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Collected Short Stories
"My story is true... every word of it. Or when I say that my story is 'true', I mean at least I am telling it in a new way..."
So begins "The Shout," the tale of a man possessed by a lethal magic, perhaps Robert Graves's most famous story. This collection spans 1924-62; it takes in the worlds of love and war, history and myth, and settings as various as England, Ancient Rome and Majorca. In so far as its author asserts the truth of his stories, they can be read as episodes of autobiography, this collection forming an essential companion to "Goodbye to All That."
So begins "The Shout," the tale of a man possessed by a lethal magic, perhaps Robert Graves's most famous story. This collection spans 1924-62; it takes in the worlds of love and war, history and myth, and settings as various as England, Ancient Rome and Majorca. In so far as its author asserts the truth of his stories, they can be read as episodes of autobiography, this collection forming an essential companion to "Goodbye to All That."
300 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1954
9 people are currently reading
213 people want to read
About the author
Robert Graves
640 books2,066 followersRobert von Ranke Graves was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. Born in Wimbledon, he received his early education at King's College School and Copthorne Prep School, Wimbledon & Charterhouse School and won a scholarship to St John's College, Oxford. While at Charterhouse in 1912, he fell in love with G.H. Johnstone, a boy of fourteen ("Dick" in Goodbye to All That) When challenged by the headmaster he defended himself by citing Plato, Greek poets, Michelangelo & Shakespeare, "who had felt as I did".
At the outbreak of WWI, Graves enlisted almost immediately, taking a commission in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He published his first volume of poems, Over the Brazier, in 1916. He developed an early reputation as a war poet and was one of the first to write realistic poems about his experience of front line conflict. In later years he omitted war poems from his collections, on the grounds that they were too obviously "part of the war poetry boom". At the Battle of the Somme he was so badly wounded by a shell-fragment through the lung that he was expected to die, and indeed was officially reported as 'died of wounds'. He gradually recovered. Apart from a brief spell back in France, he spent the rest of the war in England.
One of Graves's closest friends at this time was the poet Siegfried Sassoon, who was also an officer in the RWF. In 1917 Sassoon tried to rebel against the war by making a public anti-war statement. Graves, who feared Sassoon could face a court martial, intervened with the military authorities and persuaded them that he was suffering from shell shock, and to treat him accordingly. Graves also suffered from shell shock, or neurasthenia as it is sometimes called, although he was never hospitalised for it.
Biographers document the story well. It is fictionalised in Pat Barker's novel Regeneration. The intensity of their early relationship is nowhere demonstrated more clearly than in Graves's collection Fairies & Fusiliers (1917), which contains a plethora of poems celebrating their friendship. Through Sassoon, he also became friends with Wilfred Owen, whose talent he recognised. Owen attended Graves's wedding to Nancy Nicholson in 1918, presenting him with, as Graves recalled, "a set of 12 Apostle spoons".
Following his marriage and the end of the war, Graves belatedly took up his place at St John's College, Oxford. He later attempted to make a living by running a small shop, but the business failed. In 1926 he took up a post at Cairo University, accompanied by his wife, their children and the poet Laura Riding. He returned to London briefly, where he split with his wife under highly emotional circumstances before leaving to live with Riding in Deià, Majorca. There they continued to publish letterpress books under the rubric of the Seizin Press, founded and edited the literary journal Epilogue, and wrote two successful academic books together: A Survey of Modernist Poetry (1927) and A Pamphlet Against Anthologies (1928).
In 1927, he published Lawrence and the Arabs, a commercially successful biography of T.E. Lawrence. Good-bye to All That (1929, revised and republished in 1957) proved a success but cost him many of his friends, notably Sassoon. In 1934 he published his most commercially successful work, I, Claudius. Using classical sources he constructed a complexly compelling tale of the life of the Roman emperor Claudius, a tale extended in Claudius the God (1935). Another historical novel by Graves, Count Belisarius (1938), recounts the career of the Byzantine general Belisarius.
During the early 1970s Graves began to suffer from increasingly severe memory loss, and by his eightieth birthday in 1975 he had come to the end of his working life. By 1975 he had published more than 140 works. He survived for ten more years in an increasingly dependent condition until he died from heart
At the outbreak of WWI, Graves enlisted almost immediately, taking a commission in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He published his first volume of poems, Over the Brazier, in 1916. He developed an early reputation as a war poet and was one of the first to write realistic poems about his experience of front line conflict. In later years he omitted war poems from his collections, on the grounds that they were too obviously "part of the war poetry boom". At the Battle of the Somme he was so badly wounded by a shell-fragment through the lung that he was expected to die, and indeed was officially reported as 'died of wounds'. He gradually recovered. Apart from a brief spell back in France, he spent the rest of the war in England.
One of Graves's closest friends at this time was the poet Siegfried Sassoon, who was also an officer in the RWF. In 1917 Sassoon tried to rebel against the war by making a public anti-war statement. Graves, who feared Sassoon could face a court martial, intervened with the military authorities and persuaded them that he was suffering from shell shock, and to treat him accordingly. Graves also suffered from shell shock, or neurasthenia as it is sometimes called, although he was never hospitalised for it.
Biographers document the story well. It is fictionalised in Pat Barker's novel Regeneration. The intensity of their early relationship is nowhere demonstrated more clearly than in Graves's collection Fairies & Fusiliers (1917), which contains a plethora of poems celebrating their friendship. Through Sassoon, he also became friends with Wilfred Owen, whose talent he recognised. Owen attended Graves's wedding to Nancy Nicholson in 1918, presenting him with, as Graves recalled, "a set of 12 Apostle spoons".
Following his marriage and the end of the war, Graves belatedly took up his place at St John's College, Oxford. He later attempted to make a living by running a small shop, but the business failed. In 1926 he took up a post at Cairo University, accompanied by his wife, their children and the poet Laura Riding. He returned to London briefly, where he split with his wife under highly emotional circumstances before leaving to live with Riding in Deià, Majorca. There they continued to publish letterpress books under the rubric of the Seizin Press, founded and edited the literary journal Epilogue, and wrote two successful academic books together: A Survey of Modernist Poetry (1927) and A Pamphlet Against Anthologies (1928).
In 1927, he published Lawrence and the Arabs, a commercially successful biography of T.E. Lawrence. Good-bye to All That (1929, revised and republished in 1957) proved a success but cost him many of his friends, notably Sassoon. In 1934 he published his most commercially successful work, I, Claudius. Using classical sources he constructed a complexly compelling tale of the life of the Roman emperor Claudius, a tale extended in Claudius the God (1935). Another historical novel by Graves, Count Belisarius (1938), recounts the career of the Byzantine general Belisarius.
During the early 1970s Graves began to suffer from increasingly severe memory loss, and by his eightieth birthday in 1975 he had come to the end of his working life. By 1975 he had published more than 140 works. He survived for ten more years in an increasingly dependent condition until he died from heart
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 11, 2020
42 SHORT STORIES IN 42 DAYS*
DAY 2: The Shout
Rich and strange and very frightening.
*The rules:
– Read one short story a day, every day for six weeks
– Read no more than one story by the same author within any 14-day period
– Deliberately include authors I wouldn't usually read
– Review each story in one sentence or less
Any fresh reading suggestions/recommendations will be gratefully received 📚
DAY 2: The Shout
Rich and strange and very frightening.
*The rules:
– Read one short story a day, every day for six weeks
– Read no more than one story by the same author within any 14-day period
– Deliberately include authors I wouldn't usually read
– Review each story in one sentence or less
Any fresh reading suggestions/recommendations will be gratefully received 📚
June 10, 2014
I read this collection during intercession of the first year in seminary having enjoyed Graves' historical novels since my father, who had read them shipboard during the war, had introduced him to me as a high school student. Owing to having taken Latin there and developing a taste for classical history and culture, my favorite stories were those dealing with ancient Rome.
July 3, 2017
A lovely collection from another era. A slightly mixed bag of stories otherwise I would have given it a higher star rating. However, if you want a short story with the ultimate unexpected sting in the tail "Old Papa Johnson" has to be one of the best ever. And if you want a comic, gothic horror love story "Week End in Cwm Tatws" is wonderfully dead-pan and understated.
December 2, 2016
I visited Mallorca last Spring and rode the bus from Port de Soller up to Deia and visited Robert Graves house/museum. I had read quite a lot of his work previously, including The White Goddess; that remarkably inspiring mad book. Since then I have sought Her out in many different places and often found Her. At the time of the visit I was reading The Golden Fleece which is a wonderful example of Graves learned reinterpretation of the variations of the myths he searches out coupled with a hard look at history and geography and that wound round with fantasy.
That being said his short fiction - with one or two exceptions - is grounded firmly in what he himself has experienced. Some of it indeed seems to be less fiction than autobiogrqaphical.
And although I did enjoy The Shout - probably his best and most well-known story, and his most fanciful; still my favorites were the tales of everyday life in Majorca. And among those I found his daughter's reports of cultural collisions in school the most charming.
After visiting the museum and particularly enjoying the ambience of Graves' study with its shelf of not that many reference works in several languages I walked back to Port de Soller. Blossoms and fruit of lemons and oranges, ancient olive trees each a work of art, a personality, stone walled terraces and not more than two steps on a plane; going up or going down.
Well worth a visit - the island snd the book.
That being said his short fiction - with one or two exceptions - is grounded firmly in what he himself has experienced. Some of it indeed seems to be less fiction than autobiogrqaphical.
And although I did enjoy The Shout - probably his best and most well-known story, and his most fanciful; still my favorites were the tales of everyday life in Majorca. And among those I found his daughter's reports of cultural collisions in school the most charming.
After visiting the museum and particularly enjoying the ambience of Graves' study with its shelf of not that many reference works in several languages I walked back to Port de Soller. Blossoms and fruit of lemons and oranges, ancient olive trees each a work of art, a personality, stone walled terraces and not more than two steps on a plane; going up or going down.
Well worth a visit - the island snd the book.
September 3, 2019
Absolutely fallen in love with Graves as a writer through this collection. It as, as most anthologies are, a mixed bag (I found the Roman stories, though still engaging, the least appealing). However, his voice as a writer, so sharp yet so warm, conveys the sense of a man who knows his way perfectly around a good yarn.
I'd had no idea who he was when I picked up this battered 1964 Penguin edition from a second hand stall, so definitely classifies as an absolute treasure of a find.
I'd had no idea who he was when I picked up this battered 1964 Penguin edition from a second hand stall, so definitely classifies as an absolute treasure of a find.
June 21, 2024
30 short stories in 3 buckets: English, Roman Empire, and Majórica. Like his contemporary Hemingway, Graves fought in the first World War and later spent time in Spain before, during and after the Spanish Revolution of 1936. A terrific writer. His stories of the trenches of France are the most compelling as he fought for the British as a platoon leader, but his last story The Whittaker Negroes is an interesting take on a real-life experiment with Mississippi plantation slavery in 1820.
His 'I, Claudius' is an outstanding novel, and is now a part of my Great Book's List.
His 'I, Claudius' is an outstanding novel, and is now a part of my Great Book's List.
July 17, 2024
Initially, I had picked up this book as a supplement to another, but I was thoroughly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Graves' collected stories, spanning from ancient Rome to contemporary Majorca, are both poignant and memorable, and his mastery of storytelling, coupled with his wit and intelligence, vividly shines through each and every story. I particularly liked, in no particular order, "Old Papa Johnson," "Treacle Tart," "Christmas Truce," "The Myconian," "The Viscountess and the Short-Haired Girl," and "A Toast to Ava Gardner.".
October 13, 2021
And I thought I wrote some weird stories? There are some stories in here that I struggled to understand, but that is probably just a reflection of me. The rest are well-written (had me biting my keyboard in half out of envy) and mostly very interesting. Some are even more interesting than that. I jealously spat out my space bar.
December 9, 2020
Ever since Kipling's Just So Stories, I've always thought of short stories as the highest written medium
Which was why I tried out this one, and I wasn't disappointed
Particularly enjoyed the Marjorcan section, though he loses one star over some occasionally sloppy story telling
Which was why I tried out this one, and I wasn't disappointed
Particularly enjoyed the Marjorcan section, though he loses one star over some occasionally sloppy story telling
April 30, 2022
very unique voice. first story was great. after that interesting stories all based in truth. stories that stick with you but don't really stand test of time. jokes fall a bit flat. glad I read it but hard to recomend
June 25, 2013
Un brindis por Ava Gardner es un libro de relatos escritos por Robert Graves entre los años 1926 y 1969 y está dividido en tres grandes bloques: los ingleses, de los que destaco El grito por lo bien escrito que está, los romanos, todos lecciones de la historia antigua de Roma, y los mallorquines, escritos presumiblemente en las largas épocas de su vida que pasó en la isla balear, en concreto en el municipio de Deyá. De estos últimos hay algo que me ha llamado mucho la atención, además de la buena traducción al español, y es lo que explica Enrique Vila-Matas en la contraportada (y que yo no podría haber explicado mejor):
Dicho de un modo más vulgar, nos caló hasta lo profundo. Una muestra para el que sea incrédulo, del mismo relato mencionado por Vila-Matas:
El relato balear más notable se titula Tomó tierra ayer, una obra maestra que debería figurar entre los mejores cuentos de la literatura española contemporánea. Y digo esto porque leyendo a Graves uno acaba sospechando si no era él ese falso extranjero del que nos habló Canetti: alguien que se juró vivir en su propio país disfrazado de forastero hasta que le reconocieran.
Dicho de un modo más vulgar, nos caló hasta lo profundo. Una muestra para el que sea incrédulo, del mismo relato mencionado por Vila-Matas:
La afición española al terciopelo negro -comentó el maestro sentenciosamente, contemplando el traje cortesano del conde- se interpreta a menudo como el reflejo del lado triste de nuestro carácter nacional. Esto es un error. Nuestros antecesores se vanagloriaban de la planta del añil, la única capaz de proporcionar un tinte negro que contrastara con la brillante blancura de sus puños y sus gorgueras de algodón. Guillermo obró acertadamente al elegir estos lirios y estas rosas para establecer un contraste. Los momentos más negros de la vida de nuestro amigo siempre se avivaban con destellos del más puro blanco.
September 26, 2015
Premda sam ovu knjigu uredio i pripremio za tisak, odlučio sam napisati par riječi ovdje, jer smatram da su u čitavom Gravesovom opusu njegove priče prilično zapostavljene pa možda na ovaj način uspijem nekome skrenuti pažnju.
Knjiga je podijeljena u tri ciklusa: 'Engleske', 'Rimske' i 'Priče s Mallorce'. Svaki ciklus sazdan je od zasebne poetike i motiva, a čak se razlikuju i stilom. Međutim, sve priče sadrže prepoznatljivu Gravesovu ironiju kojom autor uspijeva trivijalne detalje pretvoriti u odsudne momente, ili nas, barem za trenutak, natjerati da posumnjamo u vlastitu prosudbu svijeta.
Važna knjiga za štovatelje kratke prozne forme.
Knjiga je podijeljena u tri ciklusa: 'Engleske', 'Rimske' i 'Priče s Mallorce'. Svaki ciklus sazdan je od zasebne poetike i motiva, a čak se razlikuju i stilom. Međutim, sve priče sadrže prepoznatljivu Gravesovu ironiju kojom autor uspijeva trivijalne detalje pretvoriti u odsudne momente, ili nas, barem za trenutak, natjerati da posumnjamo u vlastitu prosudbu svijeta.
Važna knjiga za štovatelje kratke prozne forme.
February 9, 2025
Robert Graves was one of central figures in British literature, best renown as a poet, but also as as a novelist, scholar and translator, not to mention his participation in WWI.
This book (at least, the Romanian edition) has eleven of his best short stories, divided into three locations: England, Italy and Majorca, the last one being the place in which Graves lived for the most of his adult life.
The style is somehow different to the classic English short stories, some of them are quite interesting, so you will not regret in investing some hours into this book...
This book (at least, the Romanian edition) has eleven of his best short stories, divided into three locations: England, Italy and Majorca, the last one being the place in which Graves lived for the most of his adult life.
The style is somehow different to the classic English short stories, some of them are quite interesting, so you will not regret in investing some hours into this book...
July 2, 2014
Graves piše nepretenciozno, ali pametno i duhovito. baš onako kako to rade dobri pisci.
knjiga ima dio u kojem donosi priče iz postratne Engleske, dio o starom Rimu i priče s Mallorce.
prvi dio knjige ima mračnih elemenata. i inače kod Gravesa ima puno crnog humora, što mi se sviđa. Rimske su priče genijalne; iskričave i ponekad urnebesno smiješne. Mallorca je zabavna i ponekad misteriozna. ja sam u knjizi baš uživala.
knjiga ima dio u kojem donosi priče iz postratne Engleske, dio o starom Rimu i priče s Mallorce.
prvi dio knjige ima mračnih elemenata. i inače kod Gravesa ima puno crnog humora, što mi se sviđa. Rimske su priče genijalne; iskričave i ponekad urnebesno smiješne. Mallorca je zabavna i ponekad misteriozna. ja sam u knjizi baš uživala.
Want to read
April 3, 2007Thanks for the recommendation, Michele!
July 30, 2016
Aunque este tipo de lectura no es mi estilo, reconozco un buen escritor cuando lo leo. Nunca seré capaz de comprender completamente como alguien es capaz de subyugarte con sólo unas palabras.
June 30, 2017
These short stories range from funny, charming, and somewhat poignant ('The French Thing', 'Christmas Truce', 'The Myconian', 'The Viscountess and the Short Haired Girl'), to pretty good ('Old Papa Johnson', 'Earth To Earth', 'Epics Are Out Of Fashion', 'Evidence of Affluence', 'A Toast To Ava Gardner'), to not extremely interesting in content or style ('An Appointment For Candlemas', '6 Valiant Bulls 6').
All in all, Graves just writes in a way that always feels calm and sincere, and he always is able to laugh at himself, or write characters that can. The good stories far outweigh the bad, an enjoyable collection for sure.
All in all, Graves just writes in a way that always feels calm and sincere, and he always is able to laugh at himself, or write characters that can. The good stories far outweigh the bad, an enjoyable collection for sure.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews