Bon Appetite - Soups & Salads: Stry of Dizzy Dean & BSBL

by Francis G. Thompson

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 051713599X
• ISBN13: 9780517135990
• Release Date: January 1973
• Publisher: Random House Value Publishing
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Gaelic ghosts a' piping

"So far as was possible, the writer has tried to ensure that in the appropriate chapters of this book the instances of sightings, and the witnessing of supernatural manifestations, are authentic." --a provocative introduction for a reader who is looking for a good scare.Alas, the remainder of the introduction by Francis Thomson is overly long and meandering. A story from Gaelic mythology is clumsily translated, and the author spends too much print on his own classification scheme for ghosts. Some of the stories in this book appear to be incompletely edited--In the chapter on "Strange Happenings", the author quotes at length from a friend who ecountered a ghostly piper, and it seemed to me as though his story was copied from a letter whose pages were jumbled together in the wrong order. One moment the friend is strolling along the burn, the next moment he is roused from his bed by the sound of a ghostly piper.Also, many of the stories in "Ghosts Spritis and Spectres of Scotland" have been told elsewhere, most notably in James Robertson's "Scottish Ghost Stories".Nevertheless, this book still earns its four stars. In chapter 6, "Tales of Horror" the author lets out all of the stops, and I had to go seek human companionship before I could finish the story about the haunted house in the neighborhood of Glasgow's Blythswood Square. In "Ghostly Noises and Lights", there are lots of eerie variations on death divination and second sight. The planks used to make coffins seem to be especially prescient.Definitely read "Ghosts Spirits and Spectres of Scotland" if you like frightening stories with a Gaelic twist. There are enough ghostly pipers in this book to entertain even the most ardent admirer of Scottish lore.One final quibble: I wish the author or publisher had mentioned the source of this book's illustrations, because they provide just the right atmosphere for the stories. Haunting. Very haunting.

Illustrations & stories of Haunted Scotland

"So far as was possible, the writer has tried to ensure that in the appropriate chapters of this book the instances of sightings, and the witnessing of supernatural manifestations, are authentic." --a provocative introduction for a reader who is looking for a good scare.Alas, the remainder of the introduction by Francis Thomson is overly long and meandering. A story from Gaelic mythology is clumsily translated, and the author spends too much print on his own classification scheme for ghosts. Some of the stories in this book appear to be incompletely edited--In the chapter on "Strange Happenings", the author quotes at length from a friend who ecountered a ghostly piper, and it seemed to me as though his story was copied from a letter whose pages were jumbled together in the wrong order. One moment the friend is strolling along the burn, the next moment he is roused from his bed by the sound of a ghostly piper.Also, many of the stories in "Ghosts Spritis and Spectres of Scotland" have been told elsewhere, most notably in James Robertson's "Scottish Ghost Stories".Nevertheless, this book still earns its four stars. In chapter 6, "Tales of Horror" the author lets out all of the stops, and I had to go seek human companionship before I could finish the story about the haunted house in the neighborhood of Glasgow's Blythswood Square. In "Ghostly Noises and Lights", there are lots of eerie variations on death divination and second sight. The planks used to make coffins seem to be especially prescient.Definitely read "Ghosts Spirits and Spectres of Scotland" if you like frightening stories with a Gaelic twist. There are enough ghostly pipers in this book to entertain even the most ardent admirer of Scottish lore. One final quibble: I wish the author or publisher had mentioned the source of this book's illustrations, because they provide just the right atmosphere for the stories. Haunting. Very haunting.