Improper Stories

by Saki

NA

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Fiction, Humor

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1919

About the author

British writer Hector Hugh Munro under pen name Saki published his witty and sometimes bitter short stories in collections, such as The Chronicles of Clovis (1911).

His sometimes macabre satirized Edwardian society and culture. People consider him a master and often compare him to William Sydney Porter and Dorothy Rothschild Parker. His tales feature delicately drawn characters and finely judged narratives. "The Open Window," perhaps his most famous, closes with the line, "Romance at short notice was her specialty," which thus entered the lexicon. Newspapers first and then several volumes published him as the custom of the time.

His works include
* a full-length play, The Watched Pot , in collaboration with Charles Maude;
* two one-act plays;
* a historical study, The Rise of the Russian Empire , the only book under his own name;
* a short novel, The Unbearable Bassington ;
* the episodic The Westminster Alice , a parliamentary parody of Alice in Wonderland ;
* and When William Came: A Story of London under the Hohenzollerns , an early alternate history.

Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll, and Joseph Rudyard Kipling, influenced Munro, who in turn influenced A. A. Milne, and Pelham Grenville Wodehouse.

Reviews

[Andy Weston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dissentient opinion came from the aunt.
‘A most improper story to tell young children! You have undermined the effect of years of careful teaching.’
‘At any rate,’ said the bachelor, collecting his belongings preparatory to leaving the carriage, ‘I kept them quiet for ten minutes, which was more than you were able to do’.

HH Munro, whose pen name was Saki, was an Edwardian writer who specialised in fierce and nasty little satires that poked fun at pretentiousness and social convention.

Saki’s stories are out of copyright now and many are available free on the internet, but one appreciates being guided to his best, especially if the reader is experiencing him for the first time.

These are generally about 4 pages long, and take 10-15 minutes to read, and have a general theme to them, that in the strict Edwardian era when a child’s place was to be seen and not heard, the tables are turned: instead they wreak havoc on cruel aunts, tiresome guests are driven away shaking their heads in despair, or made victims of wily practical jokes, and those staid in their ways get their comeuppance.

He writes with a dark humour, but the emphasis is in humour more than the dark.
They would be ideal to be read out loud to older children, 10 years old plus range.

Mind you, one always has time to be read out loud to, and these fit the bill perfectly for any age.

We’ve lost Baby,’ she screamed.
‘Do you mean that it’s dead, or stampeded, or that you staked it at cards and lost it that way?’ asked Clovis lazily.
‘He was toddling about quite happily on the lawn,’ said Mrs Momeby tearfully, ‘ and Arnold had just come in, and I was asking him what sort of sauce he would like with the asparagus-‘
‘I hope he said hollandaise,’ interrupted Clovis, with a show of quickened interest, ‘because if there’s anything I hate-‘

[Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was something different from what I'd expected; having somehow, I'm not sure how exactly, acquired the impression that Saki's stories were focused on the macabre and leaned towards horror, I found them much gentler than anticipated. In fact, they are more satirical and humorous than anything, poking fun at the upper-class country set, with an occasional nod towards darker themes. They often involve adults being pitched against children or animals/some representation of nature - battles which the children or animals invariably win. There are some recurring characters which lend many of the stories a sense of being part of a wider narrative - I'd happily read a whole novel about Clovis. Favourite stories from this collection were 'The Open Window', 'The Schartz-Metterklume Method', 'The Music on the Hill', and 'The Hounds of Fate' - something of a deviation from the style of the others, which I thought worked rather well.

[JacquiWine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

What a wonderful collection of stories this turned out to be – sharp, pithy and uproariously witty. Saki (or, to give him his full name, Hector Hugh Munro) began his career as a journalist and political satirist and then went on to write a number of short stories and sketches, a selection of which are included in this volume. Several of his pieces were concerned with the absurdities of Edwardian society, particularly the ludicrous social conventions of the English upper classes. Here are the surface niceties of lavish garden parties, formal dinners and hunting events, all of which fall under Saki’s satirical gaze.

To read my review, please visit:

https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2017...

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*
I liked the stories but this collection contained several that I had already read, which was disappointing.

[Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bastante entretenidos y casi todos ellos mencionando animalitos

[Phrodrick slowed his growing backlog · Rating 4 out of 5]

My original suggestion for Saki’s Improper Stories was that a loving parent would sneak this book into the hands of their children to allow them a secret pleasure. The first stories are deliciously seditious and bracing. Especially for that “horribly nice child”. Later stories got darker and perhaps not for the youngest. Excellent rainy day spooky reading with enough humor to keep things macabre rather than depressing.

On the critical side Saki is a little too dependent on the hazards of hungry hogs, and escaping hyenas. There are a tad too many animals in the woods, and not in much variety.

A final thought: even a cat may look at a king, but you may not want it blabbing in the drawing room or worse the servants quarters, all it knows of the affairs of humans. Just saying.

[Carlo D'Agnolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read! Most stories do show a clear sign of age, more so than other authors of this era I've read. But if you can appreciate that, this makes a perfect book to pick up just before bed get some dream food before you close your eyes!

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very fun book filled with weird and wonderful stories.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gem of a collection! These stories are wickedly funny and beautifully disturbing. I mourn Saki's early death as he was killed in WWI.

[Nathalie (keepreadingbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes, we just want to read something improper. It can be a refreshing thing to read about someone who misbehaves – and gets away with it. That’s rather why I like Lyra from Northern Lights so much, despite having very little in common with her.

That’s why I had high hopes for this one, and also why I enjoyed a good handful of stories in the first half. But it quickly became rather repetitive and slightly boring. With short stories – and with such short stories as those of Saki in particular, being only a few pages long – I need to be drawn in from the very first sentence, at the very least the second or third. But this didn’t really happen.

It’s a book that can be read in a very short time because it’s so easy to say ‘just one more’, on account of the stories’ shortness. Yet I found myself dragging it out, constantly putting it down and looking out the window or picking up my phone after finishing a story. That’s usually a sign that I’m not that into my read.

In the second half a character named Clovis appeared in almost every story, but it was never explained who he was. I gather that Saki wrote a collection (or novel?) focusing on this Clovis character, and I assume that he was a favourite of his and perhaps that some of these stories were drawn from a Clovis collection, but the lack of explanation and background annoyed me to no end.

I would probably have enjoyed this more if the stories had been longer and I had gotten to know the characters better.

/NK

[Allie B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this short story collection because I had enjoyed Saki's 'Bertie's Christmas Eve' which was in a Christmas selection of stories that I own. I wasn't disappointed because 'Improper Stories' is an intriguing collection, illustrating Saki's caustic wit. He is brilliant at satirising Edwardian conventions and the lifestyle of the upper class. Some of them have quite a dark overtone almost like Gothic horror e.g. 'Sredni Vashtar' and 'The Music on the Hill'. The stories in the first half are at times a bit similar (there is a lot of children plotting against adults) with the better stories largely being in the second half. My favourites are 'The Schartz-Metterklume Method', 'The Hounds of Fate', 'The Music on the Hill' and 'Tobermory'.

[Andy Diaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este es un libro cortito, ligero y entretenido con cuentos interesantes y que aunque parecieran comunes y corrientes, los giros se tuerca que nos llegamos a encontrar hacia el final de cada uno los hace más atractivos y especiales.

Creo que sí lo que buscan es una lectura rápida y buena, este montón de cuentitos son una excelente opción.

[Jazmín · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me gustaron mucho los cuentos. Saki tiene una manera de escribir un poco sombría que me encanta. No sé si tiene más cuentos de los que están acá, tendré que investigar.
La nota es porque algunos cuentos son peores que otros, pero realmente algunos se llevarían las 5 estrellas.

[Faisal Almana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed some of the stories, yet they were only too few out of the many in this book.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delightfully arch but a little same-y.

[kashna83 · Rating 3 out of 5]

(review 2005)Un bon recull de contes, i deixa amb les ganes de llegir més d'aquest autor.

[david bc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious, disturbing and so very English! A frightful concoction with a bittersweet taste.

[Dafarrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty hilarious at times... like when Tobymory the cat spreads gossip at the tea party.

"What do you think of human intelligence?" asked Mavis Pellington lamely.
"Of whose intelligence in particular?" asked Tobermory [the cat] coldly.
"Oh, well, mine for instance," said Mavis, with a feeble laugh.
"You put me in an embarrassing position," said Tobermory [the cat], whose tone and attitude certainly did not suggest a shred of embarrassment. "When your inclusion in this house-party was suggested Sir Wilfrid protested that you were the most brainless woman of his acquaintance, and that there was a wide distinction between hospitality and the care of the feeble minded. Lady Blemley replied that your lack of brain-power was the precise quality which had earned you your invitation, as you were the only person she could think of who might be idiotic enough to buy their old car. You know, the one they call "The Envy of Sisyphus," because it goes quite nicely uphill if you push it."
Lady Blemley's protestations would have had greater effect if she had not casually suggested to Mavis only that morning that the car in question would be just the think for her down at her Devonshire home.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great, quick read. Saki incorporates the funniest bits of Pride and Prejudiced with a healthy dose of Pushkin-like mischief. Why have I never heard of this guy before?

[Anton Roe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible, boring, unreadable

[Paulina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cuentos muy entretenidos e inteligentes. Espero encontrar más libros de Saki.

[Liliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

15. Un libro ambientado en otro país (PopSugar Reading Challenge 2015 #13)

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

highly improper stories written in an exquisite fashion. highest recommendation.

[Orian R.Azuaje · Rating 4 out of 5]

A kind of orgasmic ;)