Mark Twain's Medieval Romance

by Otto Penzler

A premier anthology of some of the finest mystery stories in literary history, including tales from Bradbury, Dahl, Huxley, O. Henry, and Twain.

Tantalizing, as ingenious as they are devious, the classic stories in this continually arresting collection come with an irresistible challenge: At their end they leave it to you, the reader, to determine how they end.

For ultimately it’s the reader who authors the fate of the brave youth as he contemplates which of the two doors in the king’s arena he will choose in Frank Stockton’s famous and unforgettable “The Lady, or the Tiger?” And which of the two brothers in three-time Edgar-winner Stanley Ellin’s “Unreasonable Doubt” shoots a bullet square in the middle of their rich uncle’s forehead? And just what not-so-sweet secret is the prim Miss Spence hiding behind her smile in Aldous Huxley’s deliciously enigmatic tale? you decide.

In all, as in “The Moment of Decision”?a chilling tale that seals an escape artist inside an airless stone cell with a heavy wooden door, which may or may not open?the moment of decision is yours.

Genres: Short Stories, Mystery, Fiction, Anthologies, Classics

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Otto Penzler is an editor of mystery fiction in the United States, and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, where he lives.

Otto Penzler founded The Mysteriour Press in 1975 and was the publisher of The Armchair Detective, the Edgar-winning quarterly journal devoted to the study of mystery and suspense fiction, for seventeen years.

Penzler has won two Edgar Awards, for The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection in 1977, and The Lineup in 2010. The Mystery Writers of America awarded him the prestigious Ellery Queen Award in 1994, and the Raven--the group's highest non-writing award--in 2003.

Reviews

[Lucie Moulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read! I have absolutely fallen in love with anthologies this year! Otto Penzler is a brilliant editor. He owns a gorgeous bookshop in Soho dedicated to mysteries and all that’s ghoulish. I was looking to read a collection of novellas dedicated to gruesome and ghoulish themes for the month of October. The list of authors and short stories in this collection are outstanding.

[Tzu-Mainn Chen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up on a whim while bored at the library, needing something to pass the time. 'Uncertain Endings' definitely does that; as a whole the stories in this collection move quickly to the plot and end before the reader can grow too bored. There's nothing especially memorable about most of them, except a sense that the writing and social mores are a bit old-fashioned (the most recent of the stories was published in 1954).

The best of the stories - for example 'The Moment of Decision' by Stanley Ellin - rises above the others in that they have strong atmosphere and characterization, rather than an over-reliance on plot. But perhaps that is my modern prejudice at play. The other stories seem to rely on cliffhanger endings that are never resolved, and perhaps that was a novel concept a long time ago. My personal attitude: if it's unknowable, it's not really worth thinking about. And with that statement, I guess I'd have to conclude that this collection was never really for me.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of the best unresolved mystery short stories. Some were definitely better than others, although it was nice to have short stories to read in small amounts. A few classics with some new material I hadn't encountered previously.

[Jack Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Anthology

Yet another interesting collection of stories from Mr. Penzler. As a fan of older literature, I couldn't help but enjoy the read.

[Susan]

Who am I to resist mystery short stories?

[Alfred Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Otto Penzler has put together a great collection of mystery short stories.

He warns in the intro that these are frustrating tales. In other words, if you want a nice, tidy resolution to your mysteries you won't get it here. Nevertheless, these are great tales from a variety of authors. Many are well-known, including Mark Twain, Roald Dahl, O. Henry, and Ray Bradbury.

[Kivrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting collection of stories from many different decades. Take note of the title! These stories do NOT have true resolutions. Like The Lady & The Tiger...you're left hanging at the end of almost all of these.

[SK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the stories are infuriatingly good because they don't have a resolved ending!

[Ambrose Miles · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3 1/2 stars, maybe.

[Alison C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uncertain Endings, edited by Otto Penzler, is a collection of mostly out-of-copyright and renewed copyright stories, the earliest from the 1850s and the most recent from 1958, about mysteries where the author doesn’t provide a solution, but leaves it up to the reader to decide. Most famous is Frank Stockton’s “The Lady or the Tiger?” which isn’t remembered as a story published in 1882 but as an existential dilemma - which door to choose, between death and love? There’s a lot of fun to be had here, but also a lot of classism, racism, sexism (pretty much in *every* story) and just, well, wrong-headedness. About halfway through, we also find stories that *do* provide solutions, so it’s not entirely true to its own premise, either. All that said, though, it’s a diversion in terms of having the stories being short, removed from modern times, and clever enough to engage the reader’s mind. I myself read it less than 3 weeks after my mother’s death, and it’s helped to divert my thoughts a bit, but I’m not sure I can say if anything is good or bad in it, given my own state of mind.

[Laren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a compilation of short stories which have no satisfactory resolution, the most famous of which is Frank Stockton's "The Lady or The Tiger". His sequel "The Discourager of Hesitancy" is also included, along with stories by writing greats such as Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl, Alduous Huxley and Mark Twain. Despite this, the quality of the 19 stories is uneven, and in at least one case a strong story (Ray Bradbury's "The Whole Town is Sleeping") is made far less "uncertain" by the inclusion of a sequel story ("At Midnight, in the Month of June") which solves the uncertainty. In other cases, different writers wrote stories "solving" the original story using their own ideas. Still this is overall a very entertaining collection.

[Stefanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am the first to admit that I read mystery novels just for the conclusion: that fleeting moment of satisfaction when everything clicks into place. It makes the world feel reasonable, manageable.

In his introduction Penzler points the finger at readers like me and warns that this is a book we will hate.

But I didn't. I found myself laughing at the cleverness of the brutal, untold endings. I liked the way they left you, in the dark without a match, puzzling together in your mind what happened next. I liked them because they weren't stories that left you wondering how someone did the crime -- they left you wondering about human nature, and all it entails. These weren't neat crimes that lacked a Poirot to tie them up, and for that I am grateful.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very creative anthology of "mystery" tales that have not been solved. The most famous is "The Lady or the Tiger." The stories are so expertly crafted--how else to obscure the endings from the reader? Otto Penzler is one of the foremost figures in mystery writing today, and a nice guy to boot. He gives the background to every story as well as insight into the "debates" circulating about which way the story "should" end. Great for discussion as well as for those who enjoy little challenges to spice up their literary life. Plus, I work at a publishing house and we did this book and I'd like to see it do well!!

[maha · Rating 4 out of 5]

قرأت الترجمة "قصة من القرون الوسطى" لمارك تواين في مراهقتي.. كانت غريبة لأنها استعرضت استبدال الادوار الجندرية.. ونهايتها المعلقة ما زالت تأسرني، لدرجة انني حاولت أن احل المشكلة التي ورط مارك تواين نفسه بها..

سأكون سخية باعطاءها كل هذه النجوم بناء على أنها طبعت عميقا في ذاكرتي.. وربما أعود لقراءتها بالانجليزي هذه المرة لأرى ان كان لها نفس السحر بلغتها الأم

http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnL...

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is more frustrating than a crime story with an indeterminate ending? At the same time, what is more satisfying? A chance for the reader to use "her little grey cells" to solve what was left unsolved. The collection includes stories by well-known writers like Roald Dahl, Ray Bradbury, O. Henry, Aldous Huxley, and even Mark Twain. It also includes stories by authors who are not as well known but whose stories are just as satisfying for the crime genre reader. An intellectual pleasure.

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know why I am attracted to these unsolved mysteries because it always annoys me at the end when I don't know what happens..........ironic???