amazing writing. Would you answer the call of the pan pipes, if you heard them ?

‘The Centaur’ is a truly remarkable departure for a writer who is generally regarded as the father of the school of shivery horror stories. Its slow pace might put off readers of the grotesque, but it merely lends force to the build-up here. It is not that the book has no supernatural horror: it has

I wonder how many Herman Hesse readers realize how closely his stories of spiritual enlightenment parallel a tale of Lovecraftian horror:
"A sensitive man of spiritual temperament is wandering the world, unsure of his place in it. Eventually he encounters some strange experience that forever chang

English author Algernon Blackwood was always one to make good use of his wide-ranging travels in the 14 novels and over 180 short stories and novellas that he would ultimately give to the world. For example, his early 1890s sojourn in Canada, where he worked as a dairy farmer and hotel operator, wou

A really good story that's hard to put a finger on or even define. At times I felt the prose was far too long and overly descriptive. I understand why Blackwood did that- he's attempting to describe the indescribable.

Personally I am very surprised that this book never became something big. In fact a

Not bad, although I could sort of see where it was going from quite early one. I don't really agree with the pagan-esque philosophy, but much of what is stated could really be ascribed to any image of the Divine. Plus, on the whole, just an interesting story, especially if you, like me, ever feel li

Overall, this was a wasted opportunity for Blackwood.

"The Centaur" was supposedly written after a brief writer's slump during which time Blackwood did a lot of traveling in the Caucasus. Later, his slump lifted, and he produced this story inspired by his feelings of awe and wonder at the sheer wild

I have trouble describing exactly how I feel about this book. In a way, the main drive of the story was pretty relatable. Someone who is fed up with the mundaneness of the modern world seeking something more comfortable and interesting in nature, a cynical skeptic who wants something more out of lif

This is a story about O'Malley, a man who is uncomfortable in the modern world and who, in the course of a vacation to get back in touch with Nature, encounters several individuals who argue both for and against the reality of his discomfort and the meaning behind it.

There are several gorgeous pass