The Escape

by Katherine Mansfield

Collection of five exquisite, evocative stories of human behaviour which capture brief but significant moments in the lives of the characters: 'The Escape', 'The Daughters of the Late Colonel', 'The Garden-Party', 'Bliss' and 'Taking the Veil'.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

85 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 1995

About the author

Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp) was a prominent New Zealand modernist writer of short fiction who wrote under the pen name of Katherine Mansfield.

Katherine Mansfield is widely considered one of the best short story writers of her period. A number of her works, including "Miss Brill", "Prelude", "The Garden Party", "The Doll's House", and later works such as "The Fly", are frequently collected in short story anthologies. Mansfield also proved ahead of her time in her adoration of Russian playwright and short story writer Anton Chekhov, and incorporated some of his themes and techniques into her writing.

Katherine Mansfield was part of a "new dawn" in English literature with T.S. Eliot, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. She was associated with the brilliant group of writers who made the London of the period the centre of the literary world.

Nevertheless, Mansfield was a New Zealand writer - she could not have written as she did had she not gone to live in England and France, but she could not have done her best work if she had not had firm roots in her native land. She used her memories in her writing from the beginning, people, the places, even the colloquial speech of the country form the fabric of much of her best work.

Mansfield's stories were the first of significance in English to be written without a conventional plot. Supplanting the strictly structured plots of her predecessors in the genre (Edgar Allan Poe, Rudyard Kipling, H. G. Wells), Mansfield concentrated on one moment, a crisis or a turning point, rather than on a sequence of events. The plot is secondary to mood and characters. The stories are innovative in many other ways. They feature simple things - a doll's house or a charwoman. Her imagery, frequently from nature, flowers, wind and colours, set the scene with which readers can identify easily.

Themes too are universal: human isolation, the questioning of traditional roles of men and women in society, the conflict between love and disillusionment, idealism and reality, beauty and ugliness, joy and suffering, and the inevitability of these paradoxes. Oblique narration (influenced by Chekhov but certainly developed by Mansfield) includes the use of symbolism - the doll's house lamp, the fly, the pear tree - hinting at the hidden layers of meaning. Suggestion and implication replace direct detail.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is part of my penguin classics collection box set - I will admit its been a while since I have dipped in to the series but I thought it was time I returned.

This time we have a slice of a different world - one that has long since past in a country that feels so familiar. These are short stories that focus on the little things from a garden party to the days following a funeral and the impact it has on those left behind.

It is strange that when you read a description of the stories - they seem so banal however once you start reading you are pulled in to the world even if for the few pages that each story lasts. Considering the stories I usually read this is one of those books that is a breath of fresh air. Now I will admit that I am not driven to read more of Katherine Mansfield I am glad I decided to read this book and feel better for doing so.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do love Katherine Mansfield's writing. If this little collection had included the sublime At The Bay, well...

The Escape [1920] was an obscure little tract with a couple of sun-stroked characters who jarred across the page. Odd.

The Daughters Of The Late Colonel [1921] were surely a prototype of Peake's twin sisters Cora and Clarice. What? What?

The Garden-party [1922] was surely an inspiration towards Mrs. Dalloway [1925]...

Bliss [1920] enfolds us with flourishing symbolism...

Taking The Veil [1923] is romantic melodrama.

[Dolf Wagenaar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ik kan me herinneren dat ik de verhalen van Tsjechov erg leuk vond (al is het een tijd geleden dat ik ze las). Katherine Mansfield zou een van de belangrijkste navolgers zijn van Tsjechov en schreef in een modernistische stijl (namelijk zonder duidelijke 'standaard' verhaalstructuur). Eerlijk gezegd vond ik de verhalen wel wat saai en eerder symbolisch, impressionistisch en psychologisch. Het oog voor realistische en invoelbare details (en daardoor soms ook wat humor) maakte echter wel veel goed, waardoor ik het toch drie sterren heb gegeven.

[rania · Rating 3 out of 5]

apart from bliss and the garden party i saw very little point to these short stories :* ... i guess that's why they're the famous ones ! [but even then the endings to both stories were inch resting... didn't go where i wanted them to go but maybe that is actually a good thing....]

[Chinen Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

finished on the prettiest beach nz has to offer

have read the garden party and other stories before so a few of these were repeats

3.5-4
bliss and taking the veil were v good, very tiktok relatable in its snippet in the life of a girly type way

[Darkmond · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my type.
The best stories here are 'The Garden Party' and 'Bliss'.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to the short stories of Mansfield: this includes The Garden Party as well as the caustic The Escape, and the slyly funny Taking The Veil.

[Flapidouille · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fine writing, but I just cannot see the point; just cannot relate, sadly.

[Bas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The garden-party and Bliss were my favorite ones .
The others didn't do it for me climax wise .

[Dais · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming and witty collection of short stories

[Madib]

From fave to least:
Bliss
The garden party
Taking the veil
Daughters of the late Colonel
The escape

[Heather Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple, easy and quick read. A view into a world past.

[Maria do Socorro Baptista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um pequeno conto sobre uma mulher ao mesmo tempo controladora e dependente, incapaz de resolver as coisas por si mesma. Interessante.

[Coenraad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mansfield's stories are exquisite and should be mandatory reading for those intending to write themselves. She often portrays a social event, like a party or a dinner, populating it with interesting characters, but focusing on one individual, analysing her (as it is often a female character) response to the events. Subtly she also investigates the relationships between families and their servants. It is amusing to see that in more than one case, the employers are slightly scared of their employees! Society has changed since she and one of her literary examples, Anton Chekhov, have written; reading their work now resurrect their period effectively. It is not only the precise historical detail captured in her texts - the depiction of intense emotions, which remain with people of all eras, make her stories timeless.

Die verhale van Katherine Mansfield behoort standaard leeswerk te wees vir enigeen wat self wil skryf. Sy teken sosiale geleenthede vol interessante figure, maar fokus op een karakter waardeur sy die situasie analiseer. Sy vang belangrike peiode-detail vas, maar dit is die ondersoek na universele emosies wat haar verhale tydloos maak.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mansfield's reputation as one of the greatest masters of the short story form is well-deserved. Each of the five stories in this collection depicts one intense moment in the life of a central character. All five were incredible, but 'The Daughters of the Late Colonel' really blew me away - it was so exquisitely well done that it had me flicking back and forth reading it over and over again.