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The Best of Saki
A collection of eight cases, contains examples -The Bruce Partington Plans-The Dying Detective, Wisteria Lodge & The devils Foot
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1916
72 people are currently reading
1510 people want to read
About the author
Saki
1,669 books589 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 - 30 of 154 reviews
June 23, 2025
Saki was the pen-name of an Edwardian writer, best known for these brilliant short stories.
They are all very short, and although quite varied in some ways, there are recurring themes and characters. In any story, you are guaranteed a unique and exquisitely crafted mix of many of the following:
• Beautiful writing.
• Satire exposing Victorian/Edwardian hypocrisy, beneath the veneer of respectability.
• Irrational authoritarian adults.
• Clever, sometimes evil children, who outwit them.
• Animals triumphing over the adults if children can’t or aren’t present.
• Dry wit and amorality.
• Subtle homo-eroticism (not often).
• Characters with delightfully odd names.
• Pontificating Reginald or slippery, scheming, supercilious Clovis.
• Magical-realism or a dash of paganism and the supernatural.
• A balance between humour and horror.
• A twist at the end - read carefully.
Wilde, Wodehouse, and others
You can see the influence of Wilde’s waspish wit in lines like this, in Reginald:
“The young have aspirations that never come to pass, the old have reminiscences of what never happened.”
And
“To be clever in the afternoon argues that one is dining nowhere in the evening.”
Other times, you see how Saki influenced Wodehouse, in his convoluted, elegant, and original analogies, though certainly not mood or plot. For example, in The Lull:
“Latimer Springfield was a rather cheerless, oldish young man, who went into politics somewhat in the spirit in which other people might go into half-mourning.”
And this from The Match-Maker:
“The grill-room clock struck eleven with the respectful unobtrusiveness of one whose mission in life is to be ignored.”
Elizabeth Taylor (novelist, not the actress) wrote an excellent short story, featuring a boy who could just as easily have been penned by Saki. See Poor Girl, which I reviewed HERE.
The clever, manipulative children surely influenced Roald Dahl, and the types of twist at the end could sometimes be mistaken for one of his Tales of the Unexpected.
Saki, the Man
Images: Two faces of Saki
There are many minor autobiographical aspects to the stories, so it’s worth knowing a little of the man. Hector Hugh Munro was born in the British Raj, but when he was two and his mother died, he was sent to England with his siblings to be raised by strict a grandmother and aunts. He was initially tutored at home, then sent off to boarding school - still secluded and subject to a stringent regime.
After a brief stint in the Indian Police, he returned to England to be a journalist and writer. He was gay, but covertly so, as homosexuality was a crime then - look what happened to Oscar Wilde. He volunteered for WW1, in which he died, aged 45.
Saki, My Father, and Me
As autumn 2018 approached, I started dipping into Saki stories for the first time in years - decades, even - interspersed with other books. Saki was a big part of my older childhood (my father read the stories aloud) and early adulthood (I reread them to myself).
This season, I read them in no particular order, and posted reviews (links below) of individual stories as the mood took me, over several weeks. Chatting to my father about them, he mentioned his favourite was one I’d overlooked, The Reticence of Lady Anne. I read it and loved it and moved on, as I’d posted so many Saki reviews in a relatively short space of time. Days later, he was dead. My review of that is a grieving tribute to him. The others were written in happier times.
My Individual Reviews
* The Reticence of Lady Anne 5*
* The Open Window 5*
* Sredni Vashtar 5*
* Esmé 4*
* The Toys of Peace 5*
* Clovis on Parental Responsibilities 4*
* Gabriel-Ernest 4*
* Tobermory 4*
* The Lumber Room 5*
* Laura 3*
* Christmas with Dull People 4* comprising four stories:
Reginald's Christmas Revel 3*
Reginald on Christmas Presents 4*
Bertie's Christmas Eve 4*
Down Pens 5*
More Saki
You can find his stories, free, on Gutenberg. For example, HERE. Most are very short.
Images: My father with me as a baby, and my father reading (not Saki) at Christmas, a few years ago
They are all very short, and although quite varied in some ways, there are recurring themes and characters. In any story, you are guaranteed a unique and exquisitely crafted mix of many of the following:
• Beautiful writing.
• Satire exposing Victorian/Edwardian hypocrisy, beneath the veneer of respectability.
• Irrational authoritarian adults.
• Clever, sometimes evil children, who outwit them.
• Animals triumphing over the adults if children can’t or aren’t present.
• Dry wit and amorality.
• Subtle homo-eroticism (not often).
• Characters with delightfully odd names.
• Pontificating Reginald or slippery, scheming, supercilious Clovis.
• Magical-realism or a dash of paganism and the supernatural.
• A balance between humour and horror.
• A twist at the end - read carefully.
Wilde, Wodehouse, and others
You can see the influence of Wilde’s waspish wit in lines like this, in Reginald:
“The young have aspirations that never come to pass, the old have reminiscences of what never happened.”
And
“To be clever in the afternoon argues that one is dining nowhere in the evening.”
Other times, you see how Saki influenced Wodehouse, in his convoluted, elegant, and original analogies, though certainly not mood or plot. For example, in The Lull:
“Latimer Springfield was a rather cheerless, oldish young man, who went into politics somewhat in the spirit in which other people might go into half-mourning.”
And this from The Match-Maker:
“The grill-room clock struck eleven with the respectful unobtrusiveness of one whose mission in life is to be ignored.”
Elizabeth Taylor (novelist, not the actress) wrote an excellent short story, featuring a boy who could just as easily have been penned by Saki. See Poor Girl, which I reviewed HERE.
The clever, manipulative children surely influenced Roald Dahl, and the types of twist at the end could sometimes be mistaken for one of his Tales of the Unexpected.
Saki, the Man
Images: Two faces of Saki
There are many minor autobiographical aspects to the stories, so it’s worth knowing a little of the man. Hector Hugh Munro was born in the British Raj, but when he was two and his mother died, he was sent to England with his siblings to be raised by strict a grandmother and aunts. He was initially tutored at home, then sent off to boarding school - still secluded and subject to a stringent regime.
After a brief stint in the Indian Police, he returned to England to be a journalist and writer. He was gay, but covertly so, as homosexuality was a crime then - look what happened to Oscar Wilde. He volunteered for WW1, in which he died, aged 45.
Saki, My Father, and Me
As autumn 2018 approached, I started dipping into Saki stories for the first time in years - decades, even - interspersed with other books. Saki was a big part of my older childhood (my father read the stories aloud) and early adulthood (I reread them to myself).
This season, I read them in no particular order, and posted reviews (links below) of individual stories as the mood took me, over several weeks. Chatting to my father about them, he mentioned his favourite was one I’d overlooked, The Reticence of Lady Anne. I read it and loved it and moved on, as I’d posted so many Saki reviews in a relatively short space of time. Days later, he was dead. My review of that is a grieving tribute to him. The others were written in happier times.
My Individual Reviews
* The Reticence of Lady Anne 5*
* The Open Window 5*
* Sredni Vashtar 5*
* Esmé 4*
* The Toys of Peace 5*
* Clovis on Parental Responsibilities 4*
* Gabriel-Ernest 4*
* Tobermory 4*
* The Lumber Room 5*
* Laura 3*
* Christmas with Dull People 4* comprising four stories:
Reginald's Christmas Revel 3*
Reginald on Christmas Presents 4*
Bertie's Christmas Eve 4*
Down Pens 5*
More Saki
You can find his stories, free, on Gutenberg. For example, HERE. Most are very short.
Images: My father with me as a baby, and my father reading (not Saki) at Christmas, a few years ago
May 13, 2019
‘What are you children doing out here?’ demanded Mrs Quabarl the next morning, on finding Irene sitting rather glumly at the head of the stairs, while her sister was perched in an attitude of depressed discomfort on the window-seat behind her, with a wolf-skin rug almost covering her.
‘We are having a history lesson,’ came the unexpected reply. ‘I am supposed to be Rome, and Viola up there is the she-wolf; not a real wolf, but the figure of one that the Romans used to set store by—I forget why. Claude and Wilfrid have gone to fetch the shabby women.’
‘The shabby women?’
‘Yes, they’ve got to carry them off. They didn’t want to, but Miss Hope got one of father’s fives-bats and said she’d give them a number nine spanking if they didn’t, so they’ve gone to do it.’
A loud, angry screaming from the direction of the lawn drew Mrs Quabarl thither in hot haste, fearful lest the threatened castigation might even now be in process of infliction. The outcry, however, came principally from the two small daughters of the lodge-keeper, who were being hauled and pushed towards the house by the panting and dishevelled Claude and Wilfrid, whose task was rendered even more arduous by the incessant, if not very effectual, attacks of the captured maidens’ small brother. The governess, fives-bat in hand, sat negligently on the stone balustrade, presiding over the scene with the cold impartiality of a Goddess of Battles. A furious and repeated chorus of ‘I’ll tell muvver’ rose from the lodge-children, but the lodge-mother, who was hard of hearing, was for the moment immersed in the preoccupation of her washtub.
After an apprehensive glance in the direction of the lodge (the good woman was gifted with the highly militant temper which is sometimes the privilege of deafness) Mrs Quabarl flew indignantly to the rescue of the struggling captives.
‘Wilfrid! Claude! Let those children go at once. Miss Hope, what on earth is the meaning of this scene?’
‘Early Roman history; the Sabine Women, don’t you know? It’s the Schartz-Metterklume method to make children understand history by acting it themselves; fixes it in their memory, you know. Of course, if, thanks to your interference, your boys go through life thinking that the Sabine women ultimately escaped, I really cannot be held responsible.’
‘You may be very clever and modern, Miss Hope,’ said Mrs Quabarl firmly, ‘but I should like you to leave here by the next train. Your luggage will be sent after you as soon as it arrives.’
‘I’m not certain exactly where I shall be for the next few days,’ said the dismissed instructress of youth; ‘you might keep my luggage till I wire my address. There are only a couple of trunks and some golf-clubs and a leopard cub.’
‘A leopard cub!’ gasped Mrs Quabarl. Even in her departure this extraordinary person seemed destined to leave a trail of embarrassment behind her.
‘Well, it’s rather left off being a cub; it’s more than half-grown, you know. A fowl every day and a rabbit on Sundays is what it usually gets. Raw beef makes it too excitable. Don’t trouble about getting the car for me, I’m rather inclined for a walk.’
And Lady Carlotta strode out of the Quabarl horizon. The advent of the genuine Miss Hope, who had made a mistake as to the day on which she was due to arrive, caused a turmoil which that good lady was quite unused to inspiring. Obviously the Quabarl family had been woefully befooled, but a certain amount of relief came with the knowledge.
‘How tiresome for you, dear Carlotta,’ said her hostess, when the overdue guest ultimately arrived; ‘how very tiresome losing your train and having to stop overnight in a strange place.’
‘Oh dear, no,’ said Lady Carlotta; ‘not at all tiresome—for me.’
‘We are having a history lesson,’ came the unexpected reply. ‘I am supposed to be Rome, and Viola up there is the she-wolf; not a real wolf, but the figure of one that the Romans used to set store by—I forget why. Claude and Wilfrid have gone to fetch the shabby women.’
‘The shabby women?’
‘Yes, they’ve got to carry them off. They didn’t want to, but Miss Hope got one of father’s fives-bats and said she’d give them a number nine spanking if they didn’t, so they’ve gone to do it.’
A loud, angry screaming from the direction of the lawn drew Mrs Quabarl thither in hot haste, fearful lest the threatened castigation might even now be in process of infliction. The outcry, however, came principally from the two small daughters of the lodge-keeper, who were being hauled and pushed towards the house by the panting and dishevelled Claude and Wilfrid, whose task was rendered even more arduous by the incessant, if not very effectual, attacks of the captured maidens’ small brother. The governess, fives-bat in hand, sat negligently on the stone balustrade, presiding over the scene with the cold impartiality of a Goddess of Battles. A furious and repeated chorus of ‘I’ll tell muvver’ rose from the lodge-children, but the lodge-mother, who was hard of hearing, was for the moment immersed in the preoccupation of her washtub.
After an apprehensive glance in the direction of the lodge (the good woman was gifted with the highly militant temper which is sometimes the privilege of deafness) Mrs Quabarl flew indignantly to the rescue of the struggling captives.
‘Wilfrid! Claude! Let those children go at once. Miss Hope, what on earth is the meaning of this scene?’
‘Early Roman history; the Sabine Women, don’t you know? It’s the Schartz-Metterklume method to make children understand history by acting it themselves; fixes it in their memory, you know. Of course, if, thanks to your interference, your boys go through life thinking that the Sabine women ultimately escaped, I really cannot be held responsible.’
‘You may be very clever and modern, Miss Hope,’ said Mrs Quabarl firmly, ‘but I should like you to leave here by the next train. Your luggage will be sent after you as soon as it arrives.’
‘I’m not certain exactly where I shall be for the next few days,’ said the dismissed instructress of youth; ‘you might keep my luggage till I wire my address. There are only a couple of trunks and some golf-clubs and a leopard cub.’
‘A leopard cub!’ gasped Mrs Quabarl. Even in her departure this extraordinary person seemed destined to leave a trail of embarrassment behind her.
‘Well, it’s rather left off being a cub; it’s more than half-grown, you know. A fowl every day and a rabbit on Sundays is what it usually gets. Raw beef makes it too excitable. Don’t trouble about getting the car for me, I’m rather inclined for a walk.’
And Lady Carlotta strode out of the Quabarl horizon. The advent of the genuine Miss Hope, who had made a mistake as to the day on which she was due to arrive, caused a turmoil which that good lady was quite unused to inspiring. Obviously the Quabarl family had been woefully befooled, but a certain amount of relief came with the knowledge.
‘How tiresome for you, dear Carlotta,’ said her hostess, when the overdue guest ultimately arrived; ‘how very tiresome losing your train and having to stop overnight in a strange place.’
‘Oh dear, no,’ said Lady Carlotta; ‘not at all tiresome—for me.’
August 6, 2022
"Saki is a habit rather than an author," according to the Saturday Review.
This volume is composed of some three dozen addictive confections, selected by Graham Greene. Mr. Greene comments on the "cruelty" of Saki (the pseudonym of H.H. Munro) in his introduction, which startled me the first time I read it. Even Graham Greene then backs away from his assertion: "Perhaps I have gone a little too far in emphasising the cruelty of Munro's work, for there are times when it seems to remind us only of the sunniness of the Edwardian scene."
I am firmly ensconced in the Saki camp, and camp is the right word. He is a witty, droll observer, ever wry, sometimes sly, and his cruelty is never misplaced. Even though I had read all these stories before in other collections, many sentences, so beautifully composed, made me laugh out loud.
This volume is composed of some three dozen addictive confections, selected by Graham Greene. Mr. Greene comments on the "cruelty" of Saki (the pseudonym of H.H. Munro) in his introduction, which startled me the first time I read it. Even Graham Greene then backs away from his assertion: "Perhaps I have gone a little too far in emphasising the cruelty of Munro's work, for there are times when it seems to remind us only of the sunniness of the Edwardian scene."
I am firmly ensconced in the Saki camp, and camp is the right word. He is a witty, droll observer, ever wry, sometimes sly, and his cruelty is never misplaced. Even though I had read all these stories before in other collections, many sentences, so beautifully composed, made me laugh out loud.
October 16, 2017
3.5 stars
I picked up this book after reading “The Open Window” online; the strong writing and clever twist made me curious to read more from Saki. These are bite-sized stories, only a few pages long, but this doesn’t prevent them from feeling complete and being quite engaging. Though their subjects are well-off Englishpeople at the turn of the twentieth century, they aren’t as tame as you might expect: common subjects include elaborate practical jokes and people (including small children) being killed by animals. A few even have an unexpected supernatural bent.
There appears to be more than one collection with the same title but slightly different tables of contents (stories cited by other reviewers here are absent from the volume I read), so I’m not sure if the book I will be describing is the same one you’re likely to read. But I have some doubts about whether the volume I read actually contains the “best” of Saki’s short stories: it includes a selection of 38 stories from five different collections, which improve markedly as the book progresses. The first three, very brief, stories are simply monologues from a clever and smug young man. After that the stories quickly develop tight plotting, which remains the case for the rest of the book. They are often quite clever, though emotionally cold; only in a few places in the collection does one character seem to genuinely care for another, and without the story making it ridiculous. A long stretch of stories feature the aloof, sardonic Clovis, a practical jokester with as much regard for others as your average sociopath. Toward the end the stories seem to be thawing a bit, as well as diversifying. Unfortunately, the author was killed in World War I, so we don’t know what he might have written next.
Overall, I enjoyed the collection: the stories are well-written, interesting and clever, although often darker than expected. And this particular grouping allows the reader to see a writer’s development if nothing else. I would read more from Saki, but I would choose his later collections.
The table of contents from the version I read:
Reginald
Reginald at the Theatre
Reginald on House-Parties
Reginald’s Drama
Reginald in Russia
The Reticence of Lady Anne
Gabriel-Ernest
Cross-Currents
The Mouse
The Chronicles of Clovis
Esme
The Match-Maker
Tobermory
The Background
The Unrest-Cure
The Jesting of Arlington Stringham
Sredni Vashtar
The Quest
The Easter Egg
The Peace of Mowsle Barton
The Talking-Out of Tarrington
The Secret Sin of Septimus Brope
Beasts and Super-Beasts
The She-Wolf
The Boar-Pig
The Brogue
The Open Window
The Schartz-Metterklume method
The Seventh Pullet
Clovis on Parental Responsibilities
A Holiday Task
The Stalled Ox
The Story-Teller
A Defensive Diamond
The Elk
The Lumber-Room
The Toys of Peace
Louise
The Guests
The Penance
Quail Seed
The Seven Cream Jugs
Hyacinth
I picked up this book after reading “The Open Window” online; the strong writing and clever twist made me curious to read more from Saki. These are bite-sized stories, only a few pages long, but this doesn’t prevent them from feeling complete and being quite engaging. Though their subjects are well-off Englishpeople at the turn of the twentieth century, they aren’t as tame as you might expect: common subjects include elaborate practical jokes and people (including small children) being killed by animals. A few even have an unexpected supernatural bent.
There appears to be more than one collection with the same title but slightly different tables of contents (stories cited by other reviewers here are absent from the volume I read), so I’m not sure if the book I will be describing is the same one you’re likely to read. But I have some doubts about whether the volume I read actually contains the “best” of Saki’s short stories: it includes a selection of 38 stories from five different collections, which improve markedly as the book progresses. The first three, very brief, stories are simply monologues from a clever and smug young man. After that the stories quickly develop tight plotting, which remains the case for the rest of the book. They are often quite clever, though emotionally cold; only in a few places in the collection does one character seem to genuinely care for another, and without the story making it ridiculous. A long stretch of stories feature the aloof, sardonic Clovis, a practical jokester with as much regard for others as your average sociopath. Toward the end the stories seem to be thawing a bit, as well as diversifying. Unfortunately, the author was killed in World War I, so we don’t know what he might have written next.
Overall, I enjoyed the collection: the stories are well-written, interesting and clever, although often darker than expected. And this particular grouping allows the reader to see a writer’s development if nothing else. I would read more from Saki, but I would choose his later collections.
The table of contents from the version I read:
Reginald
Reginald at the Theatre
Reginald on House-Parties
Reginald’s Drama
Reginald in Russia
The Reticence of Lady Anne
Gabriel-Ernest
Cross-Currents
The Mouse
The Chronicles of Clovis
Esme
The Match-Maker
Tobermory
The Background
The Unrest-Cure
The Jesting of Arlington Stringham
Sredni Vashtar
The Quest
The Easter Egg
The Peace of Mowsle Barton
The Talking-Out of Tarrington
The Secret Sin of Septimus Brope
Beasts and Super-Beasts
The She-Wolf
The Boar-Pig
The Brogue
The Open Window
The Schartz-Metterklume method
The Seventh Pullet
Clovis on Parental Responsibilities
A Holiday Task
The Stalled Ox
The Story-Teller
A Defensive Diamond
The Elk
The Lumber-Room
The Toys of Peace
Louise
The Guests
The Penance
Quail Seed
The Seven Cream Jugs
Hyacinth
December 22, 2014
Surely this was one of the zaniest, most unabashedly bizarre collections of short stories I have ever come in contact with, all the more so because the initial presentation (of the book itself and each story) seemed so innocuous. After all, it wasn't titled "Wacky British Stories with Twists at the End That Will Make You Laugh Outrageously Even As You Squirm," so I had no idea what to expect.
July 29, 2024
(I have just finished reading this collection for the umpteenth time and as I have already reviewed this anthology, see below, I am gradually working my way through all my Saki anthologies and posting reviews of any story that gets a separate listing on Goodreads. So far every story I read has a listing and everyone is worth a review. I hope more people will read Saki, I read him for the first time at twelve and while I can't swear I have read something by him every year since then he is the only writer of that era that I read as a 12 year old that I still read with unalloyed pleasure. I haven't picked up Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Robert Louis Stevenson, G.K. Chesterton, Arthur Conan Doyle, R.M. Ballantyne (do any children know of, let alone read, these authors?) in decades, more in some cases than others. Most importantly I have no desire or intention of reading any of them again because none of them would delight me after fifty odd years the way Saki does. I will read him again and again and while he won't necessarily be the last thing I read he will be one of them.)
My original review of this anthology:
This is probably my favourite Saki collection. It contains fifty of his finest stories and in addition has a wonderful introduction by Tom Sharpe (it appears that some editions have an introduction by Graham Greene which I have no doubt equally wonderful). Tom Sharpe in his introduction relates how he was introduced to Saki by a schoolmaster so perhaps that early introduction played a small part in the genesis of Mr. Sharpe's development as such a fine writer of extremely funny comedies. I to was introduced to Saki while at school though I loved his writing immediately (while Sharpe's introduction was 'Tobermory' for me it was 'The Lumber Room') it did not lead me into a career as a writer.
I am not going to go into a long review - I am currently reading my way and reviewing Saki's stories and posting individual reviews for those I love best. I can not recommend Saki too much and of all the collections of his work, and I own and have owned as well as read many, this is one of the best and if you have not read many of his stories then this collection is the best place to start.
My original review of this anthology:
This is probably my favourite Saki collection. It contains fifty of his finest stories and in addition has a wonderful introduction by Tom Sharpe (it appears that some editions have an introduction by Graham Greene which I have no doubt equally wonderful). Tom Sharpe in his introduction relates how he was introduced to Saki by a schoolmaster so perhaps that early introduction played a small part in the genesis of Mr. Sharpe's development as such a fine writer of extremely funny comedies. I to was introduced to Saki while at school though I loved his writing immediately (while Sharpe's introduction was 'Tobermory' for me it was 'The Lumber Room') it did not lead me into a career as a writer.
I am not going to go into a long review - I am currently reading my way and reviewing Saki's stories and posting individual reviews for those I love best. I can not recommend Saki too much and of all the collections of his work, and I own and have owned as well as read many, this is one of the best and if you have not read many of his stories then this collection is the best place to start.
November 23, 2011
A master. I am actually rationing Saki's works over the course of my lifetime so I'll always have a surprise and a masterpiece to look forward to in the future. I think if I finished all his works in one go, I'll cry in hopelessness at having no more of his works to get acquainted to. Definitely love him.
December 10, 2018
These stories epitomise the genius that was Saki. Compact, lucid, shining with a dark lustre of humour and horror, telling us a lot more by revealing only the outlines...! Honestly, if you wish to appreciate some genuinely funny, shocking, and yet sober stories, this is an essential read. Enjoy this cracking collection while the days grow darker outside.
Highly Recommended.
Highly Recommended.
November 4, 2016
When a book claims to carry the best works of a brilliant author, it’s usually safe to assume that it would be a thoroughly enjoyable read. And this book does not disappoint. I must say I knew very little about Saki, having read only three of his short stories in school – Dusk, Mrs. Packletide’s Tiger and The Open Window. But these had left a good enough impression. The book in question, which is a compilation of short stories, begins with stories from the Reginald series which are hilarious and highly addictive. It reminded me of the Wodehouse brand of humor, and indeed after a little research I discovered that Saki’s writings had influenced P. G. Wodehouse. Beyond Reginald, though, the stories suddenly become dark and macabre but even the darkest stories are peppered with humor, irony and unexpected twists. Moreover, the writing itself is so beautiful and eloquent – English at its best, dare I say – that one can’t decide what’s better, the story or the story-telling.
Some of my favorite stories from the book are The Reticence of Lady Anne, The Unrest Cure, The Mouse, The Hounds of Fate, The Seven Cream Jugs, The Achievement of the Cat (which is basically an essay on why cats are awesome), The Image of the Lost Soul and all the Reginald stories. Of course it’s not an exhaustive list and I liked each and every story in varying degrees. Would recommend this book to those who appreciate fine writing.
Some of my favorite stories from the book are The Reticence of Lady Anne, The Unrest Cure, The Mouse, The Hounds of Fate, The Seven Cream Jugs, The Achievement of the Cat (which is basically an essay on why cats are awesome), The Image of the Lost Soul and all the Reginald stories. Of course it’s not an exhaustive list and I liked each and every story in varying degrees. Would recommend this book to those who appreciate fine writing.
May 15, 2014
What a delightful find. Saki is clearly the heir of Oscar Wilde, with similar acerbic wit honed with fine psychological observations. One wonders what kind of writer he could have become had WWI not put a premature end to his life. The quality of these short vignettes varies somehow, as can be expected from a writer his age, but some are downright delightful, and every story has at least one brilliant sentence or aforism that one rereads and savours, hoping one could be just as brilliant at witty repartee or withering comments. Thanks to Stéphane for letting me discover Saki.
January 28, 2014
I began reading Saki after I read his short story, The Open Window. This book is a wonderful collection of short stories of equal calibre. It reminded me of the short stories written by Mark Twain. The delightful humour makes it a pleasure to read it.
Recommended to anyone who likes short stories.
Recommended to anyone who likes short stories.
February 4, 2024
Hector Hugh Munro (like Greene, I prefer calling him by his original name instead of the exotic pseudonym) is indeed one of the masters of short fiction, who rivals even O. Henry in my humble (but not ill-founded) opinion, in his use of the twist in the tale to turn the screw of his signature strain of dark humour and sharp satire brilliantly, cruelly and elegantly. This slim collection of some of the finest specimens of his work is indeed an exciting, eye-widening experience and a wistfully nostalgic reminder of a phase of my adolescence when I first began to be entranced by his genius. A fuller review to come soon...
September 9, 2022
Een echte ontdekking! Tijdens onze opleiding kwam Saki nooit aan bod, ik had nog nooit van hem gehoord. In 'Penguin Modern Classics' staat hij wel vermeld en toen ik 'The Best of Saki' zag staan in een second-hand bookshop in Margate heb ik het juweeltje voor £1.20 gekocht. De kortverhalen zijn meesterlijk geschreven. Soms absurd (met sprekende katten!) maar meestal grappig. Een paar keer hardop gelachen. De satire op de Edwardiaanse bourgeoisie is in elk verhaal aanwezig. De ongelukkige jeugd van de auteur, die door hatelijke tantes en andere vervelende verwanten werd opgevoed, klinkt duidelijk mee in de vaak morbide verhalen waar familieleden van het hoofdpersonage dood of compleet ingestort achterblijven. Een aanrader!
December 14, 2018
A series of short stories structured around Saki’s humorous outlook on life, bringing a little levity to an otherwise dreary bunch of sour faced toffs.
It’s difficult to give this book a reflective rating due to the abundance of stories, some I would happily give 4 or 5, others 2 or 3 stars.
I did have a few chuckles to myself, one story in particular:
“The Soul of Laploshka”
This tells the tale of a rather parsimonious fellow who is somewhat stalking his debtor, in desperate want of his money back.
We have a stereotype here in Scotland of us being tight-fisted when it comes to money (or simply just ‘tight’ as is more colloquially used), all lies of course, but it did tickle me a little to imagine this character shadowing me around town, popping up in the most unusual of places just to commandeer me for a few owed shillings.
I wouldn’t be surprised if many a comedy sketch show had not taken ideas from Saki’s characters, the scene on the train with the mouse and the lady for example, I’m sure that theme has been played out thereafter, Rowan Atkinson for example changing into his swimming trunks as Mr. Bean by the seaside. Classic.
Albeit a few laughs, I did find myself half way through just plodding along with each story, another story, another fancy pants surname to be the villain, another facetious man (or animal) to serve the laughs. And so on.
I respect that I can’t possibly appreciate the full extent of Saki’s talent from simply reading a handful of short stories, will I now go on to read more of Saki’s works? Perhaps, but not directly.
I feel that I have consumed too much Saki in a rather short period of time....
Even the cat is talking to me now, at least I think it’s a cat, I sure hope to Christ it’s not a polecat...
Damn.
It’s difficult to give this book a reflective rating due to the abundance of stories, some I would happily give 4 or 5, others 2 or 3 stars.
I did have a few chuckles to myself, one story in particular:
“The Soul of Laploshka”
This tells the tale of a rather parsimonious fellow who is somewhat stalking his debtor, in desperate want of his money back.
We have a stereotype here in Scotland of us being tight-fisted when it comes to money (or simply just ‘tight’ as is more colloquially used), all lies of course, but it did tickle me a little to imagine this character shadowing me around town, popping up in the most unusual of places just to commandeer me for a few owed shillings.
I wouldn’t be surprised if many a comedy sketch show had not taken ideas from Saki’s characters, the scene on the train with the mouse and the lady for example, I’m sure that theme has been played out thereafter, Rowan Atkinson for example changing into his swimming trunks as Mr. Bean by the seaside. Classic.
Albeit a few laughs, I did find myself half way through just plodding along with each story, another story, another fancy pants surname to be the villain, another facetious man (or animal) to serve the laughs. And so on.
I respect that I can’t possibly appreciate the full extent of Saki’s talent from simply reading a handful of short stories, will I now go on to read more of Saki’s works? Perhaps, but not directly.
I feel that I have consumed too much Saki in a rather short period of time....
Even the cat is talking to me now, at least I think it’s a cat, I sure hope to Christ it’s not a polecat...
Damn.
February 26, 2017
Some of the stories had me laughing until i almost fell of the chair, but a lot of them were just a little amusing, so is probably to read it slowly instead on one sitting (well almost because i fell).
January 11, 2020
An excellent collection of short stories, in turn whimsical, dark and satirical.
January 28, 2022
A bitter Wodehouse. Clovis is a witty and bad tempered Bertie. And each story is better than the last.
Read
July 20, 2025This is one of those essential English Classics no one knows – perhaps because of the Asian-sounding name of the author? Saki is like an occult Oscar Wilde (who was his contemporary). He despised children, and died in World War I – or did I imagine that?
And is he gay, or just highly sarcastic? (And keep an eye out for the amazing names – such as Blenkinthrope (he seems to possess no first name), who has a run-in with “Young Duckby”.)
Opening at random:
“Early Roman history; the Sabine women, don’t you know? It’s the Schartz-Metterklume method to make children understand history by acting it themselves; fixes it in their memory, you know. Of course, if, thanks to your interference, your boys go through life thinking that the Sabine women ultimately escaped, I really cannot be held responsible.”
And is he gay, or just highly sarcastic? (And keep an eye out for the amazing names – such as Blenkinthrope (he seems to possess no first name), who has a run-in with “Young Duckby”.)
Opening at random:
“Early Roman history; the Sabine women, don’t you know? It’s the Schartz-Metterklume method to make children understand history by acting it themselves; fixes it in their memory, you know. Of course, if, thanks to your interference, your boys go through life thinking that the Sabine women ultimately escaped, I really cannot be held responsible.”
June 4, 2023
Ironic, dark, non sensical, and serious : Saki's stories are one of kind. At least a dozen really good short stories in this collection ! On another note, the author's spirit animal is definitely the hyaena.
February 15, 2025
Better but hate reading stuff for school against my will 🙏🏼
March 17, 2021
A good selection of the stories of Saki (pen name of H. H. Munro), covering a wide range of his short career. Drily, sometimes caustically, witty, veering occasionally to the macabre--highly recommended!
July 14, 2017
Appachan had tried to make me read Saki. I just listened to some stories narrated by Appachan and never the author himself. This meant that i would know the answer to that question in all quizzes: 'What is Saki's real name' without having read a single story by him. Then in one of our English textbooks was the first story in this collection - 'The Open Window'. One thing that i learned reading Saki is that he did not want women to vote. He mocks the suffragette at least twice in this collection itself.
In 'The East Wing,' when fire breaks out:
'I suppose it is another case of suffragette militancy,' said the Canon. 'I'm in favour of women having the vote myself, even if, as some theologians assert, they have no soul. That, indeed, would furnish an additional argument for including them in the electorate, so that all sections of the community, the soulless and he souled, might be represented.'
Yeah right.
In 'The Open Window,' I felt that he should have omitted the last line of the story. 'Romance at short notice was her speciality'. I liked another story called 'The Dusk', in which a man gets conned. Saki is light reading.
In 'The East Wing', i liked this sentence.
'The house is on fire,' said the Canon, with the air of one who lends dignity to a fact by according it gracious recognition'
This is how upper caste people talk. Also men while mansplaining and in general.
Then in 'The Lumber Room' there is a boy who hides in the lumber room to piss his aunt off. 'It was probably the first time for twenty years that anyone had smiled in that lumber room.'
How sweet! The lumber room must have been so lonely, never seeing a smile for so many years.
I liked the last line in ‘The Philanthropist and the Happy Cat’, which is a story about a woman who wants to do charity. The cat is mentioned in the beginning and in the end like this,
‘But then he had killed his sparrow.’
In ‘The Image of the Lost Soul,’ the one in which a bird takes shelter under the image of the lost soul, there is a line which made me smile.
‘…the brighteyed bird would return, twitter a few sleepy notes,’
It must have been the first time in a long time that I heard twitter being used to mention what it means and not the site.
The phrase, ‘catch-as-catchcan’ or ‘catch-as-catch-can.’
In ‘The Interlopers,’ is again an ending which I liked. I don’t remember what the story was anymore and too lazy to turn the pages back and see. Anyway it’s these two men, who are stuck in a position from which they can’t move, waiting for help to come. It ends like this.
‘Who are they?’ asked Georg quickly, straining his eyes to see what the other would gladly not have seen.
‘Wolves’
A nice way of putting it in ‘Fate:’
‘For a few months he had been assistant editor and business manager of a paper devoted to fancy mice,…’
Ah, an idea for a picture series in ‘On Approval.’ Someone must have done it already.
‘His pictures always represented some well-known street or public place in London, fallen into decay and denuded of its human population, in the place of which there roamed a wild fauna, which, from its wealth of exotic species, must have originally escaped from zoological gardens and travelling beast shows. ‘Giraffes drinking at the fountain pools, Trafalgar Square,’ was one of the most notable and characteristic of his studies, while even more sensational was the gruesome picture of ‘vultures attacking dying camel in Upper Berkeley Street.’
In 'The East Wing,' when fire breaks out:
'I suppose it is another case of suffragette militancy,' said the Canon. 'I'm in favour of women having the vote myself, even if, as some theologians assert, they have no soul. That, indeed, would furnish an additional argument for including them in the electorate, so that all sections of the community, the soulless and he souled, might be represented.'
Yeah right.
In 'The Open Window,' I felt that he should have omitted the last line of the story. 'Romance at short notice was her speciality'. I liked another story called 'The Dusk', in which a man gets conned. Saki is light reading.
In 'The East Wing', i liked this sentence.
'The house is on fire,' said the Canon, with the air of one who lends dignity to a fact by according it gracious recognition'
This is how upper caste people talk. Also men while mansplaining and in general.
Then in 'The Lumber Room' there is a boy who hides in the lumber room to piss his aunt off. 'It was probably the first time for twenty years that anyone had smiled in that lumber room.'
How sweet! The lumber room must have been so lonely, never seeing a smile for so many years.
I liked the last line in ‘The Philanthropist and the Happy Cat’, which is a story about a woman who wants to do charity. The cat is mentioned in the beginning and in the end like this,
‘But then he had killed his sparrow.’
In ‘The Image of the Lost Soul,’ the one in which a bird takes shelter under the image of the lost soul, there is a line which made me smile.
‘…the brighteyed bird would return, twitter a few sleepy notes,’
It must have been the first time in a long time that I heard twitter being used to mention what it means and not the site.
The phrase, ‘catch-as-catchcan’ or ‘catch-as-catch-can.’
In ‘The Interlopers,’ is again an ending which I liked. I don’t remember what the story was anymore and too lazy to turn the pages back and see. Anyway it’s these two men, who are stuck in a position from which they can’t move, waiting for help to come. It ends like this.
‘Who are they?’ asked Georg quickly, straining his eyes to see what the other would gladly not have seen.
‘Wolves’
A nice way of putting it in ‘Fate:’
‘For a few months he had been assistant editor and business manager of a paper devoted to fancy mice,…’
Ah, an idea for a picture series in ‘On Approval.’ Someone must have done it already.
‘His pictures always represented some well-known street or public place in London, fallen into decay and denuded of its human population, in the place of which there roamed a wild fauna, which, from its wealth of exotic species, must have originally escaped from zoological gardens and travelling beast shows. ‘Giraffes drinking at the fountain pools, Trafalgar Square,’ was one of the most notable and characteristic of his studies, while even more sensational was the gruesome picture of ‘vultures attacking dying camel in Upper Berkeley Street.’
March 1, 2020
An excellent collection of short stories, perfect to read in little bursts, full of British wit, daftness, and evil aunts.
Read
June 17, 2016Did not finish. I met a used bookstore owner in line at a book signing several years ago who recommended Saki based on some other preferences. Saki had the right profile for me - gay, period, sardonic, satirist, European - however my eyes glazed over every time I picked this up. The stories in the first part of the book (maybe throughout?) are very short, only a few pages, but the style was too baroque, and the stories themselves far too farcical. The only one I read that I enjoyed was gothic and supernatural, and I enjoyed it more for its foreboding and atmosphere than for what happened. Saki seems to me like a period version of David Sedaris, however the work is more impersonal and dated.
November 24, 2016
Saki's tales are so masterful and elegant that i wonder why i didn't come across them earlier. Weren't we supposed to have stuff of this sort in school? Did i sleep through some classes?
Even though I don't much enjoy short stories, I hope to keep coming back to Saki for an occasional quick fix over the next few years.
Even though I don't much enjoy short stories, I hope to keep coming back to Saki for an occasional quick fix over the next few years.
August 30, 2019
I’m on A Saki binge, and no rice wine is involved. I’m talking about short story writer of the early 20th century H.H. Munro who wrote primarily short stories under the pen name Saki.
I started with the Everyman Library collection Selected Stories edited by Diana Secker Tesdell, published in 2017. I then tracked down this classic collection of his stories in the fancy Franklin Library leather edition. It was edited by Graham Greene and first published in in 1961 as The Best of Saki with illustrations by Edward Gorey. These stories were drawn from his short story collections Reginald (1904), Reginald in Russia (1910), The Chronicles of Clovis (1911), Beasts and Super-Beasts (1914), and The Toys of Peace (1919).
I only read the stories in this edition that aren’t in the other collection, as I read them simultaneously. (Well, not literally simultaneously, because that would give me quite a headache, but you know what I mean.) There are 38 stories in this collection and about 50 in the other, but 18 of them are unique to this collection. A number of my favorites appear in both collections, including:
“The Reticence of Lady Anne” which is all about the ending.
“Gabriel-Ernest” a dark and supernatural tale.
“Tobermory” about a talking cat, and the havoc it wreaks on an otherwise dull country party.
“The Background” about a man who runs into trouble when he gets an extravagant tattoo while visiting Italy. I hadn’t realized they did tattoos like that in the 1910s.
“Sredni Vashtar” inspired by Munro’s childhood being raised by a cold and harsh aunt. “The Lumber-room” seems to be similarly inspired.
“The Boar-Pig” in which two ladies try to sneak into The Garden Party of the season, and find themselves trapped by a foul-tempered animal—and not by accident.
“A Holiday Task” which involves a gentleman trying to assist a lady he meets with amnesia.
“The Brogue” in which an unruly horse threatens a very good match.
“The Open Window” where a young girl weaves a ghostly story at the expense of a new neighbor.
“The Schartz-Metterklume Method” about a Society lady who mischievously play along when mistaken for a governess. This may be my overall favorite.
“The Seven Cream Jugs” which involves a couple plotting to deal with a visit from a kleptomaniac relative. There’s a funny little turn at the end.
My favorites unique to this collection are:
“The Peace of Mowse Barton” where a stranger gets caught in a rural feud between two old women.
“The Unrest Cure” in which recurring mischief-maker Clovis wreaks havoc on a couple who are in a rut. Clovis is at his best here, and his antics had me laughing out loud.
“The Secret Sin of Septimus Brope” where Clovis involves himself in the scandal surrounding the editor of Cathedral Monthly.
As with the other collection, all of the stories were worthwhile. There are two in this collection which take a rather dark turn involving children, which is befitting illustrator Edward Gorey’s style, but are rather disturbing. In “The Penance”, three children take their revenge on their neighbor when he executes their cat which he believes is killing his chickens. In “Hyacinth”, rival politicians follow the new trend of involving children in their campaigns, but one of the children takes it too far when he captures and threatens the opposition’s children with potentially fatal violence if his father loses the election. The exploration of violent tendencies in children caused by lessons about war is a theme running through several of Saki’s stories. He’s also prone to portraying mischievous characters. But where in adults it feels playful and ultimately harmless, in children it’s often taken to a potentially fatal level. Or at least that’s the threat.
Saki did not have children of his own, and I learned from the brief biographical insert included in this book that his British parents were in Burma when he was born in 1870. His mother died when he was very young, and he was sent to England to live with an aunt who was cold and strict to the point of abuse. So perhaps the stories where children gain the upper hand over adults, another running theme, is a result of the impotence he felt in childhood. As noted, “Sredni Vastar” and “The Lumber-room” in particular seem inspired by Munro’s childhood; both involve a young boy who ultimately triumphs over a strict aunt who is an excessive disciplinarian. This tendency blossomed into young men, and sometimes women, who are clever and droll, consistently making witty remarks and playing pranks on the status quo, though they are rarely confronted with any negative consequence for their actions. They have power over their society in their unpredictability, and at times use that power for good, which is what makes them likable protagonists. Reginald is Saki’s early recurring character, and at one point a Duchess says to him, “When I was younger, boys of your age used to be nice and innocent.” Reginald replies, “Now we are only nice. One must specialize in these days.”
Of the two collections, I prefer the 2017 Everyman edition as there are more stories and I generally preferred the ones unique to that collection to those unique to this one. But both are worth reading, particularly if you are, or become, a fan.
I started with the Everyman Library collection Selected Stories edited by Diana Secker Tesdell, published in 2017. I then tracked down this classic collection of his stories in the fancy Franklin Library leather edition. It was edited by Graham Greene and first published in in 1961 as The Best of Saki with illustrations by Edward Gorey. These stories were drawn from his short story collections Reginald (1904), Reginald in Russia (1910), The Chronicles of Clovis (1911), Beasts and Super-Beasts (1914), and The Toys of Peace (1919).
I only read the stories in this edition that aren’t in the other collection, as I read them simultaneously. (Well, not literally simultaneously, because that would give me quite a headache, but you know what I mean.) There are 38 stories in this collection and about 50 in the other, but 18 of them are unique to this collection. A number of my favorites appear in both collections, including:
“The Reticence of Lady Anne” which is all about the ending.
“Gabriel-Ernest” a dark and supernatural tale.
“Tobermory” about a talking cat, and the havoc it wreaks on an otherwise dull country party.
“The Background” about a man who runs into trouble when he gets an extravagant tattoo while visiting Italy. I hadn’t realized they did tattoos like that in the 1910s.
“Sredni Vashtar” inspired by Munro’s childhood being raised by a cold and harsh aunt. “The Lumber-room” seems to be similarly inspired.
“The Boar-Pig” in which two ladies try to sneak into The Garden Party of the season, and find themselves trapped by a foul-tempered animal—and not by accident.
“A Holiday Task” which involves a gentleman trying to assist a lady he meets with amnesia.
“The Brogue” in which an unruly horse threatens a very good match.
“The Open Window” where a young girl weaves a ghostly story at the expense of a new neighbor.
“The Schartz-Metterklume Method” about a Society lady who mischievously play along when mistaken for a governess. This may be my overall favorite.
“The Seven Cream Jugs” which involves a couple plotting to deal with a visit from a kleptomaniac relative. There’s a funny little turn at the end.
My favorites unique to this collection are:
“The Peace of Mowse Barton” where a stranger gets caught in a rural feud between two old women.
“The Unrest Cure” in which recurring mischief-maker Clovis wreaks havoc on a couple who are in a rut. Clovis is at his best here, and his antics had me laughing out loud.
“The Secret Sin of Septimus Brope” where Clovis involves himself in the scandal surrounding the editor of Cathedral Monthly.
As with the other collection, all of the stories were worthwhile. There are two in this collection which take a rather dark turn involving children, which is befitting illustrator Edward Gorey’s style, but are rather disturbing. In “The Penance”, three children take their revenge on their neighbor when he executes their cat which he believes is killing his chickens. In “Hyacinth”, rival politicians follow the new trend of involving children in their campaigns, but one of the children takes it too far when he captures and threatens the opposition’s children with potentially fatal violence if his father loses the election. The exploration of violent tendencies in children caused by lessons about war is a theme running through several of Saki’s stories. He’s also prone to portraying mischievous characters. But where in adults it feels playful and ultimately harmless, in children it’s often taken to a potentially fatal level. Or at least that’s the threat.
Saki did not have children of his own, and I learned from the brief biographical insert included in this book that his British parents were in Burma when he was born in 1870. His mother died when he was very young, and he was sent to England to live with an aunt who was cold and strict to the point of abuse. So perhaps the stories where children gain the upper hand over adults, another running theme, is a result of the impotence he felt in childhood. As noted, “Sredni Vastar” and “The Lumber-room” in particular seem inspired by Munro’s childhood; both involve a young boy who ultimately triumphs over a strict aunt who is an excessive disciplinarian. This tendency blossomed into young men, and sometimes women, who are clever and droll, consistently making witty remarks and playing pranks on the status quo, though they are rarely confronted with any negative consequence for their actions. They have power over their society in their unpredictability, and at times use that power for good, which is what makes them likable protagonists. Reginald is Saki’s early recurring character, and at one point a Duchess says to him, “When I was younger, boys of your age used to be nice and innocent.” Reginald replies, “Now we are only nice. One must specialize in these days.”
Of the two collections, I prefer the 2017 Everyman edition as there are more stories and I generally preferred the ones unique to that collection to those unique to this one. But both are worth reading, particularly if you are, or become, a fan.
October 24, 2014
Saki kind of combines the cliche O. Henry ending with an Ambrose Bierce sensibility. They are neat little stories, but if you read them in succession you begin to anticipate the ending pretty easily, like the worse of O.Henry. Better to read these with long rests in between.
April 25, 2024
The Best of Saki was my introduction to them. I really enjoyed how cruel they were. No. Not cruel. How unflinching they were. People who were self-important were punished. Animals and children told the truth.
February 22, 2013
Clovis is now ranked among the funniest characters I have come across in my reading - alongside Algernon and Jeeves. I absolutely loved his antics!
November 19, 2016
Apart from a few masterpieces like The Open Window these are mere short anecdotes from upper class life. Amusing but not really memorable.
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