to znowuż bardzo mocny i niepokojący początek zbioru. Ukazuje człowieka, który, by przerwać codzienną rutynę wynajmuje pokój w przypadkowo wybranym domu. Nie kieruje nim jednak chęć wsparcia biednej, samotnej matki. Prawdziwy motyw skryty jest w głębokim mroku.
Uśmiech wzbudziło natomiast opowiadanie „Groźny”. To historia Barry’ego, słynnego aktora, którego kariera może szybko i boleśnie upaść, jeśli siła jego głosu nie dostosuje się do wymogów nowej technologii. Widzimy tu, jak bardzo oczekiwania ludzi mogą się różnić, jak inne rzeczy są dla nas ważne i sprawiają nam przyjemność. I co równie istotne, jak często zdarza nam się mierzyć innych swoją miarą.
Ostatnim, o którym chcę Wam wspomnieć jest „Arcyksiężna” różniąca się w dużym stopniu od pozostałych, bo bohaterem jest tu cały kraj. Widzimy, jak idylliczna kraina, miodem i mlekiem płynąca, pełna piękna, młodości i erotyzmu jest stopniowo zabijana przez najniższe ludzie pobudki. Znajdziemy w nim wiele mechanizmów manipulacji, tak dobrze nam znanych z codziennych doniesień medialnych.
Mniejsze wrażenie zrobiły na mnie opowiadania „Ganimedes”, „Polowanie” i „Niebianie”, ale myślę, że i one znajdą swoich miłośników.
Daphne du Maurier udowodniła po raz kolejny, że jest znakomitą obserwatorką skupiającą się szczególnie na mrocznej stronie człowieka - jego frustracji, lęku, żądzy władzy, kompleksach i samotności. Atmosferę niepokoju buduje krok po kroku, niemal niedostrzegalnie pokazując, że największe lęki rodzą się w naszej własnej wyobraźni.
October 20, 2017
Daphne du Maurier weaves a short, intriguing story about a woman in hospital for an operation on her eyes. Initially she can see nothing and forms her impressions of her nurses and carers from their voices. However, when given ‘special’ temporary blue lenses, through which she can see in black and white only, she is shocked to find that things now look very different.
An amusing tale, nicely finished.
An amusing tale, nicely finished.
January 29, 2018
A great selection of stories. Standouts for me where The Alibi, Blue Lenses, Ganymede and the Menace.
September 7, 2025
Inna twórczość du Maurier mi się o wiele podobała, a tutaj coś nie do końca pykło:
Alibi - 3/5
Powolne rozpoczęcie akcji, ale z mocnym i nieoczywistym zakończeniem
Niebieskie soczewki - 3.5/5
Tutaj czuć już mocny klimat duMaurier, ale nie pykło jak z innymi jej opowiadaniami
Ganimedes - 2/5
Ni grzeje, ni ziębi, w ogóle zapomniałam o tym opowiadaniu
Staw - 1.5/5
Tak samo jak Ganimedes, szybko przeczytałam, szybko zapomniałam
Arcyksiężna - 3.5/5
To już było ciekawe, zupełnie w innym stylu, ale z przerażeniem czytałam o niszczeniu idyllicznego państwa
Groźny - 4/5
Totalnie nie w stylu duMaurier, bo było to strasznie ciepłe i wholesome opowiadania <3 Plus za mega męskiego faceta pijącego gorące mleko
Polowanie - 2.5/5
Chyba odrzucił mnie głównie opis polowania (shocking), ale fabularnie też nudziło
Niebianie - 2.5/5
Długie opisy przemocy i końcówka, po której spodziewałam się więcej, a szkoda
Mam wrażenie, że nie pisała tego duMaurier, albo że zrobiła jakiś dziwny zwrot w swojej karierze i próbowała czegoś nowego. No nwm nwm
Alibi - 3/5
Powolne rozpoczęcie akcji, ale z mocnym i nieoczywistym zakończeniem
Niebieskie soczewki - 3.5/5
Tutaj czuć już mocny klimat duMaurier, ale nie pykło jak z innymi jej opowiadaniami
Ganimedes - 2/5
Ni grzeje, ni ziębi, w ogóle zapomniałam o tym opowiadaniu
Staw - 1.5/5
Tak samo jak Ganimedes, szybko przeczytałam, szybko zapomniałam
Arcyksiężna - 3.5/5
To już było ciekawe, zupełnie w innym stylu, ale z przerażeniem czytałam o niszczeniu idyllicznego państwa
Groźny - 4/5
Totalnie nie w stylu duMaurier, bo było to strasznie ciepłe i wholesome opowiadania <3 Plus za mega męskiego faceta pijącego gorące mleko
Polowanie - 2.5/5
Chyba odrzucił mnie głównie opis polowania (shocking), ale fabularnie też nudziło
Niebianie - 2.5/5
Długie opisy przemocy i końcówka, po której spodziewałam się więcej, a szkoda
Mam wrażenie, że nie pisała tego duMaurier, albo że zrobiła jakiś dziwny zwrot w swojej karierze i próbowała czegoś nowego. No nwm nwm
December 27, 2023
W zbiorze „Niebieskie soczewki” najbardziej podobały mi się dwie pierwsze historie („Alibi” i tytułowe „Niebieskie soczewki”), z którymi zapoznałam się już wcześniej w innych książkach autorki. Pozostałe opowiadania były moim zdaniem słabsze, jedynie „Staw” wzbudził moje żywsze zainteresowanie. Niestety, jest to najnudniejszy w mojej ocenie zbiór opowiadań Daphne du Maurier, w tych historiach brakowało mi napięcia i klimatu z poprzednich książek autorki.
6/10
6/10
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