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El club de los suicidas y otros cuentos
Includes title story
Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts
Story of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk
The Adventure of the Hansom Cab
A Lodging for the Night
The Sire de Maletroit's Door
Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts
Story of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk
The Adventure of the Hansom Cab
A Lodging for the Night
The Sire de Maletroit's Door
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1878
2 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Robert Louis Stevenson
6,923 books7,055 followersRobert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer, and a leading representative of English literature. He was greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling and Vladimir Nabokov.
Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow definition of literature. It is only recently that critics have begun to look beyond Stevenson's popularity and allow him a place in the Western canon.
Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow definition of literature. It is only recently that critics have begun to look beyond Stevenson's popularity and allow him a place in the Western canon.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 15, 2016
An intriguing, fun adventure comprised of three short stories within a larger "short" story. Definitely worth reading!
The other two short stories were quite fun as well.
I want more of Prince Florizel and Colonel Geraldine!
The other two short stories were quite fun as well.
I want more of Prince Florizel and Colonel Geraldine!
September 16, 2016
The Suicide Club and Other Stories (1878) is a book of short stories by Robert Louis Stevenson. My edition (pictured) is comprised of a set of three stories which originate with events at a so-called Suicide Club and an additional two unrelated stories. The Suicide Club stories have a definite mystery bent--the reader is wondering if the scoundrel who runs the club will receive his comeuppance from our hero, Prince Florizel of Bohemia and his sidekick Colonel Geraldine. The other two may be described, at best, as adventure tales but with very little standard mystery. I had previously read the "Story of the the Young Man with the Cream Tarts," the first of the Suicide Club tales and I now heartily recommend all three. The remaining two stories are fairly solid--giving the entire collection a ★★★ rating.
The Suicide Club--where murder and suicide is a game of chance! The club is comprised of a group of desperate men who long for death but can't bring themselves to commit suicide. Behind the club is a scoundrel who will allow them to join for forty pounds. Nightly they sit around the green baize card table and watch, fascinated, as the cards are dealt out. For the man who receives the ace of spades--death awaits. And the man who receives the ace of clubs? He will be the murderer!
The "Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts" was bang on. Terrific, mood-setting descriptions and the denouement was perfect. And I love this quote: "There is every reason why I should not tell you my story. Perhaps that is just the reason why I am going to do so." As well as: "My acquaintance with French was sufficient to enable me to squander money in Paris with almost the same facility as in London. In short, I am a person full of manly accomplishments." Prince Florizel and Colonel Geraldine are, as they are so often, roaming the streets and cafes of London in disguise--seeking amusement. While sitting in a cafe that night, they are accosted my a young man who asks if they will eat any of his cream tarts. If they don't, then he will eat them himself.
The Prince suspects that there is more to this story than meets the eye and wins the young man's confidence. It seems that the man has come to the end of his rope. He has set out to squander all but his last 40 pounds--he's saving that to pay his entrance fee to a club for people who want to end it all but who don't have the courage to jump or pull the trigger themselves. He and his aide join the young man and discover the scoundrel behind the club. They will chase him down through two more short stories...but will justice prevail?
The remaining two stories "A Lodging for the Night" and "The Sire de Maletroit's Door" are interesting and represent Stevenson's more adventurous and romantic sides than the mysterious. Of the two, I much prefer the latter. "Lodging" follows the adventures of Francis Villon, poet and thief, who finds himself robbed and left in the presence of a dead man. He goes in search of lodging and is welcomed by an elderly man who gives him a bit of a sermon with his dinner. I honestly didn't find the ending to be very satisfying, especially given the overall tone of the story. "The Sire de Maletroit's Door" centers on a fun-loving cavalier who stays out past curfew one night and finds himself followed by the night watch. Rather than face the music, he slips through an unlocked door to avoid a reprimand. He has no idea that the unsecured door was a trap designed to trap the lover of a young woman who lives in the house with her uncle. Uncle takes a severe view of her dalliance, doesn't believe that the cavalier isn't the man in question, and calmly tells him that if he doesn't agree to wed the girl then he will be killed before morning. Will the cavalier take honor to the extreme--dying rather than forcing an unknown and unwanted husband on a lady whose heart belongs to another?
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
The Suicide Club--where murder and suicide is a game of chance! The club is comprised of a group of desperate men who long for death but can't bring themselves to commit suicide. Behind the club is a scoundrel who will allow them to join for forty pounds. Nightly they sit around the green baize card table and watch, fascinated, as the cards are dealt out. For the man who receives the ace of spades--death awaits. And the man who receives the ace of clubs? He will be the murderer!
The "Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts" was bang on. Terrific, mood-setting descriptions and the denouement was perfect. And I love this quote: "There is every reason why I should not tell you my story. Perhaps that is just the reason why I am going to do so." As well as: "My acquaintance with French was sufficient to enable me to squander money in Paris with almost the same facility as in London. In short, I am a person full of manly accomplishments." Prince Florizel and Colonel Geraldine are, as they are so often, roaming the streets and cafes of London in disguise--seeking amusement. While sitting in a cafe that night, they are accosted my a young man who asks if they will eat any of his cream tarts. If they don't, then he will eat them himself.
The Prince suspects that there is more to this story than meets the eye and wins the young man's confidence. It seems that the man has come to the end of his rope. He has set out to squander all but his last 40 pounds--he's saving that to pay his entrance fee to a club for people who want to end it all but who don't have the courage to jump or pull the trigger themselves. He and his aide join the young man and discover the scoundrel behind the club. They will chase him down through two more short stories...but will justice prevail?
The remaining two stories "A Lodging for the Night" and "The Sire de Maletroit's Door" are interesting and represent Stevenson's more adventurous and romantic sides than the mysterious. Of the two, I much prefer the latter. "Lodging" follows the adventures of Francis Villon, poet and thief, who finds himself robbed and left in the presence of a dead man. He goes in search of lodging and is welcomed by an elderly man who gives him a bit of a sermon with his dinner. I honestly didn't find the ending to be very satisfying, especially given the overall tone of the story. "The Sire de Maletroit's Door" centers on a fun-loving cavalier who stays out past curfew one night and finds himself followed by the night watch. Rather than face the music, he slips through an unlocked door to avoid a reprimand. He has no idea that the unsecured door was a trap designed to trap the lover of a young woman who lives in the house with her uncle. Uncle takes a severe view of her dalliance, doesn't believe that the cavalier isn't the man in question, and calmly tells him that if he doesn't agree to wed the girl then he will be killed before morning. Will the cavalier take honor to the extreme--dying rather than forcing an unknown and unwanted husband on a lady whose heart belongs to another?
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
August 13, 2022
The Suicide Club was interesting. It is a story told in 3 parts, each its own story but related and the overarching story being completed at the end.
I did not really enjoy A Lodging for the Night. I think this is a good example of how storytelling has changed over the years. This is a kind of snapshot in time of an evening in the life of Francis Villon. However, I read it and kept waiting to see what was going to happen, and in the end, nothing really did.
The Sire de Maletroit's Door was a fun little short story though it left me thinking that it happened too quickly. I didn't really buy the passionate declarations of love at the end since it had all taken place within 2 hours. However, I liked the premise and wanted to see good (in this case love or perhaps the niece?) overcome evil (the uncle).
All 3 were fairly short and a nice interlude in my reading cycle.
I did not really enjoy A Lodging for the Night. I think this is a good example of how storytelling has changed over the years. This is a kind of snapshot in time of an evening in the life of Francis Villon. However, I read it and kept waiting to see what was going to happen, and in the end, nothing really did.
The Sire de Maletroit's Door was a fun little short story though it left me thinking that it happened too quickly. I didn't really buy the passionate declarations of love at the end since it had all taken place within 2 hours. However, I liked the premise and wanted to see good (in this case love or perhaps the niece?) overcome evil (the uncle).
All 3 were fairly short and a nice interlude in my reading cycle.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews