The Oxford Book of English Short Stories
From Anthony Trollope, Charles Dickens, and Thomas Hardy, through Rudyard Kipling, H.G. Wells, D.H. Lawrence, and Virginia Woolf, right up to Graham Greene, J.G. Ballard, Angela Carter, Ian McEwan, and many others, The Oxford Book of English Short Stories encompasses comedy and tragedy, farce and delicacy, elegance and the grotesque. Edited by noted novelist A. S. Byatt, the thirty-seven stories gathered here range from social realism to surreal fantasy, from rural poverty to war-blitzed...
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From Anthony Trollope, Charles Dickens, and Thomas Hardy, through Rudyard Kipling, H.G. Wells, D.H. Lawrence, and Virginia Woolf, right up to Graham Greene, J.G. Ballard, Angela Carter, Ian McEwan, and many others, The Oxford Book of English Short Stories encompasses comedy and tragedy, farce and delicacy, elegance and the grotesque. Edited by noted novelist A. S. Byatt, the thirty-seven stories gathered here range from social realism to surreal fantasy, from rural poverty to war-blitzed London, from tales of the supernatural to precise delineations of the mundane, all unified by Byatts demanding criteria that the works be both startling and satisfying, and if possible make the hairs on the neck prickle with excitement, aesthetic or narrative. For short story lovers and anyone unable to resist the enchantments of the English imagination, The Oxford Book of English Short Stories offers a wide array of unforgettable pleasures, now reissued with a fresh, contemporary feel.Kirkus ReviewsA solid collection of 37 stories, presumably intended to accompany an earlier volume edited by the late V.S. Pritchett. Byatt has cast her net widely and well, and included such overlooked gems as Graham Greene's "The Destructors," Charlotte Mew's "A White Night," and H.E. Bates's amazingly rich "The Waterfall." Byatt's long Introductionþwhich might well stand as a capsule history of its subjectþsensibly emphasizes "the evocation of the concrete" as a common feature of English (as opposed to other British Isles' or Commonwealth) short fiction, while offering superb concise assessments of classic writers like Dickens, Trollope, Hardy, and Wells. If some of her omissions (especially de la Mare, Lessing, and Angus Wilson) are hard to defend, one is grateful for her unearthing of neglected writers like Arthur Morrison, Malachi Whitaker, and (the other) Elizabeth Taylor. All in all, one of Oxford's best, and another feather in Byatt's richly decorated cap.
IntroductionThe Sacristan of St. Botolph1The Haunted House18Relics of General Chasse: A Tale of Antwerp44A Mere Interlude63Little Brother93Two Doctors97Behind the Shade105'Wireless'110Under the Knife127A White Night139The Toys of Peace155The Tremendous Adventures of Major Brown160Some Talk of Alexander180The Reverent Wooing of Archibald188Solid Objects204The Man who Loved Islands210A Tragedy in Green233A Widow's Quilt243Nuns at Luncheon250Landlord of the Crystal Fountain264On the Edge of the Cliff270A Dream of Winter286An Englishman's Home295The Destructors311The Waterfall325The Troll345The Blush355At Hiruharama362My Flannel Knickers369Enoch's Two Letters372Dream Cargoes381Telephone396My Story398The Kiss400The Beauty of the Dawn Shift403Solid Geometry420Dead Languages435
\ Kirkus ReviewsA solid collection of 37 stories, presumably intended to accompany an earlier volume edited by the late V.S. Pritchett. Byatt has cast her net widely and well, and included such overlooked gems as Graham Greene's "The Destructors," Charlotte Mew's "A White Night," and H.E. Bates's amazingly rich "The Waterfall." Byatt's long Introductionþwhich might well stand as a capsule history of its subjectþsensibly emphasizes "the evocation of the concrete" as a common feature of English (as opposed to other British Isles' or Commonwealth) short fiction, while offering superb concise assessments of classic writers like Dickens, Trollope, Hardy, and Wells. If some of her omissions (especially de la Mare, Lessing, and Angus Wilson) are hard to defend, one is grateful for her unearthing of neglected writers like Arthur Morrison, Malachi Whitaker, and (the other) Elizabeth Taylor. All in all, one of Oxford's best, and another feather in Byatt's richly decorated cap.\ \
