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The Burial of the Rats
The Burial of the Rats
Book Excerpt
ght for it; and so we waited. I had, I felt, gained an advantage in the last few seconds, for I knew my danger and understood the situation. Now, I thought, is the test of my courage-the enduring test: the fighting test may come later!
The old woman raised her head and said to me in a satisfied kind of way:
"A very fine ring, indeed-a beautiful ring! Oh, me! I once had such rings, plenty of them, and bracelets and earrings! Oh! for in those fine days I led the town a dance! But they've forgotten me now! They've forgotten me! They? Why they never heard of me! Perhaps their grandfathers remember me, some of them!" and she laughed a harsh, croaking laugh. And then I am bound to say that she astonished me, for she handed me back the ring with a certain suggestion of old-fashioned grace which was not without its pathos.
The old man eyed her with a sort of sudden ferocity, half rising from his stool, and said to me suddenly and hoarsely:
"Let me see!"
I was about to hand the ring
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4.3
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A nice, tense, chase story without vampires or magic. An Englishman trying to kill a year in Europe decides to explore the non-tourist areas of Paris. In a sudden flash of stupidity, he decides to hike into the dust and garbage hills where the city's rag-pickers and scavengers live. I doesn't take him long to realize he's lost and being delayed by the resident recyclers for the purposes of murder and robbery.
It's told from the idiot's point of view, and his panic and frustration are well done. Lest you be confused, the rats don't get buried.
It's told from the idiot's point of view, and his panic and frustration are well done. Lest you be confused, the rats don't get buried.
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On of the most suspenseful short stories out there, and one of Stoker's best. A terrifying pursuit through the fetid rat-infested marshes outside Paris, where the garbage pickers live.
11/30/2010
The Burial of the Rats by Abraham "Bram" Stoker (1847–1912) is a truly suspenseful tale of a young man who finds himself in a very bad part of Paris and must flee for his life.
And the rats are the least of his worries.
That this has never been made into a movie, especially with today's taste for thriller and "slasher" films, is quite a surprise.
And the rats are the least of his worries.
That this has never been made into a movie, especially with today's taste for thriller and "slasher" films, is quite a surprise.
12/05/2008
