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asher553A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE. I'm about halfway through 'A Fine and Private Place', the second book and first novel by Peter S. Beagle, who is best known for his next book, 'The Last Unicorn'. 'A Fine and Private Place' - written when Beagle was 19 years old - is a love story involving ghosts and humans. I first read the book as a young person, so long ago that I've almost entirely forgotten the story, so it is like reading it for the first time. And I think I'm able to appreciate it much better now.
The main characters are Mr. Rebeck, a middle-aged man who haunts (as it were) the cemetery; Michael and Laura, two recently deceased individuals interred there; and Mrs. Klapper, the widow who visits the cemetery to visit her departed husband Morris, and who strikes up a friendship with Mr. Rebeck. Oh, and there's the cynical but compassionate raven, who brings Mr. Rebeck food and news from the outside.
The story is a love story, but it's also a bit of a mystery, because there are two possible suspects in Michael's death. I am a little surprised that Mr. Rebeck, himself a (now non-practicing) pharmacist, does not express more professional interest in the details of Michael's poisoning.
I'm planning to give this book a decent write-up when I've finished it. But for now, back to the book!
The main characters are Mr. Rebeck, a middle-aged man who haunts (as it were) the cemetery; Michael and Laura, two recently deceased individuals interred there; and Mrs. Klapper, the widow who visits the cemetery to visit her departed husband Morris, and who strikes up a friendship with Mr. Rebeck. Oh, and there's the cynical but compassionate raven, who brings Mr. Rebeck food and news from the outside.
The story is a love story, but it's also a bit of a mystery, because there are two possible suspects in Michael's death. I am a little surprised that Mr. Rebeck, himself a (now non-practicing) pharmacist, does not express more professional interest in the details of Michael's poisoning.
I'm planning to give this book a decent write-up when I've finished it. But for now, back to the book!
