Bill Kerwin's Reviews > The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral
The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral
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Bill Kerwin's review
bookshelves: 20th-c-brit, ghost-stories, short-stories, weird-fiction
Nov 01, 2018
bookshelves: 20th-c-brit, ghost-stories, short-stories, weird-fiction
First published in More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, “The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral is notable not only for its genuine scares—of which it has more than a few—but also because it conceals, beneath the vesture of its ghostly sheets a real honest-to-god murder mystery, the solution of which reveals that the dark heart of ambition may be found in the most placid of professions, the mildest of men. But it is wise that I say no more about the murder, for that is something the reader must explore for himself.
Another virtue of this story is the precision and uncanniness that may be found in its descriptions of ecclesiastic scenes. James� work offers other examples just as good—“Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook� and “The Treasure of Abbot Thomas� come immediately to mind—but none better. Witness this description of of the archdeacon’s stall in the draft of a letter from Archdeacon Haynes to Sylvanus Urban (pseudonym of the editor of The Gentleman’s Magazine):
Another virtue of this story is the precision and uncanniness that may be found in its descriptions of ecclesiastic scenes. James� work offers other examples just as good—“Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook� and “The Treasure of Abbot Thomas� come immediately to mind—but none better. Witness this description of of the archdeacon’s stall in the draft of a letter from Archdeacon Haynes to Sylvanus Urban (pseudonym of the editor of The Gentleman’s Magazine):
The archdeacon’s stall, situated at the south-east end, west of the episcopal throne . . . is distinguished by some curious ornamentation. . . the prayer-desk is terminated at the eastern extremity by three small but remarkable statuettes in the grotesque manner. One is an exquisitely modelled figure of a cat, whose crouching posture suggests with admirable spirit the suppleness, vigilance, and craft of the redoubted adversary of the genus Mus. Opposite to this is a figure seated upon a throne and invested with the attributes of royalty; but it is no earthly monarch whom the carver has sought to portray. His feet are studiously concealed by the long robe in which he is draped: but neither the crown nor the cap which he wears suffice to hide the prick-ears and curving horns which betray his Tartarean origin; and the hand which rests upon his knee, is armed with talons of horrifying length and sharpness. Between these two figures stands a shape muffled in a long mantle. This might at first sight be mistaken for a monk or “friar of orders gray�, for the head is cowled and a knotted cord depends from somewhere about the waist. A slight inspection, however, will lead to a very different conclusion. The knotted cord is quickly seen to be a halter, held by a hand all but concealed within the draperies; while the sunken features and, horrid to relate, the rent flesh upon the cheek-bones, proclaim the King of Terrors. These figures are evidently the production of no unskilled chisel; and should it chance that any of your correspondents are able to throw light upon their origin and significance, my obligations to your valuable miscellany will be largely increased.�
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Reading Progress
November 1, 2018
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Started Reading
November 1, 2018
– Shelved
November 1, 2018
– Shelved as:
20th-c-brit
November 1, 2018
– Shelved as:
ghost-stories
November 1, 2018
– Shelved as:
short-stories
November 1, 2018
– Shelved as:
weird-fiction
November 1, 2018
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Finished Reading