Don't Look Now in NYRB Classics

Oct 08, 2011 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy, read2011, nyrb, short-stories

When this was selected for October for the NYRB Classics Group, I was willing but skeptical. I expected the stories to be similar to Rebecca, a very gothic novel which I characterized as being about "mysterious dead wives and big bleak mansions" when I read it.

I was pleasantly surprised. These still have some of the gothic tone, but there is more of a horror in the familiar that I'm used to from the old-fashioned horror short story, and Daphne du Maurier fits right into that company. Not to ment ...more

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Jun 28, 2009 Kate rated it liked it

Shelves: the-stacks, 20th-century-fic, short-fiction, nyrb, a, scary-stories-to-read-in-the-dark, favorite-presses, nest

I had no idea that Daphne Du Maurier had, in addition to authoring Rebecca had also written the source material for another great Hitchcock film 'The Birds.' If it is possible, the short story may be scarier. Du maurier is a master of the gothic story - the one that scares you out of your pants and keeps you up at night without resorting to violence or gore.

I liked this collection. 'The Birds' is definitely the best work here, but 'Monte Verita' and 'Split Second' were close. The other stories ...more

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Dec 23, 2020 Bronwyn rated it really liked it

Shelves: by-women, author-a-i, 2020-reads, title-a-i, european, short-stories, nyrb-books

This was a really good collection of Daphne DuMaurier short stories. I really enjoyed Don’t Look Now, The Blue Lenses, Split Second, Kiss Me Again, Stranger, and Indiscretion. Even the ones I didn’t particularly enjoy were really well done as well, they just weren’t as interesting to me. (I took so long to finish because the length of Monte Verita was daunting at the time and then it was just a bit slow.) Overall, really well done DuMaurier is a great writer.

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Jul 23, 2011 Cynthia rated it really liked it

Shelves: gothic, nyrb, 2011

Very solid stories of the weird, including "The Birds" which manages to be even scarier than the rather different movie Hitchcock made of it. "Split Second" is also very appealing. ...more

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Oct 18, 2011 Andy rated it really liked it

I really enjoyed this collection on the whole, though was only really BLOWN AWAY by a couple of the stories. The way they create this tense atmosphere where you know something is going to be revealed, even if the "surprise" is often clumsy or leaving you with a "that's it?" type feeling. I don't read horror or psychological thrillers often, so this is pretty interesting territory for me.

Probably the thing that creeps me out about the reveals of each story is they way they are dealt with. Rather ...more

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Oct 18, 2011 Nicholas During rated it liked it

A bit inconsistent, to tell you the truth. Some of the stories are excellent (my favs: "Don't Look Now," "The Birds", "Monte Vièrge", "Kiss Me, Stranger"), others lagged as the reader is waiting for the expected twist to come and feels like she is wasting her time until it arrives.

The atmosphere is impressive in most of the stories, however. And weirdness is one of my favorite traits in any form of art. So it was a bit of a shame that some of the stories don't hold up, in my opinion. Still, I wo ...more

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Nov 08, 2011 Seana rated it really liked it

I read this book for the NYRB book group which you can find (and join) it here. Like any, or at least most anthologies, it had it's highs and lows, and this was a bit more evident in this one because it started out with a couple of the heaviest hitters and then went downhill a bit, though it does close with the mesmerizing Monte Verità. Still, overall, it's a very entertaining collection of stories, and I never found the book a slog.

When you read a collection of stories by a single author, cert ...more

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