- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Souvenir Press Ltd; New Ed edition (20 Mar 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0285633716
- ISBN-13: 978-0285633711
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.6 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 211,575 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
From the author of the magical classic, 'The Last Uncorn', a truly great modern fantasy that makes the impossible seem totally real. A very large, old cemetery, half the size of Central Park, thick with trees and laid out carefully with winding streets. Stretches of simple headstone give way to crosses, the crosses to angels and then weeping angels, and these finally to mausoleums... Typical of any old, large cemetery, you might think, but you would be wrong. For in an isolated mausoleum lives Mr Rebeck, kept alive by a raven who brings him food snatch from city shops, a raven who talks. And into this secluded place comes Michael and Laura, a young couple who romance soon blossoms amid the gravestones and the shrouding trees. They have only one problem; both of them are ghosts... "A Fine and Prive Place", Peter Beagle's fist novel and some judged his best, is an astounding feat of imaginative writing. All those who know and love his classic fantasy novel ' The Last Unicorn' will revel in this wholly believable take of recluse who acts as philosopher and guide to the newly and very bewildered dead. Joyous and heartbreaking by turns, haunting and touched with gentle humour, it draws the reader into a world where the impossible happens. And after it, no cemetery will ever seem quite the same again.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a very beautiful, and at times a bit too touching story of a couple who meet in a cemetery - after death.
I am not a romance reader (my way to this book went through Beagle's excellent fantasy novels) and was surprised at how much I enjoyed this one. It's a quiet book, but one that stays in your thoughts for a long time.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What defines life? Where is the line between alive and dead? What makes life worth living? Sound like an outline for a course in philosophy? But these questions are what drives this lyrical, quiet, and unassuming story of two ghosts, a raven, a man caught somewhere in-between the living and the dead, and a very traditional Jewish widow.
The raven has an attitude, but insists on dragging sandwiches to Mr. Rebeck, a pharmacist who decided to live in the cemetery many years ago. Mr. Rebeck is lonely most of the time, except when there is a new burial, for then that person's ghost will stick around a little while and keep him company, until the ghost forgets what it is to be human, to be alive.
Michael Morgan and Laura are two such new ghosts. Each has a conflicted past, not fully remembered, and take different approaches to this new state of 'living', Michael trying fiercely to retain all he can of himself and his past, Laura trying to fully leave the world of the living. Mr. Rebeck suddenly finds himself with an unusually rich set of company, for besides Michael and Laura, he finds himself involved with the widow Mrs. Klapper, coming to visit the tomb of her husband.
Each of these characters is finely delineated, their conversations with each other slowly illuminating their pasts, their ambitions, their fears, and their hopes. From a little evening singing, quiet walks, the raven bringing news of the outside world, the story is built bit by little bit, with no large dramatic moments until the very end. It is, in essence, a character study, and each character's approach to life imposes its message about life's meaning and purpose. There are some fairly deep philosophical ruminations presented within this, part and parcel of the story line, stated with ease and a poetic feel that suffuses this entire work, with the raven perhaps as the cynic to provide some balance and comedy relief. Ah, but the final point is the attraction these characters begin to feel for each other, all quite logical, even predictable, but the result we end with is a believable love story of both the dead and the living.
Perhaps this work could have done with a little more action, a little more drama. But then again, adding such elements might have spoiled this poem in prose. Not perfect, but certainly one of the more unusual and very readable fantasy works I've read, with a set of ideas that possibly could not have been investigated in any other literary genre.
--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It's very difficult to put Peter Beagle into any type of category. Yes, he writes fantasy, but he also writes more than that. I suppose you could say he writes an Anglo-Saxon magical realism. At least, that's the closest comparison I can give for this, his first novel. The title comes from a couplet in an Andrew Marvell poem: "The grave's a fine and private place/ But none, I think, do there embrace..." Beagle begs to differ: people do embrace there, at least, they try.
The story, such as it is, focuses on Jonathan Rebeck, a man who has retreated from the outside world to live in a large cemetery in New York. He survives by drinking from the tap behind his mausoleum and is fed by a wisecracking raven. Rebeck has a special talent: he can see and talk to the dead. In fact, he keeps hoping that he *is* dead. Of course, he is very much alive, and wishing to be dead is a waste of that gift, and the book is about how he gradually comes to realise that it is better to live life, with all its pain and frustration, than try and share death. He is helped along his journey by Michael and Laura, two newly deceased people who are still becoming accustomed to their lack of life. Beagle is eloquent about ghosts and about how it's really the living who haunt the dead, not the other way around. In fact, much of the book is taken up with philosophical discussion of death, life, love and various other things. Some of the language is a little dated, along with the characters, but the ideas remain as fresh as ever.
Buy it. Read it. Read it over again. Like any Beagle novel, it's one to be treasured.
The story, such as it is, focuses on Jonathan Rebeck, a man who has retreated from the outside world to live in a large cemetery in New York. He survives by drinking from the tap behind his mausoleum and is fed by a wisecracking raven. Rebeck has a special talent: he can see and talk to the dead. In fact, he keeps hoping that he *is* dead. Of course, he is very much alive, and wishing to be dead is a waste of that gift, and the book is about how he gradually comes to realise that it is better to live life, with all its pain and frustration, than try and share death. He is helped along his journey by Michael and Laura, two newly deceased people who are still becoming accustomed to their lack of life. Beagle is eloquent about ghosts and about how it's really the living who haunt the dead, not the other way around. In fact, much of the book is taken up with philosophical discussion of death, life, love and various other things. Some of the language is a little dated, along with the characters, but the ideas remain as fresh as ever.
Buy it. Read it. Read it over again. Like any Beagle novel, it's one to be treasured.
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