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Fear
Excerpt from Fear
My anguish reached a climax SO great was my perturbation that, the recollection Of it is dim and shadowy. I remember seeing the usher touch the handle of the door, and that, as he Opened it, I seemed to feel a puff Of wind in my face there was a Singing in my ears, and then I found myself near a table in the midst Of an oppressive Silence, as though, after a plunge in a stormy sea, I had raised my head above water and seized hold of a rock in the centre of the vast amphitheatre.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
My anguish reached a climax SO great was my perturbation that, the recollection Of it is dim and shadowy. I remember seeing the usher touch the handle of the door, and that, as he Opened it, I seemed to feel a puff Of wind in my face there was a Singing in my ears, and then I found myself near a table in the midst Of an oppressive Silence, as though, after a plunge in a stormy sea, I had raised my head above water and seized hold of a rock in the centre of the vast amphitheatre.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
328 pages, Paperback
Published February 9, 2017
11 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 9, 2026
This is an interesting work, though perhaps not for the reasons one might expect. What struck me most was the style: strange, poetic, and at times almost randomly dreamlike. It reads in an associative, almost lyrical way (dare I say Italian?), moving from sentimental romanticism to the visceral, almost brutish details of his experiments and observations. One moment you encounter animal dissections, the next, a tender memory of his sister’s blush: every paragraph is a surprise!
On a technical level, I was particularly surprised by how Mosso seems to really know the relationship between brain activity and increased blood flow. It felt very anachronistic to me, because how could he have known? The answer was one internet search away: he was, after all, the physiologist who developed the earliest neuroimaging technique. In this work, his knowledge derived from a very peculiar route, one that I had by no means expected: by directly observing exposed brains. It’s as astonishing as it is unsettling.
The experiments described are undeniably gruesome, but I wouldn’t call the book “scary,” as some reviewers have. The most disturbing aspect, to me, is the deeply ingrained misogyny!
The work itself wavers between genuine scientific curiosity and the broader spirit of gruesome+whimsical experimental inquiry in Europe at the time. There are insightful observations, and conclusions we now know to be incorrect. Background on physiology is required on behalf of the reader to distinguish between the two. Overall, what makes this book compelling is its style, which comes to show how standardized and restrained in their genre scientific writing has become since. I read it in 2.5 sessions; one long stretch at first, but once the novelty wore off it took 2/3 short sessions to wrap it up.
On a technical level, I was particularly surprised by how Mosso seems to really know the relationship between brain activity and increased blood flow. It felt very anachronistic to me, because how could he have known? The answer was one internet search away: he was, after all, the physiologist who developed the earliest neuroimaging technique. In this work, his knowledge derived from a very peculiar route, one that I had by no means expected: by directly observing exposed brains. It’s as astonishing as it is unsettling.
The experiments described are undeniably gruesome, but I wouldn’t call the book “scary,” as some reviewers have. The most disturbing aspect, to me, is the deeply ingrained misogyny!
The work itself wavers between genuine scientific curiosity and the broader spirit of gruesome+whimsical experimental inquiry in Europe at the time. There are insightful observations, and conclusions we now know to be incorrect. Background on physiology is required on behalf of the reader to distinguish between the two. Overall, what makes this book compelling is its style, which comes to show how standardized and restrained in their genre scientific writing has become since. I read it in 2.5 sessions; one long stretch at first, but once the novelty wore off it took 2/3 short sessions to wrap it up.
December 14, 2020
Well written but horrible story, really unsettling not in a thrilling way.
The only book I've thrown away rather than rehoming
The only book I've thrown away rather than rehoming
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews