The Five Jars

by M.R. James

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Classics, Short Stories, Audiobook, Childrens

184 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1922

About the author

Montague Rhodes James, who used the publication name M.R. James, was a noted English mediaeval scholar & provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–18) & of Eton College (1918–36). He's best remembered for his ghost stories which are widely regarded as among the finest in English literature. One of James' most important achievements was to redefine the ghost story for the new century by dispensing with many of the formal Gothic trappings of his predecessors, replacing them with more realistic contemporary settings.

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

M.R.^James

Reviews

[Alwynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

M. R. James’s fantasy novella was written for his godchild Jane. Something of a curio, it’s a slightly surreal story recounted by a solitary, scholarly man - possibly based on its author. By happenstance he unearths a box, hidden since Roman times, that houses five mysterious jars. These give him magical abilities leading to a series of encounters with the fairy and animal realms, including some droll exchanges with his cantankerous pet cat, and opens him to a threat from an unknown, menacing group hell-bent on obtaining the box and its strange contents. The man, known only as M or N, enters into an alliance with the fairies who fear the forces pursuing the box as much as he does - James’s fairies are wonderfully down to earth creations, mercifully free from the mawkish elements that often crop up in this kind of tale, their world is lovingly depicted down to the earwig racing that’s a favourite pastime. I suppose it’s ultimately quite a slight piece, I’m not sure how much it would appeal to actual child readers, but I found it surprisingly charming and quite compelling probably because it’s so beautifully observed, laced with unexpected flashes of humour and occasional macabre, Jamesian flourishes.

[Mariota · Rating 1 out of 5]

Aburrido, muy aburrido, tedioso y sin sentido

[S.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is undoubtedly one of the weirdest fairy tales I've ever read, and I appreciate that. My only gripe is that it feels like a Part One in a series in which Part Two doesn't exist. :(

[Oscar · Rating 3 out of 5]

El erudito Montague Rhodes James (1862-1936), pese a ser un arqueólogo y académico de prestigio, preboste en Eaton y vinculado a la universidad de Cambridge, siempre será recordado por sus cuentos de fantasmas, en los que marcó un antes y un después. Inédita hasta ahora en español, nos llega ‘Los cinco frascos’, pequeña novela infantil de fantasía concebida para su pupila de doce años Jane McBryde.

‘Los cinco frascos’ (The Five Jars, 1922) comienza con un paseo, en el que el protagonista, el propio James, se pierde entre la floresta persiguiendo el rumor de las aguas de un arroyo, hasta que da con una extraña caja que contiene los cinco frascos del título. Al poco, irá descubriendo que dichos frascos contienen unos ungüentos mágicos que otorgan ciertos poderes. A partir de aquí conocerá un mundo maravilloso, poblado de las Criaturas Afables y de sus contrarios, las Criaturas Aviesas.

James era un gran conocedor del folclore británico, y eso se nota en esta deliciosa historia, escrita en la tradición del cuento popular de hadas, con notas de humor, y narrada desde el lirismo y la elegancia.

[Ilya Solovyev · Rating 4 out of 5]

A magical fantasy novella with a very dreamy atmosphere and setting, almost not scary at all, at least not creepy and not ghostly as one could expect from a work by M. R. James. I enjoyed the humorous writing and the multitude of magical and supernatural voices that one hears reading it, e.g. when the protagonist is spoken to by the brook in the forest, then by a cat and then by many lovely tiny fairy creatures. There is also a slow but rather impressive development of his supernatural abilities, especially in understanding and interpreting the signs and the voices, and some thrilling plot twists as well, with a few little stories inside the main story. As the 4/5 stars suggest, really liked it :)

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

That concludes my reading of all MR James’ fiction! This was a fun little children’s story! I’d certainly have loved it as a child. Not really as weird lit’ish as some have stated tho imo.

[Ignacio Senao f · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pesado e Infantil, no cuadra esas dos cosas juntas.

[Yelania Nightwalker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un hombre decide seguir el ruido que causan las aguas del río y entonces descubre una caja que contiene cinco frascos. Cada frasco tiene magia que le otorgará poderes gracias a los cuales descubrirá maravillas inimaginables. Sin embargo no todo es miel sobre hojuelas y tendrá que vérselas con criaturas que desean conseguir esos poderes. 

En lo personal, este tipo de libros no van conmigo pero me sentía un poco decidida a cambiar de rumbos y dejar la pastelosidad de las novelas de romance (cómo si eso fuera posible). Los cinco frascos fue todo un descubrimiento, no de mi completo agrado precisamente porque no tengo costumbre de leer este género y por tanto no tengo muchos puntos de referencia...

Si bien la novela está llena de historias fantásticas, divertidas y muy creativas, siento que encantará más a los fans del género, independientemente de que sean chicos o grandes. Sí quiero aclarar que aunque se trata de un libro de terror, en realidad al estar dirigido a adolescentes a los adultos podrá resultarles un poco ligero en ese sentido.

Algo que me gustó es que la novela se lee muy rápido, la historia fluye y en pocas horas y si darte cuenta ya has terminado con el libro. Lo que podría señalar es que hay un par de palabras un tanto rebuscadas que a un público más joven podría parecerle un poco chocante, pero para ir aprendiendo cosas nuevas es de lo más genial.

No les he querido contar más de la historia porque es un libro que hay que leerse, para entenderse. Es una historia fantástica muy creativa y muy propia del Reino Unido y sus tradiciones y leyendas y por si fuera poco tiene una edición preciosa.

Lo dicho, si son fans del género de horror, aman los cuentos de hadas oscuros y las narraciones complejas y llenas de vida, este libro será para ustedes.  

 

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining fantasy listening 🎶🔰

Another will written British fantasy Sci-Fi adventure thriller short story by M. R. James about strange things that are happening something to do with a box 📦 containing five jars. I would recommend this novella to anyone looking for a quick fantasy read. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do because of eye issues and damage due to nerve damage. 🏡🔰😕🏰 2022

[denudatio_pulpae · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Opowieści starego antykwariusza" i "Opowieści o duchach" to świetne, klimatyczne opowiadania z domieszką grozy. Z rozpędu zabrałam się za trochę dłuższą opowieść M.R. Jamesa "Pięć flakoników". Niestety, w porównaniu z obydwoma zbiorami opowiadań opowiastka ta wypada blado. Główną jej wadą jest brak jakiejkolwiek grozy, której szczerze mówiąc bardzo wyczekiwałam. Tak, nastawiałam się na powtórkę z rozrywki, gdyż jak już wcześniej wspominałam - nie przeszkadzało mi powielanie dobrych pomysłów na opowiadania, a M.R. James miał ich naprawdę sporo. Historia tajemniczych butelkowanych specyfików rozmija się jednak bardzo z poprzednimi opowieściami autora, a szkoda.

Miała być historia o walce z Mocami Ciemności i to w baśniowej konwencji, ale chyba trochę za mało było i walki, i baśni w tym wszystkim. Z resztą, książeczka ma 93 strony sporą czcionką, trudno żeby była przepełniona czymkolwiek ;)

Ilustracje Gilberta Jamesa są miłym urozmaiceniem, pół gwiazdki za gadającego kota, który powiedział dokładnie to, czego spodziewałabym się po gadającym futrzaku tego gatunku. Poza tym to przeciętna bajeczka, aż mi smutno z tego powodu, bo poprzednie dwa zbiory mnie zachwyciły.
5/10

[Ian Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Five Jars is something of an oddity in the oeuvre of the great ghost story writer and medieval scholar, M.R. James. Unmarried and childless though he was, he nonetheless took a godfatherly interest in his friend's daughter Jane and was therefore inspired to write this short children's fantasy novel. I forget the precise details of his relationship with the girl but they're well covered in various Jamesian sources.

It's a pleasant enough short read though hardly a classic of the form. Given that it was such a personal piece and not seriously intended for a commercial audience, some of its shortcomings are forgivable. For the protagonist to be an affable but superficially unexciting man heavily based on James himself works well for his ghost stories but is less successful here. Most English children's classics feature children or young anthropomorphised animals in their lead roles for good reasons.

The content doesn't fall far from the tree of standard Scandinavian fairytale influences, in which James was known to take a scholarly (we might now say nerdy) interest. It does however reflect his own style, particularly in its central premise of a sort of ancient puzzle or mystery represented by the titular jars, and with a hint of the gothic and supernaturally evil about the proceedings.

There's certainly charm and humour to it, as with his interactions with the cat or his blatant self-satirising of ghost story writers' penchant for characters dressed in the fashion of 80 to 90 years ago. It also, in the last chapter, has a description of an imaginative magical device remarkably similar to a modern tablet computer being used to watch a movie. So James was capable of speculative ideas on those occasions when he emerged briefly from his hardcore antiquarianism.

This 2013 standalone edition with illustrations by Gilbert James is available as both ebook and paperback. Other than an unecessary introduction which does little more than spoil plot it has no further embellishments, so its sufficient as a reading copy.

Inessential though it may be, I doubt anyone would regret having read it.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I think of this book so far. I'll keep reading and let you know.

I'm really not sure what my thoughts were about this book. It was really an odd book. I'm going to have to think about this one and get back to my review.

After giving this much thought I liked the book, it was odd and didn't really make much sense, but it was an enjoyable read none the less. I can't really explain this book anymore then a man finds a locked box containing 5 jars. He opens one jar a night and puts the ointment on himself in the area that the jar says. He meets some fantastic creatures along the way.

[Ricardo Marín · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 / 5

Una historia llena de magia con una hermosa narrativa.

Reseña: http://www.eternamenteentiniebla.com/...

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very wild read.

[Delanie Dooms · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice read. I expected M. R. James to have written something like other children's fiction (like The Story of Ferdinand or some such work), but, instead, it is a short novella written for children. Not really surprising, given the volumes of work within that same category, but whatever; I am just a fool. James rarely disappoints in all his work, so I thought I'd give this one a try. In particular to a child audience, James wrote this for the daughter of one of his friends, Jane, formatting the work as if it were one long letter to her.

It cannot be helped that I compared this to his ghost stories. The main character--an older man with, perhaps, a scholarly bent--is very similar to the main characters in his horror, and, indeed, to the author himself. Thus, we see fine attention to archeological finds (indeed, the plot revolves around something like one), scholarly work, and manners. The humor, too, is tinged with what might call a 'scholarly' feel to it--something, I suppose, I can only liken to the faux-staidness of a comedy of manners. This peculiarity found in quite a bit of James' work is what I often come back for, so this was not disliked; I may venture to say, it was loved. Unlike his ghost stories, this is filled with whimsical and more generalized fantasy elements. It certainly has hints of horror--the mist people, the cleverly disguised monsters, and the like--but that does not make up the totality, or near the totality.

The plot itself revolves around the consequences of finding a lead box that contains five small jars. These five jars are labelled in Latin (of course--James even jokes that he has found learning Latin " found it most useful", despite what the media might say), and each jar, when the contents are rubbed on a part of the body, confer a certain power. Our protagonist rubs his ears first, then his eyes, then his mouth, then his forehead, and finally his chest; the development of each, from day to day, allows for James to slowly reveal to us the happenings of the magic world previously hidden to our protagonist. Alongside these new-found abilities, the protagonist is hunted by a group of evil mists and beings who want nothing more than to take the five jars into their own hands. The purpose for their evil is never explained, and the combat between the protagonist and these enemies is seen by some in the magic world as being unmentionable. The actual events in the plot are sometimes odd. M is spoken to by a stream; little fairy people appear and disappear with the coming and going of night; ghostly figures co-habitat with humans; our protagonist is able to see the past; our protagonist can talk to animals. More macabrely, we shadowy enemies and are described the bones which our protagonist can see underground, but most of it is lighthearted or action-based.

One interesting thing about the novella is that our friend James predicted, more-or-less, an etch-o-sketch style tablet, with which colored-movies can be watched in extreme detail (and paused at will!). It predicts somewhat modern technologies, I suppose, although he probably got inspiration for it from black-and-white cinema of his time.

If I were to guess at the themes hidden in this text, one that jumps out is intuition propelled by some higher force. Whether this force is a supernatural being--like the talking stream--or some internal feeling--M's inclination toward such-and-such an action--all seem to point toward this. The story is also about coexistence and battle. There is the community--the fairies, the animals, and our protagonist himself--that must be maintained (the fairies will grow stupider and smaller if they do not do their duty, M must overcome the shadowy enemies to keep the jars out of evil hands, our protagonist always attempts to root out evil--like when he saves a family of rabbits near the end from an intruder--in short, it seems to be about a community vs. an outsider, or enemy), but there is also the enemies--bats, weevils, rats, and the shadowy mists.

Altogether, I found this, if a slightly flawed read, something well worth the reading; it kept me all the way through--sometimes, I must own, James often does, but which is not common, though. I don't have an opinion as to whether a child might like it; I venture to think a child would, but sometimes I venture too far in conjecture.

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Read in some other ebook I got looooong ago.) Oh, good grief, M. R. James did twee. I wish I didn't know that. Evidently for children, who probably won't get through the first section, with the narrator finding the jars. If they do, there's a fairly interesting section where the narrator listens in on various animals, before the cringe-inducing discovery that there are, indeed, fairies in the garden. The boys are fairly fun, but then we get the wince-inducing girls, who are pretty little dolls using flowers to make themselves invisible, and ... yawn. Unfortunately for the plot, the best part is when columns of mist with glowing red eyes lurk in the darkness--a terrific and terrifying image. Otherwise, the baddies are bad, but not nearly as frightening; and there's some humor. But I really don't know who the audience is: it's a little too dull for children and a little too adorable for adults. I hope I hope I hope James didn't write anything else for children; and I'll do my best to forget he wrote this one.

[Jared Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has got to be the cleverest short story I have read in some time. Having no idea what I was getting into (save for the author's penchant for ghost stories), I must say I was very delighted. The Peter Yearsley narration certainly had much to do with that - I highly recommend it (https://librivox.org/the-five-jars-by...). I don't want to spoil anything since part of my delight came from having no knowledge beforehand of what I was getting into.
From the writing perspective I felt the antagonism of the story was a little weak, especially given the powerfully frightening antagonists in his other works. The ending also seemed lacking in resolution, but it was not a bad ending. I finished reading with the expectation that there would be more to the story perhaps in a sequel but alas, this is all there is. Still, a delightful read indeed!

[Plateresca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novella by M. R. James, but it's quite an unusual story for this author, although it does have some patent M. R. James characteristics, like the main character finding something, after which strange things start to happen :)

I learnt of this book from my friend Alwynne's review, which gives a very accurate impression of it.

I particularly enjoyed the voicing of the cat's thoughts, the quirky humour, and the dreamy atmosphere of a magic place in a forest in the very beginning. In fact, I think I did enjoy the beginning more than the ending, but I find that this happens to me a lot with short fiction, so I guess I shouldn't mind it.

An enjoyable read, especially if you tend to like M. R. James and/or magic :)

[Jing · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up randomly on Amazon, thinking it would be another ghost story--I love M.R. James' ghost stories with a passion. However, this is a short fantasy novel, probably written for children, with a dash of Tolkien and the gothic thrown in. I get alternatively wonder-struck at the way the fairy world exists and interacts with our every day existence and chills down my spine at the way various sinister attempts were made from mysterious, nefarious sources to harm our protagonist. The writing is, of course, superb, and it was a great, light piece of reading to curl up and enjoy on a lazy weekend afternoon.

[Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book many years ago and was delighted by it at the time. I remember reading it to my son and at the time thinking that the language was more advanced than most of the books I would read to him with similar level content, likely reflecting on the simplification of our language since The Five Jars was written.
I am writing this review on the basis of getting the Audible version of the book and delighting once again in a novel and unusual children's fantasy well spoken.
The story itself has elements from Northern European fairy tales as well as a Roman influence and is quite entertaining.

[Tububa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a dire warning of a story on the perils of drinking untreated water from brooks that talk to you. The result: you will experience the trip of your life, with little cheeky boys crawling up your leg, owls talking to you, and cats guarding your stash from "mist".

The sheer wackiness of the proceedings was diverting, but I also found my mind wandering many times. At first, I thought this was going to be about the hidden beauties of nature. You know, just look and listen carefully, and you will discover all manner of hidden things. But by the time little men started crawling up the guy's leg, it was clear that we were dealing with plain and simple DTs.

[Einz Redr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Le doy un 3/5, y podría subir a un 4 bajo.

La verdad es que éste es uno de los cuentos de hadas más extraños que he leído.

Un erudito oye voces sin cuerpo que le guían hasta un lugar que él ha soñado, para encontrar una planta que apareció en ese mismo sueño. De ahí, su recién adquirido nuevo instinto le lleva a encontrar una caja con los cinco frascos que se mencionan.

Al probarlos, adquiere nuevos poderes y se encuentra con nuevos seres que él antes desconocía, tanto para bien como para mal.

No es una obra extraordinaria y se nota que ha sido escrita para un público más infantil, pero aún así es disfrutable.

[Isabel (kittiwake) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I downloaded this enjoyable children's fairy story from Project Gutenberg along with M.R. James' ghost stories.

A man digs up a box containing 5 jars of ointment, and opens one each night, finding that each gives him a different power, including talking to his cat and seeing the fairy village on the lawn outside his window. Being able to communicate with the fairy boys comes in handy, as there are dark forces at work trying to get hold of the jars.

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a slight and charming fantasy novella by the celebrated academic, antiquarian and ghost story writer, Montague Rhodes James. Written for the daughter of one of James' great friends, The Five Jars has an intriguing plot and might, if further developed, have been a really well-known children's tale.
As it is, the book's chief claim to fame is its insight into the mind and interests of its author.

[Bookfan53 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seemed a completely different departure for M.R.James as this was really a fantasy novel, or fairy story. It took me a while to grasp what was going on and to be fair, I don't read fantasy as a general rule.
This was a pleasant enough read and for some reason I was thinking about Charles Kingsley's The Water Babies, it really reminded me of this book.
If you like fantasy novels, you will enjoy this short novella.

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this to be a whimsical and quaint fantasy story that’s quite different to all the other M.R. James stories that I’ve read so far. It’s very imaginative and somewhat enjoyable although I don’t think that I’d recommend it. James’ ghost stories are much better and demonstrate his true writing skill and ability.

[Christina Klein-Bissett · Rating 5 out of 5]

You won't find anything like this.... anywhere. Light some candles ( and whatever else might relaxing you) and follow our Hero....into his Garden ...be transported, childlike. Long before we all had a rather fixed picture of: of what is for you to pleasurably discover. A masterpiece, to be enjoyed like the chocolate of your youth.

[Randal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A weird book, but I love M.R. James. For a book ostensibly for children, this story is pretty creepy. That makes sense if you're familiar with James' other writings. If you've never read any of his work, start with "Ghost Stories of an Antiquary". Then maybe read this later.

[Sheila Burke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving this book a "middle of the road" rating. It was fairly short, and very strange. Being a children's fantasy story, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. It definitely made me THINK, which is GOOD. So many of today's teachers and children's authors try to TELL children WHAT to think, that any book that MAKES YOU THINK is a welcome change.