Book Of Very Short Stories Volume 4

The Collected Short Stories of Louis l'Amour, Volume 4: The Adventure Stories

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To those that chase men into traps of marriage, will not let them have affairs and otherwise clip their wings. You all deserve a novella of your own. My sincere apologies to Maugham scholars, I am sure he is very good, really View all 4 comments. Apr 16, Manuel Alfonseca rated it liked it. The story I liked most was "A matrimony of convenience," which is very funny. I also liked "The wash-tub," "Mabel, "Raw material" and "Red.

Good Heavens, and this is she! My God, and this is he! Nov 24, Sandhya rated it it was amazing. Much of what Maugham wrote was always greatly influenced by the numerous travels he made. In the course of his momentous writing career, there were few countries and cities that he did not visit. Yet, by his own admission Maugham found it difficult to open up and talk to the many strangers he encountered during his journeys. At the core he was a shy and introverted man. This, Maugham believed was an unfortunate handicap for a writer.

Especially because no one could have been more interested and Much of what Maugham wrote was always greatly influenced by the numerous travels he made. Especially because no one could have been more interested and fascinated than him by the oddities in the men and women he met. Yet, he seemed to have managed rather well, as these experiences provided a rich source material for his stories.

And of course he had his fecund imagination. Maugham has been quoted saying that he could spend an hour with a person and quite comfortably come up with a decent enough story. But not everyone became a subject-matter for the writer, and what Maugham looked for in people was a singularity of character or circumstance. Though a naturalist, Maugham laid a fair emphasis on making his stories engaging and entertaining and had a natural instinct for drama.

Hence all the stories you see in this Volume as is the case with all his writings , have something extraordinary in them, one way or the other. As always, Maugham gives a lush description of his characters' physical self, surroundings, background. Often what the characters reveal in the end is an entirely unknown and unlikely facet of their personality.

It is this hidden possibility in people that interested Maugham the most. Like a pathologist in a chemical lab, he liked to mix substances in various kind of solutions and watch the reactions that could take place. The place was under the rule of the British and the period setting is somewhere before WW2.

The land at this point is dotted with Englishmen, as consuls, planters, skippers, captain and others. Their lives in the colony, interaction with the local Malay populace forms the subject matter for many of the stories. The steam ships that made travel so much easier in later years and completely altered the Englishman's attitude to his stay in colonies he saw it as a temporary abode now as opposed to earlier , was yet to come.

The long and dry ship journey also forms a significant backdrop to the tales. This was a time when once an Englishman left for a colony, he spent almost his entire lifetime there. Often he took in a Malay wife as well, though the relation had no legally binding, and many left the woman and children behind albeit well-provided for if they did think of going back to England. The White officers had important positions in the native land with spacious houses and a retinue of servants to do their bidding. This was convenient as well as flattering to the Englishman, many of whom took the posting out of some constraint back home.

Suddenly now, they had power and enough money. Where they would have to follow the strictest austerity to make ends meet in England, here they could almost be counted as rich. Naturally many looked upon with nervousness the prospect of going back to their homes after the end of their tenures.

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Many just stayed back,since by then they grew so comfortable in the skin of the native atmosphere. In fact, many of them didn't even relish the idea of confronting another White man after all these years. Every story in Vol 4 is a gem. These two men staying and administering an alien land, far away from their own country, despise each other, as both are offended by the other's peculiar bearing. Warburton, the colonial officer, is widely considered a snob, because he adores aristocracy and replicates the same English habits in the colony.

Yet, he is fair and reasonable in his duties, and very fond of the natives. He isn't very thrilled on being told that a White man would be joining him in the district. The anxiety turns into a severe irritation when he meets the man who would be his deputy. Cooper, having heard of Warburton's elitist bearings, is determined not to appear subservient in any way. Believing offence to be the best form of defence, Cooper gets outspoken and rude.

Warburton is positively shocked and offended by his junior's words but is keen to appear fair and dignified at all times. Their hatred grows with time with each being consumed with a gnawing anger for the other. Maugham achieves great narrative constancy, and the story is a marvel in character build up.

Oct 15, J. Of course, other readers can see things differently while reading them and thus prefer their own favorite stories. Interestingly, nearly most of them set in Malaya before their independence as Malaysia in https: One of the reasons might be probably concerned with his inspiration and due description on looking at things and people then under the British colonial rule as viewed by an outsider himself. Feb 08, Jeanne rated it it was amazing. After reading all 4 volumes I can easily say Maugham is my favorite short story writer - it's easy to see why some of these became movies since everything is vividly evoked quickly but fully and the drama is of the everyday variety but universal as well.

He's a magician - worlds you've never seen except maybe in the movies are brought to life and characters are never stock or boring but seem true. I will reread these again to try to figure out how he does it but also for the sheer pleasure of th After reading all 4 volumes I can easily say Maugham is my favorite short story writer - it's easy to see why some of these became movies since everything is vividly evoked quickly but fully and the drama is of the everyday variety but universal as well.

The Collected Short Stories of Louis l'Amour, Volume 4: The Adventure Stories by Louis L'Amour

I will reread these again to try to figure out how he does it but also for the sheer pleasure of them. The collection not remarkable from any aspect, It's a work of a man who just eat from his profession as a writer so he has to keep writing. It lacks the originality and creativity. I keep reading Maugham intentionally for the progress in my English. Sep 30, Vicki rated it liked it.

I only read the first four stories. They were interesting and well written but tragic! He says that he respects and even admires the commonplace and dull people who live their commonplace and dull lives for the sake of the British Empire. But all the same: Moreover, he points out, the reader must not suppose that the tragic incidents he narrated were of common occurrence; the real facts of life, dull and commonplace as they may be, were dramatised for the purpose of fiction.

And to what a great effect, I would say! Let me finish by quoting the original of what I have just narrated, rather clumsily, with my own words. There is one more point I want to make. Most of these stories are on the tragic side.

But the reader must not suppose that the incidents I have narrated were of common occurrence. The vast majority of these people, government servants, planters, and traders, who spent their working lives in Malaya were ordinary people ordinarily satisfied with their station of life. They did the jobs they were paid to do more or less competently. They were as happy with their wives as are most married couples.

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They led humdrum lives and did very much the same things every day. Sometimes by way of a change they got a little shooting; but as a rule, after they had done their day's work, they played tennis if there were people to play with, went to the club at sundown if there was a club in the vicinity, drank in moderation, and played bridge. They had their little tiffs, their little jealousies, their little flirtations, their little celebrations.

They were good, decent, normal people.

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I respect, and even admire, such people, but they are not the sort of people I can write stories about. I write stories about people who have some singularity of character which suggests to me that they may be capable of behaving in such a way to give me an idea that I can make use of, or about people who by some accident or another, accident of temperament, accident of environment, have been involved in unusual contingencies. But, I repeat, they are the exception. A grand tour-de-force of oriental colonial literature!

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data. The Complete Short Stories, Vol. References to this work on external resources. Wikipedia in English 1 Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni. Sadly, this fantastic literature is little known in the west outside the halls of academia, though a handful of recent 20th century authors have attained a respectable following.

The stories in this volume date from the sixth century A. Astonishingly, the Chinese enjoyed from the earliest times many of the genres we take for granted today, from romance and love to adventure and satire. No library descriptions found. Amazon Kindle 0 editions. CD Audiobook 0 editions. Project Gutenberg 0 editions. Google Books — Loading Swap 1 have, 8 want.

Become a LibraryThing Author. In a novel, one has the luxury to fill in the middle. The short story has very little in the middle. So, it requires a high degree of story telling to be writing short stories. The differentiating aspect of Somerset Maugham is the descriptives of the characters. I just read it and close my eyes and can very well draw a picture of the character.

He brings life out of words. And he can make a story out of anything - a visit to a wrong house The Poet. The humour is so succinct, just there but not all over the place.

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I am off to downloading the remaining sets of books……. For years I have been repeating the old idea that Somerset Maugham was not quite an "A" writer, but was certainly among the best of the "B" writers. I think this idea originated with Maugham himself. But the passage of years has made this idea look ridiculous. Maybe we should widen the playing field: In the second case, I come up with Chekhov another doctor. But, leaving all thoughts of competition and comparison behind, please read "The Luncheon" or "The Ant and the Grasshopper" for a side of Maugham rarely mentioned: He may be skewering a victim while doing so, but that's hardly illegal.

If you find yourself gnashing your teeth when the book is finished, relax. There are three more volumes. As an avid Maugham fan, I am enjoying this book and am about half way through. He was a great world traveler and when he describes the places he uses in his stories, yoy feel as if you are there along with the characters. Maugham sounds very continental most of the time, but he can surprise you with some idioms and he made me laugh at unexpected moments.

One of his very best short stories and then made into a play, then a movie, is "The Letter". A truly wonderful writer of superb stories. A must for anyone appreciating this high level of literature - especially this collection for those who enjoy intrigue and spy-craft. Received my book, exactly as described, in 2 days! This volume 3 of W.

Somerset Maugham's short stories are the adventures of a spy. Maugham groups them so that they are an on going event.

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