de la Mare, Walter: The Return. v1. 4 Aug 07

[tsgreer]

Written in 1910, this poignant tale of psychic possession concerns Arthur Lawford, who appears to have been possessed by the spirit of a long-dead 18th-century pirate.

One of de la Mare's finest occult stories, the novel also deals with domestic trauma, unrequited love and philosophical reflection--all blended into a seamless whole.

I haven't read it yet, but I was drawn in by the first chapter and decided that I would post it.

[CharlieBird]

ts: Not sure why, but I downloaded this last week (not my usual fare) and got caught up in it -- read right through 'til 4:00am Friday with the intention of finishing it last night; would have but there was no Chapter XXIII. Downloaded it again and converted it to PDB (which I had also done w/the first copy) but 23 was still missing. I don't think it's the conversion process because I've converted many of lrf extensions from MRead w/pretty fair results. Can you check? No big rush. Thx.

[tsgreer]

Wow, really? I will look at it tonight, fix (if I can find the missing chapter) and repost. I can't really even think of a good excuse of why it wouldn't be in there. I THOUGHT I checked all the chapters. Sorry about that, I'll get to the bottom of it--I didn't mean to leave you hanging...

[tsgreer]

Originally Posted by CharlieBird

Not sure why, but I downloaded this last week (not my usual fare) and got caught up in it -- read right through 'til 4:00am Friday with the intention of finishing it last night; would have but there was no Chapter XXIII. Downloaded it again and converted it to PDB (which I had also done w/the first copy) but 23 was still missing. I don't think it's the conversion process because I've converted many of lrf extensions from MRead w/pretty fair results. Can you check? No big rush. Thx.

Ok, I checked and my version shows chapter Twenty-Three and it's the final chapter. Also shows up fine in my Reader. Could it be some quirk of your .lrf conversion? There's really nothing I can do on my end since the .lrf file works fine and shows all the chapters.

I would suggest that if you can't convert the .lrf file to .pdb without problems, then maybe just grab the txt from PG. I tried the .lrf file on both of my readers and it worked just fine. I wasn't even aware that people downloaded the .lrf files and converted them..

Is that the most effective way to get the .pdb files or would you have better luck with the original .txt files? When you convert, does it keep the formating and everything?

Also do you like the book? I haven't had a chance to read past the first couple of chapters and enjoy it so far....

[CharlieBird]

As you suggested, I got a copy from PG. It turns out that the chapter numbering of the converted .lrf file was wrong. Chapter 23 was unnumbered and the conversion tossed the title "Chapter XXIII" to the end of that chapter. I probably would have caught it sooner except the last chapter was a bit inclusive and it seemed there could have been a follow-up.

Probably you are right in that conversion of .txt files is the better option even though the .lrf files I've converted have seemed to come out formatted correctly. Probably not as nifty as the .prc versions from HarryT, RWood, et al, but certainly readable. The major thing is I probably would never have found (let alone bothered to download) THe Return w/out encountering it on MobileRead.
Yes, I did enjoy my first dip into sciFiction. Well, I guess Dune is ScFI and I really liked that but it was more years ago than I care to count.
Anyway, I appreciate your extra effort and apologize for the unnecessary inconvenience.
deanna

[tsgreer]

Originally Posted by CharlieBird

Anyway, I appreciate your extra effort and apologize for the unnecessary inconvenience.

Not an inconvenience at all! I'm just glad you are able to finish the book. Also, I agree with you concerning the books here on Mobilread. They ARE available elsewhere, but I probably would never have come across them or been interested in them if it weren't for all the great folks here.

I've discovered so many new (ok, new to me) authors as a result of these forums.