Review of “The Diary of Mr. Poynter” (1919)
M. R. James (writer).
Read in 2017.
James in good form, maintaining a brisk pace except for the usual comical shrew and somewhat crude craftsman characters. The body horror, though subtle and tasteful, points ahead in its novelty and its impersonal, almost dysteleological nature. I’d like to think James’s characterization of the villain—via Poynter—as “atheistical” was done with tongue in cheek.
References here: “Herbert West—Reanimator” (1922).