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Tales of Natural and Unnatural Catastrophes
These ten stories chronicle a world gone slightly mad, with dark, inventive takes on environmental degradation, apocalyptic disaster, political chaos, religious conservatism, and more.
273 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1987
61 people are currently reading
556 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Highsmith
489 books5,067 followersPatricia Highsmith was an American novelist who is known mainly for her psychological crime thrillers which have led to more than two dozen film adaptations over the years.
She lived with her grandmother, mother and later step-father (her mother divorced her natural father six months before 'Patsy' was born and married Stanley Highsmith) in Fort Worth before moving with her parents to New York in 1927 but returned to live with her grandmother for a year in 1933. Returning to her parents in New York, she attended public schools in New York City and later graduated from Barnard College in 1942.
Shortly after graduation her short story 'The Heroine' was published in the Harper's Bazaar magazine and it was selected as one of the 22 best stories that appeared in American magazines in 1945 and it won the O Henry award for short stories in 1946. She continued to write short stories, many of them comic book stories, and regularly earned herself a weekly $55 pay-check. During this period of her life she lived variously in New York and Mexico.
Her first suspense novel 'Strangers on a Train' published in 1950 was an immediate success with public and critics alike. The novel has been adapted for the screen three times, most notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951.
In 1955 her anti-hero Tom Ripley appeared in the splendid 'The Talented Mr Ripley', a book that was awarded the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere as the best foreign mystery novel translated into French in 1957. This book, too, has been the subject of a number of film versions. Ripley appeared again in 'Ripley Under Ground' in 1970, in 'Ripley's Game' in 1974, 'The boy who Followed Ripley' in 1980 and in 'Ripley Under Water' in 1991.
Along with her acclaimed series about Ripley, she wrote 22 novels and eight short story collections plus many other short stories, often macabre, satirical or tinged with black humour. She also wrote one novel, non-mystery, under the name Claire Morgan , plus a work of non-fiction 'Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction' and a co-written book of children's verse, 'Miranda the Panda Is on the Veranda'.
She latterly lived in England and France and was more popular in England than in her native United States. Her novel 'Deep Water', 1957, was called by the Sunday Times one of the "most brilliant analyses of psychosis in America" and Julian Symons once wrote of her "Miss Highsmith is the writer who fuses character and plot most successfully ... the most important crime novelist at present in practice." In addition, Michael Dirda observed "Europeans honoured her as a psychological novelist, part of an existentialist tradition represented by her own favorite writers, in particular Dostoevsky, Conrad, Kafka, Gide, and Camus."
She died of leukemia in Locarno, Switzerland on 4 February 1995 and her last novel, 'Small g: a Summer Idyll', was published posthumously a month later.
Gerry Wolstenholme
July 2010
She lived with her grandmother, mother and later step-father (her mother divorced her natural father six months before 'Patsy' was born and married Stanley Highsmith) in Fort Worth before moving with her parents to New York in 1927 but returned to live with her grandmother for a year in 1933. Returning to her parents in New York, she attended public schools in New York City and later graduated from Barnard College in 1942.
Shortly after graduation her short story 'The Heroine' was published in the Harper's Bazaar magazine and it was selected as one of the 22 best stories that appeared in American magazines in 1945 and it won the O Henry award for short stories in 1946. She continued to write short stories, many of them comic book stories, and regularly earned herself a weekly $55 pay-check. During this period of her life she lived variously in New York and Mexico.
Her first suspense novel 'Strangers on a Train' published in 1950 was an immediate success with public and critics alike. The novel has been adapted for the screen three times, most notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951.
In 1955 her anti-hero Tom Ripley appeared in the splendid 'The Talented Mr Ripley', a book that was awarded the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere as the best foreign mystery novel translated into French in 1957. This book, too, has been the subject of a number of film versions. Ripley appeared again in 'Ripley Under Ground' in 1970, in 'Ripley's Game' in 1974, 'The boy who Followed Ripley' in 1980 and in 'Ripley Under Water' in 1991.
Along with her acclaimed series about Ripley, she wrote 22 novels and eight short story collections plus many other short stories, often macabre, satirical or tinged with black humour. She also wrote one novel, non-mystery, under the name Claire Morgan , plus a work of non-fiction 'Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction' and a co-written book of children's verse, 'Miranda the Panda Is on the Veranda'.
She latterly lived in England and France and was more popular in England than in her native United States. Her novel 'Deep Water', 1957, was called by the Sunday Times one of the "most brilliant analyses of psychosis in America" and Julian Symons once wrote of her "Miss Highsmith is the writer who fuses character and plot most successfully ... the most important crime novelist at present in practice." In addition, Michael Dirda observed "Europeans honoured her as a psychological novelist, part of an existentialist tradition represented by her own favorite writers, in particular Dostoevsky, Conrad, Kafka, Gide, and Camus."
She died of leukemia in Locarno, Switzerland on 4 February 1995 and her last novel, 'Small g: a Summer Idyll', was published posthumously a month later.
Gerry Wolstenholme
July 2010
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March 6, 202410 Tales of Natural and Unnatural Catastrophes first published in 1987. The one that stands out the most is Operation Balsam; or Touch-Me-Not: It is perfection. It is a political thriller. It is filled with suspense. The writing is exquisite. I have read it many times. It is a story about the Nuclear Control Commission (NCC) who finds a new hiding place for radioactive waste. This tale by far exceeds 5 stars. It excels. Patricia has a way of writing which makes you feel you are there, right in the middle of the story. When they realize what they start to realize. When calls are being made.
There are 2 more stories which I liked a lot:
Trouble at the Jade Towers: A story about cockroaches. "That night, Sidney Clark had no bad dreams, because he couldn't sleep."
The Mysterious Cemetery: "Just a fungus, but there's more coming," said Andreas. "I've put fungicide down, but I don't want to kill off the flowers with anything stronger." Andreas faithfully cared for pansies, rosebushes and the like which a few relatives of the deceased had planted. Occasionally he was tipped for his services.
And another story which I liked:
Sweet Freedom! And a Picnic on the White House Lawn: Due to overcrowding of institutions a directive went out in the 1970s, to release inmates who were "not considered violent". 10 % of inmates of prisons and hospitals were released countrywide.
Miss Tiller, Bert and some other inmates get to/have to leave the Brookfield Center.
"Where y'bound?" asked the driver.
"Alexandria," replied Miss Tiller.
"Y'mean - what state d'y'mean? Virginia?"
"State? Egypt!" said Miss Tiller.
Bert nodded in accord with Miss Tiller.
Reading this collection was very interesting. Patricia Highsmith's stories are not something you just consume and move on. Take your time with this collection. This is my fourth book by Patricia Highsmith and I really like her way of writing. I have read: The Cry of the Owl, Deep Water and another short story collection.
There are 2 more stories which I liked a lot:
Trouble at the Jade Towers: A story about cockroaches. "That night, Sidney Clark had no bad dreams, because he couldn't sleep."
The Mysterious Cemetery: "Just a fungus, but there's more coming," said Andreas. "I've put fungicide down, but I don't want to kill off the flowers with anything stronger." Andreas faithfully cared for pansies, rosebushes and the like which a few relatives of the deceased had planted. Occasionally he was tipped for his services.
And another story which I liked:
Sweet Freedom! And a Picnic on the White House Lawn: Due to overcrowding of institutions a directive went out in the 1970s, to release inmates who were "not considered violent". 10 % of inmates of prisons and hospitals were released countrywide.
Miss Tiller, Bert and some other inmates get to/have to leave the Brookfield Center.
"Where y'bound?" asked the driver.
"Alexandria," replied Miss Tiller.
"Y'mean - what state d'y'mean? Virginia?"
"State? Egypt!" said Miss Tiller.
Bert nodded in accord with Miss Tiller.
Reading this collection was very interesting. Patricia Highsmith's stories are not something you just consume and move on. Take your time with this collection. This is my fourth book by Patricia Highsmith and I really like her way of writing. I have read: The Cry of the Owl, Deep Water and another short story collection.
April 15, 2022
Este es el primer libro de relatos que leo de Patricia Highsmith, y no me ha decepcionado. Mientras leía, no dejaba de preguntarme en qué genero recaían los diez relatos que componían el libro. Después de pensarlo un poco, llegué a la conclusión de que se trata, en su mayoría, de relatos de horror, donde el horror proviene del absurdo y la banalidad del ser humano. El primer relato, "El cementerio", es el que menos me gustó. Le doy dos estrellas. El siguiente, "Moby Dick II, o la ballena misil", es una inteligente revisión de la historia de Moby Dick, esta vez desde el punto de vista de la ballena. Cinco estrellas. En "Operación Bálsamo, o la hierba del diablo", un burócrata estresado no piensa en otra cosa que en dónde tirar desechos nucleares, sin importarle en absoluto la seguridad del público. Cinco estrellas. "Nabuti, cálida bienvenida a un Comité" nos lleva a un país africano gobernado por un dictador con pocas ideas en la cabeza. También cinco estrellas. Los otros relatos del volumen no se quedan atrás. El último, "El presidente Buck Jones une y defiende" es una cruel parodia de Ronald Reagan y su esposa. El puntaje general del libro es 4,5, me gustó mucho.
July 3, 2022
A collection of 10 brutal, violent, gross and darkly comical political parables from the author of The Talented Mr Ripley in which nobody comes out unscathed, reader included.
First published in the late 1980s, a few of these socially critical/ political pieces have not aged well. Their targets either no longer exist or are currently so very far out of the public mentality as to be cutely historic.
For example: does anybody remember the surrogate mother hullaballoo? Probably not, but the Religious Right is still going strong and self-righteous people with fuzzy logic abound, so even if the ladies from the "Rent-a-Womb" group don't ring any bells, their opponents from "The Mighty Right" will. Those bits are enough to enjoy the work of what is very clearly an author with several beefs she felt compelled to express but which didn't fit into novel format. No crime in that!
I read this collection in Italian translation as a reading exercise. Most of the stories were on my level but a few were written more complexly, or abstractly, so I'm not sure I understood absolutely everything.
When you read in a language you aren't *so* well versed in, you're forced to read slowly and carefully, taking in every comma. This leads to a far more intense reading experience than reading in your own language where you can zip along to get the overarching idea.
For that reason, I found some of these stories difficult to finish, especially "Moby Dick II", about a horrifically abused whale. That doesn't mean I thought the stories were bad; they were just painful to dwell on that intensely for that long.
Much like Highsmith must have felt while writing them, I imagine.
My favourites in the collection were:
The Mysterious Cemetery (beef: irresponsible science. Careful what you throw away!)
Operation Balsam (beef: PR people and their evil taskmasters. Got nuke waste? We've got the storage facility for you!)
Trouble At The Jade Towers (beef: buyer beware! All that glitters isn't gold. It might be killer cockroaches.)
As other reviewers have mentioned, the quality and bite of the stories diminish gradually throughout the collection. The strongest are at the front.
First published in the late 1980s, a few of these socially critical/ political pieces have not aged well. Their targets either no longer exist or are currently so very far out of the public mentality as to be cutely historic.
For example: does anybody remember the surrogate mother hullaballoo? Probably not, but the Religious Right is still going strong and self-righteous people with fuzzy logic abound, so even if the ladies from the "Rent-a-Womb" group don't ring any bells, their opponents from "The Mighty Right" will. Those bits are enough to enjoy the work of what is very clearly an author with several beefs she felt compelled to express but which didn't fit into novel format. No crime in that!
I read this collection in Italian translation as a reading exercise. Most of the stories were on my level but a few were written more complexly, or abstractly, so I'm not sure I understood absolutely everything.
When you read in a language you aren't *so* well versed in, you're forced to read slowly and carefully, taking in every comma. This leads to a far more intense reading experience than reading in your own language where you can zip along to get the overarching idea.
For that reason, I found some of these stories difficult to finish, especially "Moby Dick II", about a horrifically abused whale. That doesn't mean I thought the stories were bad; they were just painful to dwell on that intensely for that long.
Much like Highsmith must have felt while writing them, I imagine.
My favourites in the collection were:
The Mysterious Cemetery (beef: irresponsible science. Careful what you throw away!)
Operation Balsam (beef: PR people and their evil taskmasters. Got nuke waste? We've got the storage facility for you!)
Trouble At The Jade Towers (beef: buyer beware! All that glitters isn't gold. It might be killer cockroaches.)
As other reviewers have mentioned, the quality and bite of the stories diminish gradually throughout the collection. The strongest are at the front.
September 10, 2024
overall I enjoyed this collection of ten short stories. most felt abit dated wrt language, but not in themes. I think for me some of the language and attitudes exposed were abit too problematic in places for me to enjoy the stories as much as I might have wrt their content and comment. several of the stories felt a little too long, and some abit repetitive.
but overall, interesting ideas and commentary - on humanity, society, politics and policy - and entertaining too, with many being very tongue in cheek 😉🙂
📚 📖 📚 📖 📚 📖 📚
here follows some of my response to the individual stories:
(❗beware potential spoilers❗)
1⃣. The Mysterious Cemetery.
🌟 🌟 🌟 +
strange fungi growing in the paupers cemetery behind National Hospital 36 😉🍄
quirky and creepy, funny and grim 😁😯😁
as if the experiments on terminally ill patients in the hospital weren't creepy/horrific enough! 😱😬😱
2⃣. Moby Dick the Second, or The Missile Whale.
🌟 🌟 🌟 +
a whale and his mate (who is with pup). they head for a yellow beach of an island, for her to give birth in the shallows 💛 but men come out in boats with spears 😔😢😔 he's wounded and his mate half beached and sure to be killed ❤💔❤
I liked the narration by the whale, the perspective... 😊 tho also found it abit anthropomorphic.
but it was a nice description of human impact on the waters and it's inhabitants.
including the whale accidentally picking up a string of mines! which sometimes knock against boats and explode and sink them! 😆😉😆
the stories, myths, rumours that develop around the whale amongst the humans 😊♥😊
the whale is at times curious and playful... tired and pained... angry and murderous...
and at the same time, just going along on his journey thru the oceans... 🌊🐋🌊
a hunt is organised for the whale... 😯😬
"he was tired to the point of illogic and desperation"
this was a very sad story of the destruction of the whale 😥🐳☠
and one of my favourites in the collection - I think largely for the whale POV/perspectives 🙂
3⃣. Operation Balsam, or Touch me Not.
🌟 🌟 🌟+
set in the aftermath of a problem at a nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island. the issue of nuclear waste, and where to dispose of it. Benny (in charge of nuclear waste disposal), and Jerry - I can't remember what he does, but the names tickled me briefly 😉
Benny's ulcer also makes a regular appearance 😉
the nuclear accident site becomes a tourist attraction 😉😆 and the nuclear waste is hidden under a football stadium (masquerading as a fall out shelter) 😉
they think they might have locked someone in 😆🙈😆 a comedy of errors 😉
it felt abit flippant in places, but I think it was in a kinda tongue in cheek way, at the same time, making something abit scary more palatable to talk about.
4⃣. Nabouti, Warm Welcome to a UN Committee.
🌟 🌟 🌟
a fictional country in West Africa, which secured its independence in the 1950s. choosing a leader was influenced by the candidate being chief of police, and the police were armed 😉
from early on, this story is a tongue in cheek comment on colonialism and 'development'... complete with crumbling infrastructure, corrupt leadership... and more.
preparations for a UN visit go from bad to worse... as does the visit... 😉😆
a funny story, but I found it abit long..
5⃣. Sweet Freedom! And A Picnic On The White House Lawn.
🌟 🌟 🌟
anonymous "nutters" in cities. the positioning of people and language used was difficult to hear in this story - very outdated now, and quite alot was offensive. tho I wondered if it was also gently critiquing some of that in its use 🤔🤔
the prisons were releasing alot of folk too, awa the psychiatric hospitals.
the characters become abit more developed as the story goes on, tho I don't think they ever stray much beyond curiosities of sorts 🤔
it was an interesting and curious story. tho it felt like it ended abit suddenly
6⃣. Trouble At The Jade Towers.
🌟 🌟 🌟
🪳🪲cockroaches troubling the "promise of perfection" of a new apartment block 🪳🪲
quite fun 😁 tho after a while, it felt like it went on abit too long.
7⃣. Rent-A-Womb vs. The Mighty Right.
🌟 🌟 🌟
this story centred surrogacy./surrogate mothers.
it felt abit educational in places. while reading, I was trying to think about when it was maybe written - the social and political climate at the time, and the story within that context 🤔
sadly there were occasional incidental problematic comparative mentions of sex work (with surrogacy positioned as 'not as bad as') 😕🙄😬
I think it was probably a reasonable, for the time, exploration of women's reproductive rights (including to abortion, awa participating in surrogacy), and the conservative religious right in the USA.
8⃣. No End in Sight.
🌟 🌟 +
Naomi, is somewhere between 190-210 years old, and has taken out her hearing aids and false teeth 😉
this story contained an undisguised critique of care homes.
some of it is interesting... especially Naomi's backstory. and the thought prompts about how older relatives are treated, and how long dyou really want to live. and it's a tiny bit macabre in places 😁
tho I continued to struggle with the authors flippant statements about people being "insane" - it was hard to know if she's speaking with humour from a place of awareness and understanding, or from outside ignorance 🤔
I got very bored of the focus on diapers 🙄🥱 tho it might have been the readers pronunciation. and it was abit repetitive in other ways too.
I think this story might have been the one that felt the least developed - like the author has an idea or three, but struggled with the execution.
9⃣. Sixtus VI, Pope Of The Red Slipper.
🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 +
Sixtus, the Pope, stubs his toe! 😯😱🙈😆 I enjoyed the obvious comparative critique of Sixtus's stubbed/bruised toe, and the ministrations it and the Pope receive, compared to the circumstances within which the majority of the population live in the South American countries he's visiting... 😉😆😁
tho the stubbed toe goes on to be an important learning and transformation! 😃😁
his two red slipper speeches 🩸👠 the peasants and workers revolt...✊😁💪 and revolution within the Catholic Church 😯😃😁
I thought this story was kinda profound and hilarious/tongue in cheek at the same time 😉😁
probably one of my favourites in the collection.
🔟. President Buck Jones Rallies And Waves The Flag.
🌟 🌟 🌟 +
this story starts with the USA selling arms to two warring sides... includes politicians legislating against, and taking, drugs... and quite alot of 'fighting communism'.
as the story progresses nuclear weapons are fired by an inebriated grieving spouse... and instead of apologising/acknowledging it as a mistake, the president doesn't back down, and is intent on asserting the USA's global position 😬🙈😬 the situation unsurprisingly goes from bad to worse at this point 😉
this story very much had the feeling of (deliberately) being a bit of a farce 😉🙂
again, very tongue in cheek, at the same time as being a political commentary.
and there was a brilliant brief circle around towards the end, referencing an earlier story, with people digging into nuclear waste that was supposed to have been a nuclear fall out shelter 😉😆
the end is rather satisfying wrt the demise of the politicians 😉 but also abit sad too wrt the bleak (lack of) future for humanity 😱
📚 📖 📚 📖 📚 📖 📚
🌟 I enjoyed the fun the author seems to have had with the story names 😉
🌟 and while quite a number of the stories felt abit overfull of unnecessary words and repetitions in places, there were also some really nice, and almost poetic at times, turns of phrase from time to time.
📚📖📚📖📚📖📚
accessed as an RNIB talking book, read by Tom Crow.
but overall, interesting ideas and commentary - on humanity, society, politics and policy - and entertaining too, with many being very tongue in cheek 😉🙂
📚 📖 📚 📖 📚 📖 📚
here follows some of my response to the individual stories:
(❗beware potential spoilers❗)
1⃣. The Mysterious Cemetery.
🌟 🌟 🌟 +
strange fungi growing in the paupers cemetery behind National Hospital 36 😉🍄
quirky and creepy, funny and grim 😁😯😁
as if the experiments on terminally ill patients in the hospital weren't creepy/horrific enough! 😱😬😱
2⃣. Moby Dick the Second, or The Missile Whale.
🌟 🌟 🌟 +
a whale and his mate (who is with pup). they head for a yellow beach of an island, for her to give birth in the shallows 💛 but men come out in boats with spears 😔😢😔 he's wounded and his mate half beached and sure to be killed ❤💔❤
I liked the narration by the whale, the perspective... 😊 tho also found it abit anthropomorphic.
but it was a nice description of human impact on the waters and it's inhabitants.
including the whale accidentally picking up a string of mines! which sometimes knock against boats and explode and sink them! 😆😉😆
the stories, myths, rumours that develop around the whale amongst the humans 😊♥😊
the whale is at times curious and playful... tired and pained... angry and murderous...
and at the same time, just going along on his journey thru the oceans... 🌊🐋🌊
a hunt is organised for the whale... 😯😬
"he was tired to the point of illogic and desperation"
this was a very sad story of the destruction of the whale 😥🐳☠
and one of my favourites in the collection - I think largely for the whale POV/perspectives 🙂
3⃣. Operation Balsam, or Touch me Not.
🌟 🌟 🌟+
set in the aftermath of a problem at a nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island. the issue of nuclear waste, and where to dispose of it. Benny (in charge of nuclear waste disposal), and Jerry - I can't remember what he does, but the names tickled me briefly 😉
Benny's ulcer also makes a regular appearance 😉
the nuclear accident site becomes a tourist attraction 😉😆 and the nuclear waste is hidden under a football stadium (masquerading as a fall out shelter) 😉
they think they might have locked someone in 😆🙈😆 a comedy of errors 😉
it felt abit flippant in places, but I think it was in a kinda tongue in cheek way, at the same time, making something abit scary more palatable to talk about.
4⃣. Nabouti, Warm Welcome to a UN Committee.
🌟 🌟 🌟
a fictional country in West Africa, which secured its independence in the 1950s. choosing a leader was influenced by the candidate being chief of police, and the police were armed 😉
from early on, this story is a tongue in cheek comment on colonialism and 'development'... complete with crumbling infrastructure, corrupt leadership... and more.
preparations for a UN visit go from bad to worse... as does the visit... 😉😆
a funny story, but I found it abit long..
5⃣. Sweet Freedom! And A Picnic On The White House Lawn.
🌟 🌟 🌟
anonymous "nutters" in cities. the positioning of people and language used was difficult to hear in this story - very outdated now, and quite alot was offensive. tho I wondered if it was also gently critiquing some of that in its use 🤔🤔
the prisons were releasing alot of folk too, awa the psychiatric hospitals.
the characters become abit more developed as the story goes on, tho I don't think they ever stray much beyond curiosities of sorts 🤔
it was an interesting and curious story. tho it felt like it ended abit suddenly
6⃣. Trouble At The Jade Towers.
🌟 🌟 🌟
🪳🪲cockroaches troubling the "promise of perfection" of a new apartment block 🪳🪲
quite fun 😁 tho after a while, it felt like it went on abit too long.
7⃣. Rent-A-Womb vs. The Mighty Right.
🌟 🌟 🌟
this story centred surrogacy./surrogate mothers.
it felt abit educational in places. while reading, I was trying to think about when it was maybe written - the social and political climate at the time, and the story within that context 🤔
sadly there were occasional incidental problematic comparative mentions of sex work (with surrogacy positioned as 'not as bad as') 😕🙄😬
I think it was probably a reasonable, for the time, exploration of women's reproductive rights (including to abortion, awa participating in surrogacy), and the conservative religious right in the USA.
8⃣. No End in Sight.
🌟 🌟 +
Naomi, is somewhere between 190-210 years old, and has taken out her hearing aids and false teeth 😉
this story contained an undisguised critique of care homes.
some of it is interesting... especially Naomi's backstory. and the thought prompts about how older relatives are treated, and how long dyou really want to live. and it's a tiny bit macabre in places 😁
tho I continued to struggle with the authors flippant statements about people being "insane" - it was hard to know if she's speaking with humour from a place of awareness and understanding, or from outside ignorance 🤔
I got very bored of the focus on diapers 🙄🥱 tho it might have been the readers pronunciation. and it was abit repetitive in other ways too.
I think this story might have been the one that felt the least developed - like the author has an idea or three, but struggled with the execution.
9⃣. Sixtus VI, Pope Of The Red Slipper.
🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 +
Sixtus, the Pope, stubs his toe! 😯😱🙈😆 I enjoyed the obvious comparative critique of Sixtus's stubbed/bruised toe, and the ministrations it and the Pope receive, compared to the circumstances within which the majority of the population live in the South American countries he's visiting... 😉😆😁
tho the stubbed toe goes on to be an important learning and transformation! 😃😁
his two red slipper speeches 🩸👠 the peasants and workers revolt...✊😁💪 and revolution within the Catholic Church 😯😃😁
I thought this story was kinda profound and hilarious/tongue in cheek at the same time 😉😁
probably one of my favourites in the collection.
🔟. President Buck Jones Rallies And Waves The Flag.
🌟 🌟 🌟 +
this story starts with the USA selling arms to two warring sides... includes politicians legislating against, and taking, drugs... and quite alot of 'fighting communism'.
as the story progresses nuclear weapons are fired by an inebriated grieving spouse... and instead of apologising/acknowledging it as a mistake, the president doesn't back down, and is intent on asserting the USA's global position 😬🙈😬 the situation unsurprisingly goes from bad to worse at this point 😉
this story very much had the feeling of (deliberately) being a bit of a farce 😉🙂
again, very tongue in cheek, at the same time as being a political commentary.
and there was a brilliant brief circle around towards the end, referencing an earlier story, with people digging into nuclear waste that was supposed to have been a nuclear fall out shelter 😉😆
the end is rather satisfying wrt the demise of the politicians 😉 but also abit sad too wrt the bleak (lack of) future for humanity 😱
📚 📖 📚 📖 📚 📖 📚
🌟 I enjoyed the fun the author seems to have had with the story names 😉
🌟 and while quite a number of the stories felt abit overfull of unnecessary words and repetitions in places, there were also some really nice, and almost poetic at times, turns of phrase from time to time.
📚📖📚📖📚📖📚
accessed as an RNIB talking book, read by Tom Crow.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 25, 2019
Un amigo mío que es un gran admirador de Patricia Highsmith me prestó este libro de cuentos de esta autora norteamericana, que forma parte de la elite de escritores de policial negro y que alcanzó fama mundial con su novela “El talento de Mr. Ripley” y “Extraños en un tren”, que fue llevada al cine nada más y nada menos que por Alfred Hitchcock. Naturalmente, tengo pensado leer esas dos novelas en el futuro.
Con respecto a este, mi primer acercamiento a sus cuentos, veo que pareciera no ser su fuerte. El libro posee un ecléctico y disímil conjunto de diez cuentos que en su mayoría fallan en el final, tal vez esto me suceda porque yo estoy un poco de lado de la escuela de Edgar Allan Poe, inventor del género, en donde el efecto del final es lo que más sobresale en un cuento.
Con esto no quiero decir que un cuento sin remate no sea un cuento, tenemos el caso emblemático de Anton Chéjov quien acostumbraba en sus cuentos a relatar historias que no necesariamente debían tener un final con cierre de oro.
Volviendo a Highsmith, creo que son pocos los que le hacen honor al nombre del libro; tal vez podamos citar los cuentos “Moby Dick II, o la ballena misil” (el final pareciera ser un homenaje al libro de Melville), “Nabuti: cálida bienvenida a un Comité” (absurdo, trágico y por momentos desopilante), “¡Dulce libertad!, o un picnic en la Casa Blanca” (con una idea realmente original) y “Problemas en las Torres de Jade”, (para mí el mejor cuento del libro), mientras que los demás naufragan en la intrascendencia, no tienen dirección aparente y son realmente anodinos o de lectura aburrida.
Otro aspecto que pude rescatar es que tal vez los cuentos oscilan entre el absurdo, lo inverosímil y lo fantástico (esto último en menor medida, tal es el caso de “Sin un final a la vista”, que narra la historia de una mujer de 200 años quien vive en un geriátrico desde hace cien y al parecer no puede morir) y en ciertos aspectos, algunos de ellos me recordaron a los de un experto en la materia, el señor Ray Bradbury, quien acostumbraba a utilizar el verosímil en sus cuentos.
Me llevo muy pocas satisfacciones, tal vez el cuento “Problemas en las Torres de Jade”, pero no por ello voy a dudar de la inventiva de esta escritora a la que no conocía y de quien seguramente leeré las novelas citadas.
Con respecto a este, mi primer acercamiento a sus cuentos, veo que pareciera no ser su fuerte. El libro posee un ecléctico y disímil conjunto de diez cuentos que en su mayoría fallan en el final, tal vez esto me suceda porque yo estoy un poco de lado de la escuela de Edgar Allan Poe, inventor del género, en donde el efecto del final es lo que más sobresale en un cuento.
Con esto no quiero decir que un cuento sin remate no sea un cuento, tenemos el caso emblemático de Anton Chéjov quien acostumbraba en sus cuentos a relatar historias que no necesariamente debían tener un final con cierre de oro.
Volviendo a Highsmith, creo que son pocos los que le hacen honor al nombre del libro; tal vez podamos citar los cuentos “Moby Dick II, o la ballena misil” (el final pareciera ser un homenaje al libro de Melville), “Nabuti: cálida bienvenida a un Comité” (absurdo, trágico y por momentos desopilante), “¡Dulce libertad!, o un picnic en la Casa Blanca” (con una idea realmente original) y “Problemas en las Torres de Jade”, (para mí el mejor cuento del libro), mientras que los demás naufragan en la intrascendencia, no tienen dirección aparente y son realmente anodinos o de lectura aburrida.
Otro aspecto que pude rescatar es que tal vez los cuentos oscilan entre el absurdo, lo inverosímil y lo fantástico (esto último en menor medida, tal es el caso de “Sin un final a la vista”, que narra la historia de una mujer de 200 años quien vive en un geriátrico desde hace cien y al parecer no puede morir) y en ciertos aspectos, algunos de ellos me recordaron a los de un experto en la materia, el señor Ray Bradbury, quien acostumbraba a utilizar el verosímil en sus cuentos.
Me llevo muy pocas satisfacciones, tal vez el cuento “Problemas en las Torres de Jade”, pero no por ello voy a dudar de la inventiva de esta escritora a la que no conocía y de quien seguramente leeré las novelas citadas.
April 7, 2019
3 .5 stars
If you're following my reviews, you may have known that I've bought 19 kindle books of Ms Highsmith, and I'm working my way through them. So far I've loved what I'd read - until now.
This was a mediocre collection, not bad, but no evidence of the genius the author has often displayed in many of her other works. She has been quite prolific, with over 30 published works, this one in 1987 at the age of 68. My impression was that this was a collection of political rants, written solely due to the urge to write, with little else for inspiration other than issues she felt she had to comment on. Often, the stories just ended when she ran out of things to say.
10 short stories:
The Mysterious Cemetery - a creepy, H.G. Wells type of horror
Moby Dick II (Missile Whale) - story about the conflict between a whale and hunters - okay
Operation Balsam - about a nuclear waste dump under a football stadium
Nabuti - satire on an emerging African nation
Sweet Freedom -about the mentally ill and homelessness
Trouble at the Jade Towers cockroach horror at a ritzy high rise apartment building
Rent a Womb vs. the Mighty Right political rant
No End in Sight - a woman who lives on till past 200 years old, commentary on nursing homes
Sixtus VI, Pope of the Red Slipper another political rant
President Buck Jones Rallies and Waves the Flag another political rant, this one about nuclear war
If you want to sample some Highsmith, and don't get 1-click fever like I did, I would skip this one.
If you're following my reviews, you may have known that I've bought 19 kindle books of Ms Highsmith, and I'm working my way through them. So far I've loved what I'd read - until now.
This was a mediocre collection, not bad, but no evidence of the genius the author has often displayed in many of her other works. She has been quite prolific, with over 30 published works, this one in 1987 at the age of 68. My impression was that this was a collection of political rants, written solely due to the urge to write, with little else for inspiration other than issues she felt she had to comment on. Often, the stories just ended when she ran out of things to say.
10 short stories:
The Mysterious Cemetery - a creepy, H.G. Wells type of horror
Moby Dick II (Missile Whale) - story about the conflict between a whale and hunters - okay
Operation Balsam - about a nuclear waste dump under a football stadium
Nabuti - satire on an emerging African nation
Sweet Freedom -about the mentally ill and homelessness
Trouble at the Jade Towers cockroach horror at a ritzy high rise apartment building
Rent a Womb vs. the Mighty Right political rant
No End in Sight - a woman who lives on till past 200 years old, commentary on nursing homes
Sixtus VI, Pope of the Red Slipper another political rant
President Buck Jones Rallies and Waves the Flag another political rant, this one about nuclear war
If you want to sample some Highsmith, and don't get 1-click fever like I did, I would skip this one.
February 7, 2012
An interesting collection of bizarre short tales from a skilled yet tortured writer in her later years, better-known as the author of The Talented Mr Ripley. Every one of these stories follows poor judgement, misunderstanding, mixed with a heavy dollop of stupidity - and gleefully describes the disastrous outcome. Clever satires, they lurk on the edge of our tenuous reality, making us wonder if any of these tales could actually take place. There is little by way of dialogue, but that doesn't seem to matter; the imagery is subtle, yet memorable, and the stories grip you by the throat in an enticing, almost sinister manner. Written over 20 years ago, many of the political and cultural references are still very relevant today. And for those of you scared of long books, this one is short and sweet, and won't take long to finish. It was a captivating, enjoyable read. This is the first book I've read by Patricia Highsmith, and it won't be my last.
June 22, 2016
Η πρώτη μου επαφή με τη συγγραφέα μόνο θετικά δείγματα μου έχει δώσει. Πολύ σύγχρονη γραφή και τρόπος σκέψεις. Ιστορίες διδακτικές. Πολύ ενδιαφέρουσες!!
March 20, 2017
Not a very good collection of short stories. None of them were engaging or pulled me in. I found myself thinking that this must have been a compilation of previously unpublished stories that weren't worth including in other collections.
April 20, 2011
When reading Patricia Highsmith, I always expect her stories to have some sort of point. Is the story about cockroaches in a luxury apartment building about the idle rich getting their comeuppance? Is the story about homeless people picnicking on the White House lawn advocating the institutionalization of the homeless? Surely, in a few more pages, the story will take some twist to make it clearer where she's going with this. But instead, the story just ends naturally and inconclusively. There is no moral lesson to take away, except that sometimes terrible things happen and there is generally nothing you can do about it. The "Strangers on a Train" lesson (anyone can be turned into a murderer).
The one exception is a story in this book which pretty clearly says we should kill the old before they become a burden on the living. How prescient and relevant to our current pension problems!
The one exception is a story in this book which pretty clearly says we should kill the old before they become a burden on the living. How prescient and relevant to our current pension problems!
October 8, 2025
'Tales of Natural and Unnatural Catastrophes' is the last short fiction published during Patricia Highsmith's lifetime. In these ten stories, Highsmith explores themes of environmental degradation, animal rights, women's rights, religious conservatism, political mayhem and ineptitude, religious conservatism, medical advances, and a few other odds and ends. A thread of satire runs through most of these stories. I didn't particularly like the dispassionate prose with which most of these stories were written - it makes the horrifying feel removed from the reader, and somehow bland. Some of the plot ideas were interesting or raised awareness of an issue in a thought-provoking manner, but the constant misanthropy is quite tedious when read all in one sitting.
My notes on the individual stories can be found behind the spoiler tag:
My notes on the individual stories can be found behind the spoiler tag:
February 21, 2010
A pretty low quality collection of tales. The first one, about mysterious excrescences growing in an Austrian cemetery, was about on the level of the horror stories I wrote when I was fourteen. In tone and style, these remind me of Roald Dahl. The one I liked best was about a corrupt west African nation expecting a visit from a U.N. watchdog group - but first they have to kill all the homeless people and burn their bodies, spiff up the Presidential Palace for their visitors, and try to get rid of the haze of smoke from all the burning bodies. In another story a crazy First Lady launches a missile strike against Russia. Also: a widowed whale goes nuts; a man gets locked inside a nuclear waste dump; roaches infest a chic New York highrise; surrogate mothers form a union and do battle with religious right protesters; and a pope stubs his toe.
April 20, 2014
القصص ليست قصيرة، بل طويلة
مباشرة في السرد
لاذعة وجريئة في طرح فكرة مواضيعها
كأنك تقرأ قصة في ثوب روائي مليئة بالتفاصيل ولكنها أيضا غير مملة
أنصح بقراءته
مباشرة في السرد
لاذعة وجريئة في طرح فكرة مواضيعها
كأنك تقرأ قصة في ثوب روائي مليئة بالتفاصيل ولكنها أيضا غير مملة
أنصح بقراءته
December 5, 2018
I always persevere with anthologies because you never know what the next story will bring. In this case, a severe dose of boredom.
I found the writing flat and lifeless. Not recommended.
I found the writing flat and lifeless. Not recommended.
May 11, 2017
Si estas cansado de los finales felices este libro es para vos. Todo puede salir mal (o por lo menos, no tan bien).
La autora se maneja con cierto grado de "improbabilidad" en cada relato de este libro, por ejemplo: una mujer que vive hasta los 210 años, una invasión de cucarachas en un edificio de lujo, un hombre encerrado en una cámara de desechos nucleares, etc. Con esto, saca al lector de su plano de la "realidad", pero no tanto, solo lo suficiente para que veamos que la catástrofe esta a la vuelta de la esquina.
Mis favoritos:
"El cementerio misterioso", "Operación Bálsamo, o la hierba del diablo" y "Problema en las Torres de Jade"
La autora se maneja con cierto grado de "improbabilidad" en cada relato de este libro, por ejemplo: una mujer que vive hasta los 210 años, una invasión de cucarachas en un edificio de lujo, un hombre encerrado en una cámara de desechos nucleares, etc. Con esto, saca al lector de su plano de la "realidad", pero no tanto, solo lo suficiente para que veamos que la catástrofe esta a la vuelta de la esquina.
Mis favoritos:
"El cementerio misterioso", "Operación Bálsamo, o la hierba del diablo" y "Problema en las Torres de Jade"
May 4, 2015
3.5
If you loathe your fellow human beings and enjoy watching them meet terrible ends, all while having your suspicions of their vileness confirmed, this is your book. If you're a writer, it will read like every barely disguised revenge story you've promised to write after a slight. Someone here describes her prose as utterly uncaring. A good description, yes, but not a valid criticism. You either like Pat or you don't.
But she'll never like you.
If you loathe your fellow human beings and enjoy watching them meet terrible ends, all while having your suspicions of their vileness confirmed, this is your book. If you're a writer, it will read like every barely disguised revenge story you've promised to write after a slight. Someone here describes her prose as utterly uncaring. A good description, yes, but not a valid criticism. You either like Pat or you don't.
But she'll never like you.
May 24, 2022
What a nasty little book that was. Nasty little stories about nasty little people.
I picked this book up at a second hand book shop as I loved the cover and it was 20p. And I know the old adage, never judge a book by it’s cover, and this book proves it right.
I expected some supernatural tales as it’s starts off pretty well with a creepy and disturbing one about cancers growing out of dead bodies in a dank little cemetery. I was here for the aesthetic.
But that’s where the aesthetic stopped.
The rest of the stories where just about humans being twats to other humans. And of politics. And of religion and BLAH FUCKING BLAH. These are all topics I never read about as I do not care for them at all.
Also most of these stories had the plots of bad 50’s B-Movies. They where so far fetched and the characters where cardboard cutouts set against drab backgrounds.
Bah.
I picked this book up at a second hand book shop as I loved the cover and it was 20p. And I know the old adage, never judge a book by it’s cover, and this book proves it right.
I expected some supernatural tales as it’s starts off pretty well with a creepy and disturbing one about cancers growing out of dead bodies in a dank little cemetery. I was here for the aesthetic.
But that’s where the aesthetic stopped.
The rest of the stories where just about humans being twats to other humans. And of politics. And of religion and BLAH FUCKING BLAH. These are all topics I never read about as I do not care for them at all.
Also most of these stories had the plots of bad 50’s B-Movies. They where so far fetched and the characters where cardboard cutouts set against drab backgrounds.
Bah.
February 18, 2018
Trash Highsmith. She’s capable of sooo much better. But... kind of enjoyable. Leftist horror stories, creepy and compelling, with various bad people coming to bad ends: whalers, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, feckless UN officials, corrupt nuclear regulators, New York realtors, and other high status lowlifes. And the prose, atmosphere, pacing: impeccable. So I dug it.
April 6, 2020
Inconsistent and, at times, outdated
November 22, 2022
This was a really fun read. I have always loved Highsmith's writing style, and it lends itself beautifully to horror
June 17, 2025
You’re telling me there’s a 1980s collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith, and they’re about reproductive rights, an explosive whale, Reagan, and the Pope? Happy Father’s Day to me!!
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March 2, 2018http://www.athina984.gr/2016/09/12/is...
Ο Τομ Ρίπλεϊ δεν είναι ο μοναδικός αμοραλιστής ήρωας της Πατρίσια Χάισμιθ. Στις “Ιστορίες φυσικών και αφύσικων καταστροφών” η διάσημη Αμερικανίδα συγγραφέας μας συστήνει ήρωες που δρουν με καιροσκοπισμό, με απληστία και με απίστευτη ελαφρότητα θέτοντας σε κίνδυνο ακόμη και την ύπαρξη της ανθρωπότητας.
highsmith-istoriesΣτα διηγήματά της συλλογής η αλκοολική Πρώτη Κυρία των ΗΠΑ πατάει το κόκκινο κουμπί και ξεκινά έναν πυρηνικό πόλεμο, οι γιατροί ενός νοσοκομείου προκαλούν με τα κατάλοιπα από τα πειράματα τους παράξενα εξαμβλώματα σε παρακείμενο νεκροταφείο, η υπηρεσία ελέγχου της πυρηνικής ενέργειας συναινεί και συγκαλύπτει την αποθήκευση τοξικών αποβλήτων κάτω από το γήπεδο ενός Πανεπιστημίου.
Δέκα ιστορίες με το γνωστό απειλητικό κλίμα που χαρακτηρίζει όλο το έργο της Χάισμιθ αλλά και με σάτιρα, ειρωνεία και κριτική για τη μεταπολεμική πολιτική των ΗΠΑ, για την παγκόσμια αδράνεια στα μεγάλα περιβαλλοντικά προβλήματα, για τη διαφθορά των αφρικανικών καθεστώτων, ακόμη και για την μακροζωία που προσφέρει η επιστήμη σε μια υπέργηρη κυρία 190 ετών.
Ο αναγνώστης πρέπει να φτάσει στη σελίδα 263 για να αφεθεί στην ελπίδα ενός καλύτερου κόσμου, τον οποίο αντιπροσωπεύει ο “Σίξτος ο ΣΤ, ο Πάπας της κόκκινης παντόφλας”.
Η συλλογή διηγημάτων της Πατρίσια Χάισμιθ “Ιστορίες φυσικών και αφύσικων καταστροφών”, σε μετάφραση Ανδρέα Αποστολίδη, κυκλοφορεί από τις εκδόσεις Άγρα.
Ο Τομ Ρίπλεϊ δεν είναι ο μοναδικός αμοραλιστής ήρωας της Πατρίσια Χάισμιθ. Στις “Ιστορίες φυσικών και αφύσικων καταστροφών” η διάσημη Αμερικανίδα συγγραφέας μας συστήνει ήρωες που δρουν με καιροσκοπισμό, με απληστία και με απίστευτη ελαφρότητα θέτοντας σε κίνδυνο ακόμη και την ύπαρξη της ανθρωπότητας.
highsmith-istoriesΣτα διηγήματά της συλλογής η αλκοολική Πρώτη Κυρία των ΗΠΑ πατάει το κόκκινο κουμπί και ξεκινά έναν πυρηνικό πόλεμο, οι γιατροί ενός νοσοκομείου προκαλούν με τα κατάλοιπα από τα πειράματα τους παράξενα εξαμβλώματα σε παρακείμενο νεκροταφείο, η υπηρεσία ελέγχου της πυρηνικής ενέργειας συναινεί και συγκαλύπτει την αποθήκευση τοξικών αποβλήτων κάτω από το γήπεδο ενός Πανεπιστημίου.
Δέκα ιστορίες με το γνωστό απειλητικό κλίμα που χαρακτηρίζει όλο το έργο της Χάισμιθ αλλά και με σάτιρα, ειρωνεία και κριτική για τη μεταπολεμική πολιτική των ΗΠΑ, για την παγκόσμια αδράνεια στα μεγάλα περιβαλλοντικά προβλήματα, για τη διαφθορά των αφρικανικών καθεστώτων, ακόμη και για την μακροζωία που προσφέρει η επιστήμη σε μια υπέργηρη κυρία 190 ετών.
Ο αναγνώστης πρέπει να φτάσει στη σελίδα 263 για να αφεθεί στην ελπίδα ενός καλύτερου κόσμου, τον οποίο αντιπροσωπεύει ο “Σίξτος ο ΣΤ, ο Πάπας της κόκκινης παντόφλας”.
Η συλλογή διηγημάτων της Πατρίσια Χάισμιθ “Ιστορίες φυσικών και αφύσικων καταστροφών”, σε μετάφραση Ανδρέα Αποστολίδη, κυκλοφορεί από τις εκδόσεις Άγρα.
March 23, 2016
A 1987 story collection--so, later work by Highsmith, who started her career with Strangers on a Train in the 1950s, I think. Highsmith was a sharp, complicated, mean, angry, misanthropic, fearful, unhappy writer...among other things. Her takes on the Zeitgeist fears of the 1980s--everything from the trend of putting old people into retirement homes, to conspicuous consumption in high-rise office towers, to the ultimate 80's fear of nuclear annihilation at the cavalier whim of a cowboy president--are predictably unsettling and unrelenting. Nobody gets out of trouble in these stories. Some are better (sharper, more modern-feeling), some are worse (a little dull, a little rote-feeling) but they're all Highsmith. Bless her heart.
April 14, 2010
Definitely not up to her usual standards. Awkward, cartoonish stories. Read any other Highsmith first.
June 30, 2016
Τόσες ιστορίες και η κάθε μία ένα μικρό λαμπερό διαμάντι! Υπέροχο και συναρπαστικό ανάγνωσμα!
March 18, 2016
Me encantó la historia del estupido dictador africano
que quemó su pais.El resto no me atrajo mucho.
que quemó su pais.El resto no me atrajo mucho.
August 18, 2016
In this collection of bleak modern short stories the dark lady of crime spoils us by reaching new depths of darkness. Endless satisfaction, page after page.
November 10, 2016
Excelente. Se convirtió en uno de mis libros favoritos.
September 12, 2012
Humor negro, negro, negro! Gostei muito de alguns contos; doutros, nem por isso...
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