The Complete Saki

Some seriously wonderful short stories, snappily satirical and great fun (at least some of them) to read out loud). Great for dipping in and out of. I probably tried to read too much too fast, though; by the time I got to the novels I didn't really want any more at the moment, and will come back for those sometime later. ( )

If you haven't read Saki, you should do so immediately. He is sort of like an evil PG Wodehouse. ( )

So far I have read Reginald which is wonderful - review here:

http://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2012/09/27/the-complete-saki-regina... ( )

Saki (H.H. Munro) wrote genteel - but cutting - English satire in the years before World War I, a war he did not survive. He easily stands comparison with his peer in the next generation, P.G. Wodehouse.

This is a compendium of his entire works (though there is a biography in circulation which claims to have four previously uncollected stories). Perhaps he is best known for the short story 'Sredni Vashtar', all about a boy and his ferret, which turns from an Edwardian parlour piece into horror without batting an eyelid. This is one of Saki's trademarks; the unexpected turn occurs in many of his stories, making them all the more delicious. I have other favourites; perhaps my top one is 'Filboid Studge'; a struggling breakfast-food entrepreneur engages an equally struggling artist who wants to marry his daughter to promote his disgusting cereal, and he makes such a good job that a) the cereal becomes a best-seller, and b) his daughter is now too good for the artist. The cereal is described with relish, as it were: "In small kitchens, solemn pig-tailed daughters helped depressed mothers perform the primitive ritual of its preparation." God, it sounds awful!

The collectiion includes three plays and three novels, including his future-war contribution, "When William came", all about London under the occupation of the Kaiser's army. ( )

Book Description: New York: Doubleday Books, 1976. eng. 944 p. Very good in good dust jacket. Very Good/Good .