Somewhat macabre stories taking place in the peaceful and comfortable atmosphere of Edwardian England. My favorites include the Schartz-Metterclume Method, The Story-Teller and the Open Window. ( )

As ever with short stories (and these are very short) the collection has some ups and downs. For me the ups were the ones featuring children. The inventive way that the young lad got into the lumber room, and the delights he found there was fabulous. Accompanied by the sensation of getting one up on a slightly dense authority figure. And that is the overriding feel of the book, that authority should be pricked. There is, at times, a slightly cruel edge to the tone; the twist to the story of the gentleman with a frog in his clothing who has to disrobe in a railway carriage being the example that springs to mind. At times they are dated, but at times they feel a lot more recent than the first decade of the century. There is a flapper feel to them, and, with little to actually date them, they could be set almost anywhere in peace in the first half of the 20th century.
This was a good collection and I'm pleased to have read it. The best of them were very good. ( )

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. ( )

These are all mostly short short stories—even in this very small Penguin edition, they average no more than about five or six pages each—but they are bitingly, blackly funny. All very Edwardian now, but still rather like an unholy union of Wodehouse and Wilde. ( )

There may not be a greater master of the English short story. Saki (H.H. Munro) writes from a period that is recent enough to be somewhat familiar, but remote enough to provide a bit of an exotic feel to the settings. These short short stories (typically 5 or 6 pages) are an uninterrupted series of gems. In a storytelling style full of grace, charm, and wit, Saki is unstinting in his criticism of the selfish, the self-centered, and the self-absorbed. About the only humans who are spared his sharp utensil are children, who frequently consort with Saki in piercing his victims. Delicious fun.

I read this entire collection over about two weeks. I would not recommend reading Saki's short stories this way. Before reaching the midpoint, one is so familiar with his style, approach, and aim that the element of surprise is somewhat dulled. These should be dipped into perhaps two or three at a time and then set aside for a month or two. Don't worry...they'll keep.

Os. ( )