Read more
The local landowner Van Cheele experiences an unnerving encounter with a youth sunning himself near a pond, and starts to wonder if there is any connection between this wild-looking boy and the recent disappearances of poultry, hares, lambs and, more alarmingly, an infant child in the area. To his astonishment, he discovers the next day that his aunt has decided to take the boy in, buying him a suit of clothes and naming him Gabriel-Ernest. Van Cheele remains suspicious, especially when it is revealed that there is something supernatural about their new ward.An eerie and disquieting tale about the dark side of adolescence, 'Gabriel-Ernest', written with Saki's trademark wit and mischievousness, is here presented with seven other uncanny and macabre tales, featuring Quentin Blake's inimitable illustrations.
About the author
Hector Hugh Munroe (Saki), geboren 1870 in Burma, aufgewachsen in England. Tätig als Auslandsreporter für die 'Morning Post'. 1904 erschien seine erste Kurzgeschichtensammlung. Der Autor verstarb 1916 in Frankreich.
Sir Quentin Blake, geboren 1932, ist Englands beliebtester Cartoonist und Illustrator. Jedes Kind kennt ihn, die Erwachsenen sowieso. Er hat über 300 Bücher illustriert, zumeist Kinderbücher. International bekannt ist er durch seine schwungvollen Illustrationen der Kinderbücher von Roald Dahl, u.a. "Charlie und die Schokoladenfabrik" und "Matilda".
Summary
An eerie and disquieting tale about the dark side of adolescence, 'Gabriel-Ernest', written with Saki's trademark wit and mischievousness, is here presented with seven other uncanny and macabre tales, featuring Quentin Blake's inimitable illustrations.
Report
In his sleek attacks on pretension and tough unruly optimism, Saki was irreplaceable and unreplaced. The London Review of Books
