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The Bodley Head Saki : Selected And Introduced By J.W.Lambert : Short Stories And The Unbearable Bassington
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March 25, 2026
This collection comprises of 52 short stories written between 1904 & 1919 with a longer novella at the end, written in 1912.
The short stories are satirical and witty anecdotes which laugh at the pretensions of the upper-middle class of Edwardian England.
Written 10-20 years after Oscar Wilde was producing his acerbic social comments and witticisms, Saki, a pen name of H H Munro, throws out some brilliant one- liners which can still crease the reader today.
Some stories have a supernatural flavour. Some have a poignant vibe. Some are quite shocking to the modern day reader as he reflects the zeitgeist of his time. But all have something valid to say.
Although read as a humorist, his work has serious comments about the blind materialism and shallowness of his society. And behind the facade of this, he sheds light on the more disturbing qualities of ruthlessness which tips over to cruelty, rage and revenge.
The reader gets the sense of a more soulful writer when reading the novella ‘The Unbearable Bassington’ in which you realise the jokes are all well and good but life does offer some very serious repercussions when bad decisions are made. It is a morality story which looks at a relationship between a mother and son in a detailed but not very sympathetic way. Saki never had a mother in his life so his sense of emptiness seems such that the fictional relationship verged on the toxic.
I found the ending of Bassington was seriously moving and beautifully written.
Here are a few worthy quotes from the collection- but it was difficult to choose from such a selection on offer!
‘ To a woman who dressed well on comparatively nothing year it was an anxious experience to have a son who dressed sumptuously on absolutely nothing’
‘ She wore some excellently set rubies with that indefinable air of having more at home that is so difficult to improvise’
‘The young have aspirations that never come to pass, the old have reminiscences of what never happened. It’s only the middle aged who are really conscious of their limitations’.
‘Women with perfect profiles are seldom agreeable’
The short stories are satirical and witty anecdotes which laugh at the pretensions of the upper-middle class of Edwardian England.
Written 10-20 years after Oscar Wilde was producing his acerbic social comments and witticisms, Saki, a pen name of H H Munro, throws out some brilliant one- liners which can still crease the reader today.
Some stories have a supernatural flavour. Some have a poignant vibe. Some are quite shocking to the modern day reader as he reflects the zeitgeist of his time. But all have something valid to say.
Although read as a humorist, his work has serious comments about the blind materialism and shallowness of his society. And behind the facade of this, he sheds light on the more disturbing qualities of ruthlessness which tips over to cruelty, rage and revenge.
The reader gets the sense of a more soulful writer when reading the novella ‘The Unbearable Bassington’ in which you realise the jokes are all well and good but life does offer some very serious repercussions when bad decisions are made. It is a morality story which looks at a relationship between a mother and son in a detailed but not very sympathetic way. Saki never had a mother in his life so his sense of emptiness seems such that the fictional relationship verged on the toxic.
I found the ending of Bassington was seriously moving and beautifully written.
Here are a few worthy quotes from the collection- but it was difficult to choose from such a selection on offer!
‘ To a woman who dressed well on comparatively nothing year it was an anxious experience to have a son who dressed sumptuously on absolutely nothing’
‘ She wore some excellently set rubies with that indefinable air of having more at home that is so difficult to improvise’
‘The young have aspirations that never come to pass, the old have reminiscences of what never happened. It’s only the middle aged who are really conscious of their limitations’.
‘Women with perfect profiles are seldom agreeable’
Displaying 1 of 1 review