Litterbury

October 2008 was a great time for stylish rereleases.  I’ve posted on The New Annotated Dracula and The Complete Ripley Novels box set, both by W. W. Norton, and now I want to mention the New York Review of Books’ compilation from Daphne du Maurier.

Don’t Look Now is a collection of nine stories by du Maurier as chosen by Patrick McGrath; he also supplies an introduction piece.  It includes the very popular story, ‘The Birds,’ though it won’t be recognizable to Alfred Hitchcock fans (du Maurier was reportedly not pleased with the liberties Hitchcock took with her narrative), and also the popular title story, which was filmed by Nicolas Roeg.  The other stories are filled with the sense of romance, the mysterious and, naturally, the type of thrills and chills that made du Maurier such an icon in world literature.

Daphne du Maurier is probably best known for her novel, Rebecca.  It’s a very misunderstood and under appreciated book, with critics citing it as a poor retread of Jane Eyre, and it managed to snag an Oscar for Best Picture for the David O. Selznick production in 1941, which, incidentally, was Hitchcock’s first American film; Hitchcock would also helm another du Maurier adaptation in Jamaica Inn.

It’s Rebecca, however, where du Maurier really made a case for her literary career.  It’s an almost peerless, modern gothic that tells of a mysterious widower who remarries a much younger woman, only for her to discover in great unease that no one can seem to forget the now dead former wife, Rebecca.  How charming Rebecca was.  How beautiful Rebecca was.  Just how very perfect Rebecca was.  The story then takes some unexpected, not to mention, creepy twists, and there is a constant sense of the supernatural at work, and maybe more than a few people who have some sinister secrets to hide within the walls of the old estate residence, Manderly.

I’ve read Rebecca and consider it a very good book, even if not everyone seems very comfortable admitting it.  If one doesn’t draw too staunch a comparison to the towering masterwork in Bronte’s Jane Eyre, then Rebecca survives as truly inspired storytelling.  I’ve also read Jamaica Inn, and while the character work was fantastic, the story seemed a little too frothy for it’s own good, and the sexual references seemed to almost border on the absurd.

There are many other du Maurier books that I’ve yet to read, but one quickly notices a problem with trying to track them down.  None are really available as recently published hardbacks, and the flimsy paper copies are strikingly pricey, though Amazon seems to be offering them at a minor reduction.  Obviously the London born du Maurier won’t see the royal treatment from an entity such as the Library of America, but why hasn’t someone turned on a light bulb over at Everyman’s Library? It’s all very discouraging, and establishes an ongoing trend in the publishing business, and the literary world at large, in that cheaply produced copies can inherently translate a particular writers legacy to be of the same quality.  I just did a post on on the unfairly recognized Woolrich, and many others of the ‘Pulp’ genre find themselves to suffer a similar fate.  It’s hideous.

That’s why it’s so reassuring to see du Maurier getting some real respect for a change with this particular release.  It is a paperback, true, but it’s beautifully printed and bound.  The inside covers are a solid purple color, which had me wondering if it wasn’t a nod to the concept of endpapers in hardcover books, and it also happens to be printed on acid-free paper.  Shock! I wasn’t even sure if they could do that with paperbacks, as I don’t recall ever seeing such a thing before, and I was honestly convinced that maybe acid-free paper couldn’t somehow be bound in softer fashion.  Has anyone told the folks over at Penguin about this ingenious marvel? If not, then they really should as Penguin needs to get on top of that one.

Anyway, this is an excellent release, and a generally faultless one at that.  My only complaint is that it seems far too short at only nine stories, and I easily could have settled in for twice that number, but it wouldn’t be fair to take up such a complaint with this one as what is here is pretty good stuff.  The stories are all filled with nice little twists and shocks, and they are all perfectly creepy, and they also capture the rather romantic and stylish knack that du Maurier brings to her writing.  There are great touches of her excellent wit on display, as well.  To Mr. McGrath’s credit, he did a nice job with the selection, and provides a nice introduction.  It’s brief, but articulate and incisive.

If you’re looking for an entertaining and quality read, you’ll be pleased with this one.  My instructions are to gather up any available pets at your feet, and make yourself a proper drink as you take to your favorite reading chair.  This book is the perfect companion for a dark and stormy night, or great fare for a rainy day.

* * *

Don’t Look Now, by Daphne du Maurier, and selected with an introduction by Patrick McGrath, 346 pages

The New York Review of Books

Published October 2008

Listed at $15.95

UPDATE: It probably would have been helpful if I had listed the stories contained in this volume; here they are:

Don’t Look Now

The Birds

Escort

Split Second

Kiss Me Again, Stranger

The Blue Lenses

La Sainte-Vierge

Indiscretion

Monte Verita