Walter de la Mare Books

This is the most profound book that I read as a child -- the only one that could be compared in its greatness to Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. In its imaginative, symbolic, and numinous depth it is one of the most unusual, striking books I have ever read. Through the nature of its story, its characters, its language, and the encounters that the characters have with multiple layers of human experience, it is an imaginative feat on the part of the author, Walter de la Mare (1873-1956). Originally published in 1910 as The Three Mulla-Mulgars, The Three Royal Monkeys is in effect an Odyssey for children, telling the story of how three monkey brothers undertake a long and arduous voyage encompassing multiple adventures and encounters with diverse, deep, and mysterious aspects of life in order to arrive at a paradise-like land from which their late father originated. The richness, vividness, and numinousness of the story is conveyed not only by its content but by its partially invented language. That is, the English is liberally sprinkled with names and words in the language that the monkeys themselves speak, so that it conveys the sense of being inside of a mysterious, far-away, magical, animal world that is at the same time human in its resonance: as a child I had the sense of being transported to a place where I intuited things and experiences that were way beyond my years. In a way this book would be beloved of Jungians because of the way it captures "archetypal" experience. I was fortunate to have had an uncle and aunt who always gave me and other members of my family special, unusual presents, and I consider myself so lucky that they gave me this book when I was eight years old, although I don't remember if I read it then or somewhat later. It is sad that it is currently out of print. I hope that other children will be similarly blessed by having this book given to them or made accessible through the library.

If you like the Hobbit, you'll love this "children's" novel about three royal monkeys (or mulla-mulgars) who journey across a strangely wintery fantasy Africa so that they can live with their "Uncle Assasimmon, Prince of the Valleys of Tishnar". On the way, they encounter flesh-eating "minimuls," "mountain mulgars" who do battle with eagles, the deadly beast Immanala, a beautiful water-midden who tricks one of the mulgars and takes his magic "wonderstone", a lost "Oomgar" from England, and many other adventures. The tone of the writing is wonderfully poetic and evocative, the verbal equivalent of Arthur Rackham's paintings. It's a crime this novel isn't better known.

The Three Royal Monkeys is an old book- most little kids wouldn't want anything to do with it, but if you just read the first couple of pages, you'd fall in love with it. It's got a children's book idea, but it's written for older kids. It's kind of like Lord of the Rings- not the story line or anything. These simple little "mulla-mulgars" (monkeys) have magic, their father goes in search of Tishnar, his brother's kindom, and he doesn't return in seven mulla-mulgar years. So his three sons, Thumb, Thimble, and Nod go in search of Tishnar. They have interactions with Oogmars (humans) and learn how to speak their language. I'm a seventh grader, and I love it. I know some adults that love it. It's an enchanting book, you have to read it.

De La Mare's little gem, Memoirs of a Midget has to be one of my favourite novels of all time; an uncanny situation, richly developed personalities and the ever present philisophical questions of identity, place and sexuality are all addressed in the most quizzical and charming ways. A must have for those who consider themselves lovers of fairytales as well as philosophers.

I thought that this book was excellent! As a fellow short person, I could relate to the story wonderfully! I have felt the same feelings that she felt, it was almost like a mirror was held up to my life. Well except for the when the book took place I can't believe how awesome this book was! Now perhaps people will look at the midgets and think that they are real people too, not just disformed humans. you should read this book. It was the best book I ever read. I hope that everyone reads this book so that people everywhere can get to know the hardships that we face in our day to day lives. This book really educated my friends on how hard life can be. I can only hope that others will do the same thing.

Memoirs Of A Midget by Walter de la Mare is a fictional memoir of Miss M, a diminutive young woman (exactly how diminutive is left up to the reader's interpretation!), who grows up in an orphanage and eventually falls in love with a full-sized woman even as she is courted by a male dwarf. The daily travails of Miss M, with the unique obstacles presented by her size difference, lead to her resolve to claim independence by offering herself as a spectacle in a circus. An engagingly told, wry yet witty read, Memoirs Of A Midget is a unique and inherently fascinating novel from beginning to end.

This volume collects a few volumes of de la Mare's short stories, as well as gathering together previously uncollected stories. If you're at all interested in de la Mare's gloomy, poetic prose, there's much material here to sink your teeth into.

I'm very high on this book and its companion volume, because it gives us something that for many years has been difficult to come by: a feast of De la Mare's elegant fictional prose in the short story form.

De la Mare's fiction has been available in mere piecemeal form for decades now, despite his considerable distinction as a writer of stories. In part, I think, it's because he was bucking the prevalent trends of his time in the writing of prose, as well as approach. He seems almost to come from an earlier generation.

That's not to say he's outmoded. His thinking and construction are every bit as sophisticated as his use of language; but the angle of attack is more poetic than realistic or naturalistic. He has something of a reputation as a writer of supernatural fiction, but that's a bit misleading. He wrote distinguished supernatural fiction, of course, but it might be more accurate to call him the poet of the unseen. There are dramatic scenes in his work, but it's interesting to consider how much happens offstage, and how much is implied rather than shown. It's a highly nuanced method, and understandably adaptable to the story of the supernatural, when it suited the author's purposes.

This particular volume contains several of his best stories. I'll single out for particular praise "Miss Duveen," "Seaton's Aunt" (one of the most harrowing stories of its length in English), and an especial favorite, the long story "The Almond Tree."

The rest of the book is worth one's time, too. The companion volume is every bit as high in quality. With two large volumes of stories in this series, all I can say is I regret there aren't any more. (There's a book of stories for children to follow, but that's a different category, with different rules.)

If you like de la Mare, you might find A. E. Coppard to your taste, also.

I first learned of Walter de la Mare's "Ding Dong Bell" from a student who was learning Theodore Chanler's song cycle "Eight Epitaphs." All of Chanler's pieces in the much underperformed song cycle come directly from "Ding Dong Bell." As singing written epitaphs is hardly ever done, the cycle intrigued me. I expected the book to read like labored poetry - instead it was highly accessible and well delivered.
The premise of the book is that epitaphs are delivered, but woven within a story line. There are three distinct short stories within:
The first involves a young lady discussing epitaphs from a not too distant graveyard with an older man. She is highly intrigued by his stories and asks for more and more. They part ways when the public transportation separates them.
The second story is my favorite of the three. Two lovers meet and walk to a graveyard. They find it at dusk and use matches to read the tombstones. Their own place in life is determined as they read these epitaphs of by gone days and people who are no longer remembered. They sit and wait until sunrise after the matches are no longer lit. A final epitaph is lit by the sun, which summarizes their thoughts.
The third story is one of a ghostly encounter. Again, someone - a man - is walking in the graveyard. It is a different one than he has ever visited, and he is reading the tombstones. He realizes that he is not alone and sees another person who is in the graveyard with him. They speak, and when he looks away, the person is gone.
The stories themselves are mildly intriguing. The true appeal of De la Mare's prose is his style and wordplay. It is quite beautiful - and almost poetic - but not verbose. For his time, especially considering the fact that he is known for morbidity, the book is quite lovely and sweet, all the while maintaining the delicate confines of the thin line between life and death.

Throughout the two decades from 1964 to 1984, Fontana published a remarkable skein of ghost story collections, piloted by R. Aikman and later by R. Chetwynd-Hayes, no mean supernatural authors themselves. Some of the paperbacks in this series, which winds its way up to the "20th Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories" are now collectors' items and worth over a hundred dollars apiece.

For this first book in the series, Robert Aickman selected eleven supernatural tales, including his own "The Trains." He also writes an introduction in which he states, "There are only about thirty or forty first-class ghost stories in the whole of western literature."

That's a challenge indeed, since this complete series contains well over 200 ghost stories!

These are the stories in the Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories:

"The Travelling Grave" by L.P. Hartley--This is definitely one of Aickman's 'first-class ghost stories' and it is funny in the full meaning of the phrase 'hysterically funny.' A man is invited to spend a week-end in the country, arrives late and discovers that his host and the rest of the guests are playing a game of hide-and-seek.

"The Ghost Ship" by Richard Middleton--This story is also humorous, but it lacks the hysterical edge of "The Travelling Grave." A ghostly galleon runs aground in the middle of a turnip field during a violent wind storm. Unfortunately for the peace of a nearby village, the captain and his ghostly crew are very fond of rum.

"Squire Toby's Will" by J. Sheridan Le Fanu--The roistering, hard-living Squire Toby dies, leaving his two sons at each other's throats through the provisions of his will. The younger son inherits, then discovers another will leaving the property to his older brother. While he dithers about what to do with it, the older brother dies. Two mourners enter the mansion but are never seen to leave.

"The Voice in the Night" by William Hope Hodgson--A ship becalmed in the Northern Pacific gets a strange visitor. The last line of this story is particularly horrible: "Then the oars were dipped, the boat shot out of the patch of light, and the--the thing went nodding into the mist."

"Three Miles Up" by Elizabeth Jane Howard--The English Canal System has some strange stories told about it, and this is one of the strangest and scariest. Never pick up strangers who want to hitch a ride on your boat, even if she's willing to cook and do the laundry.

"The Rocking-Horse Winner" by D.H. Lawrence--In order to help pay off his parents' debts, a little boy gets racing tips while riding his rocking horse.

"The Wendigo" by Algernon Blackwood-- This author was a pantheist and a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, eventually branching out into Buddhism and Rosicrucianism, and his stories reveal a deep, mystical appreciation of Nature, with a capital 'N.' He spent many summers in the backwoods of Canada and "The Wendigo" is probably the most eerie creation of this idyllic period of his life.

"The Crown Derby Plate" by Marjorie Bowen--Martha Pym is missing one plate from her antique Crown Derby collection. She would do almost anything to complete her set, but when the plate finally falls into her hands, she immediately gives it away. So would you, considering the source.

"The Trains" by Robert Aickman--Two lost hikers on the moors are forced to seek shelter from a rainstorm in a mansion built right over the top of a railroad. MiMi and Margaret learn quite a bit about trains from their host whose grandfather built both the house and the railroad beneath it. A woman seems to be hiding from them in the upper reaches of the house.

"The Old Nurse's Story" by Mrs. Gaskell--Here's an old classic that all ghost story connoisseurs must read at least once. A young orphan and her loving nursemaid must go to live with a distant great-aunt in Northumberland. The five-year-old soon wins over her new relative and the staff of the once-grand mansion, but who is the little girl who keeps begging her to come out and play in the storm?

"Seaton's Aunt" by Walter de la Mare--A rather unlikeable schoolboy has a repulsive aunt who seems to despise him. This is one of those moody stories where I'm never sure whether ghosts or paranoia got the upper hand.

In this book Walter De La Mare has written four fairy tales, and the best one of them is "Lord Fish". In it he tells us for the story of John Cobbler, an indolent young man who likes to fish more than everything else. The desire for finding new places to angle fish there one day drives him in the forsaken lands where once lived an evil wizard and there he finds something as horrible as sorrowful, as beautiful and the adventure he takes later, is going to change his life and the life of his mother.. The rest of the tales are very enjoyable too, but the first one is the best of them. Truly, Walter De La Mare has written some of the most beautiful tales I've ever read, all in a superior for this genre style. You really shouldn't miss this book.

If you love poetry, fun, and are up for a laugh this book is for you! The poems are timeless, familiar, and remind you that being a kid is the best time of your life.

This review is for both "In Fairyland,Pictures of the Elf World" (Princess Nobody-Andrew Lang) and (verses by William Allingham): Also "In Fairyland"
text (Princess Nobody- Andrew Lang). Both of these books are illustrated with the glorious fairy water colors of Richard Doyle. These paintings done in 1869 and reissued in 1884 are masterpieces of fairy lore and must haves for collectors. Reissued in 1979 by Viking and Derrydale respectively, they are over sized books 10"x12" of about 62pp. They are not hard to find and a diligent collector can still find them at reasonable prices.The Viking volume is printed on heavy matte stock, while the Derrydale is printed on heavy glossy stock. I love them both. The differing papers gives an added dimension to the plates. The illustrations are exquisitely colored and the stories are enchanting. His work undeniably influenced the great golden age of children's book illustrators who came after him. These are real treasures.

I discovered the work of Walter de la Mare poem by poem. Reading through anthologies, I picked poems I liked, and often found his name at the bottom of them. I recently bought this anthology, which puts together several of his earlier volumes of poetry for young people. Young, I think, is any age under 130. I am 42 years young, and love the magic de la Mare makes with language.
Highly recommended!

HP Lovecraft admired this chilling story for its "noxious background of malignant vampirism." This is de la Mare's most famous story and rightly so. We can't fully grasp who or what Seaton's aunt is, but she is drawn with consummate skill in all her prehistoric grandeur. Her conversations with her nephew and his classmate are elliptical and bizarre. I wish my high school English teachers wouldve included this gem in their lessons instead of duds like "The Crucible." Seaton's Aunt will haunt me for a long time.