Saki is the acknowledged master of the short story. His writing is
elegant, economical, and witty, its tone worldly, flippant
irreverence delivered in astringent exchanges and epigrams more
neat, pointed, and poised even than Wilde's. The deadpan narrative
voice allows for the unsentimental recitation of horrors and the
comically grotesque, and the generation of guilty laughter at some
very un-pc statements.
Saki's short stories have been much reprinted as well as adapted
for radio, stage, and television, but his novels, The Unbearable
Bassington and When William Came, are almost unknown, his
journalism and travel writing forgotten, and his plays rarely
performed. Sandie Byrne argues that his reputation has been
unfairly overshadowed by his predecessor Oscar Wilde, contemporary
George Bernard Shaw, and successors P.G. Wodehouse and Evelyn
Waugh.
In a well-meaning introduction to the Penguin Complete Saki, Noel
Coward reinforced the received image of Saki's work as celebrating
an Edwardian or even Victorian milieu of privilege, luxury, and
affectation; comedies of manners and light satire. Byrne shows that
Saki's writing was no nostalgic evocation of a lost golden age, and
that he was rarely concerned with the charm and delight Coward
describes. His preoccupations were with England, the values of
Empire, and the dangerous beauty of the feral ephebe. The threat to
the first two of these triggered his alleged metamorphosis from
cosmopolitan cynic and dandy-about-town to patriotic, even
jingoistic, NCO, in a manner worthy of his blackest humor.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
