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The Chaplet
A short story by Saki
- GenresShort StoriesHumor
4 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 1911
5 people want to read
About the author
Saki
1,673 books591 followersBritish writer Hector Hugh Munro under pen name Saki published his witty and sometimes bitter short stories in collections, such as
The Chronicles of Clovis
(1911).
His sometimes macabre satirized Edwardian society and culture. People consider him a master and often compare him to William Sydney Porter and Dorothy Rothschild Parker. His tales feature delicately drawn characters and finely judged narratives. "The Open Window," perhaps his most famous, closes with the line, "Romance at short notice was her specialty," which thus entered the lexicon. Newspapers first and then several volumes published him as the custom of the time.
His works include
* a full-length play, The Watched Pot , in collaboration with Charles Maude;
* two one-act plays;
* a historical study, The Rise of the Russian Empire , the only book under his own name;
* a short novel, The Unbearable Bassington ;
* the episodic The Westminster Alice , a parliamentary parody of Alice in Wonderland ;
* and When William Came: A Story of London under the Hohenzollerns , an early alternate history.
Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll, and Joseph Rudyard Kipling, influenced Munro, who in turn influenced A. A. Milne, and Pelham Grenville Wodehouse.
His sometimes macabre satirized Edwardian society and culture. People consider him a master and often compare him to William Sydney Porter and Dorothy Rothschild Parker. His tales feature delicately drawn characters and finely judged narratives. "The Open Window," perhaps his most famous, closes with the line, "Romance at short notice was her specialty," which thus entered the lexicon. Newspapers first and then several volumes published him as the custom of the time.
His works include
* a full-length play, The Watched Pot , in collaboration with Charles Maude;
* two one-act plays;
* a historical study, The Rise of the Russian Empire , the only book under his own name;
* a short novel, The Unbearable Bassington ;
* the episodic The Westminster Alice , a parliamentary parody of Alice in Wonderland ;
* and When William Came: A Story of London under the Hohenzollerns , an early alternate history.
Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll, and Joseph Rudyard Kipling, influenced Munro, who in turn influenced A. A. Milne, and Pelham Grenville Wodehouse.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 23, 2024
Once again Goodreads has posted a synopsis that manages to tell us everything that is obvious, nothing that is relevant:
"A short story by Saki"
Well what else could it be? A hat? A nursery rhyme? what is most offensive in this banal statement of the obvious is that in five words it manages to make Saki boring. Reading those five words are a soporific of almost gargantuan proportions.
Most of what I could say about this story I have said in my review of 'Filboid Studge'. All you need do is replace advertising, branding, etc. with - well I'm not going to say, read the story. It is funny, sharp and still relevant. Once you have read it I would love to discuss these lines from the opening third paragraph of the story:
"The Amethyst dining-hall had almost a European reputation, especially with that section of Europe which is historically identified with the Jordan valley..."
It is minor Saki but how minor can any masterpiece be?
"A short story by Saki"
Well what else could it be? A hat? A nursery rhyme? what is most offensive in this banal statement of the obvious is that in five words it manages to make Saki boring. Reading those five words are a soporific of almost gargantuan proportions.
Most of what I could say about this story I have said in my review of 'Filboid Studge'. All you need do is replace advertising, branding, etc. with - well I'm not going to say, read the story. It is funny, sharp and still relevant. Once you have read it I would love to discuss these lines from the opening third paragraph of the story:
"The Amethyst dining-hall had almost a European reputation, especially with that section of Europe which is historically identified with the Jordan valley..."
It is minor Saki but how minor can any masterpiece be?
September 15, 2024
A chef prepares and serves a gourmet masterpiece to diners in a ritzy restaurant. But the cook might as well have baked his boots, or fried his franks, or stewed the stemware for the snobby eaters.
September 5, 2025
2.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews