John Gaskin Livres

The twelve ‘Tales of Twilight and Borderlands’ that make up The Master of the House are in the classic tradition of English ghost stories and tales of the unknown. They are recounted with a powerful sense of place: winter on an unfrequented moor, Oxford railway station in the 1950s, high summer near a legendary Roman camp, a Victorian suburb in London, a college VIII rowing home on a December evening, a railway journey delayed by frost and snow into endless night. The narratives are touched with sardonic humour and a feeling for things past and to come that make the unexpected a sometimes terrible reality. Contents: ‘Foreword’, ‘The Memento Mori’, ‘Wolvershiel’, ‘Addendum to a Confession’, ‘Wings’, ‘The Pit’, ‘Empty Places’, ‘Party Talk’, ‘The Double Crossing’, ‘Night Music’, ‘The Master of the House’, ‘The New Inn Hall Inheritance’, ‘Where Shadows Lead’.

In this clear and evocative account, John Gaskin unfolds the thinking about nature, life, death and other worlds that informed the culture and society of the Classical world, drawing out its interest for modern readers. Witty sketches and diagrams enliven the story, which runs from Homeric Greece to the banning of pagan religions in ad 391. The book concludes with a gazetteer describing notable sites and the people and ideas connected with them, making it an ideal companion for visitors to Classical ruins and for all armchair travellers curious to explore life's big questions.