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British Library Tales of the Weird
Dangerous Dimensions: Mind-Bending Tales of the Mathematical Weird
Unlike the Gothic, which tends to fixate on the past, the haunted, and the ghostly, early weird fiction tends to probe, instead, the very boundaries of reality, exploring the laws and limits of time, space, and matter. This new collection assembles a range of tales from the late 19th and early 20th century that showcase weird fiction’s unique preoccupation with physics, mathematics, and mathematicians. From tales of the fifth dimension and higher space, to impossible mathematics and mirror worlds, these stories draw attention to one of the genre’s founding inspirations—the quest to explore what "reality" means, where its limits lie, and how we cope when we near the answers.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 21, 2021
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October 1, 2022
Dangerous Dimensions starts out promisingly enough, with its frontispiece drawn from the illustrations of notorious four-dimensional visualizer Charles Howard Hinton and an introduction from editor Bartholomew that, while short, does its best to link the history of the two tributaries that funnel into the book, the "mathematical" and the "weird". And, indeed, while I enjoyed the anthology as a whole, it seems like uniting these two strands did put Bartholomew somewhat in a bind. The fourth dimension is as far as many of these stories go into math, and while I do love thinking about the fourth dimension (and have been curiously attracted at several points in time by Hinton's work), I thought the math in the stories could desperately use more variety.
The two biggest science-fictional names here are H.G. Wells and Robert A. Heinlein, and both of them treat the fourth dimension pretty carefully in Bartholomew's selections. I actually first read Heinlein's "'—And He Built a Crooked House—'" as a child, in the much older, Clifton Fadiman-edited Fantasia Mathematica (and at that time missed the story's rampant sexism). Comparing Dangerous Dimensions with Fadiman's anthology is instructive, because the math that shows up in Fantasia Mathematica is various and multifaceted, while Bartholomew, with a few exceptions, sticks to one and the same theme.
I'm actually pretty surprised at this consistency — the Tales of the Weird series to which Dangerous Dimensions belongs apparently has access to the British Library's unpublished vaults, or something along those lines. There is, of course, the other constraint on the stories included here, which is that they must also be, more or less, "weird fiction": a genre over which, at the present moment in history, H.P. Lovecraft casts his long shadow. Here, the Lovecraft tale Bartholomew includes, "The Trap" (coauthored by Henry S. Whitehead), is curiously muted considering its provenance, very similar in some respects to the Wells selection ("The Plattner Story") and mostly suffering in comparison, while the apparently famous "The Hounds of Tindalos" by Lovecraft acolyte Frank Belknap Long is frankly ridiculous, and not in a good way. Defenders of the writerly craft of verisimilitude may look on "The Hounds of Tindalos" and despair.
One thing I do celebrate about this anthology is Bartholomew's inclusion, soon before the book's end, of a story by one of my all-time favorite authors, Jorge Luis Borges. Although "The Library of Babel" isn't in my top tier of Borges stories, its approach to both the mathematical side and the weird side of this collection's theme is completely refreshing after perhaps too heavy a dose of cosmic horror. Borges writes from a completely different tradition from the other authors here, and the juxtaposition is both fascinating and highly welcome.
I'm still giving this book four stars, in part because I really hadn't read much non-Lovecraftian weird fiction before (and my favorite story in the book, Algernon Blackwood's "The Pikestaffe Case", is worth a lot as a counterbalance to Lovecraft), and in part because I find the very fact that the historical writers of the mathematical weird found themselves hemmed in so strongly in topic to itself be highly intriguing. Right now, as a fan of both the mathematical and the weird (and here, it should be said, I'm not restricting myself to fiction alone), I want their Venn diagram's overlap to undergo some kind of revival and revolution. All the new mathematics out there since these stories were first published practically demands it!
The two biggest science-fictional names here are H.G. Wells and Robert A. Heinlein, and both of them treat the fourth dimension pretty carefully in Bartholomew's selections. I actually first read Heinlein's "'—And He Built a Crooked House—'" as a child, in the much older, Clifton Fadiman-edited Fantasia Mathematica (and at that time missed the story's rampant sexism). Comparing Dangerous Dimensions with Fadiman's anthology is instructive, because the math that shows up in Fantasia Mathematica is various and multifaceted, while Bartholomew, with a few exceptions, sticks to one and the same theme.
I'm actually pretty surprised at this consistency — the Tales of the Weird series to which Dangerous Dimensions belongs apparently has access to the British Library's unpublished vaults, or something along those lines. There is, of course, the other constraint on the stories included here, which is that they must also be, more or less, "weird fiction": a genre over which, at the present moment in history, H.P. Lovecraft casts his long shadow. Here, the Lovecraft tale Bartholomew includes, "The Trap" (coauthored by Henry S. Whitehead), is curiously muted considering its provenance, very similar in some respects to the Wells selection ("The Plattner Story") and mostly suffering in comparison, while the apparently famous "The Hounds of Tindalos" by Lovecraft acolyte Frank Belknap Long is frankly ridiculous, and not in a good way. Defenders of the writerly craft of verisimilitude may look on "The Hounds of Tindalos" and despair.
One thing I do celebrate about this anthology is Bartholomew's inclusion, soon before the book's end, of a story by one of my all-time favorite authors, Jorge Luis Borges. Although "The Library of Babel" isn't in my top tier of Borges stories, its approach to both the mathematical side and the weird side of this collection's theme is completely refreshing after perhaps too heavy a dose of cosmic horror. Borges writes from a completely different tradition from the other authors here, and the juxtaposition is both fascinating and highly welcome.
I'm still giving this book four stars, in part because I really hadn't read much non-Lovecraftian weird fiction before (and my favorite story in the book, Algernon Blackwood's "The Pikestaffe Case", is worth a lot as a counterbalance to Lovecraft), and in part because I find the very fact that the historical writers of the mathematical weird found themselves hemmed in so strongly in topic to itself be highly intriguing. Right now, as a fan of both the mathematical and the weird (and here, it should be said, I'm not restricting myself to fiction alone), I want their Venn diagram's overlap to undergo some kind of revival and revolution. All the new mathematics out there since these stories were first published practically demands it!
March 21, 2024
When browsing my local bookshop a while back, I noticed a new collection of anthologies: British Library Tales of the Weird Series. But it was this volume in particular that caught my eye. I think I've always been intrigued by the more esoteric mathematical concepts. Turns out that the stories in this book are mostly concerned other dimensions.
There stories are all taken from a period roughly between the late 19th and mid 20th centuries and while there were many good stories in here, I think I might have been good to include some more modern selections (authors such as Ted Chiang spring to mind), particularly given the theme of this particular anthology.
However, there were some really enjoyable stories in here. I was especially pleased to find two stories by Algernon Blackwood that I had not read before but were up there with his best. They were: "A Victim of Higher Space" and "The Pikestaffe Case".
There was even a story by H.P. Lovecraft (co-authored by Henry S. Whitehead) that I had not read before and I thought I had read them all.
Other notable stories include:
"-and he Built a Crooked House-" by Robert A. Heinlein. An architect attempts to build a house in the shame of a hyper-cube and succeeds more than he could possibly have suspected.
"The Living Equation" by Nat Schachner in which a burglar accidentally sets off a machine that nearly completely reconfigures the fundamental constants of the universe.
"The Library of Babel" by Jorge Luis Borges is one that I think I've read before but I enjoyed reading it again. the story explores what a real, truly infinite library of babel might actually look like.
"The Hounds of Tindalos" by Frank Belknap Long in which the protagonist is forced to witness an experiment where someone takes a drug so that his mind might travel back through time to see where it all began.
Of course, I enjoyed some more than others and some of them were more forgettable although there weren't any that I actually disliked. All in all a very enjoyable collection.
There stories are all taken from a period roughly between the late 19th and mid 20th centuries and while there were many good stories in here, I think I might have been good to include some more modern selections (authors such as Ted Chiang spring to mind), particularly given the theme of this particular anthology.
However, there were some really enjoyable stories in here. I was especially pleased to find two stories by Algernon Blackwood that I had not read before but were up there with his best. They were: "A Victim of Higher Space" and "The Pikestaffe Case".
There was even a story by H.P. Lovecraft (co-authored by Henry S. Whitehead) that I had not read before and I thought I had read them all.
Other notable stories include:
"-and he Built a Crooked House-" by Robert A. Heinlein. An architect attempts to build a house in the shame of a hyper-cube and succeeds more than he could possibly have suspected.
"The Living Equation" by Nat Schachner in which a burglar accidentally sets off a machine that nearly completely reconfigures the fundamental constants of the universe.
"The Library of Babel" by Jorge Luis Borges is one that I think I've read before but I enjoyed reading it again. the story explores what a real, truly infinite library of babel might actually look like.
"The Hounds of Tindalos" by Frank Belknap Long in which the protagonist is forced to witness an experiment where someone takes a drug so that his mind might travel back through time to see where it all began.
Of course, I enjoyed some more than others and some of them were more forgettable although there weren't any that I actually disliked. All in all a very enjoyable collection.
March 24, 2024
Van pulp (**) tot Borges (*****)
April 29, 2024
This collection fits right into that category of "weird" tales and most are near enough to identical concepts. Each deals with mysterious happenings that involve some form of extra dimensional experimentation. Most are told as accounts of past events and spend a little effort in convincing us readers of the veracity of the details, which I guess was the trend of the emerging genre. The mathematical ideas serve only as entry points really, although some stories spend a little more time on speculation than others.
I was hoping for a little more sci in my fi but I knew what I was getting into when I started and that aspect did generally improve for the later entries. The stories are arranged chronologically, in order of publication date and I liked that progression.
I wrote a few lines of commentary after reading each story but could probably as effectively have limited myself to general comments which would have served the collection as a whole. Nonetheless, here are the notes that I wrote:
'The Plattner Story' - H.G. Wells (1896)
(3 stars) A curious account of a man who had his left and right sides swapped over! This is purely a recounting of the events that lead to the perplexing situation with very brief speculations and no real punchline. If you could believe it were a true account it may have some creepy implications.
'The Hall Bedroom' - Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman (1903)
(3 stars) This short tale is framed, the leaseholder of the house rents out the rooms to boarders and she sets up the scenario for us but then lets the main events be told through the journal entries of one of her tenants. The Hall Bedroom seems to grow to indefinite size when the lights go out and that's just where the "weird" fun begins.
As a bonus I also read her short story, 'An Old Arithmetician' which was printed in Harper's New Monthly Magazine (September, 1885). It's not in this collection and does not fit into the "weird fiction" genre but it is mentioned in the introduction to 'Hall Bedroom' and since I am interested more specifically in mathematical fiction I thought I'd give it a go. If you google the title you'll find it available from several online libraries. - (4 stars) I really enjoyed it. It's a bit of an ode to the joy of mathematics, but also a lovely little tale about family and obsessions and different types of smart.
'Space' - John Buchan (1911)
(4 stars) This one occurs as a conversation (or three) and for a moment leads you to think it'll progress in time with the narrative but it eventually becomes a recounting, like the first two.
It's notable for suggesting that space may be made up of tiny chords (hello string theory) and for being much more focused on mathematical abstractions. It posits that most humans have lost a sort of extraspatial-awareness ability and that the behaviour of cats can be explained thusly. If that's not "weird" enough it does eventually follow the trend of the genre and introduce the possibility of an eerie unknown.
'A Victim of Higher Space' - Algernon Blackwood (1914)
(4 stars) Even though its central idea was psychic, this was great. The first in the collection to have well developed characters, probably because the "detective" was borrowed from a previous Blackwood story and was (I'm guessing) somewhat modelled on the great Sherlock Holmes. Much credit also to the writing, for the thoughtful characters and for an excellent delivery. While this begins as an account it finally becomes a "live-action" story, (another first for the collection.)
'The Pikestaffe Case' - Algernon Blackwood (1924)
(3 stars) All of these stories have had a roughly similar theme of discovering extra dimensions and the presumed result of such an accomplishment, but this one shares an extra feature with 'The Hall Bedroom' of being about a mysterious boarder.
Again the characters seem a little more developed by this author, and the plot unfolds in real time but it is all a little samey.
'The Hounds of Tindalos' - Frank Belknap Long (1929)
(3 stars) A touch on the bland side to begin with as the experimenter spends quite some time describing his experience to his witness. Monsters are not a big draw for me but it was nice to do something a little different to the previous entries and it's probably a good lead up to the next story. I enjoyed the pseudobabble.
'The Trap' - Henry S. Whitehead and H.P. Lovecraft (1932)
(3 stars) Perhaps I'm running out of interesting things to say about these stories because of the recurring style and theme. This one has the unique quality of including a specific entry point into the "weird" dimension. It is another tale told in retrospect and though it might be said that the descriptive language is notably richer it wasn't as creepy as I expected it to be. When it all wraps up it there is a lingering consequence which parallels Plattner's experience.
'The Living Equation' - Nat Schachner (1934)
(5 stars) That's more like it, direct mathematical manipulation of the universe. This one pays more respect to science than any of the others many of which espoused vague anti science notions and there is also a quote herein about the fundamental nature of mathematics which is in direct contrast with an earlier quote claiming that numbers do not exist!
Forget about your typical dark and mysterious tale of the paranormal creeping out of unlocked dimensions, in this story when a bumbling thief accidentally fires up an experimental machine it triggers a cataclysmic change in the fundamental laws of the universe.
'Infinity Zero' - Donald Wandrei (1936)
(5 stars) A standout for having a tangible cause for its extraordinary occurrences. This story introduces the idea that an interdimensional breach may be caused by international misdeeds of the nuclear war machine, in this case by smashing atoms together. And not only that, the calamity itself is described in great scifi detail.
'The Library of Babel' - Jorge Luis Borges (1941)
(2 stars) I found this conceptually stimulating but bland as a story. A library that contains a single copy of every book in the universe, written in a universal language consisting of 22 characters and less than a handful of punctuation marks. Maybe I missed the point.
'And He Built a Crooked House' - Robert Heinlein (1941)
(4 stars) Conceptually interesting and quite humorous. There's not much to tell about this one, apart from that it features some play with trippy interdimensional boundaries. Actually, in that regard it is similar to the previous entry but I guess this one is told in a more engaging fashion. Note that we seem largely to have moved away from monsters over the last few stories and are generating a sense of fear of being lost in the unknown without any need for dark entities.
'Slips Take Over' - Miriam Allen deFord (1964)
(3 stars) This one slips into the idea of parallel dimensions as opposed to extra ones but it doesn't focus so much on how that might happen. Instead it's about what that might mean if it did happen and I guess how alien it might feel to an unsuspecting transdimensional traveller. Your surroundings might be similar enough to feel familiar but things don't work quite the way you remember they should... it's enough to drive a person mad.
Again, though it is a neat thought experiment the author didn't run very far with it in this ultra short, short story.
I was hoping for a little more sci in my fi but I knew what I was getting into when I started and that aspect did generally improve for the later entries. The stories are arranged chronologically, in order of publication date and I liked that progression.
I wrote a few lines of commentary after reading each story but could probably as effectively have limited myself to general comments which would have served the collection as a whole. Nonetheless, here are the notes that I wrote:
'The Plattner Story' - H.G. Wells (1896)
(3 stars) A curious account of a man who had his left and right sides swapped over! This is purely a recounting of the events that lead to the perplexing situation with very brief speculations and no real punchline. If you could believe it were a true account it may have some creepy implications.
'The Hall Bedroom' - Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman (1903)
(3 stars) This short tale is framed, the leaseholder of the house rents out the rooms to boarders and she sets up the scenario for us but then lets the main events be told through the journal entries of one of her tenants. The Hall Bedroom seems to grow to indefinite size when the lights go out and that's just where the "weird" fun begins.
As a bonus I also read her short story, 'An Old Arithmetician' which was printed in Harper's New Monthly Magazine (September, 1885). It's not in this collection and does not fit into the "weird fiction" genre but it is mentioned in the introduction to 'Hall Bedroom' and since I am interested more specifically in mathematical fiction I thought I'd give it a go. If you google the title you'll find it available from several online libraries. - (4 stars) I really enjoyed it. It's a bit of an ode to the joy of mathematics, but also a lovely little tale about family and obsessions and different types of smart.
'Space' - John Buchan (1911)
(4 stars) This one occurs as a conversation (or three) and for a moment leads you to think it'll progress in time with the narrative but it eventually becomes a recounting, like the first two.
It's notable for suggesting that space may be made up of tiny chords (hello string theory) and for being much more focused on mathematical abstractions. It posits that most humans have lost a sort of extraspatial-awareness ability and that the behaviour of cats can be explained thusly. If that's not "weird" enough it does eventually follow the trend of the genre and introduce the possibility of an eerie unknown.
'A Victim of Higher Space' - Algernon Blackwood (1914)
(4 stars) Even though its central idea was psychic, this was great. The first in the collection to have well developed characters, probably because the "detective" was borrowed from a previous Blackwood story and was (I'm guessing) somewhat modelled on the great Sherlock Holmes. Much credit also to the writing, for the thoughtful characters and for an excellent delivery. While this begins as an account it finally becomes a "live-action" story, (another first for the collection.)
'The Pikestaffe Case' - Algernon Blackwood (1924)
(3 stars) All of these stories have had a roughly similar theme of discovering extra dimensions and the presumed result of such an accomplishment, but this one shares an extra feature with 'The Hall Bedroom' of being about a mysterious boarder.
Again the characters seem a little more developed by this author, and the plot unfolds in real time but it is all a little samey.
'The Hounds of Tindalos' - Frank Belknap Long (1929)
(3 stars) A touch on the bland side to begin with as the experimenter spends quite some time describing his experience to his witness. Monsters are not a big draw for me but it was nice to do something a little different to the previous entries and it's probably a good lead up to the next story. I enjoyed the pseudobabble.
'The Trap' - Henry S. Whitehead and H.P. Lovecraft (1932)
(3 stars) Perhaps I'm running out of interesting things to say about these stories because of the recurring style and theme. This one has the unique quality of including a specific entry point into the "weird" dimension. It is another tale told in retrospect and though it might be said that the descriptive language is notably richer it wasn't as creepy as I expected it to be. When it all wraps up it there is a lingering consequence which parallels Plattner's experience.
'The Living Equation' - Nat Schachner (1934)
(5 stars) That's more like it, direct mathematical manipulation of the universe. This one pays more respect to science than any of the others many of which espoused vague anti science notions and there is also a quote herein about the fundamental nature of mathematics which is in direct contrast with an earlier quote claiming that numbers do not exist!
Forget about your typical dark and mysterious tale of the paranormal creeping out of unlocked dimensions, in this story when a bumbling thief accidentally fires up an experimental machine it triggers a cataclysmic change in the fundamental laws of the universe.
'Infinity Zero' - Donald Wandrei (1936)
(5 stars) A standout for having a tangible cause for its extraordinary occurrences. This story introduces the idea that an interdimensional breach may be caused by international misdeeds of the nuclear war machine, in this case by smashing atoms together. And not only that, the calamity itself is described in great scifi detail.
'The Library of Babel' - Jorge Luis Borges (1941)
(2 stars) I found this conceptually stimulating but bland as a story. A library that contains a single copy of every book in the universe, written in a universal language consisting of 22 characters and less than a handful of punctuation marks. Maybe I missed the point.
'And He Built a Crooked House' - Robert Heinlein (1941)
(4 stars) Conceptually interesting and quite humorous. There's not much to tell about this one, apart from that it features some play with trippy interdimensional boundaries. Actually, in that regard it is similar to the previous entry but I guess this one is told in a more engaging fashion. Note that we seem largely to have moved away from monsters over the last few stories and are generating a sense of fear of being lost in the unknown without any need for dark entities.
'Slips Take Over' - Miriam Allen deFord (1964)
(3 stars) This one slips into the idea of parallel dimensions as opposed to extra ones but it doesn't focus so much on how that might happen. Instead it's about what that might mean if it did happen and I guess how alien it might feel to an unsuspecting transdimensional traveller. Your surroundings might be similar enough to feel familiar but things don't work quite the way you remember they should... it's enough to drive a person mad.
Again, though it is a neat thought experiment the author didn't run very far with it in this ultra short, short story.
Read
January 7, 2024Anthologies with the tightest themes inevitably run the most risk of feeling repetitive, making them exactly the sort not best served by caning them while on a Kindle Unlimited freebie. Ah well, at least I had a break from this one for the Christmas ghosts. The earliest stories, in particular, often land on very similar notions as the idea of the fourth dimension first percolates through the culture. Or at least, it feels that way - there are only two tales about expanding available space in rented rooms (so that's still topical, then), two centred on mirrors, two people who disappear from schools and return with their heart and handedness on the other side - but these interlocking symmetries contribute to the sense, appropriately, of a single higher story seen from various angles. As we progress through the other fourth dimension, flavours change; the Weird Tales lads make a particularly strong showing (though having encountered the Hounds of Tindalos back when I first got my hands on the Call Of Cthulhu RPG, actually reading their debut in full after all these years proved faintly bathetic). From Astounding, Nat Schachner's self-explanatory The Living Equation uses a simple burglary gone wrong to kick off an apocalyptic scenario whose almost-plausible-sounding killer maths prefigures Chris Bidmead Who, which marks a clear divide from the more Sapphire And Steel feel of the earlier work. The sense that the collection leans more US and more firmly SF than most of the imprint is confirmed by the penultimate story, Heinlein's "And He Built A Crooked House", but it's also a reminder that whatever his political issues - and later, his prolixity - the guy could write; the dreams of expanded living space from earlier stories are revisited in a sitcom of architects' pretensions and 1940s gender roles that's nonetheless spiced with genuine cosmic horror. The closing Slips Take Over, by Miriam Allen deFord, is more a parallel Earth story, but being about the mechanics over the local specifics, that seems forgivable - though the same can't be said for some of its maddening inconsistencies (if historical figures back to Aristotle are unknown in other worlds, then why on Earth(s) should New York and Boston be in the same places, with the same names, and looking mostly as they do here?). For the most part, though, a good collection - just one better read with intervals.
November 14, 2023
Some of the stories are very bad, from a story-telling perspective. The author decided they wanted to write a story about 4th dimension and didn't get deterred if the plot, the dialogues, the characters were incomplete or illogical.
It is a collection of stories, mostly from the late 19th, early 20th century and they reflect that very interesting era in science and supernatural, where these two, now opposed concepts, were a lot more fuzzy. I like to imagine living in that era and being scientifically literate: people just discovered radiation, they started to have a better understanding of physics and chemistry, discovering particles invisible to the eye. Then who is to say that ghosts, spirits, telepathy, communicating with the spiritual world, aren't just manifestations of the hidden 4th spatial dimension of the universe?
It is a collection of stories, mostly from the late 19th, early 20th century and they reflect that very interesting era in science and supernatural, where these two, now opposed concepts, were a lot more fuzzy. I like to imagine living in that era and being scientifically literate: people just discovered radiation, they started to have a better understanding of physics and chemistry, discovering particles invisible to the eye. Then who is to say that ghosts, spirits, telepathy, communicating with the spiritual world, aren't just manifestations of the hidden 4th spatial dimension of the universe?
March 22, 2022
This book sucks. The premisse is great but the stories are so unimaginative and boring…
February 12, 2021
A very enjoyable collection of wierd fiction and sci-fi centered around concepts of mathematical oddness. Arranged chronologically from H.G. Wells' The Plattner Story (1896) to Miriam Allen deFord's Slips Take Over (1964), the collection shows the development of scientifically-inspired fiction over the first half of the 20th century as writers found new and fertile soil in the concepts of dimensions beyond the base 3.
Choice Morsels: Jorge Luis Borges' The Library of Babel for its fascinating concept and examination of belief, Frank Bellnap Long's The Hounds of Tindalos for its vivid descriptions and unsettling alien entities, and Nat Schacher's The Living Equation for being a charming piece of dark comedy in a book full of chills.
Choice Morsels: Jorge Luis Borges' The Library of Babel for its fascinating concept and examination of belief, Frank Bellnap Long's The Hounds of Tindalos for its vivid descriptions and unsettling alien entities, and Nat Schacher's The Living Equation for being a charming piece of dark comedy in a book full of chills.
December 22, 2023
Wow! Some amazing stories, really cool concepts that I was genuinely stunned by at points. Great introduction setting the scene for the cultural context of some of the stories (for example, some stories mentioned Einstein and his theories around spacetime and it's curvature). Particularly interested in the idea that mathematicians went from the victims of horror who had their rigid worldview shattered, to the protagonists exploring new and strange possibilities. And kind of wild that HG Wells thought of the 4th dimension as time in his fiction before this idea was a scientific one.
Opened very strongly with an HG Wells story ('The Plattner Story') with a great concept and fantastic writing style, really entertaining. Reminded me of the House on the Borderland, with the crossing of spiritual and mathematical concepts. Particularly stunned by the idea of the fourth dimension being occupied by spiritual forms of humans observing the world and the outcomes of actions they started.
Really liked the Hall Bedroom (by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman), got chills at the conclusion, very successful at building a sense of the uncanny, and putting the reader in the mind of the scared protagonist.
The Hounds of Tindalos (Frank Belknap Long) was another highlight, loved the concept and the way it was written, the sense of not knowing if the main character was mad, whether to laugh or cry for him and his fear of angles. Wish the ending wasn't so horrible for this character.
The story Infinity Zero (Donald Wandrei), written before WW2 but seeming to predict it and take a cosmic approach to an atomic bomb as part of that war, creating something of an expanding black hole/portal that soon destroys the world, was also really good. Loved the spooky silence and emptiness, seeing a huge burning, floating monolith that doesn't make any sound or throw out light in the way it should was a very powerful image.
In general really liked the mathematically and scientific or pseudo-scientific concepts, as well as the very ambitious scope of a lot of the stories, talking about reality and the universe. A great read with some exceptionally good stories.
Quotes I liked:
From The Plattner Story
'He seems genuinely ashamed that anything so unusual has occurred to him'
'It may be... that, when our life has closed, when evil or good is no longer a choice for us, we may still have to witness the working out of the train of consequences we have laid.'
'It is quite conceivable that even outside space hallucinations may be possible. That, at least, the reader must bear distinctly in mind.'
From The Hall Bedroom
'For some inexplicable reason the picture frets me. I find myself gazing at it when I do not wish to do so. It seems to compel my attention like some intent face in the room'
From The Hounds of Tindalos
'I wish you wouldn't make this experiment. You are taking dreadful risks. I don't believe there is any fourth dimension'
'All about me there are angles, strange angles that have no counterpart on the earth. I am desperately afraid.'
'They have no bodies, and they move slowly through outrageous angles'
'A terrible and unspeakable deed was done in the beginning. Before time, the deed, and from the deed... The seeds of the deed move through angles in dim recesses of time.'
'The foul expresses itself through angles; the pure through curves. Man, the pure part of him, is descended from a curve'
Opened very strongly with an HG Wells story ('The Plattner Story') with a great concept and fantastic writing style, really entertaining. Reminded me of the House on the Borderland, with the crossing of spiritual and mathematical concepts. Particularly stunned by the idea of the fourth dimension being occupied by spiritual forms of humans observing the world and the outcomes of actions they started.
Really liked the Hall Bedroom (by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman), got chills at the conclusion, very successful at building a sense of the uncanny, and putting the reader in the mind of the scared protagonist.
The Hounds of Tindalos (Frank Belknap Long) was another highlight, loved the concept and the way it was written, the sense of not knowing if the main character was mad, whether to laugh or cry for him and his fear of angles. Wish the ending wasn't so horrible for this character.
The story Infinity Zero (Donald Wandrei), written before WW2 but seeming to predict it and take a cosmic approach to an atomic bomb as part of that war, creating something of an expanding black hole/portal that soon destroys the world, was also really good. Loved the spooky silence and emptiness, seeing a huge burning, floating monolith that doesn't make any sound or throw out light in the way it should was a very powerful image.
In general really liked the mathematically and scientific or pseudo-scientific concepts, as well as the very ambitious scope of a lot of the stories, talking about reality and the universe. A great read with some exceptionally good stories.
Quotes I liked:
From The Plattner Story
'He seems genuinely ashamed that anything so unusual has occurred to him'
'It may be... that, when our life has closed, when evil or good is no longer a choice for us, we may still have to witness the working out of the train of consequences we have laid.'
'It is quite conceivable that even outside space hallucinations may be possible. That, at least, the reader must bear distinctly in mind.'
From The Hall Bedroom
'For some inexplicable reason the picture frets me. I find myself gazing at it when I do not wish to do so. It seems to compel my attention like some intent face in the room'
From The Hounds of Tindalos
'I wish you wouldn't make this experiment. You are taking dreadful risks. I don't believe there is any fourth dimension'
'All about me there are angles, strange angles that have no counterpart on the earth. I am desperately afraid.'
'They have no bodies, and they move slowly through outrageous angles'
'A terrible and unspeakable deed was done in the beginning. Before time, the deed, and from the deed... The seeds of the deed move through angles in dim recesses of time.'
'The foul expresses itself through angles; the pure through curves. Man, the pure part of him, is descended from a curve'
March 7, 2023
Another short story Collection, another inconsistent sele... wait, no, these were all brilliant!
This array of weird horrors relating to the impossible space and twisted dimensions is one of the finest short story collections ive read yet. Bartholomew and the British Library have done a superlative job here in collating a variety of wildly imaginative and intriguing collections, all tied together with a gaudian knot of high-theoretical mathematical terror. The selection of authors represented here, Lovecraft, Borges, Blackwood, (amongst others) sets a high expectation, which this book meets and exceeds.
There was a visceral effect that these stories had upon my body and mind, a feeling of giddy nausea and exhilarating confusion, which is not often felt. Perhaps this is related to the fact that the mere sight of an equation is enough to bring on a cold sweat within me, but i doubt that would do the craft represented here justice.
I've always been fascinated by both the disorientation of impossible space and the promethean dread of intolerable knowledge, and these were thankfully delivered in spades here. The stories are simultaneously consistent thematically and thrillingly varied in content, which makes the whole read a truely terrible delight.
A highlight for me was perhaps the story of 'The Hall Bedroom' which manages to balance ethereal wonder and nocturnal dread in equal parts, but all the stories presented here are worth the time of any curious reader with a taste for the disorienting and weird.
9/10
This array of weird horrors relating to the impossible space and twisted dimensions is one of the finest short story collections ive read yet. Bartholomew and the British Library have done a superlative job here in collating a variety of wildly imaginative and intriguing collections, all tied together with a gaudian knot of high-theoretical mathematical terror. The selection of authors represented here, Lovecraft, Borges, Blackwood, (amongst others) sets a high expectation, which this book meets and exceeds.
There was a visceral effect that these stories had upon my body and mind, a feeling of giddy nausea and exhilarating confusion, which is not often felt. Perhaps this is related to the fact that the mere sight of an equation is enough to bring on a cold sweat within me, but i doubt that would do the craft represented here justice.
I've always been fascinated by both the disorientation of impossible space and the promethean dread of intolerable knowledge, and these were thankfully delivered in spades here. The stories are simultaneously consistent thematically and thrillingly varied in content, which makes the whole read a truely terrible delight.
A highlight for me was perhaps the story of 'The Hall Bedroom' which manages to balance ethereal wonder and nocturnal dread in equal parts, but all the stories presented here are worth the time of any curious reader with a taste for the disorienting and weird.
9/10
January 14, 2022
3.5☆
i am not quite sure i liked this that much but i did enjoy that the theme was certainly stronger and more evident across the short stories.
that being said, some were absolute standouts. 'the hall bedroom', 'victim of higher space' 'the pickestaffe case', 'the hounds of tindalos' (my absolute favourite from the collection, *chef's kiss*), 'the trap' and '-and he built a crooked house-'. 'the library of babel' was also intriguing and deserves a mention even if only for its originality.
all around a strong selection of short stories, though some of the overlaps in themes made some of them feel a bit repetitive.
i am not quite sure i liked this that much but i did enjoy that the theme was certainly stronger and more evident across the short stories.
that being said, some were absolute standouts. 'the hall bedroom', 'victim of higher space' 'the pickestaffe case', 'the hounds of tindalos' (my absolute favourite from the collection, *chef's kiss*), 'the trap' and '-and he built a crooked house-'. 'the library of babel' was also intriguing and deserves a mention even if only for its originality.
all around a strong selection of short stories, though some of the overlaps in themes made some of them feel a bit repetitive.
October 10, 2023
A strong collection of tales, the theme unfortunately left me cold - science and maths were two of my least favourite subjects only topped by sport which I actively loathed.
The Plattner Story • H.G. Wells ⭐⭐⭐
The Hall Bedroom • Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman ⭐⭐⭐
Space • John Buchan ⭐⭐
A Victim of Higher Space • Algernon Blackwood ⭐⭐
The Pikestaffe Case • Algernon Blackwood ⭐⭐⭐
The Hounds of Tindalos • Frank Belknap Long ⭐⭐
The Trap • Henry S. Whitehead & H.P. Lovecraft ⭐⭐
The Living Equation • Nat Schachner ⭐⭐
Infinity Zero • Donald Wandrei ⭐⭐
The Library of Babel • Jorge Luis Borges ⭐⭐
"-and he Built a Crooked House-" • Robert Heinlein ⭐⭐⭐
Slips Take Over • Miriam Allen deFord ⭐⭐
The Plattner Story • H.G. Wells ⭐⭐⭐
The Hall Bedroom • Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman ⭐⭐⭐
Space • John Buchan ⭐⭐
A Victim of Higher Space • Algernon Blackwood ⭐⭐
The Pikestaffe Case • Algernon Blackwood ⭐⭐⭐
The Hounds of Tindalos • Frank Belknap Long ⭐⭐
The Trap • Henry S. Whitehead & H.P. Lovecraft ⭐⭐
The Living Equation • Nat Schachner ⭐⭐
Infinity Zero • Donald Wandrei ⭐⭐
The Library of Babel • Jorge Luis Borges ⭐⭐
"-and he Built a Crooked House-" • Robert Heinlein ⭐⭐⭐
Slips Take Over • Miriam Allen deFord ⭐⭐
July 27, 2023
I love a bit of vintage sci-fi and I love short stories, so this was always on to a winner. This collection covers a fascinating period, all hinged around our evolving understanding of higher dimensions and, towards the end of the book, parallel worlds. Seeing how various authors leapt on and interpreted the concepts in their own ways and in their own styles was great and, for the vast majority, hugely enjoyable. There was one story I felt a little dull, but it really was the exception. For the rest, I’d strongly recommend this collection.
April 26, 2024
Really enjoyed this purchase from the British Library in London. Some great Sci fi concepts from the early writers of science fiction.
Some stories were a little more difficult to get into. Mostly because of the era in which they were written. I enjoy more contemporary Sci fi normally but is fascinating to read these authors and the ideas they came up with before our current technological age.
I found the short stories to get better as the book progressed.
Some stories were a little more difficult to get into. Mostly because of the era in which they were written. I enjoy more contemporary Sci fi normally but is fascinating to read these authors and the ideas they came up with before our current technological age.
I found the short stories to get better as the book progressed.
September 3, 2024
Interesting collection of ‘weird’ stories of four dimensional maths. As uneven as any short story collection, but fun. A treat to reread Borges’ infinite library story; enjoyed the adventure of John Buchan and the comedy of Robert Heinlein’s tesseract architecture; Nat Schachner’s ‘Living Equation’ has a shout at being one of the first generative AI stories; and Algernon Blackwood is a find (as the editor of this collection rightly points out). Good fun all round.
September 14, 2022
Made my brain hurt— in a good way. Some stories seemed a bit meandering to begin with, but all of them came together satisfyingly by their ends. Lots of food for thought and inspiration, as well as charming characters— when they weren't dooming the world through their mistakes! Would recommend but only if you like puzzles :)
December 30, 2022
A solid collection of stories, usually dealing with alternate dimensions (particular those accessed through mathematical equations) from the first half of the twentieth century. They’re not all gems but they are at least interesting curiosities from somewhat forgotten authors.
April 3, 2023
The collection is quite hit-or-miss (and Jorge Luis Borges's pretentious acid trip of a story belongs nowhere near it).
But "The Hounds of Tindalos" is a classic. And the final tale, Miriam Allen deFord's "Slip Takes Over", is a doozy, imaginative and dripping with existential dread.
But "The Hounds of Tindalos" is a classic. And the final tale, Miriam Allen deFord's "Slip Takes Over", is a doozy, imaginative and dripping with existential dread.
October 29, 2023
Well-curated, with short but informative introductions from the editor for each story. Many of the older stories were more abstractly interesting than actually exciting, but I was always at least intrigued and often engrossed. Fuel for the imagination!
May 20, 2024
These seem to reflect a kinda Fin de siècle
tension, esp centred on the burgeoning new scientific fields (eg physics). So, we get lots of stories concerned w a fourth spatial dimension! Unfortunately some of them feel a bit dated now, but the majority are still fun to read!
tension, esp centred on the burgeoning new scientific fields (eg physics). So, we get lots of stories concerned w a fourth spatial dimension! Unfortunately some of them feel a bit dated now, but the majority are still fun to read!
August 31, 2021
Most stories weren't very interesting. Seemed to be more telling than showing.
November 13, 2021
What a great collection!
All the stories fit so well together!!
Infact, so well, you can see the influence of some of them may have had on each other.
Great work Henery. Splendid!
All the stories fit so well together!!
Infact, so well, you can see the influence of some of them may have had on each other.
Great work Henery. Splendid!
Want to read
July 7, 2023The Hall Bedroom 1903
http://kasmana.people.cofc.edu/MATHFI...
http://kasmana.people.cofc.edu/MATHFI...
December 6, 2023
A reasonable collection of stories, only a few of which I'd read before.
The Hounds of Tindalos and The Pikestaffe Case are the stand outs.
The Hounds of Tindalos and The Pikestaffe Case are the stand outs.
June 9, 2024
I suggest just reading Borges’ The Library of Babel and skipping the rest, which is essentially just a bunch of old Englishmen getting freaked out by mirrors.
September 25, 2024
Excellent collection that climaxes in two complete mind-crushers
November 9, 2021
The people who'll really appreciate this probably know who they are. If the idea of "Mathematical Weird" turns you on, grab it! If it makes you slightly dubious, you might be more in line with my reaction. I love this series overall, and tried to expand my horizons here, but I'm not its target audience. I'm not mathematically inclined, and all the math-based explanations of the strange events in this story were so over my head, it made the weird elements not really work for me. There's a lot of parallel dimensions and things (I mean, it's the title), but basing the weird on so much abstraction left me kind of cold. Rather than getting drawn in by characters or atmosphere, I spent my time puzzling out what was happening, or trying to follow discussions, and that didn't allow me to get into the weird zone, if you will. I'm glad I read it, so I have a deeper understanding of the different styles available to weird writers, and that there were fusions of scientific thinking and spooky tales back in the day. But it's a rare book that I finished out of a sense of obligation.
June 5, 2024
I enjoyed a lot of these, others not so much, which is the fate of most short story anthologies. None of them were bad, just less to my taste etc. etc. The specific theme of this collection was perhaps too narrow to read these all at once. Splitting them up over a few months is probably the best way to go lest you get fourth-dimension-fatigue.
Highlights: The Hall Bedroom, Infinity Zero, And He Built a Crooked House
Lowlights: The Plattner Story, The Hounds of Tindalos
Highlights: The Hall Bedroom, Infinity Zero, And He Built a Crooked House
Lowlights: The Plattner Story, The Hounds of Tindalos
November 7, 2023
A very excellent collection of short stories dealing with multiple dimensions and the creative possibilities of early 20th century mathematical sciences.
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