The Self-Enchanted
David Stacton
- 'Christopher's
- house
- stood
- out
- on
- its
- cliff
- like
- stages
- of
- lunar
- madness.
- It
- was
- the
- night
- of
- the
- first
- storm,
- not
- of
- winter,
- but
- of
- that
- week
- before
- winter
- which
- is
- the
- last
- warning
- to
- all
- creatures
- to
- dig
- themselves
- in...'
Christopher
- Barocco
- is
- a
- self-made
- man
- of
- considerable
- means
- who
- decrees
- the
- building
- of
- a
- house
- in
- his
- image,
- to
- be
- carved
- out
- of
- a
- wild
- and
- treacherous
- Californian
- hillside
- in
- the
- Sierra
- Nevada
- valleys.
- However,
- as
- those
- who
- are
- drawn
- into
- his
- grand
- design
- soon
- discover,
- Barocco
- is
- also
- a
- man
- with
- a
- shadowy
- past;
- and
- the
- house
- is
- not
- destined
- to
- be
- a
- place
- where
- he
- will
- find
- peace
- but,
- rather,
- a
- catalyst
- for
- passion,
- violence,
- and
- death.
First
- published
- in
- 1956,
- The
- Self-Enchanted
- was
- David
- Stacton's
- third
- novel.
'A
- Gothic
- extravaganza...
- [Stacton]
- seems
- to
- participate
- with
- so
- much
- fervour
- in
- the
- fantasies
- he
- describes.'
- Times
- Literary Supplement
pro-mbooks3 : libris
