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Great English Short Stories
Selected short stories introduced by Christopher Isherwood
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1957
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About the author
Christopher Isherwood
173 books1,530 followersEnglish-born American writer Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood portrayed Berlin in the early 1930s in his best known works, such as
Goodbye to Berlin
(1939), the basis for the musical
Cabaret
(1966). Isherwood was a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist.
With W.H. Auden he wrote three plays— The Dog Beneath the Skin (1932), The Ascent of F6 (1936), and On the Frontier (1938). Isherwood tells the story in his first autobiography, Lions and Shadows .
After Isherwood wrote joke answers on his second-year exams, Cambridge University in 1925 asked him to leave. He briefly attended medical school and progressed with his first two novels, All the Conspirators (1928) and The Memorial (1932). In 1930, he moved to Berlin, where he taught English, dabbled in Communism, and enthusiastically explored his homosexuality. His experiences provided the material for Mister Norris Changes Trains (1935) and Goodbye to Berlin (1938), still his most famous book.
In Berlin in 1932, he also began an important relationship with Heinz Neddermeyer, a young German with whom he fled the Nazis in 1933. England refused entry to Neddermeyer on his second visit in 1934, and the pair moved restlessly about Europe until the Gestapo arrested Neddermeyer in May 1937 and then finally separated them.
In 1938, Isherwood sailed with Auden to China to write Journey to a War (1939), about the Sino-Japanese conflict. They returned to England and Isherwood went on to Hollywood to look for movie-writing work. He also became a disciple of the Ramakrishna monk, Swami Prabhavananda, head of the Vedanta Society of Southern California. He decided not to take monastic vows, but he remained a Hindu for the rest of his life, serving, praying, and lecturing in the temple every week and writing a biography, Ramakrishna and His Disciples (1965).
In 1945, Isherwood published Prater Violet, fictionalizing his first movie writing job in London in 1933-1934. In Hollywood, he spent the start of the 1950s fighting his way free of a destructive five-year affair with an attractive and undisciplined American photographer, William Caskey. Caskey took the photographs for Isherwood’s travel book about South America, The Condor and The Cows (1947). Isherwood’s sixth novel, The World in the Evening (1954), written mostly during this period, was less successful than earlier ones.
In 1953, he fell in love with Don Bachardy, an eighteen-year-old college student born and raised in Los Angeles. They were to remain together until Isherwood’s death. In 1961, Isherwood and completed the final revisions to his new novel Down There on a Visit (1962). Their relationship nearly ended in 1963, and Isherwood moved out of their Santa Monica house. This dark period underpins Isherwood’s masterpiece A Single Man (1964).
Isherwood wrote another novel, A Meeting by the River (1967), about two brothers, but he gave up writing fiction and turned entirely to autobiography. In Kathleen and Frank (1971), he drew on the letters and diaries of his parents. In Christopher and His Kind (1976), he returned to the 1930s to tell, as a publicly avowed homosexual, the real story of his life in Berlin and his wanderings with Heinz Neddermeyer. The book made him a hero of gay liberation and a national celebrity all over again but now in his true, political and personal identity.
With W.H. Auden he wrote three plays— The Dog Beneath the Skin (1932), The Ascent of F6 (1936), and On the Frontier (1938). Isherwood tells the story in his first autobiography, Lions and Shadows .
After Isherwood wrote joke answers on his second-year exams, Cambridge University in 1925 asked him to leave. He briefly attended medical school and progressed with his first two novels, All the Conspirators (1928) and The Memorial (1932). In 1930, he moved to Berlin, where he taught English, dabbled in Communism, and enthusiastically explored his homosexuality. His experiences provided the material for Mister Norris Changes Trains (1935) and Goodbye to Berlin (1938), still his most famous book.
In Berlin in 1932, he also began an important relationship with Heinz Neddermeyer, a young German with whom he fled the Nazis in 1933. England refused entry to Neddermeyer on his second visit in 1934, and the pair moved restlessly about Europe until the Gestapo arrested Neddermeyer in May 1937 and then finally separated them.
In 1938, Isherwood sailed with Auden to China to write Journey to a War (1939), about the Sino-Japanese conflict. They returned to England and Isherwood went on to Hollywood to look for movie-writing work. He also became a disciple of the Ramakrishna monk, Swami Prabhavananda, head of the Vedanta Society of Southern California. He decided not to take monastic vows, but he remained a Hindu for the rest of his life, serving, praying, and lecturing in the temple every week and writing a biography, Ramakrishna and His Disciples (1965).
In 1945, Isherwood published Prater Violet, fictionalizing his first movie writing job in London in 1933-1934. In Hollywood, he spent the start of the 1950s fighting his way free of a destructive five-year affair with an attractive and undisciplined American photographer, William Caskey. Caskey took the photographs for Isherwood’s travel book about South America, The Condor and The Cows (1947). Isherwood’s sixth novel, The World in the Evening (1954), written mostly during this period, was less successful than earlier ones.
In 1953, he fell in love with Don Bachardy, an eighteen-year-old college student born and raised in Los Angeles. They were to remain together until Isherwood’s death. In 1961, Isherwood and completed the final revisions to his new novel Down There on a Visit (1962). Their relationship nearly ended in 1963, and Isherwood moved out of their Santa Monica house. This dark period underpins Isherwood’s masterpiece A Single Man (1964).
Isherwood wrote another novel, A Meeting by the River (1967), about two brothers, but he gave up writing fiction and turned entirely to autobiography. In Kathleen and Frank (1971), he drew on the letters and diaries of his parents. In Christopher and His Kind (1976), he returned to the 1930s to tell, as a publicly avowed homosexual, the real story of his life in Berlin and his wanderings with Heinz Neddermeyer. The book made him a hero of gay liberation and a national celebrity all over again but now in his true, political and personal identity.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 19, 2021
Joseph Conrad - The Secret Sharer
G.K. Chesterton - The Invisible Man
George Moore - Albert Nobbs
H.G. Wells - The Magic Shop
E.M. Forster - The Story of the Siren
Rudyard Kipling - Mary Postgate
D.H. Lawrence - The Blind Man
Katherine Mansfield - Marriage a la Mode
Ethel Colburn Mayne - The Man of the House
Robert Graves - The Shout
W. Somerset Maugham - The Book-Bag
V.S. Pritchett - Sense of Humour
William Plomer - The Child of Queen Victoria
The Secret Sharer is a strange story about an new and untested captain feeling alienated from his crew when he chances upon a man floating in the water one night. The man is formerly first mate on another ship who killed a man during a squall. The captain hides the stow-away in his private room for some time sharing the secret that the murderer is on-board. Eventually, the two men find a way for the murderer to flee the ship quietly. What is most concerning about the story is the captain's readiness to hide and protect the murderer. Isherwood makes some mention of the doppelganger genre in this story. The captain and the murderer are very different men. The captain recognizes his younger self in the murderer (although the reader does not see how). The two men appear to be almost total opposites; and yet recognize in the other the very qualities lacking in themselves. Perhaps the secret of the hidden murderer gives the captain a sense of duty and strength that he has over his own distant (not mutinous) crew.
The Invisible Man is the shortest murder mystery I have read. It is also a bit disappointing. And yet at the end, I feel foolish for missing the obvious clues. Nevertheless, as a mystery story it was off. Chesterton is no Arthur Conan Doyle.
Albert Nobbs was one of the saddest stories I have ever read. Although it never captured my interest the almost constant battle was heartbreaking with an ending that more suited to Korean cinema than Western audiences. It is a strong and moving story that really shows the acceptable social modes of the sexes in Late Victorian England. I am a little puzzled how a story that could lend itself so readily to humor was cast into such a pitiful shadow. Even more obtuse was Isherwood's typical irrelevant introduction "If you think this story is risque, you are no reader of mine. But if it makes you laugh, I don't blame you. It is very funny, as well as heartbreaking (95)."
The Magic Shop is both fun and exciting. At one of the shortest stories in the book, readers could easily pass it by without realizing they were done. A father and his son are walking around London when they see a magic shop. The father thinks of a simple entertainment for his son and they enter. The shop keeper does not disappoint them. But each trick becomes progressively astounding and eventually sinister. The son falls under the thrall of the shop keeper as the father becomes more distant. Finally, the son disappears entirely. When the father confronts the shop keeper he flies through a wall and out into the street where he is reunited with his son. And the shop disappears into the wall not unlike one would expect from Harry Potter. Soon after a package of toys arrives for the son. The father is clearly uncomfortable with them; but nothing untoward happens. But the son simply says he has to say the magic word to make the toys come alive....
The Story of the Siren is rich in symbolism. Like an onion there seem to be many layers to this story. A tourist to Sicily drops his manuscript on Deism into the ocean. A local man recovers it. Afterwards the tourist hears the story of the siren which is seemingly sinister; and yet the diver does not appear to be afraid of her. The most obvious symbolism is the pagan siren versus modern religion. Behind that is something about accepted modes of behavior in society. The siren is blamed for bewitching a young man and a young girl. Then there is the opaque reference to Sicily. The murder of the young girl send the angry husband around the world searching for the murderer. This refers to the Sicilian vendetta....or hints at something more sinister.
Mary Postgate is a middle-aged house servant in WWI era England. The mistress of the house is an alienated pompous blue-haired woman who seems to look down on everyone, including her unwanted nephew. Mary became fond of the spoiled brat who did not reciprocate her affection. Called off to war, the man dies in a training exercise. That may give a smile to the reader; but Mary is upset. Nevertheless, she keeps it to herself. She is strong-willed and determined. She is calm when she see the shredded body of a young girl who dies when a German bomb explodes beside her. She is calm when she chances upon the German pilot, grievously injured by falling into a tree. There is a hint of malice as she slowly tends to a fire burning her charges' belonging while listening to the death throws of the German. It is a story about the horrors of war and how war damages people who are not on the front lines.
The Blind Man continues the war theme. Maurice returns home from Flanders with horrible scars on his face and total blindness. Nevertheless, he remains connected to the farm. He spends time with the animals and "nature." He is not necessarily brooding; but he remains mysterious. His wife will bear them a child. She seems more normal - she needs socializing and intellectual stimulation. In that regard is her oldest and dearest friend, Bertie. The two men have a history of not liking one-another. So it is a pleasant surprise when Maurice tells his wife to invite Bertie. Isabel and Bertie immediately reconnect, while Maurice wonders off into the night. Eventually, Bertie offers to look for him. He finds him in the dark shed with the animals. Maurice asks to feel Bertie's face, then forces Bertie to feel his face. The two men return to Isabel. Maurice is upbeat declaring he and Bertie are friends. Bertie clearly has the appearance of wanting to leave and never returning. The story ends with Isabel holding Maurice's hand. It is seemingly a story of what people need. Isabel was faced with two alternatives: Maurice and Bertie. Ultimately, she connects with the man who remains mysterious, almost threateningly mysterious; and she gives up her oldest and dearest friend. At the same time, the raw emotional nature that Maurice represents seemingly violates the artificial, composed, socialite that Bertie represents.
Marriage a la Mode appears to be the story of a shifting marriage. Isabel and the kids live out in the country. William, the husband and father, travels to see them one day per week. His wife has bonded with a small circle of obnoxious friends who regard William as an intruder. The story clearly shows how distant William and Isabel have become. William rides the train not knowing which Isabel will meet him at the train station. Isabel does not realize the transformation until the end of the story when she reads out loud a love letter from William. Her friends ridicule William sending her running to her room to cry in anger and shame. But she recovers to go swimming with her friends.
Man of the House appears to be a lengthy eulogy for a cat. I suspect there is deeper meaning. Mayne may be critical of the four spinsters coddling a beloved pet. Or, she is focusing on the changing place of women in the new century. The four spinsters all work and are reasonably self-sufficient. In his introduction, Isherwood, says the story demonstrates the struggles of the lower middle class to cling to society and their status. I barely noticed even a hint to that effect. The only indications seem to be the brief philosophy of the spinsters' father in educating and training them. Maybe Moyne was critical of women leaving the traditional female role in a family and household, and this short story should be seen as an absurd comedy.
The Shout was one of the more exciting stories. Graves is a great author. Isherwood introduces the story as the epitome of terror. Perhaps that was true in 1950. Certainly not in 2020. The terror in this story is an uncertainty of what is real. The setting is an asylum where the narrator visits as an official. He meets an inmate who will record scores with him. The inmate tells him a strange tale that he insists is true. The story involves a traveler visiting a small seashore town and through comradery and story-telling is welcomed into the home of Richard and Rachel. The traveler says he has a supernatural power invested in a shout. This power fascinates Richard who insists repeatedly on observing the shout even as the traveler refuses time and again. Giving in to Richard's demand, the traveler shouts early one morning on the beach. Richard places wax in his ears and is rendered unconscious. Upon waking his life changes. His wife loves and obeys the traveler, the world is darker. At the time of the shout, a person in the village died. Other people are sick. Richard returns to the beach and finds some stones that he believes are souls. He bashes one, believing it to be his own stone; but it belonged to the traveler who loses his power and his hauled away as a lunatic. The story teller reveals that he is the traveler. The narrator is uncomfortable. When a storm approaches, the asylum seeks to round up the inmates. The storyteller threatens to shout. The narrator runs away as lightening strikes the story teller and an asylum employee killing them both....but the employee died with his hands on his ears. What is true? Are the narrator, the traveler, and the story teller one person? The narrator says he visited Richard and Rachel; but they knew nothing about the inmate....
The Book Bag was a long short story that was rich his conversation and short on substance. The focus is on love, and in particular incest. Two orphans spend their lives together in a far away Eden (Malay States) until one of them decides to get married. As he drives up to their plantation with his new bride, his sister shoots herself and dies hours later. It is a tragedy; and yet took a long time to get to the end. There is some mystery in why Tim Hardy decided to leave Eden (and Olive) and go to England; but the greater mystery is his marriage. There are no indications that their lives are in flux until news arrives in Malay that he married. Maugham may have been focusing on appearances. The idyllic life the Hardys enjoyed may have been superficial and corrupt. It could read into a critique of the corruption inside the British Empire. And maybe it is just a love story with a strange and agonizingly long introduction.
Sense of Humour is a satirical piece. Arthur and Rachel appear to be normal people if a bit jaded and unscrupulous. Arthur is a salesman of some sort and revels tricks to his trade by manipulating people. Muriel is just as jaded and cynical. The third character of the story is Colin, who loves Muriel and loses her to Arthur early in the story. Colin is young, naive, reckless, and desperate to win back Muriel. His behavior borders on stalking and Arthur confronts him. But Colin sidesteps Arthur's adversity and continues to haunt the cynical couple who look for the humour in everything, even though that humor is dark and humorless. Colin dies during one of his reckless outings. Arthur and Muriel feel sorrow and make arrangements to send the boy to home for burial. They eventually ride back together in the hearse making comments on who will honor the body as they drive back to the village. It is their sense of humor. Pritchett displays a sharp wit. I actually like Arthur even though he is sneaky and tricky. However, their behavior on the ride back to Colin's mother displays a gross personality. The deeper meaning may be in questioning whether the meek will inherit the earth, or if the cold and calculating will take everything.
Child of Queen Victoria is a fascinating story about a young man going to the wilds of Africa to learn the mercantile trade from an established merchant. The hero of the story, Frant excels at the trade and profits increase to the delight of the MacGavins, the station chief and his wife. Frant is engrossed in his trade until a shy African girl gives him hints that she likes him. Suddenly, his thoughts turn from work to love. The two would-be lovers rarely meet, and it drives Frant insane. MacGavin hints that he should "play" with the local women, but Frant retorts with such vehement racism that MacGavin recoils. Frant hardly realizes what he is saying. Mixed and confused he wonders around looking for the girl without success. When a terrific storm appears, Frant runs out into the countryside seeking his beloved. However, he learns that her entire village was suddenly wiped out by a flood from the storm and everyone drowned. With a sob, he returns to the trading post. There may be deeper meaning criticizing the British Empire. But I suspect it is simply a beautiful story about love and tragedy in the colonies. The picture Plomer paints of the trading post and Lembuland is beautiful, exotic, and thorough. He shows colonialism like no history book can present. Frant and the MacGavins are complex people because they loathe, love, and need the locals. At the same time, it is difficult to see how the locals can return any affection towards them.
The collected stories are supposed to offer a world view ca. 1950. Only two of the stories take place anywhere identifiable outside of England. Isherwood's introductions were almost meaningless and often irritating. By the time he gets to Plomer, he barely mentions Child of Queen Victoria; but spends more time discussing Plomer's other works. When he introduces The Book Bag, he indicates that the painful introduction is autobiographical in nature, introducing the reader to Maugham himself "and thereby strengthens the credibility of the story itself." What does that mean? He introduces The Shout as growing out of Graves' war experience. Does the shout signify battle? Insanity from war? Post-Traumatic Syndrome? Maybe. Only a handful of his introductions add substance to the story. And in most cases, it is advisable to read the introductions after reading the story.
Overall, the stories themselves are good selections. Most of them are memorable, clever, and original. There is a lot of potential for Hollywood to update and expand some of these stories rather than the drivel that marks their productions in the 2010s. Some of them are slow reading and go on and on. But most of them are fascinating and enjoyable for casual reading. The style is slow and the detail is rich. I suspect most of them have subtle meanings, so you need a quiet environment to read and ponder.
G.K. Chesterton - The Invisible Man
George Moore - Albert Nobbs
H.G. Wells - The Magic Shop
E.M. Forster - The Story of the Siren
Rudyard Kipling - Mary Postgate
D.H. Lawrence - The Blind Man
Katherine Mansfield - Marriage a la Mode
Ethel Colburn Mayne - The Man of the House
Robert Graves - The Shout
W. Somerset Maugham - The Book-Bag
V.S. Pritchett - Sense of Humour
William Plomer - The Child of Queen Victoria
The Secret Sharer is a strange story about an new and untested captain feeling alienated from his crew when he chances upon a man floating in the water one night. The man is formerly first mate on another ship who killed a man during a squall. The captain hides the stow-away in his private room for some time sharing the secret that the murderer is on-board. Eventually, the two men find a way for the murderer to flee the ship quietly. What is most concerning about the story is the captain's readiness to hide and protect the murderer. Isherwood makes some mention of the doppelganger genre in this story. The captain and the murderer are very different men. The captain recognizes his younger self in the murderer (although the reader does not see how). The two men appear to be almost total opposites; and yet recognize in the other the very qualities lacking in themselves. Perhaps the secret of the hidden murderer gives the captain a sense of duty and strength that he has over his own distant (not mutinous) crew.
The Invisible Man is the shortest murder mystery I have read. It is also a bit disappointing. And yet at the end, I feel foolish for missing the obvious clues. Nevertheless, as a mystery story it was off. Chesterton is no Arthur Conan Doyle.
Albert Nobbs was one of the saddest stories I have ever read. Although it never captured my interest the almost constant battle was heartbreaking with an ending that more suited to Korean cinema than Western audiences. It is a strong and moving story that really shows the acceptable social modes of the sexes in Late Victorian England. I am a little puzzled how a story that could lend itself so readily to humor was cast into such a pitiful shadow. Even more obtuse was Isherwood's typical irrelevant introduction "If you think this story is risque, you are no reader of mine. But if it makes you laugh, I don't blame you. It is very funny, as well as heartbreaking (95)."
The Magic Shop is both fun and exciting. At one of the shortest stories in the book, readers could easily pass it by without realizing they were done. A father and his son are walking around London when they see a magic shop. The father thinks of a simple entertainment for his son and they enter. The shop keeper does not disappoint them. But each trick becomes progressively astounding and eventually sinister. The son falls under the thrall of the shop keeper as the father becomes more distant. Finally, the son disappears entirely. When the father confronts the shop keeper he flies through a wall and out into the street where he is reunited with his son. And the shop disappears into the wall not unlike one would expect from Harry Potter. Soon after a package of toys arrives for the son. The father is clearly uncomfortable with them; but nothing untoward happens. But the son simply says he has to say the magic word to make the toys come alive....
The Story of the Siren is rich in symbolism. Like an onion there seem to be many layers to this story. A tourist to Sicily drops his manuscript on Deism into the ocean. A local man recovers it. Afterwards the tourist hears the story of the siren which is seemingly sinister; and yet the diver does not appear to be afraid of her. The most obvious symbolism is the pagan siren versus modern religion. Behind that is something about accepted modes of behavior in society. The siren is blamed for bewitching a young man and a young girl. Then there is the opaque reference to Sicily. The murder of the young girl send the angry husband around the world searching for the murderer. This refers to the Sicilian vendetta....or hints at something more sinister.
Mary Postgate is a middle-aged house servant in WWI era England. The mistress of the house is an alienated pompous blue-haired woman who seems to look down on everyone, including her unwanted nephew. Mary became fond of the spoiled brat who did not reciprocate her affection. Called off to war, the man dies in a training exercise. That may give a smile to the reader; but Mary is upset. Nevertheless, she keeps it to herself. She is strong-willed and determined. She is calm when she see the shredded body of a young girl who dies when a German bomb explodes beside her. She is calm when she chances upon the German pilot, grievously injured by falling into a tree. There is a hint of malice as she slowly tends to a fire burning her charges' belonging while listening to the death throws of the German. It is a story about the horrors of war and how war damages people who are not on the front lines.
The Blind Man continues the war theme. Maurice returns home from Flanders with horrible scars on his face and total blindness. Nevertheless, he remains connected to the farm. He spends time with the animals and "nature." He is not necessarily brooding; but he remains mysterious. His wife will bear them a child. She seems more normal - she needs socializing and intellectual stimulation. In that regard is her oldest and dearest friend, Bertie. The two men have a history of not liking one-another. So it is a pleasant surprise when Maurice tells his wife to invite Bertie. Isabel and Bertie immediately reconnect, while Maurice wonders off into the night. Eventually, Bertie offers to look for him. He finds him in the dark shed with the animals. Maurice asks to feel Bertie's face, then forces Bertie to feel his face. The two men return to Isabel. Maurice is upbeat declaring he and Bertie are friends. Bertie clearly has the appearance of wanting to leave and never returning. The story ends with Isabel holding Maurice's hand. It is seemingly a story of what people need. Isabel was faced with two alternatives: Maurice and Bertie. Ultimately, she connects with the man who remains mysterious, almost threateningly mysterious; and she gives up her oldest and dearest friend. At the same time, the raw emotional nature that Maurice represents seemingly violates the artificial, composed, socialite that Bertie represents.
Marriage a la Mode appears to be the story of a shifting marriage. Isabel and the kids live out in the country. William, the husband and father, travels to see them one day per week. His wife has bonded with a small circle of obnoxious friends who regard William as an intruder. The story clearly shows how distant William and Isabel have become. William rides the train not knowing which Isabel will meet him at the train station. Isabel does not realize the transformation until the end of the story when she reads out loud a love letter from William. Her friends ridicule William sending her running to her room to cry in anger and shame. But she recovers to go swimming with her friends.
Man of the House appears to be a lengthy eulogy for a cat. I suspect there is deeper meaning. Mayne may be critical of the four spinsters coddling a beloved pet. Or, she is focusing on the changing place of women in the new century. The four spinsters all work and are reasonably self-sufficient. In his introduction, Isherwood, says the story demonstrates the struggles of the lower middle class to cling to society and their status. I barely noticed even a hint to that effect. The only indications seem to be the brief philosophy of the spinsters' father in educating and training them. Maybe Moyne was critical of women leaving the traditional female role in a family and household, and this short story should be seen as an absurd comedy.
The Shout was one of the more exciting stories. Graves is a great author. Isherwood introduces the story as the epitome of terror. Perhaps that was true in 1950. Certainly not in 2020. The terror in this story is an uncertainty of what is real. The setting is an asylum where the narrator visits as an official. He meets an inmate who will record scores with him. The inmate tells him a strange tale that he insists is true. The story involves a traveler visiting a small seashore town and through comradery and story-telling is welcomed into the home of Richard and Rachel. The traveler says he has a supernatural power invested in a shout. This power fascinates Richard who insists repeatedly on observing the shout even as the traveler refuses time and again. Giving in to Richard's demand, the traveler shouts early one morning on the beach. Richard places wax in his ears and is rendered unconscious. Upon waking his life changes. His wife loves and obeys the traveler, the world is darker. At the time of the shout, a person in the village died. Other people are sick. Richard returns to the beach and finds some stones that he believes are souls. He bashes one, believing it to be his own stone; but it belonged to the traveler who loses his power and his hauled away as a lunatic. The story teller reveals that he is the traveler. The narrator is uncomfortable. When a storm approaches, the asylum seeks to round up the inmates. The storyteller threatens to shout. The narrator runs away as lightening strikes the story teller and an asylum employee killing them both....but the employee died with his hands on his ears. What is true? Are the narrator, the traveler, and the story teller one person? The narrator says he visited Richard and Rachel; but they knew nothing about the inmate....
The Book Bag was a long short story that was rich his conversation and short on substance. The focus is on love, and in particular incest. Two orphans spend their lives together in a far away Eden (Malay States) until one of them decides to get married. As he drives up to their plantation with his new bride, his sister shoots herself and dies hours later. It is a tragedy; and yet took a long time to get to the end. There is some mystery in why Tim Hardy decided to leave Eden (and Olive) and go to England; but the greater mystery is his marriage. There are no indications that their lives are in flux until news arrives in Malay that he married. Maugham may have been focusing on appearances. The idyllic life the Hardys enjoyed may have been superficial and corrupt. It could read into a critique of the corruption inside the British Empire. And maybe it is just a love story with a strange and agonizingly long introduction.
Sense of Humour is a satirical piece. Arthur and Rachel appear to be normal people if a bit jaded and unscrupulous. Arthur is a salesman of some sort and revels tricks to his trade by manipulating people. Muriel is just as jaded and cynical. The third character of the story is Colin, who loves Muriel and loses her to Arthur early in the story. Colin is young, naive, reckless, and desperate to win back Muriel. His behavior borders on stalking and Arthur confronts him. But Colin sidesteps Arthur's adversity and continues to haunt the cynical couple who look for the humour in everything, even though that humor is dark and humorless. Colin dies during one of his reckless outings. Arthur and Muriel feel sorrow and make arrangements to send the boy to home for burial. They eventually ride back together in the hearse making comments on who will honor the body as they drive back to the village. It is their sense of humor. Pritchett displays a sharp wit. I actually like Arthur even though he is sneaky and tricky. However, their behavior on the ride back to Colin's mother displays a gross personality. The deeper meaning may be in questioning whether the meek will inherit the earth, or if the cold and calculating will take everything.
Child of Queen Victoria is a fascinating story about a young man going to the wilds of Africa to learn the mercantile trade from an established merchant. The hero of the story, Frant excels at the trade and profits increase to the delight of the MacGavins, the station chief and his wife. Frant is engrossed in his trade until a shy African girl gives him hints that she likes him. Suddenly, his thoughts turn from work to love. The two would-be lovers rarely meet, and it drives Frant insane. MacGavin hints that he should "play" with the local women, but Frant retorts with such vehement racism that MacGavin recoils. Frant hardly realizes what he is saying. Mixed and confused he wonders around looking for the girl without success. When a terrific storm appears, Frant runs out into the countryside seeking his beloved. However, he learns that her entire village was suddenly wiped out by a flood from the storm and everyone drowned. With a sob, he returns to the trading post. There may be deeper meaning criticizing the British Empire. But I suspect it is simply a beautiful story about love and tragedy in the colonies. The picture Plomer paints of the trading post and Lembuland is beautiful, exotic, and thorough. He shows colonialism like no history book can present. Frant and the MacGavins are complex people because they loathe, love, and need the locals. At the same time, it is difficult to see how the locals can return any affection towards them.
The collected stories are supposed to offer a world view ca. 1950. Only two of the stories take place anywhere identifiable outside of England. Isherwood's introductions were almost meaningless and often irritating. By the time he gets to Plomer, he barely mentions Child of Queen Victoria; but spends more time discussing Plomer's other works. When he introduces The Book Bag, he indicates that the painful introduction is autobiographical in nature, introducing the reader to Maugham himself "and thereby strengthens the credibility of the story itself." What does that mean? He introduces The Shout as growing out of Graves' war experience. Does the shout signify battle? Insanity from war? Post-Traumatic Syndrome? Maybe. Only a handful of his introductions add substance to the story. And in most cases, it is advisable to read the introductions after reading the story.
Overall, the stories themselves are good selections. Most of them are memorable, clever, and original. There is a lot of potential for Hollywood to update and expand some of these stories rather than the drivel that marks their productions in the 2010s. Some of them are slow reading and go on and on. But most of them are fascinating and enjoyable for casual reading. The style is slow and the detail is rich. I suspect most of them have subtle meanings, so you need a quiet environment to read and ponder.
March 19, 2015
A really excellent collection of short stories by some well-known masters. Each story was chosen by Isherwood and he writes an interesting intro for each one (best read afterwards I found).
~ The Blind Man by D.H. Lawrence 4*
~ The Book-Bag by W. Somerset Maugham 5*
~ The Magic Shop by H.G. Wells 5*
~ Sense of Humour by V.S. Pritchett 4*
~ The Shout by Robert Graves 5*
~ Albert Nobbs by George Moore 3*
~ The Man of the House by Ethel Colburn Mayne 4*
~ The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad 3*
~ Marriage a la Mode by Katherine Mansfield 4*
~ Mary Postgate by Rudyard Kipling 3*
~ The Child of Queen Victoria by William Plomer 4*
~ The Invisible Man by G.K. Chesterton 4*
~ The Story of the Siren by E.M. Forster 4*
~ The Blind Man by D.H. Lawrence 4*
~ The Book-Bag by W. Somerset Maugham 5*
~ The Magic Shop by H.G. Wells 5*
~ Sense of Humour by V.S. Pritchett 4*
~ The Shout by Robert Graves 5*
~ Albert Nobbs by George Moore 3*
~ The Man of the House by Ethel Colburn Mayne 4*
~ The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad 3*
~ Marriage a la Mode by Katherine Mansfield 4*
~ Mary Postgate by Rudyard Kipling 3*
~ The Child of Queen Victoria by William Plomer 4*
~ The Invisible Man by G.K. Chesterton 4*
~ The Story of the Siren by E.M. Forster 4*
September 23, 2016
Brilliant book.
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November 15, 2020I personally am curious about the history of the world, and literature is one great way to enter and learn about the past. The book as it's titled contains short English stories, which makes it easier to read stories with different scenarios. The fact that the author gives background context makes it easier to comprehend the story, which was very helpful. The thing that I like about short stories is that I can decide on what story to read depending on how I feel that day. This is when the thing about background context comes back, making it even easier to pick.
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April 5, 2019Great English Short Stories was an enjoyable book to read. Not only that each story was interesting, but it is written short enough so that readers like me who gets bored easily can enjoy it fully. In my opinion, The Magic Shop is one of the stories that I really enjoyed. I also enjoyed how Cristopher Isherwood chose these stories and introduce them before we get to read. Looking back after reading the short story, his opinions and perspective towards the book made me realize and think on the way to see the book differently, which made it more interesting.
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