Ploughing Through The Works Of Saki

Tweet

I have a lovely collection of the complete stories of Saki, (pen name of writer H H Munro). He was a Burma born British writer noted for his mostly very short stories, many three pages long or less. His tales range from very funny social satire, to tragic war stories to works of horror. Highlights - Alice In Westminster - a rare longer work in which Alice In Wonderland characters run the British government. Very funny though being set in 1910 when it was written many of the jokes are lost on me now. Sredni Vashtar - Terrifying tale of a boy who begins to worship his pet mongoose as a god and uses it to kill a cruel Aunt who refuses to let him eat more toast. When William Came - An alternative history in which Germany wins World War One and Kaiser Wilhem takes over Britain. Written in1913, a year before the war started. The story is all the more powerful as Saki died serving in the trenches for Britain in 1916. The East Wing - lost until 1948, a story about a dotty old wealthy lady who finds half her mansion on fire. Instead of calling the fire brigade she gets two friends to go in to help rescue a beautiful girl, though she is actually just a portrait and as the men die trying to reach it, the owner remembers she sent it off to be renovated anyway so the men died for nothing. The Infernal Parliament - A politician dying in hospital gets a vision of Hell which is very like government itself. The Toys Of Peace - shocked by how violent toys like soldiers and guns have become, a doting father buys his children peaceful toys like a municipal government building, and an in-action figure of John Stuart Mill. The kids use the toys to create a pretend massacre. Many wonderful stories - most can be found online for free too - Arthur Chappell