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The Complete Short Stories
From the cruel irony of 'A member of the Family' to the fateful echoes of 'The Go-Away Bird' and the unexpectedly sinister 'The Girl I Left Behind Me', in settings that range from South Africa to the Portobello Road, Muriel Spark coolly probes the idiosyncrasies that lurk beneath the veneer of human respectability, displaying the acerbic wit and wisdom that are the hallmarks of her unique talent.
The Complete Short Stories is a collection to be loved and cherished, from one of the finest short-story writers of the twentieth century.
All audio stories are recorded unabridged, by three versatile and high-profile actors and accomplished narrators; Emilia Fox, Richard E. Grant and Juliet Stevenson.
The Complete Short Stories is a collection to be loved and cherished, from one of the finest short-story writers of the twentieth century.
All audio stories are recorded unabridged, by three versatile and high-profile actors and accomplished narrators; Emilia Fox, Richard E. Grant and Juliet Stevenson.
17 pages, Audiobook
First published January 1, 1958
103 people are currently reading
1048 people want to read
About the author
Muriel Spark
226 books1,297 followersDame Muriel Spark, DBE was a prolific Scottish novelist, short story writer and poet whose darkly comedic voice made her one of the most distinctive writers of the twentieth century. In 2008 The Times newspaper named Spark in its list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Spark received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1965 for The Mandelbaum Gate, the Ingersoll Foundation TS Eliot Award in 1992 and the David Cohen Prize in 1997. She became Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1993, in recognition of her services to literature. She has been twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize, in 1969 for The Public Image and in 1981 for Loitering with Intent. In 1998, she was awarded the Golden PEN Award by English PEN for "a Lifetime's Distinguished Service to Literature". In 2010, Spark was shortlisted for the Lost Man Booker Prize of 1970 for The Driver's Seat.
Spark received eight honorary doctorates in her lifetime. These included a Doctor of the University degree (Honoris causa) from her alma mater, Heriot-Watt University in 1995; a Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris causa) from the American University of Paris in 2005; and Honorary Doctor of Letters degrees from the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, London, Oxford, St Andrews and Strathclyde.
Spark grew up in Edinburgh and worked as a department store secretary, writer for trade magazines, and literary editor before publishing her first novel, The Comforters, in 1957. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, published in 1961, and considered her masterpiece, was made into a stage play, a TV series, and a film.
Spark received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1965 for The Mandelbaum Gate, the Ingersoll Foundation TS Eliot Award in 1992 and the David Cohen Prize in 1997. She became Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1993, in recognition of her services to literature. She has been twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize, in 1969 for The Public Image and in 1981 for Loitering with Intent. In 1998, she was awarded the Golden PEN Award by English PEN for "a Lifetime's Distinguished Service to Literature". In 2010, Spark was shortlisted for the Lost Man Booker Prize of 1970 for The Driver's Seat.
Spark received eight honorary doctorates in her lifetime. These included a Doctor of the University degree (Honoris causa) from her alma mater, Heriot-Watt University in 1995; a Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris causa) from the American University of Paris in 2005; and Honorary Doctor of Letters degrees from the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, London, Oxford, St Andrews and Strathclyde.
Spark grew up in Edinburgh and worked as a department store secretary, writer for trade magazines, and literary editor before publishing her first novel, The Comforters, in 1957. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, published in 1961, and considered her masterpiece, was made into a stage play, a TV series, and a film.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
January 2, 2020
Marvellous Spark Of Life!
In Muriel Spark's short stories, one tends to side with the ghosts and be afraid of the living - of those in charge of the narrative, that is, for they are the ones who make a total mess of it!
There is quite a lot of truth in her description of white supremacy in the Colony too (to which she dedicates several sublime stories!), which manifests itself as a bunch of clueless, arrogant Europeans invading African soil to cause both collective and individual destruction wherever they decide to let their whims, ambitions and passions run wild. As one character says when asked (by a glib ignoramus) if she ever had any issues with the natives: "No, only with the whites."
A girl who is dating a charming man thinks she is in charge of her relationship the day she receives a coveted invitation to see his mother, only to realise that she got both more and less than she bargained for when she became "a member of the family".
A ghost has to flee a psychiatrist who threatens to kill him off with sedatives. I could rest my case! Muriel Spark is one of a kind, and she knows the real threats looming in the minds of people - those that are so dark they scare away the ghosts.
At the same time, she is a subtle advocate for equality and emancipation of those who are outside the official power system. Her description of an intellectual woman suffocating under her own brilliance in a dull and stereotypical gender role play which leaves her starved of stimulation is a thinly veiled message to all women struggling to define themselves in a society that still expects them to be decorous accessories at dinner parties rather than sharp and deep analysts in their own fields.
Miss Pinkerton offers a uniquely sparkling and humorous, subversive reaction to the typical chauvinist downplaying of female observation when she gets angry at her neighbour's "mansplaining" her version of their shared experience of watching a flying saucer. Better to discredit both of us, she seems to think, than have the man's faulty version stand alone while hers is mocked as a woman's "silliness". She can't make her voice heard over the male arrogance, but she can make sure neither is believed. Quite sad, and witty. The narrator, in true Sparkling manner, knows the truth, of course, as the flying saucer made an appearance again, and was clearly manned in exactly the way Miss Pinkerton described. Thus we, the delighted readers, also know which ghosts are real and which ones are not.
The ghost of sexism is very real in Spark's universe!
There is so much to be said about very single one of these short stories, but nothing can really compensate for the real thing, so here is my advice to all my lovely Goodreads friends:
GIVE A SPARK TO THE NEW YEAR!
In Muriel Spark's short stories, one tends to side with the ghosts and be afraid of the living - of those in charge of the narrative, that is, for they are the ones who make a total mess of it!
There is quite a lot of truth in her description of white supremacy in the Colony too (to which she dedicates several sublime stories!), which manifests itself as a bunch of clueless, arrogant Europeans invading African soil to cause both collective and individual destruction wherever they decide to let their whims, ambitions and passions run wild. As one character says when asked (by a glib ignoramus) if she ever had any issues with the natives: "No, only with the whites."
A girl who is dating a charming man thinks she is in charge of her relationship the day she receives a coveted invitation to see his mother, only to realise that she got both more and less than she bargained for when she became "a member of the family".
A ghost has to flee a psychiatrist who threatens to kill him off with sedatives. I could rest my case! Muriel Spark is one of a kind, and she knows the real threats looming in the minds of people - those that are so dark they scare away the ghosts.
At the same time, she is a subtle advocate for equality and emancipation of those who are outside the official power system. Her description of an intellectual woman suffocating under her own brilliance in a dull and stereotypical gender role play which leaves her starved of stimulation is a thinly veiled message to all women struggling to define themselves in a society that still expects them to be decorous accessories at dinner parties rather than sharp and deep analysts in their own fields.
Miss Pinkerton offers a uniquely sparkling and humorous, subversive reaction to the typical chauvinist downplaying of female observation when she gets angry at her neighbour's "mansplaining" her version of their shared experience of watching a flying saucer. Better to discredit both of us, she seems to think, than have the man's faulty version stand alone while hers is mocked as a woman's "silliness". She can't make her voice heard over the male arrogance, but she can make sure neither is believed. Quite sad, and witty. The narrator, in true Sparkling manner, knows the truth, of course, as the flying saucer made an appearance again, and was clearly manned in exactly the way Miss Pinkerton described. Thus we, the delighted readers, also know which ghosts are real and which ones are not.
The ghost of sexism is very real in Spark's universe!
There is so much to be said about very single one of these short stories, but nothing can really compensate for the real thing, so here is my advice to all my lovely Goodreads friends:
GIVE A SPARK TO THE NEW YEAR!
January 16, 2025
The First Year of my Life is a short story by the prolific Scottish novelist, short story writer, and poet, Muriel Spark. Like all good short stories, it has a clever premise, and as with much of her fiction, it is darkly comic.
The story is told in the first person, as an autobiography. It begins:
“I was born on the first day of the second month of the last year of the First World War, a Friday.”
It was, she observed, the very worst year that the world had ever experienced. For some reason, perhaps connected, perhaps not, the baby never smiled. Not once did her face crease, despite all attempts to make her smile.
There are theories in philosophy and psychology which hold we are born with a predisposition to certain innate abilities. In psychology, nativism purports that certain skills are hard-wired into the brain at birth. Noam Chomsky, for instance, believed that the acquisition of language is an innate or biological ability. From a very early age, he suggested, babies can understand the basic structure of language. In philosophy, Immanuel Kant two centuries earlier, argued that the human mind knows things in innate, “a priori” ways.
A universal grammar? Universal skills and/or beliefs? What else might be possible? Academics continue to explore the possibilities, and here Muriel Spark has taken an idea and pushed it to its limits. The theory she suggests is that babies understand everything that is going on in the world for the first year of their lives, but once they get older they lose this ability. So in The First Year of my Life, a newborn baby is omniscient. She knows absolutely everything that is going on in the world. Moreover she can tune in to any conversation anywhere, and listen and watch any scene she chooses. We therefore get a potted history of the world through this baby’s eyes.
The attention to detail is absorbing. By choosing the year World War One ended as the first year of the baby’s life, we can the horrors of this particular year, and the effect the war had on all the different social classes.
The baby watched the distribution of ration cards, intended to ensure that everyone could get basic food, but she observed how restricted foods such as butter, meat, and sugar were. She did not smile.
She watched as the United States entered the war, after German U-boats had attacked American ships which were carrying weapons and food for Great Britain. She did not smile.
The baby observed too:
“Over in Berlin and Vienna the people were starving, freezing, striking, rioting, and yelling in the streets.”
She did not smile.
More and more men were being recruited to go to fight in the war. Even fewer jobs were designated as essential, so women began to be recruited to take over farming or factory work to produce all the necessary goods and services.
“Income tax in England had reached six shillings in the pound.”
The baby did not smile.
People behaved differently, and became disillusioned:
“I was further depressed by the curious behaviour of the two legged mammals around me. There were those blacked-dressed people, females of the species to which I appeared to belong to, saying they had lost their sons.”
The baby was privy to many conversations in cities all around the world, to watch battles, and listen to H.H. Asquith, (the Prime Minister), Winston Churchill, and Bernard Shaw. She listened carefully, but still nothing anyone said or did could make her smile.
Does this baby ever smile? Well you need to read the story to find that out.
The story is very clever, and entertaining, with great imagery and an interesting twist on historical events. It is quite sardonic, as perhaps one might expect from the writer of “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”, which was considered to be her masterpiece.
EDIT 16-1-25
Please note that this is the review for the short story The First Year of my Life ONLY. I have just noticed that the review no longer appears under the individual published story, but apparently has been merged with a collection.
The story is told in the first person, as an autobiography. It begins:
“I was born on the first day of the second month of the last year of the First World War, a Friday.”
It was, she observed, the very worst year that the world had ever experienced. For some reason, perhaps connected, perhaps not, the baby never smiled. Not once did her face crease, despite all attempts to make her smile.
There are theories in philosophy and psychology which hold we are born with a predisposition to certain innate abilities. In psychology, nativism purports that certain skills are hard-wired into the brain at birth. Noam Chomsky, for instance, believed that the acquisition of language is an innate or biological ability. From a very early age, he suggested, babies can understand the basic structure of language. In philosophy, Immanuel Kant two centuries earlier, argued that the human mind knows things in innate, “a priori” ways.
A universal grammar? Universal skills and/or beliefs? What else might be possible? Academics continue to explore the possibilities, and here Muriel Spark has taken an idea and pushed it to its limits. The theory she suggests is that babies understand everything that is going on in the world for the first year of their lives, but once they get older they lose this ability. So in The First Year of my Life, a newborn baby is omniscient. She knows absolutely everything that is going on in the world. Moreover she can tune in to any conversation anywhere, and listen and watch any scene she chooses. We therefore get a potted history of the world through this baby’s eyes.
The attention to detail is absorbing. By choosing the year World War One ended as the first year of the baby’s life, we can the horrors of this particular year, and the effect the war had on all the different social classes.
The baby watched the distribution of ration cards, intended to ensure that everyone could get basic food, but she observed how restricted foods such as butter, meat, and sugar were. She did not smile.
She watched as the United States entered the war, after German U-boats had attacked American ships which were carrying weapons and food for Great Britain. She did not smile.
The baby observed too:
“Over in Berlin and Vienna the people were starving, freezing, striking, rioting, and yelling in the streets.”
She did not smile.
More and more men were being recruited to go to fight in the war. Even fewer jobs were designated as essential, so women began to be recruited to take over farming or factory work to produce all the necessary goods and services.
“Income tax in England had reached six shillings in the pound.”
The baby did not smile.
People behaved differently, and became disillusioned:
“I was further depressed by the curious behaviour of the two legged mammals around me. There were those blacked-dressed people, females of the species to which I appeared to belong to, saying they had lost their sons.”
The baby was privy to many conversations in cities all around the world, to watch battles, and listen to H.H. Asquith, (the Prime Minister), Winston Churchill, and Bernard Shaw. She listened carefully, but still nothing anyone said or did could make her smile.
Does this baby ever smile? Well you need to read the story to find that out.
The story is very clever, and entertaining, with great imagery and an interesting twist on historical events. It is quite sardonic, as perhaps one might expect from the writer of “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”, which was considered to be her masterpiece.
EDIT 16-1-25
Please note that this is the review for the short story The First Year of my Life ONLY. I have just noticed that the review no longer appears under the individual published story, but apparently has been merged with a collection.
April 11, 2025
It is clear that Spark did not have a very compassionate view of human nature. Some stories are an act of character assassination of people she knew. In fact The Snobs does everything it can to telegraph this fact to the reader.
And then this...
He looked like he was going to murder me. And he did.
There are many reasons for writing a ghost story. But using the form to set yourself up so that you can write a killer line like this (pardon the pun), is really something else.
And then this...
He looked like he was going to murder me. And he did.
There are many reasons for writing a ghost story. But using the form to set yourself up so that you can write a killer line like this (pardon the pun), is really something else.
December 30, 2025
That a slight movement of the curtains should be the sign of a summer breeze seems somewhere near to truth, for to me truth has airy properties with buoyant and lyrical effects; and when anything drastic starts up from some light cause it only proves to me that something false has got into the world.Many readers of short story collections (and, to be honest, I don't come across nearly enough of them) tend to say that most such collections are "uneven".
I can concur. Most collections tend to be uneven (though the exceptions are always a welcome relief; something like William March's terrific and flawless 'Trial Balance'). Yet, 'uneven' can be a tricky and maybe even unreliable (i.e., subjective) word.
I'm familiar with Muriel Spark's work, having now read 9 of her novels. I could call my experience with her novels 'uneven' - but that's not because I either liked them or I didn't; it's because I thought they *worked* or they didn't. To me, the ones that work are marvelous.
But her short stories, to me, need to be assessed differently. It's not a matter of whether all of them work or not. Looked at objectively, there's not a bad story in the bunch; each one appears approached with great care and alert seriousness. True, with some of them, I was anxious for them to be over but, at the same time, I don't think any of them are bad.
It became a matter of whether they individually packed a punch; an ineffable observation. If you already have an interest in Spark's work, you are likely to have your favorites here (which sort of explains why my rating is a bit generous; I was pretty much on her side).
The volume begins with 3 of its longest stories, each set in Africa. These are unique for their cultural exploration. They're also a bit languid so it may be necessary for you to let them slowly work their way on you.
From there, the volume becomes more of a breeze, as the following 38 stories are all on the short side, reducing the possibility that any one story will wear out its welcome.
My favorites come mostly grouped midway - the ghost (or supernatural) stories: 'The Executor', 'Another Pair of Hands', 'The Girl I Left Behind Me' (to me, the volume's best story - and only 4 pp.!), 'Miss Pinkerton's Apocalypse' (lovely sci-fi), 'The Pearly Shadow' (hilarious)... and, later, another charming sci-fi 'The Playhouse Called Remarkable', and the last story in the volume, 'The Hanging Judge'.
There are other particular standouts throughout: 'A Member of the Family' (wry and understated), 'The Fortune-Teller' (a unique take on the type), 'The Dragon' (smart depiction of a couturier), 'The First Year of My Life' (the title tells it all, intriguingly), and 'The Thing About Police Stations' (a title that holds a double meaning).
These days, Spark seems to be mostly remembered (or paid attention to) for 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'. Fair enough. ~ or is it? In the past year or so, I dug deeper into her output. Yeah, maybe it's uneven overall, but there are considerable treasures... and this collection holds quite a few of them.
October 4, 2016
So many delightfully wicked poisonous little bonbons in here. OF course the stories are uneven - any "complete" collection runs that risk. But all three readers are extraordinarily talented, and the sharp tart perspicuity of Spark's delicious voice comes through. Probably wasn't the most conventional way to introduce myself to Spark's work as I literally had no idea what to expect. But highly recommended if you already like her. As for me, I'm moving on to the novels.
February 22, 2021
After reading all of Muriel Spark's novels, I was looking forward to her short stories. I borrowed this collection from the library just before the latest lockdown. Although the stories have her distinctive asperity, I did not enjoy them anywhere near as much as her longer work. Rather to my surprise, the two main themes were colonialism and ghosts. The snapshots of colonialist life all seemed to culminate in fatal shootings, which proved depressing. Many stories throw light on idiosyncrasies and hypocrisies of the class system, particularly in connection with racism. The ghost stories were more intriguing, although once I came to expect them they became less interesting. There seemed to be less of Spark's arch wit and more of her pitilessly sharp observation in these stories; I didn't find a single one of them funny.
The quality of her writing is doubtless very high throughout, however (Borges aside) I am generally more fond of full novels than short stories. In her novels, Spark gives her characters enough space to pursue dramatic and farcical ends, revealing greater depths. Her short stories are inevitably vignettes rather than narratives. I found a few of them powerful enough to stick in my memory, while most slid by without great impact. 'Bang-Bang You're Dead' superimposed memory and film recording very tellingly. As she often does, Spark skewers British manners very skilfully there. 'The Fortune Teller' was spookier than the ghost stories, despite the twist at the end being easy to anticipate. 'The First Year of My Life' has the strange novelty of being told from a baby's perspective. Nonetheless, I much prefer Spark's novels, particularly Not to Disturb, Loitering with Intent, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Symposium, and The Hothouse by the East River. Maybe I'll get on better with her non-fiction.
The quality of her writing is doubtless very high throughout, however (Borges aside) I am generally more fond of full novels than short stories. In her novels, Spark gives her characters enough space to pursue dramatic and farcical ends, revealing greater depths. Her short stories are inevitably vignettes rather than narratives. I found a few of them powerful enough to stick in my memory, while most slid by without great impact. 'Bang-Bang You're Dead' superimposed memory and film recording very tellingly. As she often does, Spark skewers British manners very skilfully there. 'The Fortune Teller' was spookier than the ghost stories, despite the twist at the end being easy to anticipate. 'The First Year of My Life' has the strange novelty of being told from a baby's perspective. Nonetheless, I much prefer Spark's novels, particularly Not to Disturb, Loitering with Intent, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Symposium, and The Hothouse by the East River. Maybe I'll get on better with her non-fiction.
March 21, 2016
"Am I a woman, she thought calmly, or an intellectual monster?" - "Bang-Bang You're Dead"
Spark's stories are macabre, hilarious, and sharp. It has been a pleasure to spend six months in them. Some of her themes, sentences, and techniques deserve special mention:
1. In "Alice Long's Dachshunds," animals and people are said to be particularly made. This sort of construction is a regular feature. It's clever and not quite a figure of speech: two women might be "made differently from the start," dachshunds are "low-made," and my favorite, "Alice Long was made to be kept down by upkeep."
2. "From the window I could see Frau Lublonitsch in her dark dress, her black boots and wool stockings. She was plucking a chicken over a bucketful of feathers. Beyond her I could see the sulky figure of Herr Stroh standing collarless, fat and unshaven, in the open door of his hotel across the path. He seemed to be meditating upon Frau Lublonitsch." - "The Ormolu Clock"
3. Femininity, and masculinity, and sexual power are examined, played with, and ridiculed. See the work on colonialism and power in "Bang-Bang You're Dead" and "The Go-Away Bird" and the attention to gaze in "The Ormolu Clock" and "The Dark Glasses."
4. "He looked as if he would murder me and he did." - "The Portobello Road"
5. Spark's narrators are often fixated on one other person, and her plots are often a quest to uncover the character of that person. Meanwhile, the narrator is herself slowly uncovered, revealing a personality to rival that of her fixation. It's a habit I relished discovering. Cf. "Daisy Overend," "The Ormolu Clock," and "The Dark Glasses."
6. "A sewing assistant, I explained, was out of the question for me. All the more did I need protection, and time, long stretches of time all to myself. Every stitch had to be perfect, I explained, small and perfect. Even the basting and tacking stitches, which later had to be drawn out, had to be done by me, or I could not sleep at night." - "The Dragon"
Highlights: "The Portobello Road," "The Curtain Blown by the Breeze," "Bang-Bang You're Dead," "The Twins," "Daisy Overend," "Come Along, Marjorie," "The Ormolu Clock," "The Dark Glasses," "The Fathers' Daughters," "The Go-Away Bird," "The Executor," "The Fortune-Teller," "Another Pair of Hands," "The Dragon," "The Hanging Judge," "The Snobs," "A Hundred and Eleven Years Without a Chauffeur"
Spark's stories are macabre, hilarious, and sharp. It has been a pleasure to spend six months in them. Some of her themes, sentences, and techniques deserve special mention:
1. In "Alice Long's Dachshunds," animals and people are said to be particularly made. This sort of construction is a regular feature. It's clever and not quite a figure of speech: two women might be "made differently from the start," dachshunds are "low-made," and my favorite, "Alice Long was made to be kept down by upkeep."
2. "From the window I could see Frau Lublonitsch in her dark dress, her black boots and wool stockings. She was plucking a chicken over a bucketful of feathers. Beyond her I could see the sulky figure of Herr Stroh standing collarless, fat and unshaven, in the open door of his hotel across the path. He seemed to be meditating upon Frau Lublonitsch." - "The Ormolu Clock"
3. Femininity, and masculinity, and sexual power are examined, played with, and ridiculed. See the work on colonialism and power in "Bang-Bang You're Dead" and "The Go-Away Bird" and the attention to gaze in "The Ormolu Clock" and "The Dark Glasses."
4. "He looked as if he would murder me and he did." - "The Portobello Road"
5. Spark's narrators are often fixated on one other person, and her plots are often a quest to uncover the character of that person. Meanwhile, the narrator is herself slowly uncovered, revealing a personality to rival that of her fixation. It's a habit I relished discovering. Cf. "Daisy Overend," "The Ormolu Clock," and "The Dark Glasses."
6. "A sewing assistant, I explained, was out of the question for me. All the more did I need protection, and time, long stretches of time all to myself. Every stitch had to be perfect, I explained, small and perfect. Even the basting and tacking stitches, which later had to be drawn out, had to be done by me, or I could not sleep at night." - "The Dragon"
Highlights: "The Portobello Road," "The Curtain Blown by the Breeze," "Bang-Bang You're Dead," "The Twins," "Daisy Overend," "Come Along, Marjorie," "The Ormolu Clock," "The Dark Glasses," "The Fathers' Daughters," "The Go-Away Bird," "The Executor," "The Fortune-Teller," "Another Pair of Hands," "The Dragon," "The Hanging Judge," "The Snobs," "A Hundred and Eleven Years Without a Chauffeur"
July 2, 2008
The great joy of this collection is its eclecticism. Muriel Spark is perhaps best known for her acerbic wit and her economic style which some call ‘sparse’. Certainly, her later novels, like The Finishing School, are pared down to the extent that they read a little like film scripts. Readers who know Spark for her novels may be surprised by the range of style and subject matters tackled in her short stories. Nearly every genre is covered here, from the ghost story to the surreal fantasy, social commentary, murder mystery, psychological thriller, even a nod at science fiction.
Read my complete review here:
http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews...
Read my complete review here:
http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews...
March 20, 2013
If Raymond Carver is the master of beautifully-crafted short stories about nothing, then surely Muriel Spark is the master of beautifully-crafted short stories about two things: the story itself, and everything else that's implied.
Every single one of the stories in this hefty book leave you feeling unsettled. Her view of the world is peculiar but compelling. Why she's not more widely-recognised I'll never know.
Every single one of the stories in this hefty book leave you feeling unsettled. Her view of the world is peculiar but compelling. Why she's not more widely-recognised I'll never know.
June 30, 2015
Muriel was my writer crush last summer. Her short stories run the gamut from chilling, fantastical to heartbreaking. Wonderful stuff.
January 31, 2020
A stunning array of a lifetime of short stories, often chilling.
Read
November 12, 2023Most of the stories collected here can be found in individual collections, the exceptions being "The Young Man Who Discovered the Secret of Life" and "One Hundred and Eleven Years Without a Chauffeur." Three out of four of these last stories are narrated by an acclaimed writer who may as well be Spark herself. Even at the last her ghost stories fall flat. Still, not a bad way to end things.
from The Go-away Bird and Other Stories:
5 - The Black Madonna
4 - The Pawnbroker's Wife
3 - The Twins
4 - Miss Pinkerton's Apocalypse
3 - A Sad Tale's Best for Winter
5 - The Go-Away Bird
3 - Daisy Overend
3 - You Should Have Seen the Mess
4 - Come Along, Marjorie
3 - The Seraph and the Zambesi
5 - The Portobello Road
from Bang-Bang You're Dead and Other Stories:
5 - Bang-Bang You're Dead
4 - The Gentile Jewesses
5 - The Curtain Blown by the Breeze
2 - The Playhouse Called Remarkable
4 - The Ormolu Clock
3 - The Leaf-Sweeper
5 - The Dark Glasses
5 - The House of the Famous Poet
4 - A Member of the Family
5 - Alice Long's Dachshunds
4- The Fathers' Daughters
5 - The First Year of My Life
from Open to the Public: New & Collected Stories:
5 - Open to the Public
4 - The Executor
4 - The Fortune-Teller
4 - Another Pair of Hands
4 - The Dragon
3 - The Girl I Left Behind Me
5 - Going Up and Coming Down
3 - The Pearly Shadow
3 - Chimes
3 - The Things About Police Stations
3 - Harper and Wilton
3 - Ladies and Gentlemen
2 - The Quest for Lavishes Ghast
4 - The Hanging Judge
The Snobs - 4 (from The Snobs)
The Young Man Who Discovered the Secret of Life - 3
Christmas Fugue - 4 (from The Snobs)
One Hundred and Eleven Years Without a Chauffeur - 5
from The Go-away Bird and Other Stories:
5 - The Black Madonna
4 - The Pawnbroker's Wife
3 - The Twins
4 - Miss Pinkerton's Apocalypse
3 - A Sad Tale's Best for Winter
5 - The Go-Away Bird
3 - Daisy Overend
3 - You Should Have Seen the Mess
4 - Come Along, Marjorie
3 - The Seraph and the Zambesi
5 - The Portobello Road
from Bang-Bang You're Dead and Other Stories:
5 - Bang-Bang You're Dead
4 - The Gentile Jewesses
5 - The Curtain Blown by the Breeze
2 - The Playhouse Called Remarkable
4 - The Ormolu Clock
3 - The Leaf-Sweeper
5 - The Dark Glasses
5 - The House of the Famous Poet
4 - A Member of the Family
5 - Alice Long's Dachshunds
4- The Fathers' Daughters
5 - The First Year of My Life
from Open to the Public: New & Collected Stories:
5 - Open to the Public
4 - The Executor
4 - The Fortune-Teller
4 - Another Pair of Hands
4 - The Dragon
3 - The Girl I Left Behind Me
5 - Going Up and Coming Down
3 - The Pearly Shadow
3 - Chimes
3 - The Things About Police Stations
3 - Harper and Wilton
3 - Ladies and Gentlemen
2 - The Quest for Lavishes Ghast
4 - The Hanging Judge
The Snobs - 4 (from The Snobs)
The Young Man Who Discovered the Secret of Life - 3
Christmas Fugue - 4 (from The Snobs)
One Hundred and Eleven Years Without a Chauffeur - 5
March 11, 2021
I knew of Muriel Spark as the writer of "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," but was unfamiliar with her other work.
She was a tremendously talented writer of weird, feminist fiction. The stories in this collection touch on everything from the everyday drudgery of working class life, to hauntings to dreamy love stories and magical realism.
Spark was a writer ahead of her time and I am going to read more of her work.
She was a tremendously talented writer of weird, feminist fiction. The stories in this collection touch on everything from the everyday drudgery of working class life, to hauntings to dreamy love stories and magical realism.
Spark was a writer ahead of her time and I am going to read more of her work.
February 20, 2011
its not my favorite because they put together stories that take place in South African colonies, so far, and they don't reflect her bitter spare best. Her life story is amazing, living in bedsitters to just sharpen her observation and skill ruthlessly. Her last book, which she wrote at 90, is so clean spare and funny. Like Ruth Rendell, this woman had no illusions on the human race, but unlike Rendell, she just couldn't or wouldn't hack write her way through to some kind of solvency. Still its a great book JUST BECAUSE ITS HER and already the first and second stories has All About Eve types who get murdered. Very satisfying.
July 12, 2007
The particular story I enjoyed the most was "The Driver's Seat." It is a strange story that will, as far as Im concerned leave you pondering what you just read. It seems as though there could be so much more to the story, but the author has chosen to leave it out. The reader is left to fill in the blanks. The characters are developed rather well given the length of the story. I dug that story the most.
November 19, 2011
I didn't read all of these for class, but I certainly intend to read the rest of them. Spark has an incredibly distinctive style and a dark, witty sense of humor. The stories are excellent.
June 18, 2014
First half dark but witty, second half brilliant.
October 1, 2024
A mixed bag for me. I mostly enjoyed the shorter stories in his collection and got bored with the longer ones, and ones set in Africa. Might be more fun to dip in and out of rather than read cover to cover.
March 8, 2025
A great variety of different stories. And they were all proper stories with good plots. Muriel Spark was a very imaginative author.
June 12, 2022
Това са всички разкази на Мюриъл Спарк без един, който, както се оказа, е непреводим - представлява подигравка с лондонското произношение от шотландска гледна точка. Прочетох половината книга на английски, другата на български.
Мюриъл Спарк би трябвало да е доста по-широко четена според мен! Разказите, с минимум изключения, са превъзходни. Спарк е смела писателка, самородна. Гласът ѝ е духовит и самоуверен, понякога до язвителен. Има сухо чувство за хумор, напоено с десетилетия многообразен житейски опит. Сюжетите се отличават с наблюдателност, проницателно вглеждане в човешката природа и особено човешките слабости, които обрисува без състрадание, делово, често с насмешка, но без нито една нотка на морално превъзходство. Понякога изследва героите си и поведението им почти като естествоизпитателка в дивата природа.
В много разкази преминават темите за житейски�� опит и какво значи да познаваш живота; за смъртта, особено насилствена; за двойниците и паралелните житейски пътища; за класовата система и как насърчава парвенющина, опортюнизъм и неискреност във взаимоотношенията; за свободата, особено от женска гледна точка; за сексуалността. В доста от тях има елемент на загадка, която е оставена на читателя, а сред любимите ми са тези с напълно неочаквана свърхестествена проява, която изниква насред напълно прозаичната среда, все едно е съвсем естествена част от нея, от ежедневието и живота. Харесва ми понякога странното отношение на героите към обичайни ситуации, когато аз, от своята съвременна и небританска гледна точка, бих реагирала съвсем другояче и съответно очаквам съвсем друга реакция от тях - привнася ми допълнителна неочакваност, а аз страшно обичам книгите да ме изненадват, особено с донякъде необясними завои. Впрочем в много случаи реакциите и държането им са неочкавани независимо от културните различия, героите просто са особени.
Преводът е доста безличен, без самобитността на оригинала; губят се речеви характеристики на героите; има някои напълно излишни бележки под линия за широко известни неща (например кои са сестрите Бронте), а някои обясняват и каламбури, които биха могли, с повече въображение и усилие, да бъдат пресъздадени на български.
Мюриъл Спарк би трябвало да е доста по-широко четена според мен! Разказите, с минимум изключения, са превъзходни. Спарк е смела писателка, самородна. Гласът ѝ е духовит и самоуверен, понякога до язвителен. Има сухо чувство за хумор, напоено с десетилетия многообразен житейски опит. Сюжетите се отличават с наблюдателност, проницателно вглеждане в човешката природа и особено човешките слабости, които обрисува без състрадание, делово, често с насмешка, но без нито една нотка на морално превъзходство. Понякога изследва героите си и поведението им почти като естествоизпитателка в дивата природа.
В много разкази преминават темите за житейски�� опит и какво значи да познаваш живота; за смъртта, особено насилствена; за двойниците и паралелните житейски пътища; за класовата система и как насърчава парвенющина, опортюнизъм и неискреност във взаимоотношенията; за свободата, особено от женска гледна точка; за сексуалността. В доста от тях има елемент на загадка, която е оставена на читателя, а сред любимите ми са тези с напълно неочаквана свърхестествена проява, която изниква насред напълно прозаичната среда, все едно е съвсем естествена част от нея, от ежедневието и живота. Харесва ми понякога странното отношение на героите към обичайни ситуации, когато аз, от своята съвременна и небританска гледна точка, бих реагирала съвсем другояче и съответно очаквам съвсем друга реакция от тях - привнася ми допълнителна неочакваност, а аз страшно обичам книгите да ме изненадват, особено с донякъде необясними завои. Впрочем в много случаи реакциите и държането им са неочкавани независимо от културните различия, героите просто са особени.
Преводът е доста безличен, без самобитността на оригинала; губят се речеви характеристики на героите; има някои напълно излишни бележки под линия за широко известни неща (например кои са сестрите Бронте), а някои обясняват и каламбури, които биха могли, с повече въображение и усилие, да бъдат пресъздадени на български.
January 16, 2012
M-a pocnit iar sentimentul ăla de „Vreau să fiu prietena ta, mai povestește-mi” odată cu cartea integralei de povești a scânteiuței de Muriel. La librărie am prins-o de-o copertă ca pe un ostatic periculos și-am zis A mea! bâlbâind neinteligibil ceva de cotidianul și domnișoara Brodie. Am dus-o acasă, girls party all night long ziceam eu. Citesc prima poveste, Serafimul și Zambezi. Stupoare zic...nu prea bună idee s-o iau pe fată cu mine-acasă. Dar nu se poate, mă gândesc, domnișoara Brodie mi-a plăcut, cum să nu îmi placă povestirile? E adevărat că nu sunt cele mai ortodoxe povestiri, dar tocmai asta ar trebui să mă atragă. Și caut pe net un titlu, cel mai bun, de la care să pornesc și să mă obișnuiesc cu Muriel. Prietenele noi, făcute la bătrânețea anilor douăzeciși sunt mai dificil de apropiat. Portobello Road e tudăbidăbest! aflu din bârfele virtuale și mă trezesc la pagina 381. După care mă rostogolesc câteva zile printre pagini în eterna mea bucurie de cititoare de povestiri absolut încântătoare, nițel absurde, ironice, mustoase, faine, cu niște prime fraze de belea, cu niște finaluri de stă mâța-n coadă și în general superbe. Frumoase tare, nu frumusețea aia de muiere mălăiață, ci frumusețea unui pistrui pe vârf de nas sau a unei buze nițel prea întinse peste dinți.
Nici nu știu care să zic că mi-a plăcut mai tare din povești. Nu Portobello Road, Portobello Road aș pune-o pe locul doi. Pe primul mă gândesc să așez Fiicele Taților. Tot pe-acolo aș pune Zmeoaica, absolut fantastică, citeam frazele și le reluam încercând să recompun într-un fel procesul mental al lui Muriel, cât de fain și simetric și interesant a imaginat totul, cine dracu a mai auzit de celebrități cusătorese?! Spectrul sidefiu e una din cele mai amuzante povești, la fel și Madona Neagră. Toate-s faine, ce mai. Mai puțin, dar mă gândesc să le recitesc ca să văd unde-am greșit, aș zice că-s Serafimul și Zambezi și Teatrul numit Remarcabil.
Nici nu știu care să zic că mi-a plăcut mai tare din povești. Nu Portobello Road, Portobello Road aș pune-o pe locul doi. Pe primul mă gândesc să așez Fiicele Taților. Tot pe-acolo aș pune Zmeoaica, absolut fantastică, citeam frazele și le reluam încercând să recompun într-un fel procesul mental al lui Muriel, cât de fain și simetric și interesant a imaginat totul, cine dracu a mai auzit de celebrități cusătorese?! Spectrul sidefiu e una din cele mai amuzante povești, la fel și Madona Neagră. Toate-s faine, ce mai. Mai puțin, dar mă gândesc să le recitesc ca să văd unde-am greșit, aș zice că-s Serafimul și Zambezi și Teatrul numit Remarcabil.
September 25, 2022
I loved this book! Loved it!
I had never read anything by Muriel Spark, and The Prime of Miss Jane Brodie has sat on a shelf in my room, bored and oftentimes sighing loudly (and quite rudely, I must say), for years. And I only began this book because I was going to do something that gave me short windows of downtime, and reading short stories during these windows made perfect sense. Why not?, I said. I used to love short stories. They were my favorite genre. Short story writers are word wizards...
And oh! The magnificence! The wizardry! The fun I've had! I read the book through, as if it were a novel, and every story was beautiful, even the ugly ones. By ugly I mean, you know, the ones in which women were murdered. Even those were beautiful and mysterious and lovely. And it is the women who matter in them, not the men, not the murderers, who are nothing but blots in the women's lives, one way or another...
There's everything in these stories. There's flying saucers and ghosts and colonial relations and racism and paedophilia and spirit possessions and soldiers and bombs and proper funerals and needles in haystacks and dragons and angels and miraculous virgins and abstract funerals... And writers. Many stories are narrated by writers, as they very well should be.
This is one of the best books I have read this year. And this is the year in which I discovered and fell in love with Trollope, mind you, who has blown my mind by granting me the capacity to actually see in great detail a foreign country--foreign geographically and historically, the England of the 1860s and 1870s--whose literature I have read for years, and yet had never truly "understood" until his writings reached me.
I am still sighing over this book, over having finished the last story and wanting more. I guess I will pick you up, Miss Jane. Not that you have been patient, but perhaps you had very good reasons to feel haughty about being neglected.
I had never read anything by Muriel Spark, and The Prime of Miss Jane Brodie has sat on a shelf in my room, bored and oftentimes sighing loudly (and quite rudely, I must say), for years. And I only began this book because I was going to do something that gave me short windows of downtime, and reading short stories during these windows made perfect sense. Why not?, I said. I used to love short stories. They were my favorite genre. Short story writers are word wizards...
And oh! The magnificence! The wizardry! The fun I've had! I read the book through, as if it were a novel, and every story was beautiful, even the ugly ones. By ugly I mean, you know, the ones in which women were murdered. Even those were beautiful and mysterious and lovely. And it is the women who matter in them, not the men, not the murderers, who are nothing but blots in the women's lives, one way or another...
There's everything in these stories. There's flying saucers and ghosts and colonial relations and racism and paedophilia and spirit possessions and soldiers and bombs and proper funerals and needles in haystacks and dragons and angels and miraculous virgins and abstract funerals... And writers. Many stories are narrated by writers, as they very well should be.
This is one of the best books I have read this year. And this is the year in which I discovered and fell in love with Trollope, mind you, who has blown my mind by granting me the capacity to actually see in great detail a foreign country--foreign geographically and historically, the England of the 1860s and 1870s--whose literature I have read for years, and yet had never truly "understood" until his writings reached me.
I am still sighing over this book, over having finished the last story and wanting more. I guess I will pick you up, Miss Jane. Not that you have been patient, but perhaps you had very good reasons to feel haughty about being neglected.
September 8, 2017
Have read only first 4 stories. They are stories definitely part of their colonial time, but modern in their description of characters. A darkness pervades all I have read so far.
From "Bang - Bang You're Dead" 'She did not know then that the price of allowing false opinions was the gradual loss of one's capacity for forming true ones.'
Portobello Road a favorite. Many of her stories involve visions, mix of reality and spiritual.
From "Bang - Bang You're Dead" 'She did not know then that the price of allowing false opinions was the gradual loss of one's capacity for forming true ones.'
Portobello Road a favorite. Many of her stories involve visions, mix of reality and spiritual.
June 24, 2019
Disappointed. Because Muriel Spark seems to be idolised, especially in my home country of Scotland, I hesitated before posting this review. Not having read any of her work before, I decided to begin with The Complete Short Stories. I’m sorry to say that I was disappointed. Since most of the stories were written in the 1940’s and 1950’s, not surprisingly I found them to be dated. Beyond that, however, with only a few exceptions I also found them to be overlong, cumbersome and boring. The tone is generally middle-class, bitchy and snobby, and occasionally off-the-wall – a reflection of Spark’s character, perhaps?
November 7, 2011
I’ve been reading All the Stories of Muriel Spark, slowly because All in the title means there won’t be any more. She’s an acquired taste, something like Campari and grapefruit juice: her odd, bitter humor hits first, and then something lingers that might be sweet or very sad. There are ghost stories like the rightfully famous “The Portobello Road,” but I’ve noticed the book is full of other kinds of hauntings, as if any intense relationship could give you the shivers.
This comment also appeared in The Miami Herald, as a featured "What Are You Reading?" piece, Sept. 25, 2011
This comment also appeared in The Miami Herald, as a featured "What Are You Reading?" piece, Sept. 25, 2011
September 14, 2007
An interesting book. It seems as if the plot is going nowhere, but it really sums itself up in the end. The first three quarters of the book are a bit odd and uneventful. I found myself reading along but not really getting into the book, that is until the last quarter. Its pretty exciting and still odd, but in a good way.
January 22, 2016
Spark was and is completed underrated as a short story writer. Her wit absolutely glimmers in this collection. If you liked The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, you MUST read these stories. So good.
January 21, 2010
How's this for an endorsement : "Our best living fiction writer--Muriel Spark's diamond-sharp prose illuminates stories which are always original and funny, and frequently profound"-- John Mortimer. ?
December 15, 2009
"The Portobello Road" is one of the best stories ever. It was the first thing I read by Spark, and I initially had no idea that it was written in the 50's, the style and politics seemed much more current, almost similar to Patrick Mccabe.Also hillarious is "The Black Madonna"
October 15, 2014
Some of these shorts I adored, but there were a few I couldn't even make it through. (That might be at least partly due to short story fatigue, too -- the problem with trying to plow through an anthology.) Think Scottish Shirley Jackson with a bit more cynicism and a dash (or more) of absurdity.
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