The Breaking Point (anthology)
Encyclopedia
The Breaking Point is a collection of eight short stories by Daphne Du Maurier
first published in 1959 by Victor Gollancz
in the UK and Doubleday in the US. It has also been published under the title The Blue Lenses and Other Stories. The stories were written at a time when Du Maurier herself came close to a severe nervous breakdown
and reflect her own psychological stress. Du Maurier herself acknowledged she had come close to madness immediately before she wrote them; and they were part of her cure - "the means by which she wrote herself back to sanity". The original book had illustrations before each story by Margot Tomes
.
Daphne du Maurier
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning DBE was a British author and playwright.Many of her works have been adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca and Jamaica Inn and the short stories "The Birds" and "Don't Look Now". The first three were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.Her elder sister was...
first published in 1959 by Victor Gollancz
Victor Gollancz
Sir Victor Gollancz was a British publisher, socialist, and humanitarian.-Early life:Born in Maida Vale, London, he was the son of a wholesale jeweller and nephew of Rabbi Professor Sir Hermann Gollancz and Professor Sir Israel Gollancz; after being educated at St Paul's School, London and taking...
in the UK and Doubleday in the US. It has also been published under the title The Blue Lenses and Other Stories. The stories were written at a time when Du Maurier herself came close to a severe nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
and reflect her own psychological stress. Du Maurier herself acknowledged she had come close to madness immediately before she wrote them; and they were part of her cure - "the means by which she wrote herself back to sanity". The original book had illustrations before each story by Margot Tomes
Margot Tomes
Margot Ladd Tomes was an artist and children's book illustrator. In 1977 Jack and the Wonder Beans, which she illustrated was cited by The New York Times as one of the best Children's books of the year; a feat she repeated in 1984 with If There Were Dreams to Sell.-Life and career:She was born in ...
.
Stories
- "The Alibi" - In an attempt to escape his dull existence John Fenton starts a double life, randomly picking a house he plans to murder its occupants,a single mother and her son, but instead finds release in painting them in oils...
- "The Blue Lenses" - After several weeks recovering from eye-surgery a woman has her bandages removed. To her astonishment and then horror people viewed through the implanted blue lenses are seen as animals: cows, weasel, snakes, frogs etc. Further surgery is later required...
- "Ganymede" - A classical scholar becoming besotted with a young waiter in Piazza San MarcoPiazza San MarcoPiazza San Marco , is the principal public square of Venice, Italy, where it is generally known just as "the Piazza". All other urban spaces in the city are called "campi"...
whilst holidaying in VeniceVeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, with tragic results... - "The Pool" - A girl escapes from her younger brother and is enticed via an overgrown garden pool into a secret magical world...
- "The Archduchess" - Tells of how revolution and death come to the idyllic European kingdom of Ronda.
- "The Menace" - Movie heart-throb Barry Jeans has been top of the box-office ratings for many years but with the advent of the 'feelies' (where actors are wired-up and their feelings recorded for playback) he is found wanting...
- "The Chamois" - A hunter travels to Kalabaka in the PindusPindusThe Pindus mountain range is located in northern Greece and southern Albania. It is roughly 160 km long, with a maximum elevation of 2637 m . Because it runs along the border of Thessaly and Epirus, the Pindus range is often called the "spine of Greece"...
of GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
to hunt the elusive chamoisChamoisThe chamois, Rupicapra rupicapra, is a goat-antelope species native to mountains in Europe, including the Carpathian Mountains of Romania, the European Alps, the Tatra Mountains, the Balkans, parts of Turkey, and the Caucasus. The chamois has also been introduced to the South Island of New Zealand...
... - "The Lordly Ones" - A mute boy moves with his parents from ExeterExeterExeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
to the 'moors' where one nights he meets and joins "The Lordly Ones"...
Adaptation
- "The Alibi" was adapted for BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's Afternoon PlayAfternoon PlayThe Afternoon Play is a long-running drama programming strand, broadcast every weekday at 2.15pm on BBC Radio 4. Each play lasts for 45 minutes, and roughly 190 new Afternoon Plays are broadcast each year....
in 2007 by Vanessa Rosenthal, starring Michael MaloneyMichael MaloneyMichael Maloney is an English actor.Born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Maloney's first television appearance was as Peter Barkworth's teenage son in the 1979 drama series, Telford's Change....
and Lia WilliamsLia WilliamsLia Williams is an English actress and film director, notable for many stage, film, and television appearances. She is possibly best known for her role in the motion picture, Dirty Weekend...
- A reading of "The Blue Lenses" by Emma FieldingEmma FieldingEmma Georgina Annalies Fielding is an English actress.-Biography:The lapsed Roman Catholic daughter of a British Army soldier, Fielding spent much of her childhood in Malaysia and Nigeria, and a period in Malvern above her grandparents' betting shop...
was broadcast on BBC Radio 7 in 2008
External links
- book review
- Review of "The Alibi" radioplay from The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...