The Penguin Book of English Short Stories

The Penguin Books of Short Stories

by Christopher Dolley (Editor), Charles Dickens, Katherine Mansfield

Some of the stories in this collection — such as Well's The Country of the Blind and Joyce's The Dead — are classics; others - like Dickens's The Signalman and Lawrence's Fanny and Annie — are less well known. But all of them — whether funny, tragic, wry or fantastic - show their author at their concise best. Which makes this representative collection, at the very least, ferociously entertaining.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, Anthologies, Literary Fiction, Classic Literature, British Literature

329 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

Reviews

[Paul Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This year I had a project : reread all my favourite short stories. There are about 450 of them, some 3 pages long, some 60 pages long, I’ve got about half of them done so far. Quite a bit of reading that doesn’t show up on GR at all ! A great short story is a real treasure and so hard to recommend, there might be only two in a 20 story anthology but those two will occupy a part of your mind forever. The big hitters for me are Raymond Carver, Ray Bradbury, Donald Barthelme, Thom Jones, Irvine Welsh, Matthew Klam, Jordan Harper and Cordwainer Smith – last one is an old sf guy I want to reread everything by, that will be the next project.

Some stories are unrereadable – for instance they have a massive shock ending – once you know it it would be like having someone tell the same joke again – so "The Star" and "The Nine Billion Names of God" by Arthur C Clarke, and "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury (sf is very good at the perspective-altering ending that turns your mind upside down).

Some stories are so strange you think whaaaat did I just read? "In the Hills, the Cities" by Clive Barker, "Mr Boy" by Patrick Kelly, "User" by Juan Valencia, I remember those! Some long ones have such a lush power to create a whole world (a whole world just for a short story, such profligacy) – like "Special Economics" by Maureen McHugh or "R & R" by Lucius Shepherd or "Ant Colony" by Alissa Nutting (that last one would also fit into the what-did-I-just-read category). And some are funnier than ten of the last Netflix comedy shows, like "The Toast" by Rebecca Curtis, "The Rabbit Hole as Likely Explanation" by Ann Beattie or "The Issues I Dealt with in Therapy" by Matthew Klam.

And some are…. Well. Enough. You get the picture. Novels can be wonderful but don’t forget short stories. That’s the moral of this review.

As for this book, the best one is one of the all time creepiest, "Raspberry Jam" by Angus Wilson.

[Zanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

First read in 2007



Thus Dolley washes his hands. I can almost hear the snort he might give me if I took issue with him for including stories by James Joyce, and indeed that 'minor talent' Katherine Mansfield in a collection of 'English' short stories. So readers, there is no help from our editor here; if we dislike what we find there is no point in appealing to him.

We kick off with 'The Signalman' a morbid, fatalistic little story full of physical description by Dickens that is neither here nor there. One man meets another man. Later on there's another fellow in a walk on part. The tale does its trick and ends.

Then we have Thomas Hardy with 'The Withered Arm', of which I managed four pages before skipping ahead to Joseph Conrad's 'An Outpost of Progress', about a pair of stupid, greedy, ignorant white men at an ivory trading post somewhere in Africa. Unsurprisingly the fools lose their minds and turn on each other. Before that they enjoy lording over the jungle and admiring the beautiful muscles of African people. The theme continues with Kipling's 'At the End of the Passage' about some more white guys going crazy in some anonymous colony. Being a colonist is such a rough gig!

To H.G Wells' The Country of the Blind, which I feel is an interesting idea buried under an excess of expository detail. Our protagonist is an unpleasant fellow, while the folk he stumbles across in the mountains are peaceful and organised. Yet somehow, Wells seems to side with the bellicose invader after all, celebrating the beauty he sees and his escape from the benighted (though gentle) savages.

If you're feeling empire-fatigue, brace yourself for another march through W Somerset Maugham's effort 'The Force of Circumstance' which is set in Malaysia, and traces the demise of an unconventionally joyful marriage, ruined because Guy hasn't told Doris that before she moved out from glorious England to be his deliriously happy wife, he bought a fifteen year old native girl to live with him as his wife-slave. The former wife-slave keeps hanging around with her (and Guy's) children and upsetting things, until Doris finds out and after thinking things over, tells Guy she's not angry with him at all, he's never done anything wrong, but she just can't face having sex with him as the the image of 'those thin black arms of hers round you' 'fills [her] with a physical nausea'. She says 'I think of you holding those little black babies in your arms. Oh, it's loathsome.' So, Doris manages to blame herself, apologises profusely, and leaves Guy to himself. Once she's gone, he is miserable, but graciously allows his former slave wife to return to him. Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, Maugham stands before you accused by me of apologising for
#1 child abuse
#2 colonial slavery
#3 victim blaming
#4 misogyny
but of course, it was all under 'force of circumstance', so do go easy on the poor chap.

Finally we are through the desert/wilderness/jungle (ha! irony!), we can refresh ourselves at the oasis of Joyce's many-themed, classic story 'The Dead' without getting into a froth. In fact the action takes place around a cosy Christmas party so we can rest here in comfort. I'm not even going to talk about it; it's so good I wouldn't want to spoil. You can find it in Dubliners. Woolf's short, sweet, experimental piece 'Kew Gardens' follows and the same applies; it appears in collections of her stories elsewhere.

Next comes Lawrence with Fanny and Annie, which merits feminist analysis. The protagonist of this story knowingly, self-destructively enters a marriage that benefits the man and strips her of freedom and potential for self-actualisation. Lawrence seems to justify this outcome. Fanny feels that she is fated to marry Harry, to feel desire for him and be overwhelmed by him. I don't find this victim-blaming story at all credible.

Another rest for us on our dismal voyage follows in Katherine Mansfield's beautiful, original, evocative story 'The Voyage', told from the viewpoint of a young girl travelling with her grandmother. This story is like a bank vault full of gold. Images of light and dark, childhood and adulthood, life and death shimmer and glow under its subtle surface. I found this helpful and interesting post about it

And the remaining stories are all various shades of good! Aldous Huxley puts in a nuanced, clever and unconventional murder mystery 'The Gioconda Smile', and Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene put in entertaining efforts.

Finally, Angus Wilson's 'Raspberry Jam' deserves some attention as a surprise in this collection. It's a story against misogyny, heteronormativity, beauty-as-goodness and mental health ableism. It celebrates child agency, kindness and empathy. I just don't know why it all goes so horribly wrong at the end. What happened Angus?!

[Olethros · Rating 4 out of 5]

-Más bien british, pero vamos….-

Género. Relatos.

Lo que nos cuenta. Edición que trata de homenajear el momento de auge del relato en el Reino Unido (que no Inglaterra) entre mediados del siglo XIX y mediados del XX, con escritores muy famosos que ofrecen ejercicios técnicamente más que notables, y que nos permitirá acercarnos a saber más de la relación extraña entre un padre y un hijo en tiempos de crisis económica, la situación de una pareja inglesa en Malaca, a una tragedia en la India colonial, un sanatorio mental, el jardín botánico de Londres, saber el destino de un defraudador estadounidense que vive en México con el dinero que consiguió, un muchacho poco masculino y sus amistades femeninas maduras, la crisis nerviosa de un exitoso hombre de negocios, conocer las preocupaciones de un empleado de ferrocarril, una mujer que trata de dar un golpe de timón en su vida, un seductor casado y sin escrúpulos, una fiesta el día de Reyes, un emplazamiento comercial en las junglas de África, un viaje corto en Nueva Zelanda y una comunidad escondida en una zona montañosa de Ecuador.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...

[George Ilsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a fondness for short story anthologies, because at their best they present a teeming variety of creativity. Plus one usually discovers a new writer or two.

Initial impression, based on the first couple of stories, is that this should be called English Ghost Stories. I even checked the cover. However, tales of the supernatural start to morph into the perils of empire, and so it goes.

[Paul Westwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book should really have been called 'Old Short Stories in English' or something more like that as there don't appear to be any contemporary stories and not all the writers are English. Not that it's a problem, that would just have been more accurate. The book is packed full of the biggest names in literature and every story has something to offer. I got more from some than I did others but that's natural. It's quite tidy the way they've been selected to trace different themes throughout the book. We start with the supernatural, then colonialism, then a number which could be grouped under culture or society and then insanity. It's an enjoyable book if you like well written stories. Individual reviews below:
The Signalman (Dickens) - My overall impression of this story was that it's like something Poe would write. It has a gloomy tone that presages tragedy and doesn't disappoint. What I find clever is that the narration is slow, detailed and considered and yet the story is still riveting and progresses quickly to its conclusion.
The Withered Arm (Hardy) - Like the first story, this one is also a tale of the supernatural. It's a well put together story leading to a fairly predictable outcome (I think it becomes predictable about halfway through). But rather than that predictable scene being the end of the story Hardy launches into an explanation of how the other characters involved ended up being there which I found a bit tedious and unnecessary. This does lead to a different focus for the end of the story as we see what happens afterwards. This also draws attention to another strange quirk of the narrative whereby the character who appears to be the main protagonist at the start of the story disappears, another character becomes the main protagonist and then the story closes on the original protagonist again.
An Outpost of Progress (Conrad) - This story felt like it could be a little side story to Heart of Darkness. It's set on an outpost on an African river much like the ones Marlow visits on his mission to find Kurtz. Conrad is not kind to the main characters in their portrayal or their fate and I think they could be an analogy for the manner in which the colonisation of Africa occurred in general. I liked this story, it had a good mixture of the sombre and the absurd and the ending captures those two themes perfectly.
At the End of the Passage (Kipling) - I didn't know what to think of this one. It's a well written story about a group of expats in India. I'm not quite sure what its message is, I think maybe it's more about the attitudes of the men who went out to India at that time more than anything else.
The Country of the Blind (Wells) - A clever story which I've read before. I like the way all the supposed benefits of sight are obviated in the sightless country. It says a lot about our preconceptions and shows how things rarely turn out the way we think they will.
The Force of Circumstance (Maugham) - This is a sad story about lies, love and jealousy. I was left feeling like I didn't know what to think about the three main characters and I wasn't sure whether the racism inherent in both Leo's and Doris's actions was a result of the author's own prejudices or whether it is a reflection of the racism of the colonial era in general. It's hard to feel complete sympathy for any of the three main characters as each of them acts in some way that discourages it: Leo, for abandoning his native family; Doris, for what appears to be racist rather than jealous disgust; and the ex for what appears to be manipulative actions. The writing itself is very florid with some beautiful descriptive passages though there were a couple which I thought were overdone and unnecessary in the context of this story.
The Dead (Joyce) - This is an odd one to review from the perspective of the short story because I thought there was a lot in this story that doesn't seem relevant to what happens at the end of the story. So from that perspective it contains details that are superfluous for a short story. Saying that, Joyce does set the scene brilliantly and create a mood that leads into the closing scene. Some of the characters could be seen as archetypes and yet they feel real as well. It's written in a colloquial manner which meant that there were some things I didn't quite understand even though their tone was clear. All in all the story is about moods and relationships more than all the little subplots throughout. The closing scene swoops us into an almost poetic, existential reverie, leaving the reader to wonder about the biggest, unanswerable questions.
Kew Gardens (Woolf) - This is a playful little story where Woolf looks out at a park in summer from the viewpoint of a snail as it makes its way slowly through a flowerbed. From this perspective the passing humans breeze past and disappear into the distance like butterflies on the wind. We hear little snippets of different conversations, and each is very different from the next, and it feels like that's all we need to hear from them. The closing section pans out from the flowerbed by focusing on all the noises of the city that permeate the air leaving an impression of the vast and busy world that is all around.
Fanny and Annie (Lawrence) - I haven't read any D.H. Lawrence before and I really liked this story. It's primarily a straightforward narrative about a woman returning home to marry a man she believes is beneath her. The setting is beautifully written, despite being a bleak factory town, and the characters have subtlety and depth despite the little we learn of them. I found the ending surprising because there was no obvious conclusion. The reader is left to work it out for themselves and this made it resonate all the more. I think that the attentions of another woman may have fired Fanny's jealousies and strengthened her desire to marry. The story had focussed on how she found him attractive but resented that fact and the interruption by the old lady might have helped ease those doubts. Though other interpretations could fit as easily.
The Voyage (Mansfield) - I thought this was a really poignant story. It captures the solemnity of the death of a parent without being overly sentimental and hints that things are going to be ok while maintaining that suitable level of solemnity.
The Breakout (Joyce Cary) - This is an amusing story about a mental breakdown. It's quite easy to write amusingly about mental illness because the ill can act in such unusual ways. This story is written in the 3rd person but told from the perspective of the ill man. What it does well, with subtlety, is provide enough detail so we can see how his impression of events is skewered and how those who care about him are actually trying very hard to help him. For the record, from someone who has had to deal with mental illness in the family, I think his family dealt with the situation really well.
The Gioconda Smile (Huxley) - This is one of the longer stories in the anthology. It has some beautiful descriptive passages and is full of cultural and historical references that required much researching along the way. It comes down to being a karma story with a thought provoking revelation at the end. The main revelation I guessed but the one in the closing lines was a surprise which left me thinking.
The Fly in the Ointment - (V.S. Pritchett) - I particularly liked this one. It has some very clever touches, I particularly like the concept of the two faces and how they're described, and it's very well written with some beautiful touches. It also captures both characters' duplicities very well meaning you can't guess whether it will close on a cynical or a poignant note.
Mr Loveday's Little Outing - (Waugh) - This is a very neat story about a man in a lunatic asylum and while it tries to be sympathetic to mental illness the language used isn't very PC. I predicted the ending very early on which took away its impact for me.
Across the Bridge - (Greene) - This is a real classic short story with humor and tragedy. Greene really captures the mood of a sleepy border town and sets up the ending nicely. Is the dog howling for joy at the end?
Rasberry Jam - (Angus Wilson) - This has the tone of a childs' story but the content is rather more adult, a bit like a Roald Dahl short story. I'd read it before, probably at uni, but I couldn't remember how it ended. Despite the grotesqueness of the ending it's not a surprise that I couldn't remember because it's so unusual and not something that could have been predicted from the story before.

[Mohammad Aboomar · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and interesting selection of classic short stories, the authors representative of the English literature.

[Charlie_Bharlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Normally I like short stories but with these I found most of them don’t really have a “purpose”. And I know not every story needs a reason but I just didn’t really get a lot of plot or something else exciting from most of the stories. First one was the best imo

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is obviously much good writing here in different styles and through many years of English Short Stories. There are some literary greats here. Honestly, this is a collection of short stories which you might enjoy. I had to stick with them, work at it and with a few exceptions I felt it was an effort.

I won't go through these stories one by one, as others have done that far better than I would but suffice to say that I found several of these stories to be very, very dated and several didn't appeal to me at all. Many of the attitudes expressed by the characters are uncomfortable for the modern reader but they are what they are, it's understood and this is a historical collection.

At school, many years ago, we had a similar, very dated story collection to study and certainly this has turned me off old short stories, possibly for life.....!!! However, I travel in hope and, when I do find them, I like modern stories far better.

[Barbara Joan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best selection ever and I was slightly miffed to read the following in the intro. 'the short story...allows an essentially minor talent to fulfil itself. Katharine Mansfield is a good example...' (a bit of a put down?)
However 5* for James Joyce's 'The Dead' which I have read many times before and will do so again!

[Laureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I had to return this gorgeous little book to the library after extending 3 times. I just have too much to read and I don't usually choose short stories. What I read of these classics I truly loved. It is a book I should own so I can continue to experience the writing of these acclaimed authors. I didn't read the Dickens story because I have read some of his novels and know his writing.

I really wanted to read the James Joyce one but left it until last because his writing scares me; only from here say, not experience. Also I thought I might not like Virginia Woolf but that was why I borrowed this small collection - to try the different writing styles. I also missed a few others. The one story that really, really impressed me was H.G. Wells "The Valley of the Blind". This beat any allegorical story I have ever read. So beautifully realized and so meaningful. Yes, I will have to buy this book so I can delve into it at a time that suits me.

[Alex | paperbacksplenty · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Signalman by Charles Dickens 3.5 stars
The Withered Arm by Thomas Hardy 4 stars
An Outpost of Progress by Joseph Conrad 4 stars
At the End of the Passage by Rudyard Kipling 3 stars
The Country of the Blind by H.G. Wells 3.5 stars
The Force of Circumstance by W. Somerset Maugham 5 stars
The Dead by James Joyce 1 star
Kew Gardens by Virginia Woolf 4 stars
Fanny and Annie by D. H. Lawrence 3.5 stars
The Voyage by Katherine Mansfield 4 stars
The Breakout by Joyce Cary 5 stars!!!!
The Gioconda Smile by Aldous Huxley 5 stars
The Fly in the Ointment by V. S. Pritchett 4 stars
Mr Loveday's Little Outing by Evelyn Waugh 5 stars
Across the Bridge by Graham Greene 3.5 stars
Raspberry Jam by Angus Wilson 2 stars

[M.A. Lucas · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are many household names in this collection and the writing is admirable.

However, it is a miserable book which left me wondering about the selection criteria. Read the last couple of pages of Strawberry Jam at the end of the book (about the ugly death of a small bird) and you will get a fair idea of the rest.

I think I remember one uplifting tale buried in the mire. Search for it, if you will ...

[Matthew Richmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picking up the Wednesday literature segment where I last left off with Collected Stories (1983) – Gabriel García Márquez, today I bring you a short story from my current read – The Penguin Book of Short Stories. This anthology features some of the most celebrated names in literature, including Dickens, Huxley, Joyce, Maugham, Wells, and Woolf. Its themes span the supernatural, colonialism, cultural and societal tensions, and madness – to name just a few.

It’s an enjoyable read if you’re into the classics of English literature. Naturally, I connected more with some stories than others, but the one I’ve found most compelling and relatable so far is today’s feature by W. Somerset Maugham – The Force of Circumstance. By the end, this profound story led me to dive deep into the murky waters of my own soul, confronting my battles with loneliness and reassessing my priorities in relationships. It struck a painful chord – heartbreakingly true. That, to me, is what the greatest literature does: it holds a mirror up to the soul, and what it reflects back isn’t always easy to face.

The Force of Circumstance is a story about Doris, a young Englishwoman, who marries Guy, a colonial officer stationed in the remote outpost of Sembulu. Despite their love and her efforts to make their home pleasant, Doris discovers the presence of a Malay woman and child. Who is this woman and child lurking by their home? Anyway, I’ll keep the rest under wraps and spoiler-free for those wanting to read it (or listen to the audio version on YT) for the first time.

[Catnaitab · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable collection of short stories, some of them quite sad, others more dramatic or scary, with different styles of writing, some more ironic, others with a lot of dialogue, some more poetic. Themes include love, death, family relationships and madness. Some of the stories take place in British colonies as well, painting a mostly negative image of colonialism and showcasing the tensions between the British and indigenous populations.
For me, the highlights of this compilation are 'The Signalman' (Charles Dickens), an eerie supernatural story centred around the warning of death by an apparition; 'An Outpost of Progress' (Joseph Conrad) a satire about two useless British men "bringing civilisation" to a village in Africa and going insane in the process, 'The Dead' (James Joyce) a story that takes place in a big dinner party and deals with relationships, death, loss and love beautifully also briefly adressing Irish politics - a lovely slice of life as a whole with a pessimistic ending and 'Kew Gardens' (Virginia Woolf) where we are taken on a very short trip across this garden and glimpse at the lives of various people walking through it.
Some stories are better than others, some feel either predictable, not very compelling or believable, but as a whole this compilation has quite interesting and well-written contributions.

[Michael Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this on the flight back from London. Short stories are my favorite plane reading.

This is sixteen modern short stories by the great English writers, Conrad, Kipling, Somerset Maugham, Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Evelyn Waugh, D. H. Lawrence and more. There a very few clinkers and many very good stories.

Many of the stories end up commenting on the other stories. The Conrad, Kipling and Maugham stories set in Africa, India and Malay respectively, are all takes on English men trapped in colonial roles.

Aldous Huxley and Evelyn Waugh both use English stiffness and rigidity to tell black comedies. Lawrence and Joyce Cary both capture someone fed up with everything and trying to do something with it.

Two things struck me. England was an empire and many of the stories are directly or indirectly about the effect of the Empire on the English. (None of them are about the effect of the Empire on the populations ruled by the English.)

Secondly, the writing, on a sentence-by-sentence basis, is spectacular. Almost all of these writers are able to convey exactly the nuance they are trying for in clear well written English. These are traditionally written stories with very little experimental prose, and all the better for it.

[Hanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

As anyone who knows my reading habits knows, I am not a fan of short story collections. I should probably start reading another book parallel and only getting back to single stories from time to time. But that somehow goes against my notoric style of reading books.
In any case, this book offered a selection of short stories written between the late 19th century and mid 20th century. The historical context is really important to be able to even bear some of the heavy colonialistic stories (Rudyard Kipling’s “At the end of the passage”, W. Somerset Maugham’s “The force of circumstance”).

A few stories I really liked though:
Charles Dickens - The Signalman
Thomas Hardy - The withered arm
H.G. Wells - The country of the blind
Katherine Mansfield - The voyage
Joyce Cary - The Breakout
Graham Greene - Across the bridge
Angus Wilson - Rasperry Jam

[Julia Langnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Truly fascinating to explore the different short story styles. I adored the one by Virginia Woolf and Joyce, always a babe. I also learnt that Joyce and Virginia were born in the same year and died in the same year, which explains a hell of a lot. It was cool to see how the short stories started off with explorations of normal life with some shocking elements, then later turned into these bang shot shocking ordeals with some great glorious twist at the end. A result of our bang shot culture I suppose, where everything is accompanied by a gasp and twinkling eyes. This makes me want to read more short stories, possibly write some more, who knows?

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Awards:

1) Best Overall: Katherine Mansfield-The Voyage (young girl goes to live with grandparents after her mother's death)

2) Most Extreme Case of Misbehaviour in a Colonial Outpost: Joseph Conrad - An Outpost of Progress (two station officers don't quite make it to seeing their supply boat due to a disagreement over sugar)

3) Most Laboured Allegory: H. G. Wells - The Country of the Blind (blind civilisation outfox sighted visitor trying to become their King)

4) Story Most Likely To Lull You Into a False Sense of Security or Boredom then Come Back and Hit You in the Face : James Joyce - The Dead
(man dances, carves goose and ruminates on Death)

[Tamy Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book!
I originally bought it second hand for Literature class at University back in the 1990s and kept it in my car to pick up whenever I had to wait for anything.
My copy was ruined by water leaking into the car. I bought a replacement with the new cover design, but somehow it wasn’t the same.
It took me years to find the original version again (In well loved second hand condition), but thanks to ebay, I did!
There is something sentimental about reading old language from well worn pages.
My favourite stories are “The Country of the Blind”, “The Withered Arm” and “Mr Loveday’s little outing”.
Highly recommended!

[Maik Arnold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admittedly, I have only read a third of the short stories in this book. Every story shows you another and foreign world: a horror scenario that gives you goose-pimples (e.g., The Withered Arm) or that trade is not always progressing civilisation (especially in Belgian Congo; An Outpost of Progress). I had my difficulties to continue reading as the stories were too diverse, but I see the collection as an inventory to which I can come back again and again. Certainly, the book gives the reader a good overview of a few short story masterpieces, but you need the stamina to get through.

[Carl Sjölin Fagerlind · Rating 2 out of 5]

Det finns ett par bra noveller, men flera är otroligt tråkiga. Det verkar också vara ett tema i den senare halvan av samlingen att ha trevliga och gemytliga berättelser som sedan på sista sidan tar en 180° sväng rakt in i mardrömsland, det är inte nödvändigtvis dåligt, men ger en missvisande bild av engelsk litteratur.

Däremot så skulle jag säga att H. G. Wells The Country of the Blind helt klart är värt att läsa hela boken för. Men med det sagt så behöver man ju inte läsa hela den här samlingen för att bara läsa den.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full of short stories from a wide range of authors, in a wide range of styles. Each is completely different from the next. Some of the stories are better than others, however, this book gives you a taster of each author so that it enables you to decide if you would like to read more of their work.

[Neti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quiet nice collection. I needed a few short stories for university and decided to continue reading. Broad list of topics and themes from different authors.

I was bummed about the downtalking in the introduction and I wish for some more modern short stories mixed in or towards the end of the collection. But there is also the modern English short story collection which I might give a try.

[Susana Duarte · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a mix of very nice short stories and very bad ones. A few I just skimmed over because I really couldn't bring myself to finish them, but others (specially towards the ones in the end) I really enjoyed. So this is a mix of 5* short stories and 1* ones. Interesting anyways to read as there are many famous writers in here.

[Dagnija · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of special note for me in this volume was Graham Greene's story, Across the Bridge. In 1957, Rod Steiger starred in a fantastic film based upon this short story. I have never forgotten it, and count it as one of my favorites. The film can be seen on YouTube in its entirety. I recommend it highly.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable collection of short stories. There were no contemporary stories in this collection; they weren't missed. I have already bought the second book of short stories to read at some point next year.

[Bolti · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great mix of short stories. The best ones are thrilling and stay with you. My advice is to skip a short story if you're not enjoying it. There is such a variety of stories in here. I personally found the James Joyce one and a couple of others hard-going and I wish I'd skipped them.

[Robbie Peal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the Dickens, the Virginia Woolf, and the H.G. Wells. But most of the stories were really slow and I found it hard to get into them. Nearly all had tremendously dark twists, which I wasn't expecting

[Alison Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Penguin Book of English Short Stories was on the syllabus of my English Litersture course. I enjoyed reading many of the stories, such as Charles Dickens The Signalman. Mr. Loveday's Outing etc.

[Maarten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good stories, some average stories and 1 story that made it worthwhile reading the whole book (H.G Wells' The Country of the Blind).