The Breaking Point: Stories (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
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.
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.
What do You think about The Breaking Point: Stories (2013)?
...I'm a big fan of short stories and this one didn't disappoint. I had only read du Maurier's 'Rebecca' many many years ago and enjoyed it. This collection is imbued with a similar dark vein, which always works for me. The fact that these stories also reflect, at some level, her mental state - on the edge of the abyss - makes them even more compelling.Like all collections, we find some that impress and some that irk. Even the best of the bunch are not all highly polished nuggets, but I felt that the story, character, twist, or atmosphere usually made up for such lack.Not fabulous but enjoyable. I will certainly look up her other collections now.
—BohoAutumn
This was a weird book to rate, because most of the individual stories were just strange yet I really enjoyed reading the book as a whole. The front says that they are "terrifying tales" but they really aren't. Some of them did feel very creepy and all of the stories had an eerie vibe to them. The writing was much easier to read than I anticipated, so that was a pleasant surprise. My favorites were "The Blue Lenses" and "The Archduchess". I might add in individual ratings tomorrow, I'm too tired right now.
—Emma
A collection of chilling stories, signature du Maurier and each building up to a "breaking point" during the last few pages, yet not formulaic in the least. The moment in "The Alibi" where a package presumed to be garbage was unwrapped... is chilling to the core. "The Blue Lenses", a story where a woman whose eyes were operated on begins to see the people around her as animals reflecting their true nature, is said in the introduction to be the most famous, but I found it the least satisfying. The way the effect was explained, that the lenses were too tight, seemed like a half-hearted attempt at science fiction. Better off to leave certain things unexplained. "The Archduchess", a story of human folly, a society ruined by its own greed and a few misunderstandings would not have been amiss in a Vonnegut anthology - the level of sarcasm was high enough. The jabs at organized religion were even there. I kept glancing at the cover with the author's name while reading this. du Maurier, you wrote this? You are more versatile an author than one gives you credit for."Ganymede" is a tale of a self-proclaimed classic scholar's misadventure in Venice. Classic scholasticism is such a pretty way of describing his child predator tendencies. "The Pool" was beautifully written...but I could not connect with it, not being of the sort to own summer country homes. "The Menace" described a new type of cinema, in which the actor's emotions are made part of the recorded experience, called "the feelies". This is different from the feelies in Huxley's Brave New World, and focuses on how a good-looking but emotionally bland actor and his team cope with the new technology."The Chamois" is about fear, and facing fear with...murder? It's a spooky story, and I'm uncertain about the ending.The last story is "The Lordly Ones", about a young mute boy who runs away with moor-people...that I don't understand at all.
—Christine
