The Master of the Inn

by Robert Welch Herrick

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Genres: Fiction

98 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1908

About the author

Robert Welch Herrick was a novelist who was part of a new generation of American realists. His novels deal with the turbulence of industrialized society and the turmoil it can create in sensitive, isolated people. He was also briefly acting-Governor of the United States Virgin Islands in 1935

Librarian Note: There is more than one Robert Herrick in the GoodReads database. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this slim volume. It is the gentle story of a doctor who opens his home and heart to heal men broken by life. Relying less on medication and more on the medicine of work, brotherhood, and solitude, minds and hearts are repaired and made stronger.
It is also about forgiveness and the choices we make in how we respond to life.
Beautiful.

[Katie McCormley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pages 1-93: Well damn, this is an unexpectedly charming little parable about what’s important in life. Can’t believe something this pleasant was written at the turn of the century! I should look into a retreat somewhere. Treat yo self.

Pages 94-96: What the ever loving fuck. I don’t know what to say. That ending was...grisly. 😟

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short story. Philosophical. Proverbs and parables.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent little story about a man who transformed his greatest pain into becoming a healer to others. Love old stories like these. Read at Project Gutenberg.

[Tisha (IG: Bluestocking629) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dang. Didn't see that one coming. Beautiful and thought provoking.

[Jonathan yates · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it is very cool that a lot of older manuscripts are being rediscovered and published but one of the problems with these old stories is that some of them are very dated and this story is a very dated story. It is a good simple story, very easy and fun to read, but it has at its main central core a premise that there is a group of men, an idealized shall we say that runs and takes care of the world in a wonderful manner and this idea is not part of our modern reality so it all reads a bit funny!

[Denise Fowler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Holy Lesson

This book came to me at a time when I most needed it's message. Thank you. I look forward to the author's next book.

[Michelle Korte · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a special one that I'm drawn to and have come back to... time and time again. Each time picking up something new. I found it in a book called One Thousand Beautiful Things. I hope you have the pleasure to read The Master of the Inn.

[Robert Nagle]

Summary: Spellbinding flash fiction which is silly/fantastic/profound – take your pick.[return][return]Rating: 5 Stars.[return][return]Recommended if you like: Baudelaire’s Paris Spleen, David Byrne, Erotica Flash Fiction, Rene Magritte art[return][return]This collection of short prose pieces (each about a page long) depict seemingly ordinary situations where fantastically absurd things happen. They seem less like like stories than cosmic jokes or Zen fairy tales for Americans. Each prose piece offers surprises and revelations. (“A man comes home and finds his wife in bed with a squirrel”, “A couple of girls are locked up in a big aquarium,” “I have the last pack of cigarettes in the world; but no matches.”) The characters themselves are less interesting than their situations; one page is enough for them to fall in love or meet imaginary creatures or feel some grand feeling. A lot of the prose pieces are sexually explicit but strange (in one a man finds a map of Greenland on the inside of a girl’s thigh). The prose style is compact and exquisite and easy to read (and suitable for being performed publicly). Now that I’m finished, almost none of the pieces have stuck in my head; all I retain is the memory of being dazzled by a rapid series of unreal images and events. On the bright side, I probably could reread these pieces and enjoy them just as much as the first time.[return][return]What is the aim of these koan-like stories? Should the reader notice the allegorical resonances or simply enjoy Yourgrau’s marvelous and whimsical sense of the absurd? With Kafka or Dino Buzzati, the initial situation may have been absurd (i.e., turning into a cockroach), but the author spent considerable effort expanding on the idea and giving it an air of plausibility. But Yourgrau’s stories are more playful than plausible. I am unsure whether to call this a profound literary work — you can’t have real character development or serious drama in a form so compact and whimsical. These kinds of stories don’t NEED to be profound — especially when the far-fetched imagery is so metaphorical. In the Soupbone story, the protagonist jumps out of an airplane while emptying a shoebox of letters from his old love; to his surprise he finds a falling dog also in midair helplessly trying to chase after a bone. Why a dog? Why a soupbone? Part of the fun of these stories is trying to relate the imagery to some universal feeling of dismay or anomie – if that is even possible. The stories grab and intrigue me, but they don’t really move me; that is not the point. Yourgrau has written sequels to this collection using this same innovative short form: Sadness of Sex (about sex) and the NastyBook (geared towards younger readers). This form breaks all rules and takes advantage of today’s reader’s short attention span and the magical possibilities of prose. Highly recommended.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

this little book was written in 1908 , The author saw even back then the needless use of medicines, or over use by pill pushing doctors.A very simple story of a worn out doctor surgeon , going to live in the country with an other doctor in his RETREAT FOR THOSE WHO NEED TO FIND THEIR WAY TO PEACE. SAD ENDING in a way..Good 90 minute read.

[Imation · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha gustado mucho como habla de la situación y la guerra de Secesión, así como las peripecias navales para burlar el bloqueo. Las reflexiones y la evolución del protagonista, sobre la vida, la guerra , Dios, son interesantes.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read and own the 1911 version of this book. Since I couldn't find the 1911 version I'll say I read this one.
It was quite interesting.
Mine is a hardcover.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

nice little book showing how our health is often controlled more by our frame of mind than by medicines. It is like if you want to feel better, chill out.

[Scott Knitter · Rating 5 out of 5]

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