The Eliza Stories

by Barry Pain

"The more I think about myself, the more—I say it in all modesty—the subject seems to grow." So begins The Eliza Stories, and although the book takes Eliza's name, her husband is revealed to be the true comic hero, as he displays a self-importance that far outstrips his modest station in Edwardian suburbia. Eliza uncomplainingly smoothes over arguments and watches from the sidelines as her other half tries to scramble up the social ladder. From insulting the domestic staff to ill-advisedly lending money to social superiors, our narrator is by turns patronizing and authoritarian. And just when you think you can't stand anymore, their son Ernest brings a new and sinister twist to the tale. Written and set in the early 1900s, this is a comic gem.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Short Stories

276 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1904

About the author

Born in Cambridge, Barry Eric Odell Pain was educated at Sedbergh School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He became a prominent contributor to The Granta. He was known as a writer of parody and lightly humorous stories.

Reviews

[Christopher Roth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered this by accident, packaged as a missing link in British humor between "Diary of a Nobody" and P. G. Wodehouse. With the endorsement of Terry Jones, I couldn't pass it up. Like "Diary of a Nobody," it is about the foibles of a lower-middle-class bumbler, but unlike "Diary" it is free of class condescension and has a warmth that is lacking in "Diary"--which explains why Lady Marchmain in "Brideshead Revisited" wasn't forcing her weekend guests to listen to the Eliza Stories. Also, these stories were not collected in a book initially, but appeared in short short installments in pamphlets and magazines sold in railway stations. Reading several in a row reminds you that they are best read at the rate of one a day, so reading them one a day is how I went through this book. I loved the stories--amusing and a weird window into one corner of Edwardian life. The main character initially appears to be a sort of stack-blowing Basil Fawlty creep, but he is humanized, almost lovable, by the end. The last section shifts to the point of view of the unnamed protagonist's young son Ernest, and I get the impression that Pain meant to develop this character but never got around to it. A precocious child obsessed with the minutiae of finance but lacking certain empathetic qualities, it's not clear if Pain is channeling some person he knows--or perhaps himself is?--who has what we would now call Asperger's syndrome, or whether he had some larger point to make, or both. It's a shame he didn't write more of these.

Incidentally, despite what some blurbs will tell you, it's not as funny as "Three Men in a Boat," precisely because nothing is as funny as "Three Men in a Boat."

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book for the same reasons I love the BBC comedy "Keeping Up Appearances"—it focuses on a hilariously un-self-aware pompous wind-bag whose pretenses are crystal clear to everyone else. The Eliza stories are told from the point of view of a social climbing, dimwitted Edwardian clerk, never named, who industriously instructs his clever wife on pretty much everything. A book to read and re-read.

[JackieB · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a similar type of humour to "The Diary of a Nobody" but much better. Barry Pain doesn't over-work the jokes. It's observational humour rather than humour through word play and very funny. The really clever thing is that Eliza's son has the same faults as his father. You just laugh at the father, he's a buffoon, but the son, although funny, is actually quite sinister.

[Mike]

Similar in concept to Diary of a Nobody or Augustus Carp: a small-minded British man writes about himself and shows how small-minded he is, acting thereby as a satire on the preoccupations of his entire class. It's mildly amusing, but not enough so for me to get very far through it.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you loved Diary of a Nobody you'll love this

[Frankie Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyed Life with Eliza starring John Sessions on BBC2 many years ago. enjoyed reading this book.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't as enthralled with these stories as I expected to be.

[Peter Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant - not many books make me laugh out loud as much as these short stories did!

[Huck Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A contemporary of the Grossmiths, Pain's comic creation - Eliza's husband (he is never referred to by his forename) is an arrogant, honourable, ineffectual, well-meaning, pompous snob. He irritates Eliza, the servants and tradesmen and gets himself into all sorts of hilarious predicaments which will delight anyone who has read Diary of a Nobody (to which it is very similar), Three Men in a Boat or is a fan of TV's Victor Meldrew. He always reminds me of Arthur Lowe's Captain Mainwaring. Timeless comedy and written in brief episodic chapters which are perfect for bedtime reading, although I doubt if you could limit yourself to one chapter per night. I first read a battered 2nd hand paperback copy over 30 years ago and loved it immediately. So that I could get copies for friends I contacted Prion books to see if they'd be interested in buying the rights and re-publishing. To my delight they did, and i feel kind of proud to have kept it in print for a while longer. They also took up my suggestion to re-publish Fortune/Wells' A Melon for Ecstasy, another lost classic

[Carrie Dalby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of five British humor novellas written in the Edwardian Era (1900-1913). Good character sketches and view of life for the time period. Several laugh out loud moments.