FANTASTIC TALES - Iginio Ugo Tarchetti



I know nothing about Iginio Ugo Tarchetti, but the description of these short stories sounded like something right up my alley. "Italian Gothic tales of obsessive love, mysterious phobias, and the hellish curse of everlasting life."  Yes, this sounds fascinating to me.

And best of all ... I really enjoyed these stories.

Writing roughly around the same time as America's favorite macabre storyteller, Edgar Allen Poe, Tarchetti shows a great deal of versatility here with these works - from the dark an eerie stories that would rival Poe or Lovecraft, to the humorous to the absurd. It was fun not knowing what i was going to get next with each story. Though with the first major shift in story genre, I did go back to make sure i had opened the correct book on my Kindle because it wasn't what I was expecting.

Unlike a lot of Western literature from the 19th century, which I often find to be onerous to read, Tarchetti was extremely approachable. His tone was generally quite casual and direct, speaking to the reader in a conversational manner. How much of this is the author and how much is the result of the translation by Lawrence Venuti is hard to say.

I'm really glad to have had the opportunity to read these short stories and to be introduced to a 'new' author.

This book contains the following:

"The Legend of the Black Castle"
"Captain Gubart's Fortune"
"A Spirit in a Raspberry"
"Bouvard"
"A Dead Man's Bone"
"The Lake of the Three Lampreys (A Popular Tradition)"
"The Letter U (A Madman's Manuscript)"
"The Fated"

Looking for a good book? For readers who enjoy a surprise, love short stories, and don't mind the occasional dark gothic tale, Iginio Ugo Tarchetti's Fantastic Tales is a book to look for.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

3-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

Fantastic Tales

author: Iginio Ugo Tarchetti

translator: Lawrence Venuti

publisher: Archipelago Books

ISBN: 9781939810625

paperback, 260 pages

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