The Diamond Lens by Fitz James O'Brien
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"The Diamond Lens" by Fitz James O'Brien is a short story written during the mid-19th century, specifically in the 1850s, that falls under the genre of weird fiction blended with science fiction elements. The narrative explores the obsessive passion of a microscopist who becomes consumed with the search for perfection in his microscopy work, ultimately leading him to an extraordinary but tragic conclusion about his experiments and his desire for an unattainable
love. In the story, the protagonist, Linley, is an ambitious young man fascinated by microscopic life and dedicated to improving the lens of his microscope. After a series of discoveries, including a prophecy from a spirit he consults, he constructs an incredibly powerful diamond lens. Through this lens, he encounters a fantastical creature he names Animula—an ethereal being of exquisite beauty living in a hidden world within a drop of water. As Linley's obsession deepens, he neglects his own well-being, culminating in a desperate realization of his love for Animula and the realization that his scientific pursuits have led to her demise when the drop of water evaporates. The story examines themes of ambition, love, and the consequences of unchecked obsession, ultimately portraying the tragic intersection between scientific pursuit and emotional longing. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | O'Brien, Fitz James, 1828-1862 |
|---|---|
| Title | The Diamond Lens |
| Series Title | Produced from Weird Tales April 1929 |
| Credits |
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net |
| Reading Level | Reading ease score: 70.0 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Science fiction |
| Subject | Murder -- Fiction |
| Subject | Microscopy -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 50332 |
| Release Date | Oct 28, 2015 |
| Last Update | Oct 22, 2024 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 215 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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