When I was a young girl, I devoured Conan Doyles' Sherlock Holmes. At one point, I could quote entire passages from my favorite stories. Todays' book reminds me so much of these great short stories...the settings, language, pace, the flavor...but with that paranormal twist :) "The Secrets of Doctor Taverner" (Dion Fortune) is a book I shall savor most particularly on stormy nights.
Quote #1: 'Then that German we all saw---'
'Was merely a corpse who was insufficiently dead.' (Page 18, paragraph 4)
'Insufficiently dead' is better than a zombie any day! Even better is the use of the word 'merely'.
As if running into the insufficiently dead is a common occurrence. An interesting life, indeed, does the good Doctor have.
Quote #2: 'Rhodes,' he said, 'would you prefer to die & be done with, or to spend all your life in fear of death?' 'I would sooner die 10 times over,' I replied. 'So would I', said Taverner. 'A life sentence is worse than a death sentence.' (Page 83, paragraph 9)
A very good point. Death is the easy way out.
Visual: "Then I saw the form of a woman at the window. Shining with its own luminosity, it was clearly visable in the green gloom that was like the bottom of the sea. The hair floated out like seaweed, the shoulders gleamed like marble, the face was that of a Beata Beatrix awakened from her dream, & the eyes were like sea-water seen from a rock...." (Page 170, paragraph 5)
A lovely image of a mermaid, or a selky, perhaps. The phrasing is a little old-fashioned, but all the more pleasing to my ear. A comfort when faced with the nonsense of modern stresses, such as Black Friday ;)
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