I am really behind with this challenge, but I actually finished three more stories some weeks ago that I have not written an update on.
The fact that I still remember much of the stories and am still in awe of them speaks for the author’s skills.
I mentioned in another post that I thought Du Maurier’s collection The Breaking Point was a fantastic read, and the three stories I had randomly picked from it before strating the book, were indeed some of the highlights.
I even went out to order her other collections for my home shelves and so I could re-visit them over and over and impose them on friends.
| Card | Story | Author | Book |
| ♥︎ 4 | The Blue Lenses | Daphne Du Maurier | The Breaking Point |
| ♥︎ 3 | Ganymede | Daphne Du Maurier | The Breaking Point |
| ♥︎ 2 | The Alibi | Daphne Du Maurier | The Breaking Point |
As for the stories I picked:
The Blue Lenses – I think this was the second story in the collection and it was weird. It about a woman who undergoes surgery for cataracts and when she wakes up her vision has changed so that she perceives people as animals – some tame and benign, some fierce, some deceptive and parasitic. The story mixes a kind of sci-fi with fable, and the result is chilling. This was very good and very memorable.
Ganymede – This was an atmospheric and very icky re-work of themes from Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice. I’m not sure that it was more icky than the original, but the tone of delusion that Du Maurier added to the story certainly made for uneasy reading. The ending of the story deviates in that events snowball and … Yes, this was another very dark story.
The Alibi – Probably my favourite story in this collection. This was also the opening story, so it set a very high bar. While I could foresee the ending when it came, I was gripped for most of the story because the premise seemed so outrageous, and dark, and just disturbing. I loved it.
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