Reginald in Russia and Other Sketches

by Saki

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Humor, Classics, British Literature, 20th Century, Satire

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1910

About the author

British writer Hector Hugh Munro under pen name Saki published his witty and sometimes bitter short stories in collections, such as The Chronicles of Clovis (1911).

His sometimes macabre satirized Edwardian society and culture. People consider him a master and often compare him to William Sydney Porter and Dorothy Rothschild Parker. His tales feature delicately drawn characters and finely judged narratives. "The Open Window," perhaps his most famous, closes with the line, "Romance at short notice was her specialty," which thus entered the lexicon. Newspapers first and then several volumes published him as the custom of the time.

His works include
* a full-length play, The Watched Pot , in collaboration with Charles Maude;
* two one-act plays;
* a historical study, The Rise of the Russian Empire , the only book under his own name;
* a short novel, The Unbearable Bassington ;
* the episodic The Westminster Alice , a parliamentary parody of Alice in Wonderland ;
* and When William Came: A Story of London under the Hohenzollerns , an early alternate history.

Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll, and Joseph Rudyard Kipling, influenced Munro, who in turn influenced A. A. Milne, and Pelham Grenville Wodehouse.

Reviews

[X · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read only the short story “Gabriel-Ernest,” and I read it solely to provide context for “Gabriel-Ernest” fanfiction I wanted to read……. bc I do the research!! Thank you, thank you, I am indeed admirable.

(I DNFed the fic.)

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

More great fun with Saki. I loved this, from "Cross Currents", about a woman called Vanessa Pennington who had a husband "who was poor, with few extenuating circumstances ...":

"She had a strong natural bias towards respectability, though she would have preferred to have been respectable in smarter surroundings, where her example would have done more good. To be beyond reproach was one thing, but it would have been nicer to have been nearer to the Park."

Bliss!

[Laurel Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun! I have this book on my Kindle and have found the stories just long enough for a good waiting-room read. Saki is hilariously funny, and rather sad.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*
These short stories were mildly amusing rather than hilarious. I have read other short stories collections by Saki that were much funnier so I gave this collection only 3.5* but Noel Badrian did a fine narration.

My favorites were "The Reticence of Lady Anne" and "The Baker's Dozen".

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saki's second collection of stories and one in which Reginald makes only a cursory appearance. Clearly the publishers were hoping to attract readers of his first volume of stories, which were all about Reginald. All the same it is impossible to say one volume is better than the other. Certainly this contains Saki's first really outstanding story 'Gabriel-Ernest' but that is not to suggest that his other stories are not first rate.

I adore Saki and I have read these stories individually in other anthologies or as they appear in this book since I was 12. It is amazing how fresh they are with each rereading and how much pleasure they give. I advise reading the stories in small doses and savouring each one - though I understand the temptation to indulge.

I will say no more because so many of Saki's stories are individually listed on GR that I am saving my detailed comments for individual reviews of each story.

[Scripturiently Swag The Dragon-Hearted · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my god this book was hilarious. I never laughed so much reading a book.

[Wendy Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of gently amusing and occasionally very funny short stories. Wodehouse and O Henry have a similar tone and feel. First published in one volume in 1921. Some are very much of their time,
seem dated and make uncomfortable reading. The attitude to women is sometimes suspect but these were of course written before all women in the UK were entitled to vote. Other stories reinforce the idea that nothing changes and the issues covered remain fresh.
The stories are also generally very short which makes the volume easy to read and enjoy when you only have a few minutes available.

[Susan Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining short stories - a few of which will give you a surprise at the twist in the end!

[Rishit · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the immense success of 'Reginald', Hector Hugh Munro wrote a sequel to it i.e. 'Reginald in Russia'.
In this book, Saki further narrates some more interesting and fun tales about the young man Reginald.
This book is as well as the first part and surely deserved another sequel which didn't got released, unfortunately.

[Eden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having been misled by this collection's title to believe it would be entirely devoted to the delightfully reprehensible Reginald, I was disappointed to discover that only the title story concerns him. While several of the stories in this collection have not aged well (particularly "The Sex That Doesn't Shop" and "A Young Turkish Catastrophe"), many others are very amusing, especially "Gabriel-Ernest," "The Soul of Laploshka," and "The Mouse."

[Gabrielle Marquard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una colección de relatos llenos de personajes hilarantes con situaciones peculiares, algunos con criaturas sobrenaturales, otros con críticas sociales y un tanto burlescas hacia el sexo femenino, pero que, dan un toque particular y entretenido, mi favorito sin duda el de Gabriel Ernesto que te da el toque adecuado de fantasía, suspenso y terror de forma suave que te deja con un final particular pero agradable, el resto de relatos son tan distintos entre sí pero todos fáciles de disfrutar.

[Cillian Flood · Rating 2 out of 5]

You introduce to me this stuck up, self-aware, utter ponce of a man, and then you promise to throw this character into pre-revolutionary Russia. I expected a mad cap story of contrasts and a constant smug attitude to unfortunate situations, but the title is basically bait. There's one story about a Russian princess, which is fine enough in isolation, but then the premise ends. And the best stories in the collection aren't even about Reginald!

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Contains the stories:

Reginald in Russia -
The Reticence of Lady Anne -
The Lost Sanjak -
The Sex That Doesn’t Shop -
The Blood-Feud of Toad-Water -
A Young Turkish Catastrophe -
Judkin of the Parcels -
Gabriel-Ernest -
The Saint and the Goblin -
The Soul of Laploshka -
The Bag -
The Strategist -
Cross Currents -
The Baker’s Dozen -
The Mouse -

[Jose Cruz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recopilación de relatos de 128 páginas, publicada en 1910. Me gustaron más los cuentos de "Doce cuentos malévolos", publicada por la misma editorial. De todas formas, en este libro se incluye una breve pieza de teatro maravillosa. No hay libro de Saki que no me mantenga con una sonrisa de principio a fin. Os recomiendo encarecidamente que descubráis a este magnífico autor.

[Johan D'Haenen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heerlijke "sketches"... spitsvondigheden die gekruid zijn met de nodige spot, verhaaltjes met een verrassende twist-of-the-tail, waarheden die alles relativeren wat gerelativeerd moet worden... Saki lezen is als het nemen van een verfrissend kietelbad. Ik kan er niet genoeg van krijgen.

[Kelsey Dangelo-Worth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m dying. These are absolute gold. O. Henry, Jane Austen, maybe even the humorous stories of Shirley Jackson, Oscar Wilde, PG Woodhouse—Saki. I don’t know why he’s not more read. I’m laughing out loud and sending these to my husband. They are short, hilarious, human. I savor these.

[Jebin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!!!

[Sofía · Rating 4 out of 5]

Estilo de lectura ligera.

[Forked Radish · Rating 4 out of 5]

More than the sum of its parts.

[Dione Basseri · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Reginald collection mainly in name, and certainly not as good as the first. There's really only one Reginald story, here, and it's not all that good.

Saki takes deeper digs at women in the collection, especially in "The Sex That Doesn't Shop," in which he suggests women stand idly by while things in the house run out, among other accusations, and in "A Young Turkish Catastrophe," where he gives women the vote, but has them all follow the whims of their husbands, and particularly the whims of one man with 100 wives and political aspirations.

I had considered having my book club read Reginald and RIR, but. given the lower quality of this book and its issues, I think I'll be skipping that suggestion.

This book is in the public domain. I listened to the free audio production from Librivox.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd say this work is a mix of Reginald, Beasts and Superbeasts, and then a few entirely new almost folktale-like stories. The Reginald stories seemed the weakest of the lot to me (not as good as in the other collection) but I get the feeling that my decreased enjoyment might have something to do with my literary ignorance. I noticed a lot more references here that were just beyond me. Among the stories where Reginald did not appear, I liked The Reticence of Lady Anne best.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection was rather a letdown after reading the collection "Reginald". First, there isn't hardly anything about Reginald, and second, the sarcasm and wit isn't nearly as thick as its predecessor. And, when it was, the tone was so dark and negative, that it just came across as common bitchiness. Very little of this was as strikingly original as the previous collection.

[Franco Acchiardo]

H.H. Munro's keen sense of humor delivers amusing and well-written short stories which will surely delight readers with a developed taste for black comedy. I couldn't help laughin out loud when reading "The Bag" and "The Mouse".

[arg/machine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of fine humourous tales from Saki [H.H. Munro]. In the public domain, with a free electronic copy available here.

[for-much-deliberation ...]

http://haytom.us/category/reginald-in...

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the whole Saki makes me laugh, which is what I look for when I read him. I did not like this one as much as Reginald, but the story about Cecil was really particularly fine.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my library for occasional dips into wonderful writing.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the short story only.