The Works Of Bret Harte: The Luck Of Roaring Camp, And Other Sketches

by Bret Harte

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Genres: Westerns

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1870

About the author

People note American writer Francis Bret Harte for The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Sketches (1870), his best-known collection of his stories about California mining towns.

People best remember this poet for his short-story fiction, featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the Gold Rush. In a career, spanning more than four decades, he wrote poetry, plays, lectures, book reviews, editorials, and magazine sketches in addition to fiction. As he moved from California to the eastern United States to Europe, he incorporated new subjects and characters into his stories, but people most often reprinted, adapted, and admired his tales of the Gold Rush.

Parents named him after Francis Brett, his great-grandfather. Bernard Hart, paternal grandfather of Francis and an Orthodox Jewish immigrant, flourished as a merchant and founded the New York stock exchange. Henry, father of the young Francis, changed the spelling of the family name from Hart to Harte. Later, Francis preferred that people know his middle name, which he spelled Bret with only one t.

An avid reader as a boy, Harte at 11 years of age published his first work, a satirical poem, titled "Autumn Musings", now lost. Rather than attracting praise, the poem garnered ridicule from his family. As an adult, he recalled to a friend, "Such a shock was their ridicule to me that I wonder that I ever wrote another line of verse". His formal schooling ended at 13 years of age in 1849.

Reviews

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

ENGLISH: This collection contains six long stories by Bret Harte, which have read several times before, plus 18 condensed novels, 7 sketches (one of which, M'Liss, I like very much) and 7 Spanish & American legends.

Enrique Jardiel Poncela also wrote condensed novels. Maybe he picked up the habit while he was in California, working as a screenwriter for the movies.

These are the best condensed novels by Bret Harte I have read in this volume: Miss Mix: A parody of Jane Eyre, where Mr. Rawjester has three wives hidden in his home rather than one. And Handsome is as handsome does: A funny parody of Charles Reade.

The sketches are very good. The best and longest are M'liss (the long version in ten chapters, although I like more the short version in four chapters) and Notes by flood and field.

Spanish & American legends are also quite good. I liked best The right eye of the commander.

ESPAÑOL: Esta colección contiene seis cuentos largos de Bret Harte, que había leído varias veces, más 18 novelas condensadas, 7 bocetos (uno de los cuales, M'Liss, me gusta mucho) y 7 leyendas españolas y americanas.

Enrique Jardiel Poncela también escribió varias novelas condensadas. Quizá adquirió esa costumbre cuando estuvo en California, trabajando como guionista de cine.

Estas son las mejores novelas condensadas de este volumen: Miss Mix: Parodia de Jane Eyre. Mr. Rawjester tiene tres esposas escondidas en su casa, en lugar de una sola. y Los buenos son los que hacen el bien: Divertida parodia de Charles Reade.

Los bocetos son muy buenos. Los mejores y más largos son M'liss (la versión larga en diez capítulos, aunque me gusta más la versión corta en cuatro capítulos) y Notas sobre la riada y el campo.

Las leyendas españolas y americanas son también bastante buenas. La que más me gustó es El ojo derecho del comandante.

[Jefferson Fortner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed this collection. In spite of his prolific career, at first, Harte’s literary reputation was higher than Mark Twain’s, but he was quickly eclipsed by Twain. In my opinion, it was because these stories, while entertaining enough, lacked a certain unity. The dramatic scenes do not seem to lead to any development, most of the time, while the descriptions of post-gold rush California are lyrical but only seem to pad the tales. I have seen two movies made from two of the stories in this collection, Tennessee’s Partner, and The Outcasts of Poker Flat. In Tennessee’s Partner, the film seemed to progress to a much more logical and satisfying conclusion than the story. In “The Outcasts of Poker Flat,” the story had the more logical conclusion, but the dialogue was smoother in the movie. The title story and one more long story, “Mliss,” were also good tales, with “Mliss” being my favorite of the collection. The remainder however, were good without being that good. I already cannot remember them.

[Carol Bakker · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first objection is that the edition I read was in a set of children's books. I found the stories sad and discouraging. There are many natural disasters, but also a large pile of 'original sin', as Flannery O'Connor puts it. Story after story ends with tragedy or relational pain. The author's jaded view comes through strong and clear. And though I'll grant Bret Harte's talent at drawing portraits of people and western culture, that alone cannot surmount the difficulties of tone and subject.