Short Stories

by Saki, Emlyn Williams (Editor)

A collection of some of Saki's darker & sharper short stories: Sredni Vashtar, The Boar-Pig, The Schwarz-Metterklume Method, The Story-Teller, The Lumber Room, The Toys of Peace, The Reticence of Lady Anne, Mrs Packletide's Tiger. The Unrest-Cure, The Quest, The Secret Sin of Septimus Brope, The 7th Pullet, The Hen, The Brogue, The She-Wolf, The Holiday Task, The Blind Spot, Louise, Fibroid Studge, Gabriel-Ernest, Tobermory, The Mouse, The Lost Sanjak, The Background, The Easter Egg, The Peace of Mowsle Barton, Laura, Dusk, The Interlopers, The Open Window & The Image of the Lost Soul.

250 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1924

About the author

British 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.

Reviews

[Lawrence Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of humorous short stories from an age long gone and in most cases surrounding the rich and well off - some of the better stories use characters from all classes and these are more understandable and tend to be a bit more down to earth. The play of children and young people on the staid and conventional runs deep through the book and displays an England that had somehow become caught in an Edwardian age but these stories are an attempt to show how absurd many of the conventions and habits were. They are funny and have surprising twists but after a while you can tend to guess the outcome bu then the next story will have a striking twist that is not foreseen. The language and grammar are first class with many terms that would confuse a younger urban generation. Coming from a rural agricultural background the precision and terminology of what makes country living are scattered with great accuracy and humour through the stories. This was an enjoyable read with taking in two or three stories each day it doesn't break the credibility chord and the pleasure of the ideas that have born fruit.

[Ethan Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saki writes in such a witty, dry manner. One never really knows where a story might end up, and this means the reader should begin highly engaged so as to not miss any finer details. I particularly loved the surprise endings and macabre moods offered in many of his pieces. Be prepared for a VERY British sense of humor. If you haven’t spent time there before, you may have too look up a few references!

I particularly enjoyed the following short stories in this collection:
“The Hounds of Fate”
“The Reticence of Lady Anne”
“Tobermory”
“Laura”
“The Open Window”
“Sredni Vashtar”

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, witty, often a bit morbid -- a very mixed bag. It's possible that a whole book of these stories was a bit much at one go.

[Jared]

Really good stuff. Had only read "Sredni Vashtar" beforehand, and was delighted to see that macabre irony and dark humor is Saki's standard mode. Towards the end this mode started to become tiresome, but never totally unenjoyable.

The illustrations in this edition fit the Stories perfectly. I only wish there were more!

I liked a good deal of the stories in here, but my favorites were "Gabriel-Ernest," "Sredni Vashtar," "The Music on the Hill," "The Peace of Mowsle Barton," "The Hounds of Fate," "Laura," "The Open Window," "The Seventh Pullet," and "A Touch of Realism."