Classic English Short Stories 1930-1955

by Derek Hudson (compiler)

The years from 1930 to 1955 marked a high point in the fortunes of the English short story. Inevitably World War II left its mark on many of the stories Derek Hudson has collected in this suberb volume, but, he argues in the introduction, that "the dominating impression in these English stories...is of humour--not necessarily in the comic sense...but in the sense...of a humorous perspective of life."
The volume includes stories by such renowned writers as Somerset Maugham, Virginia Woolf, and Evelyn Waugh. Stories by Elizabeth Bowen, Frances Towers, Clemence Dane, Rosamond Lehmann, and A.L. Barker demonstrate that women writers have found the short story form increasingly congenial. C.S. Forester and Graham Greene bring their power of narrative to tragic themes, while Eric Linklater asserts his claim on poetic fantasy. The volume also contains characteristic stories by H.E. Bates, V.S. Pritchett, William Plomer, John Moore, Christopher Sykes, William Sansom, Fred Urquhart, and Nigel Kneale.

Genres: Short Stories, Classics

376 pages, Paperback

First published March 23, 1971

Reviews

[Georgie · Rating 3 out of 5]

'The Hollow Willow' and 'The Hostage' were worth the slog through the others.

[Adobe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short-story collections are always a grab-bag of wildly different material, but this collection is unusually consistent and unusually good. Of note: Frances Towers' "The Little Willow" does a glorious job with its secondary characters; Evelyn Waugh's "On Guard" contains the finest description of a nose that I have ever read; Graham Greene's "The Basement Room" is intricate and subtle; and V. S. Pritchett's "The Voice" and Nigel Kneale's "The Putting Away of Uncle Quaggin" are both deeply conventional but satisfying in their straight-forward virtues. I also really liked Elizabeth Bowen's "Maria," which concerns an amoral young woman plotting against an ascetic curate. Unfortunately, my subsequent attempt to read other things by Bowen was greeted with disaster; I managed to get only about two chapters into The Last September before I was compelled to chuck the book for being unbearably tedious. "Maria," in contrast, was acidly funny, and I would like to read more of Bowen in that vein.