영어로 읽는 고전 _ 로버트 W. 크렙스의 찬탈자를 조심하라
"지오프 세인트 레이너드의 '찬탈자를 조심하라!'은 1950년대 초에 쓰인 공상과학 소설입니다. 이야기는 '찬탈자'라고 불리는 인간으로 위장한 외계 생명체들과의 섬뜩한 대결에 휘말린 윌 체스터의 이야기를 따라갑니다. 이 소설은 체스터와 그의 동맹들이 인류의 근본적인 구조를 위협하는 이 사악한 존재들과 맞서 싸우려는 시도 속에서 느끼는 긴장감을 담아냅니다. 소설의 도입부는 긴장감 넘치는 분위기를 연출하며, 체스터가 옛 시대의 유물인 음산하고 불길한 엑세터 성에 도착하는 장면을 소개합니다. 죽음의 불안한 징후를 발견한 후, 그는 의사, 한 팔을 잃은 퇴역군인, 그리고 마리온이라는 소녀를 포함한 작은 그룹과 만나게 되는데, 이들은 이 외계인들을 이해하고 맞서기 위한 비밀 노력의 일부입니다. 고통스럽고 절박한 실험을 통해, 체스터는 특정 사람들이 그들이 보이는 대로가 아니라는 끔찍한 지식에 직면하게 되고, 이는 이 찬탈자들을 찾아 제거하는 임무로 이어집니다. 소설의 시작은 공포와 호기심을 자아내는 강렬한 감각을 만들어내며, 현실이 흐려지고 인류가 위험에 처한 어두운 세계로의 체스터의 여정을 위한 무대를 설정합니다."
Classics Read in English _ Beware, the Usurpers! by Robert W. Krepps
"Beware, the Usurpers!" by Geoff St. Reynard is a science fiction novel from the early 1950s that follows Will Chester as he's thrust into a chilling confrontation with alien beings disguised as humans, known as "usurpers." The narrative captures the tension between Chester and his allies as they battle these sinister entities threatening humanity's very existence.
The novel opens with an atmosphere thick with suspense as Chester arrives at the bleak and foreboding Exeter Castle, a relic from a bygone era. After encountering disturbing signs of death, he meets a small group including a doctor, a one-armed veteran, and a young woman named Marion?all part of a clandestine effort to understand and combat these aliens.
Through a harrowing and desperate experiment, Chester faces the terrifying realization that certain people are not what they appear to be, launching him on a mission to identify and eliminate these usurpers. The opening chapters create a gripping sense of dread and intrigue, establishing the foundation for Chester's journey into a shadowy world where reality blurs and humanity hangs in the balance.
The novel masterfully explores themes of identity, paranoia, and the struggle to preserve humanity against an insidious threat that hides in plain sight?themes that continue to resonate with readers today.
Among the contents
I stopped the black Jaguar beside the crumbling stone balustrade and swung my legs out. The drive was deep in rotted leaves and long-uncleared trash. Above me the ancient castle looked out across the groves of oak and elm and chestnut to the silent moors, like the veritable ghost of Old England itself: aloof, brooding, noble, withdrawn from this hectic modern age into its memories. Blind blank holes of windows stared over my head as I walked up the drive where in a more regal century the carriages of dukes and knights and princes of the blood must have rolled, the big horses of neighboring squires must have pawed impatiently before many a hunt, and lovers in satin and velvet and cascading lace must have strolled and dallied a thousand thousand times.
As I was hauling open the heavy iron-banded door, my foot trod upon something that squashed unpleasantly. I bent down, and in the sick yellow moonlight saw a newly-dead rook, its eyes already pecked out. I shivered, uncontrollably. Then I went in and pulled the door shut.
