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Collected Short Stories
Includes the following short story collections:
- May We Borrow Your Husband?
- A Sense of Reality
- Twenty-One Stories
- May We Borrow Your Husband?
- A Sense of Reality
- Twenty-One Stories
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
26 people are currently reading
521 people want to read
About the author
Graham Greene
799 books6,110 followersHenry Graham Greene was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century.
Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a reputation early in his lifetime as a major writer, both of serious Catholic novels, and of thrillers (or "entertainments" as he termed them). He was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times. Through 67 years of writing, which included over 25 novels, he explored the conflicting moral and political issues of the modern world. The Power and the Glory won the 1941 Hawthornden Prize and The Heart of the Matter won the 1948 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Best of the James Tait Black. Greene was awarded the 1968 Shakespeare Prize and the 1981 Jerusalem Prize. Several of his stories have been filmed, some more than once, and he collaborated with filmmaker Carol Reed on The Fallen Idol (1948) and The Third Man (1949).
He converted to Catholicism in 1926 after meeting his future wife, Vivienne Dayrell-Browning. Later in life he took to calling himself a "Catholic agnostic". He died in 1991, aged 86, of leukemia, and was buried in Corseaux cemetery in Switzerland. William Golding called Greene "the ultimate chronicler of twentieth-century man's consciousness and anxiety".
Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a reputation early in his lifetime as a major writer, both of serious Catholic novels, and of thrillers (or "entertainments" as he termed them). He was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times. Through 67 years of writing, which included over 25 novels, he explored the conflicting moral and political issues of the modern world. The Power and the Glory won the 1941 Hawthornden Prize and The Heart of the Matter won the 1948 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Best of the James Tait Black. Greene was awarded the 1968 Shakespeare Prize and the 1981 Jerusalem Prize. Several of his stories have been filmed, some more than once, and he collaborated with filmmaker Carol Reed on The Fallen Idol (1948) and The Third Man (1949).
He converted to Catholicism in 1926 after meeting his future wife, Vivienne Dayrell-Browning. Later in life he took to calling himself a "Catholic agnostic". He died in 1991, aged 86, of leukemia, and was buried in Corseaux cemetery in Switzerland. William Golding called Greene "the ultimate chronicler of twentieth-century man's consciousness and anxiety".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
March 5, 2021
Graham Greene does not often get applause or accolade for his gift of writing short stories.I cannot help feeling that most of his admirers tend to ignore or even write off his eclectic, consistently intelligent and thoughtful and even breathtakingly imaginative folio of short stories and novellas in the light of the already exceptional accomplishments that his novels, essays and articles represent. For me, though, already a self-confessed ardent admirer, this superbly compiled edition, comprising of three thematically different but equally well-written and lucid collections of stories, was quite a treasure trove.
One discovers all the shades of this masterful, dexterous, compulsively readable and philosophically profound storyteller and writer in many small, beautifully carved pieces that also glitter with wit and wisdom, that burn with pathos and radiate with depth and intelligence, that are, in turns, probing, cinematic, mesmerising, dramatic, hilarious, coolly cynical, heart-rending, romantic, saucy, absurd, imaginative and incisively political.
And at heart, these stories are all uniformly wise, worldly and warmly compassionate, as brilliantly written and concise and cohesive as any thing that this extraordinary, almost faultless writer has written in his entire career.
I had already read and slavishly loved more than once "May We Borrow Your Husband" - a collection of alternately tender, hilarious, absurd, melancholy, cheeky and romantic stories about love, lust, adultery, frivolity, mischief, nostalgia and death that belied its title so brilliantly and astutely. And so, this review will be primarily about my feelings - undoubtedly of love and admiration - for the other two collections in this edition.
TWENTY-ONE STORIES:
One of the intriguing things that I noticed about this collection is that a good chunk of the material is dated from Greene's earliest years as a writer, well before the 1940s and 1950s. And while that would normally mean that these stories would be indicative of a certain rawness, trust me, even the oldest stories in the collection, dating back to the late 1920s when he was just finding his first footing, are demonstrative of his flawless command for storytelling, his crystal-clear skill in orchestrating a narrative from beginning to end and in fleshing out moral conundrums and wholly believable characters caught up in these conundrums and situations. There is a flawless, almost immaculate sense of economy in the beautifully deceptive "I Spy", there is a terrifying portrait of metaphysical horror in "A Little Place Off The Edgware Road" and in "The End Of The Party", there is rich, local texture to be found in "Across The Bridge" and "A Chance For Mr. Lever", there is gilt-edged irony to be found in "Jubilee" and "The Case For The Defence" and there is a lingering sense of nostalgia and comradely compassion in "Innocent" and "Brother" - all unforgettable pieces that deserve to be read on their own by the uninitiated.
Also included in these 21 stories are a handful of stories that Greene wrote so astutely in the years of the Second World War and they are equally pitch-perfect in their combination of razor-sharp satire offset by an Ealing-style whimsicality or an unexpected core of warmth and romance. "Alas, Poor Maling" will earn your chuckles, "Men At Work" will prove to be a minutely observed critique of the Ministry of Information and its futile attempts to keep the flag flying and "Greek For Greek" is like one of those pleasantly comic and alternately romantic 1940 British comedies, by Noel Coward or by Charles Crichton, that also ends with a happy ending that leaves a big generous grin on your face.
The longer pieces in the collection, like the emotionally harrowing "The Basement Room" - the story on which the film "The Fallen Idol" was based - or the universally well-known "The Destructors" are themselves, needless to say, deserving of every word of praise that they get - brilliantly orchestrated, allegorical narratives rich not only in dazzling imagery but also with tension, a sense of cinematic atmosphere, compelling characterisation and ironical conclusions that remain etched indelibly in the mind. The rest of the collection is equally good - especially "The Blue Film" which demonstrates Greene's economy, sense of dark humour and compassion in unexpected ways.
A SENSE OF REALITY:
This collection was an unexpected gem. It is the shortest of the three collections condensed in this edition and yet, this is the one that, with no disrespect to the other two, that contains hidden the biggest, most extraordinary marvels of Greene's imagination. All the four contents are united by what the title implies - they are all, at one level, about a subjective perception of the characters in a narrative of what is real and what is not. The collection opens with the beautiful, almost heartbreaking, surreal and soul-searching novella "Under The Garden" - that I had also read last year and had loved in all its imaginative beauty and all-too-believable resonance - and ends with a post-apocalyptic fantasy that equally moves the reader to tears of both pain and release and in between gives us two stories that question, brilliantly and lucidly, the concepts of faith and belief, of doing one's duty and of being bound and trapped by keeping up a pretense of honour.
"A Visit To Morin" was a story that I could relate to - just as Greene has compelled me, indirectly, to believe, Morin, the fictional French author of the title, has also inspired the narrator of this story to come closer to belief, despite his atheistic inclinations. And yet, as the latter pays his boyhood hero a visit, what he discovers is that there is no clear meaning of the words "faith" and "belief" and Morin is not what he seems to be.
"Dream Of A Strange Land" reminded me of "England Made Me" and "Doctor Fischer" - there is that same cold-blooded streak of cynicism running through the narrative but as in those stories, there is also pathos and despair - on one hand, a possible old leper who yearns for dignity and on the other, a jaded old doctor overruled and manipulated by the rich and the mighty who is equally incapable of speaking out for his dignity. Shall the twain meet again?
Finally, we have "A Discovery In The Woods" which is a marvelously imaginative and even disquieting post-apocalyptic fantasy as well as a haunting post-modern parable of the legend of Noah's Ark. It is Greene at his most experimental and audacious and also him at his most emotionally stirring and resonant and the heart-pounding, heart-breaking denouement is one of the best conclusions in any short story that I have read in all my life.
One discovers all the shades of this masterful, dexterous, compulsively readable and philosophically profound storyteller and writer in many small, beautifully carved pieces that also glitter with wit and wisdom, that burn with pathos and radiate with depth and intelligence, that are, in turns, probing, cinematic, mesmerising, dramatic, hilarious, coolly cynical, heart-rending, romantic, saucy, absurd, imaginative and incisively political.
And at heart, these stories are all uniformly wise, worldly and warmly compassionate, as brilliantly written and concise and cohesive as any thing that this extraordinary, almost faultless writer has written in his entire career.
I had already read and slavishly loved more than once "May We Borrow Your Husband" - a collection of alternately tender, hilarious, absurd, melancholy, cheeky and romantic stories about love, lust, adultery, frivolity, mischief, nostalgia and death that belied its title so brilliantly and astutely. And so, this review will be primarily about my feelings - undoubtedly of love and admiration - for the other two collections in this edition.
TWENTY-ONE STORIES:
One of the intriguing things that I noticed about this collection is that a good chunk of the material is dated from Greene's earliest years as a writer, well before the 1940s and 1950s. And while that would normally mean that these stories would be indicative of a certain rawness, trust me, even the oldest stories in the collection, dating back to the late 1920s when he was just finding his first footing, are demonstrative of his flawless command for storytelling, his crystal-clear skill in orchestrating a narrative from beginning to end and in fleshing out moral conundrums and wholly believable characters caught up in these conundrums and situations. There is a flawless, almost immaculate sense of economy in the beautifully deceptive "I Spy", there is a terrifying portrait of metaphysical horror in "A Little Place Off The Edgware Road" and in "The End Of The Party", there is rich, local texture to be found in "Across The Bridge" and "A Chance For Mr. Lever", there is gilt-edged irony to be found in "Jubilee" and "The Case For The Defence" and there is a lingering sense of nostalgia and comradely compassion in "Innocent" and "Brother" - all unforgettable pieces that deserve to be read on their own by the uninitiated.
Also included in these 21 stories are a handful of stories that Greene wrote so astutely in the years of the Second World War and they are equally pitch-perfect in their combination of razor-sharp satire offset by an Ealing-style whimsicality or an unexpected core of warmth and romance. "Alas, Poor Maling" will earn your chuckles, "Men At Work" will prove to be a minutely observed critique of the Ministry of Information and its futile attempts to keep the flag flying and "Greek For Greek" is like one of those pleasantly comic and alternately romantic 1940 British comedies, by Noel Coward or by Charles Crichton, that also ends with a happy ending that leaves a big generous grin on your face.
The longer pieces in the collection, like the emotionally harrowing "The Basement Room" - the story on which the film "The Fallen Idol" was based - or the universally well-known "The Destructors" are themselves, needless to say, deserving of every word of praise that they get - brilliantly orchestrated, allegorical narratives rich not only in dazzling imagery but also with tension, a sense of cinematic atmosphere, compelling characterisation and ironical conclusions that remain etched indelibly in the mind. The rest of the collection is equally good - especially "The Blue Film" which demonstrates Greene's economy, sense of dark humour and compassion in unexpected ways.
A SENSE OF REALITY:
This collection was an unexpected gem. It is the shortest of the three collections condensed in this edition and yet, this is the one that, with no disrespect to the other two, that contains hidden the biggest, most extraordinary marvels of Greene's imagination. All the four contents are united by what the title implies - they are all, at one level, about a subjective perception of the characters in a narrative of what is real and what is not. The collection opens with the beautiful, almost heartbreaking, surreal and soul-searching novella "Under The Garden" - that I had also read last year and had loved in all its imaginative beauty and all-too-believable resonance - and ends with a post-apocalyptic fantasy that equally moves the reader to tears of both pain and release and in between gives us two stories that question, brilliantly and lucidly, the concepts of faith and belief, of doing one's duty and of being bound and trapped by keeping up a pretense of honour.
"A Visit To Morin" was a story that I could relate to - just as Greene has compelled me, indirectly, to believe, Morin, the fictional French author of the title, has also inspired the narrator of this story to come closer to belief, despite his atheistic inclinations. And yet, as the latter pays his boyhood hero a visit, what he discovers is that there is no clear meaning of the words "faith" and "belief" and Morin is not what he seems to be.
"Dream Of A Strange Land" reminded me of "England Made Me" and "Doctor Fischer" - there is that same cold-blooded streak of cynicism running through the narrative but as in those stories, there is also pathos and despair - on one hand, a possible old leper who yearns for dignity and on the other, a jaded old doctor overruled and manipulated by the rich and the mighty who is equally incapable of speaking out for his dignity. Shall the twain meet again?
Finally, we have "A Discovery In The Woods" which is a marvelously imaginative and even disquieting post-apocalyptic fantasy as well as a haunting post-modern parable of the legend of Noah's Ark. It is Greene at his most experimental and audacious and also him at his most emotionally stirring and resonant and the heart-pounding, heart-breaking denouement is one of the best conclusions in any short story that I have read in all my life.
July 12, 2018
3.5 αστεράκια στην πρώτη μου επαφή με τον Γκράχαμ Γκριν.
Μου έκανε εντύπωση το πόσο ευκολοδιάβαστα ήταν τα διηγήματά του, χωρίς να του λείπουν και κάποιες διάσπαρτες, όμορφες λογοτεχνικές στιγμές και σοφίες.
Συνεχίζω να πιστεύω ακράδαντα πως το διήγημα αποτελεί το πιο δύσκολο είδος, μια δοκιμασία για κάθε συγγραφέα, ακόμη και καταξιωμένο- ίσως περισσότερο ακόμα σ' αυτόν.
Επειδή δεν ενθουσιάστηκα, όπως ακούω για τον Γκριν τιμές και δόξες θέλω να δοκιμάσω την τύχη μου για την σχέση μου μαζί του και στο μυθιστόρημα. Μην ξεροντας απο που ν' αρχισω, αφου ολα αυτα που θέλω - το τέλος μιας σχέσης, η δυναμις και η δόξα κ.α.- τα βρισκω εξαντλημένα και απογοητευομαι, έιμαι ανοιχτή σε προτάσεις.
Βρήκα στην βιβλιοθήκη και πήρα στην τύχη τον Τρίτο Άνθρωπο. Στα πολύ προσεχώς λοιπόν.
Μου έκανε εντύπωση το πόσο ευκολοδιάβαστα ήταν τα διηγήματά του, χωρίς να του λείπουν και κάποιες διάσπαρτες, όμορφες λογοτεχνικές στιγμές και σοφίες.
Συνεχίζω να πιστεύω ακράδαντα πως το διήγημα αποτελεί το πιο δύσκολο είδος, μια δοκιμασία για κάθε συγγραφέα, ακόμη και καταξιωμένο- ίσως περισσότερο ακόμα σ' αυτόν.
Επειδή δεν ενθουσιάστηκα, όπως ακούω για τον Γκριν τιμές και δόξες θέλω να δοκιμάσω την τύχη μου για την σχέση μου μαζί του και στο μυθιστόρημα. Μην ξεροντας απο που ν' αρχισω, αφου ολα αυτα που θέλω - το τέλος μιας σχέσης, η δυναμις και η δόξα κ.α.- τα βρισκω εξαντλημένα και απογοητευομαι, έιμαι ανοιχτή σε προτάσεις.
Βρήκα στην βιβλιοθήκη και πήρα στην τύχη τον Τρίτο Άνθρωπο. Στα πολύ προσεχώς λοιπόν.
July 8, 2024
“The Destructors” is one of my ur stories: a story that made me want to write stories, a story that I reread frequently to reconnect with what stories are all about. It’s one of those stories that can have an immediate impact: a gang of kids destroying an old miser’s house. Yet on repeated readings the story gains in power because it works on so many levels. Old Misery locked in the loo; the Christopher Wren (builder of St Pauls and the house, both of which were among the few buildings in that area that survived the Blitz) reference; the leadership struggle among the gang of kids; Trevor (the upper class name) being called T, until it is a dig; the burning of the money; the truck driver laughing after the house is pulled down; those are just some of the subtleties woven through the primary action of the inside-out dismantling of the house. And then there’s this scene:
"There'd be no fun if I hated him." Wow. A five star story.
’Did you find anything special?’ Blackie asked.
T nodded. ‘Come over here,’ he said, ‘and look.’ Out of both pockets he drew bundles of pound notes. ‘Old Misery’s savings,’ he said. ‘Mike ripped out the mattress, but he missed them.’
‘What are you going to do? Share them?”
‘We aren’t thieves,’ T said. ‘Nobody’s going to steal anything from this house. I kept these for you and me - a celebration.’ He knelt down on the floor and counted them out - there were seventy in all. ‘We’ll burn them,’ he said, ‘one by one’ and taking it in turns they held a note upwards and lit the top corner, so that the flame burnt slowly towards their fingers. The grey ash floated above them and fell on their heads like age. ‘I’d like to see Ol Misery’s face when we are through,’ T said.
‘You hate him a lot?’ Black asked.
‘Of course I don't hate him,’ T said. ‘There’d be no fun if I hated him.’ The last burning note illuminated his brooding face. ‘All this hate and love,’ he said, ‘it’s soft, it’s hooey. There’s only things, Blackie,’ and he looked round the room crowded with unfamiliar shadows of half things, broken things, former things. ‘I’ll race you home, Blackie,’ he said.
"There'd be no fun if I hated him." Wow. A five star story.
August 14, 2020
A gem of a Greeneland compendium!
October 28, 2013
Witty, insightful, vicious, heartbreaking, believable. There are far more adjectives that I could use to describe Graham Greene’s short stories (or indeed his novels) than I would have room for on a page. This collection in particular provides a superb example of his short works—many of them extremely short, some longer, but all with near-perfect story arcs and highly developed characters. Greene has a way of being inherently English, and yet inherently universal, at the same time. Era and time period provide backdrops and vehicles for plot, but never bog down or distract from the story at the heart of each tale.
July 27, 2023
Stories have been filed under 3 parts: Twenty-One Stories (3 stars), A Sense of Reality (3 stars), and May We Borrow Your Husband (5 stars). Not one story stood out among the 21 offered with the first part, and the second part, composed of just 4 stories, stands out only for its post-apocalyptic story (A Discovery in the Woods). The last part has the most memorable lines. It has 12 stories, with 3 excellent ones, my favorite being May We Borrow Your Husband, which has all the indications of a short story, novella, or novel by Somerset Maugham. Setting Antibes, long-staying foreigners breakfasting at sunny terraces of hotel pensiones and enjoying cocktails at hole-in-the-wall bars. Genteel narrator an apathetic writer with antennae for ridiculous detail and bitchy similes, and a damsel who may or may not need rescuing. Only I don't recall Maugham having written so blatantly (nor so disapprovingly) on homosexuality.
One or two stories in this collection smack too much of Greene's terrible Travels with My Aunt, but like most Greene novels I've read, he writes lines (aphorisms) worth pondering. Such as this one, from the last story of the last part, Two Gentle People, which bears a truism: "What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old." But. It's followed by a phrase I found unnecessary: "but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom."
One or two stories in this collection smack too much of Greene's terrible Travels with My Aunt, but like most Greene novels I've read, he writes lines (aphorisms) worth pondering. Such as this one, from the last story of the last part, Two Gentle People, which bears a truism: "What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old." But. It's followed by a phrase I found unnecessary: "but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom."
October 14, 2008
The good thing about a collection of short stories (or short stories in general) is that you don't have to read anything in order. You can just flip through until something catches your eye and start reading it. In the event you get bored, you can go to a different story.
I've picked up, put down, picked up, and put down this book a countless number of times throughout a year and still find something new whenever I re-read a story or complete one. My favorites right now from it include "The Blue Film", "The Basement Room", "Two Gentle People"... The list might actually grow longer if I let it. You never know when a quiet story might turn into something remarkable over time if say you put it down for a few months then started to re-read it suddenly afterwards ("A Little Place Off the Edgware Road" gets more nightmarish every time). It's true like... wine.
I've picked up, put down, picked up, and put down this book a countless number of times throughout a year and still find something new whenever I re-read a story or complete one. My favorites right now from it include "The Blue Film", "The Basement Room", "Two Gentle People"... The list might actually grow longer if I let it. You never know when a quiet story might turn into something remarkable over time if say you put it down for a few months then started to re-read it suddenly afterwards ("A Little Place Off the Edgware Road" gets more nightmarish every time). It's true like... wine.
September 7, 2007
Graham Greene is one of the best short story writers - ever. He has interesting characters, tight dialogue, and ingenius insight. His stories are everyday yet remarkably interesting. Just flip through the book, pick a story and read it. You won't be disappointed.
April 5, 2016
"What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom."
October 30, 2021
Worth reading just for "A Shocking Accident" and "The Destructors". Great collection of stories.
April 17, 2008
I love this collection of short stories. I'll admit, I've tried to read "The Power and the Glory" about a million times and I just can't get through it, but Graham Greene's short stories are a much easier read for me. "The Destructors" is my favorite story in here.
June 7, 2009
this book made me like graham greene as much as i once did (back when i first read The Quiet American. greene is here much more whimsical, and often as profound, as he is in his novels.
August 29, 2015
This will be my first review—when I say review here, I now and forever mean my rambling reminiscence on my reading experience, hastily organized—of a short story collection, which is nice because this is probably the best collection of short stories I've ever read. (I will say that I have a published review of Ethan Rutherford's The Peripatetic Coffin in the ARCC Campus Eye, so I do have some experience in the matter, though this will be something else entirely.) I've yet to do serious research on the life of Graham Green, though from what I've uncovered surfing the web, as well as from reading his Collected Short Stories and previously The Quiet American, I've discovered a few things. First of all, the man had a plethora of knowledge about the world that he lived in, as well as being extremely well traveled. It seems he also had an eerie prescience in certain situations, which reflects on his perceptiveness of humans on an individual and cultural level. Greene was also something of an enigma, seeing how he came to Catholicism in early adult life after meeting his soon-to-be wife, whom he would later become estranged from, as well as from religious practice altogether. These traits all shine through in this collection, which features work from four decades of the twentieth century.
I became aware of Graham Greene a long time ago—at least, what feels like a long time for someone who took their first legal drink just one week prior to this writing. It was late in the year of 2008, November or December, and Graham Greene had been dead for nearly two decades. A cute girl who sat behind me in Spanish class told me about a little-known independent film with a cult following called Donnie Darko. While I'm hesitant to start the explaining the abstract plot of the 2001 film starring Jake Gyllenhall, I will say that it is my favorite film to this day, and that I've seen it many, many times. A majority of the film takes place in a private school, where an English teacher (played by Drew Barrymore) is at odds with the school administration and a fanatically religious dance coach. The catalyst of this tension is Barrymore's sharing with the class the work of Graham Greene, particularly his short story "The Destructors."
This reference would lead me—years later, after I'd discovered my avid love for literature—to my searching for a collection of Greene's short stories. At Magers and Quinn in Uptown Minneapolis, I found The Quiet American, though no collection of short stories. Though I'm not usually one for war or espionage novels, which lead to my shelving Greene's novel still unread for some time, I thoroughly enjoyed it upon completion and assured myself that I would return to Greene's work at some later date. It was earlier this month when I saw The End of the Tour, the film about David Foster Wallace, that I returned to the bookstore in Uptown. (The film was a limited release, and I dragged my brother to the theater on Hennepin Avenue to see it.) The store's stock on Graham Greene's work was much more abundant this time around, and I found the collection that I'd initially searched for. And although my watching movies is a rare thing these days with my large reading agenda, film is where I found my love for storytelling, and I will always have the softest of spots in my heart for Donnie Darko. This led me, with so many other new and unread books on my bedside table, to turn immediately to Greene.
What makes Greene's stories so profound is that he is able to unearth the mystifying truths of the human condition from a large overtone of realism. Collected Short Stories opens with "The Destructors," and while it was good to finally have read the story that influenced so greatly my favorite movie of all time—the framed movie poster hangs over my bed to this day—it was nothing compared to the treasure trove that awaited me in the next 300+ pages. The plots all vary in terms of extravagance, ranging from dissatisfied marriages to immortal people living secretly beneath the roots of an oak tree, but it's a rare exception when one of the stories couldn't be deemed realistic. The mystical never seems to undermine the reality of these stories, and the effect is his ability to shock readers and to fill them with a sense of sadness and foreboding. Adverse to that point, I was also at times made to feel hope, yearning, and love.
The topics and themes vary too. Many of the stories have strong religious overtones, where the faithful can either come off as wistful and charismatic, or instead as ignorant and prideful. One may think of Greene as a man of strong faith at end of one story, and then as a hopeless cynic at the next. Regardless of how the characters may appear, and how that may reflect on the state of their faith, the characters always seem dynamic, like living and breathing people. Their problems have a depth and darkness that the average reader might not expect out of literature from this early in the twentieth century. I was surprised to find Greene elaborate so clearly and openly about things like evil, suicide, infidelity and homosexuality, to uphold and to build upon ideas that I see as progressive in today's age. He writes evocatively and convincingly of human being's pursuit of morality, and our search for purpose; of the relationships between sexes, between families, between nations; of the self-consciousness inflicted upon us by minds, or even madness. I found many times while reading this collection—as I did upon reading The Quiet American—that there were numerous passages where an idea or image affected me in a way that no other author has been able to do, excerpts that I could write down as a quote and read it over when it feels I'm in a lull and looking for enlightenment. That sounds like a banal platitude (to use a very Wallace-esque phrase), but I'm struggling to meaningfully explain the impact his sentences and paragraphs have had on me. So concise and clear, yet so deep and revelatory; the only phrase I can think of to explain these excerpts and passages that are so approachable and quotable is this: fuckin' perfect.
The book consists of three separate short story collections, one from the late '40s and the other two being published in the '60s, but some of the earliest stories are dated from around the time of the Great Depression. Greene traveled often in his life—even to the most exotic places—so while most of his stories take place in England, the setting is also subject to change. There are historical references throughout, names and events that might have been important to the understanding of the story that I readers may be uneducated about. The Battle of Britain, for instance, is taking place during one of the earlier stories in the collection, so reader's who aren't versed in WWII history may be confused as to why there are planes dropping bombs on the city. Despite all this—the stories being old, their being set in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar customs, with outdated technologies and ways of life—this collection has spoken to me of the human condition and some of our most searching questions in a way that I've never before encountered.
I've heard—or rather, read—it said that Graham Greene is the greatest novelist of the 20th century. Seeing how I've only read one of his novels (and one considered not a novel, but an 'entertainment' by Greene's own standards), I can't speak on that matter. I can say that the one novel of his that I've read had sparked a great interest in me, that this collection of short stories has solidified him as one of my favorite writers, and that I'm now in the pursuit of discovering whether or not that statement rings with truth. I would recommend to anyone "A Discovery in the Woods," about a gang of children committing a forbidden act and crossing the boundaries of their crude village. Shockingly sad, beautifully written, and with a great twist at the end, it's one of the many exemplifications of Greene's mastery of the short-story form. If his novels sustain the quality found in his Collected Short Stories, I imagine I'll be one to back up those who label Greene as the greatest.
I became aware of Graham Greene a long time ago—at least, what feels like a long time for someone who took their first legal drink just one week prior to this writing. It was late in the year of 2008, November or December, and Graham Greene had been dead for nearly two decades. A cute girl who sat behind me in Spanish class told me about a little-known independent film with a cult following called Donnie Darko. While I'm hesitant to start the explaining the abstract plot of the 2001 film starring Jake Gyllenhall, I will say that it is my favorite film to this day, and that I've seen it many, many times. A majority of the film takes place in a private school, where an English teacher (played by Drew Barrymore) is at odds with the school administration and a fanatically religious dance coach. The catalyst of this tension is Barrymore's sharing with the class the work of Graham Greene, particularly his short story "The Destructors."
This reference would lead me—years later, after I'd discovered my avid love for literature—to my searching for a collection of Greene's short stories. At Magers and Quinn in Uptown Minneapolis, I found The Quiet American, though no collection of short stories. Though I'm not usually one for war or espionage novels, which lead to my shelving Greene's novel still unread for some time, I thoroughly enjoyed it upon completion and assured myself that I would return to Greene's work at some later date. It was earlier this month when I saw The End of the Tour, the film about David Foster Wallace, that I returned to the bookstore in Uptown. (The film was a limited release, and I dragged my brother to the theater on Hennepin Avenue to see it.) The store's stock on Graham Greene's work was much more abundant this time around, and I found the collection that I'd initially searched for. And although my watching movies is a rare thing these days with my large reading agenda, film is where I found my love for storytelling, and I will always have the softest of spots in my heart for Donnie Darko. This led me, with so many other new and unread books on my bedside table, to turn immediately to Greene.
What makes Greene's stories so profound is that he is able to unearth the mystifying truths of the human condition from a large overtone of realism. Collected Short Stories opens with "The Destructors," and while it was good to finally have read the story that influenced so greatly my favorite movie of all time—the framed movie poster hangs over my bed to this day—it was nothing compared to the treasure trove that awaited me in the next 300+ pages. The plots all vary in terms of extravagance, ranging from dissatisfied marriages to immortal people living secretly beneath the roots of an oak tree, but it's a rare exception when one of the stories couldn't be deemed realistic. The mystical never seems to undermine the reality of these stories, and the effect is his ability to shock readers and to fill them with a sense of sadness and foreboding. Adverse to that point, I was also at times made to feel hope, yearning, and love.
The topics and themes vary too. Many of the stories have strong religious overtones, where the faithful can either come off as wistful and charismatic, or instead as ignorant and prideful. One may think of Greene as a man of strong faith at end of one story, and then as a hopeless cynic at the next. Regardless of how the characters may appear, and how that may reflect on the state of their faith, the characters always seem dynamic, like living and breathing people. Their problems have a depth and darkness that the average reader might not expect out of literature from this early in the twentieth century. I was surprised to find Greene elaborate so clearly and openly about things like evil, suicide, infidelity and homosexuality, to uphold and to build upon ideas that I see as progressive in today's age. He writes evocatively and convincingly of human being's pursuit of morality, and our search for purpose; of the relationships between sexes, between families, between nations; of the self-consciousness inflicted upon us by minds, or even madness. I found many times while reading this collection—as I did upon reading The Quiet American—that there were numerous passages where an idea or image affected me in a way that no other author has been able to do, excerpts that I could write down as a quote and read it over when it feels I'm in a lull and looking for enlightenment. That sounds like a banal platitude (to use a very Wallace-esque phrase), but I'm struggling to meaningfully explain the impact his sentences and paragraphs have had on me. So concise and clear, yet so deep and revelatory; the only phrase I can think of to explain these excerpts and passages that are so approachable and quotable is this: fuckin' perfect.
The book consists of three separate short story collections, one from the late '40s and the other two being published in the '60s, but some of the earliest stories are dated from around the time of the Great Depression. Greene traveled often in his life—even to the most exotic places—so while most of his stories take place in England, the setting is also subject to change. There are historical references throughout, names and events that might have been important to the understanding of the story that I readers may be uneducated about. The Battle of Britain, for instance, is taking place during one of the earlier stories in the collection, so reader's who aren't versed in WWII history may be confused as to why there are planes dropping bombs on the city. Despite all this—the stories being old, their being set in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar customs, with outdated technologies and ways of life—this collection has spoken to me of the human condition and some of our most searching questions in a way that I've never before encountered.
I've heard—or rather, read—it said that Graham Greene is the greatest novelist of the 20th century. Seeing how I've only read one of his novels (and one considered not a novel, but an 'entertainment' by Greene's own standards), I can't speak on that matter. I can say that the one novel of his that I've read had sparked a great interest in me, that this collection of short stories has solidified him as one of my favorite writers, and that I'm now in the pursuit of discovering whether or not that statement rings with truth. I would recommend to anyone "A Discovery in the Woods," about a gang of children committing a forbidden act and crossing the boundaries of their crude village. Shockingly sad, beautifully written, and with a great twist at the end, it's one of the many exemplifications of Greene's mastery of the short-story form. If his novels sustain the quality found in his Collected Short Stories, I imagine I'll be one to back up those who label Greene as the greatest.
June 11, 2021
"What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom."
August 11, 2016
It is the first time I encounter Graham Greene and I must say I am quite pleased with what I have read (the amount of sentences I have noted down are proof of that). As many have said it, GG is a master of storytelling. I particularly enjoyed the irony with which he described many of his characters, though this didn't prevent him for showing sympathy as well. Perhaps next time I will attempt to indulge in one of his novels.
September 30, 2009
What a brilliant writer! Graham Greene was a recommended Author on my reading list and this was the first book I decided to tackle and it was delightful! His writing is at times, sporadic, yet it comes together perfectly. His tales are humorous with drama and morbid endings but they never fail to shock!
May 25, 2020
This book is a collection of previously work collected into one volume.
Some stories are stronger that others, the early ones are the best in my opinion.
They seem less self-consciously written by an author. Some are laugh out loud funny. I haven't reda Graham Greene to date but this collection encourages me to do just that.
Some stories are stronger that others, the early ones are the best in my opinion.
They seem less self-consciously written by an author. Some are laugh out loud funny. I haven't reda Graham Greene to date but this collection encourages me to do just that.
October 31, 2016
Early ones are almost unbearably grim. Latter ones are better. All are well-written, of course.
August 13, 2017
This is a very diverse collection of stories in content and theme. Largely they are haunting in some way, and thoughtfully constructed.
May 14, 2020
If you like Greene, you'll like this omnibus collection of stories, written between 1929 and 1970, that he once called "scraps."
November 20, 2020
Graham Greene has always been on my “to-read” list but it was only after going on a few dates with a writer we'll call "Steve", did I wonder why I never felt compelled to read him. Was it that I was repelled by the fact Greene’s writing either swung from one extreme (“serious” novels with a heavy emphasis on Catholicism) to another (flippant “thrillers” designed as entertainment). Did I prejudice Greene because I did -- still do, admittedly -- hold a torch for writers who take pains to express ambiguous ideals wrenched with tension while dealing with personal responsibility?
So, several months after that heated conversation -- being swayed more because I assumed "Steve" would know better than I -- I picked up Collected Short Stories as a sort of tasting menu. Thankfully, these stories actually do not fall into either category, Catholic-tinged writing or thrillers, but in fact reminded much of Hemingway in its sparse treatment of events and its unbridled cynicism or at its more extreme, the apathy of Delillo or Houellebecq. The problem I have with this kind of writing style has squarely to do with what Derrida named as Phallogocentrism, that is, the navel gazing male-centric perspective devoid of the want or understanding of circumstances beyond their own immediate world: male privilege at its best represented.
There’s not much more to say on the subject than that. If you’re a reader that is interested in what a male’s perspective on how he is placed (often unfairly) in this world and how he responds by behaving callously and/or vindictively but ultimately those very gestures and machinations end up being hollow without any discernible impact leading to bitterness and resentment, or, if you like reading a male’s perspective on the pressures of a society that doesn’t count you, that doesn’t appraise your value and in return, you respond with lethargy and complacency as a big FU to the man or the system that has wronged you, go right ahead. Greene is right up your alley.
Interestingly, only after slogging through these stories did I realise how incompatible "Steve" and I were; it’s no wonder he wasn’t interested in me. I guess sometimes it’s true: you can judge a book by its cover.
So, several months after that heated conversation -- being swayed more because I assumed "Steve" would know better than I -- I picked up Collected Short Stories as a sort of tasting menu. Thankfully, these stories actually do not fall into either category, Catholic-tinged writing or thrillers, but in fact reminded much of Hemingway in its sparse treatment of events and its unbridled cynicism or at its more extreme, the apathy of Delillo or Houellebecq. The problem I have with this kind of writing style has squarely to do with what Derrida named as Phallogocentrism, that is, the navel gazing male-centric perspective devoid of the want or understanding of circumstances beyond their own immediate world: male privilege at its best represented.
There’s not much more to say on the subject than that. If you’re a reader that is interested in what a male’s perspective on how he is placed (often unfairly) in this world and how he responds by behaving callously and/or vindictively but ultimately those very gestures and machinations end up being hollow without any discernible impact leading to bitterness and resentment, or, if you like reading a male’s perspective on the pressures of a society that doesn’t count you, that doesn’t appraise your value and in return, you respond with lethargy and complacency as a big FU to the man or the system that has wronged you, go right ahead. Greene is right up your alley.
Interestingly, only after slogging through these stories did I realise how incompatible "Steve" and I were; it’s no wonder he wasn’t interested in me. I guess sometimes it’s true: you can judge a book by its cover.
December 30, 2020
This was an easy one to check off my list. I had already read his “19 Stories” (1947), “Twenty-One Stories” (1954), “A Sense of Reality” (1963) and “May We Borrow Your Husband” (1967) – all the books of his short stories previously published. This volume simply collects all the previous books – BUT adds three new ones. So here they are:
“The Blessing” is an odd little story, with a setting from his days as a sub-editor, probably at the Times in London. The most interesting things about this forgettable story is that he gives his editor the name “Smiley,” later adopted by John le Carré as his famous spy chief.
“Church Militant” is a scrap of a story, with the setting from Greene’s days in Africa, investigating the Mau Mau movement.
The best of the three is clearly “Dear Dr Falkenheim,” a full short story which should probably be considered a Christmas classic, except it is so grisly. Written with obvious overtones of Greene’s own childhood, it is written as a father’s letter to his child’s psychiatrist, to help explain the result of the gruesome death of Santa Claus right in front of his child’s eyes.
The story is full of double entendres about belief (in Santa Claus, in Jesus) and concludes with a perfectly-put Greenian plea from the father about his son: “…he’s in a perpetual minority of one, because he believes that Father Christmas really existed. ‘Of course he’s real,’ he says, a bit like an early Christian, ‘I saw him die.’ He’s dead, and so he’s indestructible. Please do what you can, Doctor…”
In his new 6-page introduction to this collected volume, Greene apologizes again for having earlier called his short stories, “scraps.” He has come to appreciate and enjoy the difference between a novel and a short story: in a novel you work out the plan and the details in advance. In an essay, “I learned to trust the divagations of the mind. If you let the reins loose the horse will find its way home. The shape was something which grew of itself inside the essay, during the revision – you didn’t have to think it out beforehand.”
He concludes, once again, that writing short stories for him is another means of escape: “Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose of paint can manage to escape the madness, the melancholia, the panic fear which is inherent in the human situation.”
“The Blessing” is an odd little story, with a setting from his days as a sub-editor, probably at the Times in London. The most interesting things about this forgettable story is that he gives his editor the name “Smiley,” later adopted by John le Carré as his famous spy chief.
“Church Militant” is a scrap of a story, with the setting from Greene’s days in Africa, investigating the Mau Mau movement.
The best of the three is clearly “Dear Dr Falkenheim,” a full short story which should probably be considered a Christmas classic, except it is so grisly. Written with obvious overtones of Greene’s own childhood, it is written as a father’s letter to his child’s psychiatrist, to help explain the result of the gruesome death of Santa Claus right in front of his child’s eyes.
The story is full of double entendres about belief (in Santa Claus, in Jesus) and concludes with a perfectly-put Greenian plea from the father about his son: “…he’s in a perpetual minority of one, because he believes that Father Christmas really existed. ‘Of course he’s real,’ he says, a bit like an early Christian, ‘I saw him die.’ He’s dead, and so he’s indestructible. Please do what you can, Doctor…”
In his new 6-page introduction to this collected volume, Greene apologizes again for having earlier called his short stories, “scraps.” He has come to appreciate and enjoy the difference between a novel and a short story: in a novel you work out the plan and the details in advance. In an essay, “I learned to trust the divagations of the mind. If you let the reins loose the horse will find its way home. The shape was something which grew of itself inside the essay, during the revision – you didn’t have to think it out beforehand.”
He concludes, once again, that writing short stories for him is another means of escape: “Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose of paint can manage to escape the madness, the melancholia, the panic fear which is inherent in the human situation.”
October 3, 2024
This 1986 collection of 37 short stories combines three previously published volumes: Nineteen Stories (from 1947, though there are actually twenty-one here); A Sense of Reality (1963); and May We Borrow Your Husband? (1967). I suppose if you read enough Greene the styles and themes here will be familiar – he was amazingly consistent during his career, even when tinkering with perspectives and settings. As he does in all his longer works, he pays enormous attention to the details of relationships, while offering occasionally caustic observations and humorous commentary on culture and history. It’s possible some will see evidence of his evolution and maturing as a writer here, but it struck me that his earliest and latest stories had more in common than the stuff in the middle. Rather than unpack and dissect everything, I’ll just skim over a few highlights. The first book has the oldest and shortest stories, of which “When Greek Meets Greek” and “Alas, Poor Maling” were my favorites, probably because they were both quite funny. The middle book was more ponderous and meditative, incorporating more religion than the earlier volume, and its last story, “A Discovery in the Woods”, was a rich and haunting fable with echoes of “Lord of the Flies”. The final section was my favorite and had too many great stories to list here. I thought “Chagrin in Three Parts” came the closest to revealing Greene himself peeking out from behind his narrator, while “A Shocking Accident” was just flat-out funny and holds up well all these many years later. My mom was a Graham Greene fan and among her books that I’ve saved is a 1975 collection called “Shades of Greene”, which contained 18 stories adapted for British television. All of them are here, and without checking ahead of time, it wasn’t too difficult to guess which ones made it to the small screen. That’s another aspect of Greene’s writing I’ve only lately come to recognize: how easily his stories can transcend media, and have. Taken in its entirety it’s probably some degree short of his greatest books, but individual stories here compare quite well. Many would qualify as what he termed “entertainments”, and solidly so, and that’s usually what saves and elevates short story collections.
March 25, 2024
My favourites:
May We Borrow Your Husband?
A Day Saved
Cheap in August
The Hint of an Explanation
Under the Garden
All ratings:
TWENTY-ONE STORIES
The Destructors ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Special Duties ⭐️
The Blue Film ⭐️⭐️
The Hint of an Explanation ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
When Greek Meets Greek ⭐️⭐️
Men at Work ⭐️
Alas, Poor Maling ⭐️⭐️
The Case for the Defence ⭐️
A Little Place off the Edgware Road ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Across the Bridge ⭐️⭐️
A Drive in the Country ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Innocent ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Basement Room ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Chance for Mr Lever ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Brother ⭐️⭐️
Jubilee ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Day Saved ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
ISpy ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Proof Positive ⭐️⭐️
The Second Death ⭐️⭐️
The End of the Party ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A SENSE OF REALITY
Under the Garden ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Visit to Morin ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dream of a Strange Land ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Discovery in the Woods ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
MAY WE BORROW YOUR HUSBAND?
May We Borrow Your Husband? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Beauty ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Chagrin in Three Parts ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Over-night Bag ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mortmain ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Cheap in August ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Shocking Accident ⭐️⭐️
The Invisible Japanese Gentlemen ⭐️⭐️
Awful When You Think of It ⭐️⭐️
Doctor Crombie ⭐️
The Root of All Evil Two Gentle People ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
May We Borrow Your Husband?
A Day Saved
Cheap in August
The Hint of an Explanation
Under the Garden
All ratings:
TWENTY-ONE STORIES
The Destructors ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Special Duties ⭐️
The Blue Film ⭐️⭐️
The Hint of an Explanation ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
When Greek Meets Greek ⭐️⭐️
Men at Work ⭐️
Alas, Poor Maling ⭐️⭐️
The Case for the Defence ⭐️
A Little Place off the Edgware Road ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Across the Bridge ⭐️⭐️
A Drive in the Country ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Innocent ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Basement Room ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Chance for Mr Lever ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Brother ⭐️⭐️
Jubilee ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Day Saved ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
ISpy ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Proof Positive ⭐️⭐️
The Second Death ⭐️⭐️
The End of the Party ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A SENSE OF REALITY
Under the Garden ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Visit to Morin ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dream of a Strange Land ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Discovery in the Woods ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
MAY WE BORROW YOUR HUSBAND?
May We Borrow Your Husband? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Beauty ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Chagrin in Three Parts ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Over-night Bag ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mortmain ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Cheap in August ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Shocking Accident ⭐️⭐️
The Invisible Japanese Gentlemen ⭐️⭐️
Awful When You Think of It ⭐️⭐️
Doctor Crombie ⭐️
The Root of All Evil Two Gentle People ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
May 5, 2025
There is a strange undercurrent of sex in many of these stories. That would not be the worst of things except that in these stories they always deviate toward sin; an affair, two gay men stealing the husband of a woman, or a man and woman regretting their respective marriages for petty reasons. It's deeply sad. Herein, too, is the average worldly portrayal of religion, steeped in frustrated misunderstanding, with the same common laments about how life is 'not fair', of course written with more intellectual wording, but still misrepresenting the most basic points of theology.
If I can pretend to ignore those things, which I can never really do, there are some clever, interesting, terrific stories too. There was more than one story that was very entertaining. However, the overwhelming spice of the oddities, which predominate, lingering from story to story like a bad smell, was too strong for me to remember the best parts.
If I can pretend to ignore those things, which I can never really do, there are some clever, interesting, terrific stories too. There was more than one story that was very entertaining. However, the overwhelming spice of the oddities, which predominate, lingering from story to story like a bad smell, was too strong for me to remember the best parts.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 3, 2025
This collection of short stories is from three different books released in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Despite their age the stories are very good, well written, and some, surprisingly, are topical even today. The last set of short stories “Can I take your Husband” deal with sexual matters. And although the language is very tame compared to today’s standards they are all very good. Some are misogynistic and racists when describing women and people of colour, because they were written in an era were that was permissible. Still I quite enjoyed them.
October 19, 2025
I found this a bit of a slog - a well written slog certainly but not always completely pleasurable. Some of that is the genre - I do lose patience with short stories and miss being engrossed in a single narrative.
The earlier stories are fairly grim and many are more vignettes than fully realised narratives. His writing style is very sparse and dry - Hemingway esque - and very male. There isn’t really a convincing female character in the collection - the “innocent” Poopy in the May we Borrow Your Husband being a good case in point.
Some of the stories were striking (even haunting) though - The Destructors and A Chance for Mr Lever stood out - as did the almost magical realist Under the Garden. The one with the body in the cinema particularly stood out.
The earlier stories are fairly grim and many are more vignettes than fully realised narratives. His writing style is very sparse and dry - Hemingway esque - and very male. There isn’t really a convincing female character in the collection - the “innocent” Poopy in the May we Borrow Your Husband being a good case in point.
Some of the stories were striking (even haunting) though - The Destructors and A Chance for Mr Lever stood out - as did the almost magical realist Under the Garden. The one with the body in the cinema particularly stood out.
November 13, 2019
Admittedly I was given this book because of The Destructors but I enjoyed the whole collection. I can't say they were all equally good so it's very difficult to rate but I like his style, very dark and reminiscent of Dahl. Under the Garden in particular still haunts my memory after reading it 15 years ago!
April 26, 2022
Although I have not finished it yet (I’m about 75% of the way through), I can say he wrote beautiful, witty, and thought provoking stories.
I wrote this review to say that I loved “Cheap in August” when I first read it. Then after some time, I read it again, and I can say the detail and richness of this story are truly marvelous.
I wrote this review to say that I loved “Cheap in August” when I first read it. Then after some time, I read it again, and I can say the detail and richness of this story are truly marvelous.
December 12, 2017
ok I know I read this book, not sure why it didn't show up on this site and yes it's good.
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