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4.0 out of 5 stars
Edwardian British Humor, April 5 2004
Like many people who came from the upper-class, Hector Hugh Munro (pen-name Saki) was very "old school" right-wing and conservative in his political views, which would come under criticism in our more enlightened age. There's an underlying cruelty and lack of compassion and sympathy in his work, as these views and outlook of his influenced his literary work. But an author's work should be judged on the work itself, not on the man. Saki's great achievement is his short stories, which were published in a newspaper and then collected into volumes. He was enjoying his literary success when the First World War broke out. He enlisted immediately in 1914. In 1916, he was shot dead in the head by an enemy sniper while hiding in a shallow shell-hole or trench. It was this single sporadic shot in the dusk that silenced one of England's finest writers. Two more volumes of his stories were published posthumously. To appreciate Saki, one must apreciate witty, sophisticated humor and "old world" dialogue. This author is a master of dialogue, and his short stories (often very short) are full of upper-class types who are portrayed with a delicious malice as Saki shows us their follies, eloquence, and foibles. Wit, satire, and a sort of macabre humor are characteristic of this author's work. Wickedly amusing. You won't soon forget his characters, like the opinionated and divinely dressed Reginald, or the acid-tongued and refined Clovis. David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"
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5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best short story writers in the English Language, Sep 2 2003
Saki is good, you may not like his politics, but he is good. He is anti-altruistic, through and through, as he despises do gooders as self-serving and self-martyring and having no real good in mind. The "good" lays in good food, done by a good cook. Saki, interestingly, mocks futurism (the art form of Italian fascism) and Wagnerians and Nietzschians (the not unjustly adopted composer and unjustly misconstrued philosophical guru of the Nazis). He was also anti-suffragette and one of his stories is pathetic in his denounciations of them; but he was not misogynist as he has many smart female charaters in his stories. He is a joy to read, maybe the antithesis of Charles Dickens who one could claim is way too verbose and a dreamer on the virtues of strangers (although I like Dickens), Saki is concise and holds little value in the supposed goodness of strangers. One of the books one should read in their late teens. His novels are interesting and moderately entertaining but lack a sense of completion and posssibly nimbus a show at some limit to his depth. Of his plays only the last in the book was decent.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Great, Great Short Stories, Mediocre Novels and Plays, May 20 2003
Saki's short (and, in general, they are VERY short) stories are masterpieces of wit and social comment. Although they are all set in the Europe (in general, England) that existed prior to the First World War (in which the author was killed), they remain fresh today; the period and location can usually be identified, but the point of the humor is timeless. The overall high quality is illustrated by the fact that, if you ask two dozen Saki aficionados to name their one favorite story, you'll probably get a dozen different answers.Saki is one of those authors who was a master of the short story, but not of longer genres. The novels and plays lack the tight construction of his stories. The collection still gets five stars, however, because the stories alone would be a bargain at twice the price of this volume.
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