Saki – författare

This is the last collection of short stories written by the witty British author, Hector Hugh Munro, better known by his pen names "Saki" or "H. H. Munro", compiled posthumously by his friend, Rothay Reynolds.

The title story is a humorous tale of trying to indoctrinate young boys with a culture of peace rather than war, by a mother and her brother, Harvey, who give her boys "peace toys" for Easter instead of toy guns, tin soldiers, and the like. 

Excerpt:

"A quantity of crinkly paper shavings was the first thing that met the view when the lid was removed; the most exiting toys always began like that. Harvey pushed back the top layer and drew forth a square, rather featureless building.

"''It’s a fort!'' exclaimed Bertie. ...

"''It’s a municipal dust-bin,'' said Harvey hurriedly; ''you see all the refuse and litter of a town is collected there, instead of lying about and injuring the health of the citizens.''"

The boys were not impressed by such gifts as tin statues of economists, scientists, sanitary inspectors, and politicians, rather than soldiers and heroes; models of municipal buildings rather than forts; toy hoes instead of toy guns. Left to play with the new politically correct toys, the boys manage to completely thwart the plan, to the frustration of the well-meaning adults.

There are 33 stories in all, plus an introduction about the life of the author written by Rothay Reynolds.

Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), better known by the pen name Saki, and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and culture. He is considered a master of the short story, and often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy Parker. Influenced by Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll and Rudyard Kipling, he himself influenced A. A. Milne, Noël Coward and P. G. Wodehouse.

Besides his short stories (which were first published in newspapers, as was customary at the time, and then collected into several volumes), he wrote 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 published 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, subtitled A Story of London Under the Hohenzollerns, a fantasy about a future German invasion and occupation of Britain.

''The Chronicles of Clovis'' is a collection of short stories, including ''The Great Weep'', ''Tobermory'', ''Adrian'', and many more.  This early work by H. H. Munro was originally published in 1911.

It is a collection of 30 extremely wry and witty short stories written by the inimitable Saki (the pen name for H.H. Munro). The setting is in the midst of upper class English society during the Edwardian Period, the period between the Boer War and World War when the British Empire reached it''s peak. Devotees of Downton Abbey will find themselves on familiar ground, save for the slightly disconcerting presence of Clovis. Clovis Sangrail, the nominal central character about whom these stories revolve, is a typical Saki hero: young, vain, effete, worldly, slightly cruel, a bit decadent and extremely witty. Clovis is the spiritual successor to Saki''s well-loved Reginald character. He''s a bit more of a prankster than a simple snarker than Reginald, but there''s plenty of deadpan humor in the stories which feature him.Included in this collection are some of Saki''s very best works, including "Mrs. Packleetide''s Tiger", "The Background", "The Jesting of Arlington Stingham", "Tobermory", "Sredni Vastar", "The talking-Out of Tarrington", "Filboid Studge" and "The Secret Sin of Septimus Brope". Both Saki, and the world about which he wrote so well, came to an end during with World War I. Nevertheless, few writers have ever been able to achieve Saki''s level of irony, satire, wit and sophistication.

Saki was one of A. A. Milne''s favourites, and this speaks volumes for his quality & is enough reason alone for you to pick him up. There''s a rather lovely Edwardian sensibility to his work although with the benefit of history. 

Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), better known by the pen name Saki, and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and culture. He is considered a master of the short story, and often compared to O. Henry and Dorothy Parker. Influenced by Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll and Rudyard Kipling, he himself influenced A. A. Milne, Noël Coward and P. G. Wodehouse.

Hector Hugh Munro was born in Akyab, Burma in 1870. He was raised by aunts in North Devon, England, before returning to Burma in his early twenties to join the Colonial Burmese Military Police. Later, Munro returned once more to England, where he embarked on his career as a journalist, becoming well-known for his satirical ‘Alice in Westminster’ political sketches, which appeared in the Westminster Gazette. Arguably better-remembered by his pen name, ‘Saki’, Munro is now considered a master of the short story, with tales such as ‘The Open Window’ regarded as examples of the form at its finest.