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World's End
Alternate Cover Edition for 9780140057935.
World's End and Other Stories shows once more Paul Theroux's dazzling versatility and his marvelous feeling for place. It is a most distinguished collection with a variety of settings and a varied cast of characters.
London, Paris, Germany, Africa, provincial Holland, the wilds of Corsica and Puerto Rico. There are as many moods represented, from the good host and careerist in "Algebra" to the haunted heroes and heroines in "Zombies" and "World's End."
Most of the people are transplanted or have tried to graft themselves onto a new culture, and they struggle against the odds to maintain their humor, to write, to fall in love or keep their marriages intact. Michael Insole, in "Algebra," wants to cook meals for famous people; Professor Bloodworth, in "The Odd-Job Man," is making a raid, for the purposes of scholarship, on a distinguished poet. In "Words Are Deeds," Sheldrick glimpses a pretty woman in a restaurant and sets out to marry her; Mr. Hand, in "The Imperial Icehouse," wants nothing more than to transport a shipment of ice from one side of a West Indian island to the other.
The novella-length "Greenest Island" is the story of two young castaways discovering adulthood and the delusions of romance on a tropical island. "Acknowledgments" and "Yard Sale" are short comic sketches and yet offer variations on Theroux's theme: the undoing of innocents abroad, as farce, as tragedy, and—in the frightener, "White Lies"—as a ghost story.
John Haase in the Los Angeles Times speaks of Theroux as having "the eye of A. J. Liebling, the nose of Durrell, and almost the literary scope of Edmund Wilson. His metaphors and similes are like rare-cut diamonds."
World's End and Other Stories shows once more Paul Theroux's dazzling versatility and his marvelous feeling for place. It is a most distinguished collection with a variety of settings and a varied cast of characters.
London, Paris, Germany, Africa, provincial Holland, the wilds of Corsica and Puerto Rico. There are as many moods represented, from the good host and careerist in "Algebra" to the haunted heroes and heroines in "Zombies" and "World's End."
Most of the people are transplanted or have tried to graft themselves onto a new culture, and they struggle against the odds to maintain their humor, to write, to fall in love or keep their marriages intact. Michael Insole, in "Algebra," wants to cook meals for famous people; Professor Bloodworth, in "The Odd-Job Man," is making a raid, for the purposes of scholarship, on a distinguished poet. In "Words Are Deeds," Sheldrick glimpses a pretty woman in a restaurant and sets out to marry her; Mr. Hand, in "The Imperial Icehouse," wants nothing more than to transport a shipment of ice from one side of a West Indian island to the other.
The novella-length "Greenest Island" is the story of two young castaways discovering adulthood and the delusions of romance on a tropical island. "Acknowledgments" and "Yard Sale" are short comic sketches and yet offer variations on Theroux's theme: the undoing of innocents abroad, as farce, as tragedy, and—in the frightener, "White Lies"—as a ghost story.
John Haase in the Los Angeles Times speaks of Theroux as having "the eye of A. J. Liebling, the nose of Durrell, and almost the literary scope of Edmund Wilson. His metaphors and similes are like rare-cut diamonds."
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About the author
Paul Theroux
239 books2,615 followersPaul Edward Theroux is an American travel writer and novelist, whose best known work is The Great Railway Bazaar (1975), a travelogue about a trip he made by train from Great Britain through Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, through South Asia, then South-East Asia, up through East Asia, as far east as Japan, and then back across Russia to his point of origin. Although perhaps best known as a travelogue writer, Theroux has also published numerous works of fiction, some of which were made into feature films. He was awarded the 1981 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel The Mosquito Coast.
He is the father of Marcel and Louis Theroux, and the brother of Alexander and Peter. Justin Theroux is his nephew.
He is the father of Marcel and Louis Theroux, and the brother of Alexander and Peter. Justin Theroux is his nephew.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
November 10, 2022
I feel that some stories end with any resolution.
Probably I expected a lot more from this author.
Probably I expected a lot more from this author.
February 16, 2018
"I came, I saw, I was disappointed"
Paul Theroux is a very talented writer. He writes excellent stories, he's written some good novels, and he used to write good travel books too. I've enjoyed plenty of them over the years. Who am I ? I am just a reader out there in small town Massachusetts who's had a few experiences in life and who likes to read books about faraway places, or maybe about the human comedy. I'm not a hot-shot critic. I can't expound on the literary qualities of this or that writer with the expertise gleaned from English departments, because I didn't attend any courses in those English departments. But life is in the eye of the beholder. As Mr. Theroux has grown older, his view of life has become more and more pessimistic. Nothing gives him pleasure, everything leads to disappointment, failure, and frustration. He sees many people trying to make up for the nature of his world through lies, delusions, and retreat. He has become a man who sees only the garbage on the beach of life. All relationships must end badly in this world---they are disappointing right from the start usually. The maggot of indecision and betrayal always appears, it can be squeezed and ejected from under the skin as in the story "White Lies", but never avoided. Your closest friends and heroes will fall short of your expectations, your loves will fade, and nothing can replace them. Life---in these stories---is indeed a rotten, desperate situation. But at least, Theroux can write about it, tear it apart, and send it out in sad, unpleasant little pieces. Even if it's your old friend and mentor, you can turn on him and publish a whole book telling us what a rat he always was. Maybe he was. If I ever met Mr. Theroux, I'd make like "Roadrunner" and disappear in a flash, rather than risk winding up a crabbed, contemptible suburbanite in some story.
OK, these are my remarks. If you've read this far, then I can tell you that taking into account these feelings of mine, there are some excellent stories in this collection, though some are not up to his usual high standard. "The Odd-Job Man", about an American academic in England, "The Greenest Island", a long story about an inexperienced American youth in Puerto Rico, and "Clapham Junction", a short but powerful story about the depths of human foibles stand out. Personally, I think you'd do better with "The Consul's File" or with some of the earlier novels. If you already know Theroux and like his style, you'll probably find this collection excellent. I find his view of the world too jaundiced, too cynical, too negative. The brightest day, the happiest moment, the most beautiful scene always carries a vague menace and the seed of major failure. I agree that it is possible, but always ???
Paul Theroux is a very talented writer. He writes excellent stories, he's written some good novels, and he used to write good travel books too. I've enjoyed plenty of them over the years. Who am I ? I am just a reader out there in small town Massachusetts who's had a few experiences in life and who likes to read books about faraway places, or maybe about the human comedy. I'm not a hot-shot critic. I can't expound on the literary qualities of this or that writer with the expertise gleaned from English departments, because I didn't attend any courses in those English departments. But life is in the eye of the beholder. As Mr. Theroux has grown older, his view of life has become more and more pessimistic. Nothing gives him pleasure, everything leads to disappointment, failure, and frustration. He sees many people trying to make up for the nature of his world through lies, delusions, and retreat. He has become a man who sees only the garbage on the beach of life. All relationships must end badly in this world---they are disappointing right from the start usually. The maggot of indecision and betrayal always appears, it can be squeezed and ejected from under the skin as in the story "White Lies", but never avoided. Your closest friends and heroes will fall short of your expectations, your loves will fade, and nothing can replace them. Life---in these stories---is indeed a rotten, desperate situation. But at least, Theroux can write about it, tear it apart, and send it out in sad, unpleasant little pieces. Even if it's your old friend and mentor, you can turn on him and publish a whole book telling us what a rat he always was. Maybe he was. If I ever met Mr. Theroux, I'd make like "Roadrunner" and disappear in a flash, rather than risk winding up a crabbed, contemptible suburbanite in some story.
OK, these are my remarks. If you've read this far, then I can tell you that taking into account these feelings of mine, there are some excellent stories in this collection, though some are not up to his usual high standard. "The Odd-Job Man", about an American academic in England, "The Greenest Island", a long story about an inexperienced American youth in Puerto Rico, and "Clapham Junction", a short but powerful story about the depths of human foibles stand out. Personally, I think you'd do better with "The Consul's File" or with some of the earlier novels. If you already know Theroux and like his style, you'll probably find this collection excellent. I find his view of the world too jaundiced, too cynical, too negative. The brightest day, the happiest moment, the most beautiful scene always carries a vague menace and the seed of major failure. I agree that it is possible, but always ???
July 20, 2019
Paul Theroux is better known for his travel writing, but he is also a master of prose - especially the short form, as found in this collection of stories. The title story was movingly magnificent; others made me think of Somerset Maugham (especially 'White Lies'); and though one or two didn't work tremendously well ('The English Adventure' was tame; and 'The Imperial Icehouse' recycled a trope visited in 'The Mosquito Coast') on the whole this is a stunningly good collection. I read it in two days, and wish I could just start again from the beginning right now.
December 11, 2017
The man can write. I don't always like short stories and some of these are really short. I often find them ending abruptly but not so much with this collection. One theme that repeats is the human need to impress others, not with what we do but who we know. Why??? How did that ever even start? It's a cringey thing to read about, but it's real.
April 19, 2025
Bought this at a charity shop in Highgate during my Capital Ring walk. The stories are very redolent of the early 70s literary scene in all don. There’s a portrait of a racist Jean Rhys that is not at all disguised. Some are entertaining, but they’re rather dated now. Not sure many of them will be read for much longer. His worldview is generally bitter and disappointed
November 30, 2023
I didn't actually read this whole thing; just the short story White Lies.
May 12, 2024
An excellent collection of short stories, all highly imaginative and supremely well written.
A terrific read.
A terrific read.
June 4, 2025
if I give it 5 stars will he let me marry his son
June 25, 2022
Overpowering collection of stories that seems to be unafraid of detailing the deepest sensitivities in some people while exposing the worst hubris in others. One story, "After the War", manages to do both at once. Theroux has so many voices and personalities to all the characters, it's an enjoyable ride through a vast world of stories. Unfortunately yet bravely, most of them contain a lot of sadness and solitude.
January 3, 2015
This collection of short stories is supposed to be tied together by a diversity of places, but it's more the inherent sadness of the characters that is the thread that carries through. Each, of course, sad in their own way; some aren't sad in the truly unhappy sense but in the "reader looking at their life" sense.
As an introduction to Theroux this might discourage readers, but each story, on its own, is so well crafted (except perhaps "The Greenest Isle") that if readers take their time - perhaps spacing the stories out - they'll appreciate his writing more. (Note: "Zombies" is not a nod to the latest paranormal craze!)
As an introduction to Theroux this might discourage readers, but each story, on its own, is so well crafted (except perhaps "The Greenest Isle") that if readers take their time - perhaps spacing the stories out - they'll appreciate his writing more. (Note: "Zombies" is not a nod to the latest paranormal craze!)
September 28, 2015
This collection of 14 short stories has it all. Expect to find flawed characters challenged by their own conscious, their environment, or the company they choose to keep. Many of the shorter stories are forgettable, but there are a couple grotesque ones that will stick with me. The reason why I gave this book 4 stars is because Theroux saved the best for last: The Greenest Island, where two characters barely in their 20's flee the United States for Puerto Rico, only to find that a change in setting doesn't give then the happiness they are looking for. Really a great short story.
January 10, 2020
Character sketches that reveal human nature in a way that feels at once familiar and revelatory. Some observations are compelling but the stories are not always that engaging as a whole.
In the story of a novice smuggler waiting in Paris for his cargo, Theroux notes that being an adult does not mean we are l any less impatient than we were as children; rather, the dignity of adulthood is the ability to conceal that impatience.
In the story of a novice smuggler waiting in Paris for his cargo, Theroux notes that being an adult does not mean we are l any less impatient than we were as children; rather, the dignity of adulthood is the ability to conceal that impatience.
November 26, 2008
Theroux is the genius author of The Mosquito Coast which was made into a movie directed by Peter Wier and starring Harrison Ford at his acting pinancle. The movie bombed at the box office but was loved by the critics.
Worls End is a collection of short stories which are eclectic to say the least. A strange unusual read. Not his best.
Worls End is a collection of short stories which are eclectic to say the least. A strange unusual read. Not his best.
October 31, 2010
I read this long ago, but remember being disappointed. I was introduced to Theroux through his travel writing and really liked his novel “The Mosquito Coast”-- I know I have it stored away in a box somewhere??
July 7, 2011
I haven't read anything by him before ~ he's known as a travel writer, so I'm hoping for some interesting tales...
December 18, 2011
read for the first time during my semester abroad at Cambridge University, England
Read
July 21, 2014Good short story collection, mainly set in England, with the title story named after the small area of London of the same name.
August 5, 2014
never disappointed with this writer
February 27, 2015
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13201424
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13201424
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews