Beasts and Super-Beasts

Saki, 1870-1916Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.4

Word count: 357K words
Chapters: 36

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Beasts and Super-Beasts by SakiAuthor: Saki, 1870-1916,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: May 1, 1995

Editor's review

Beasts and Super-Beasts is a collection of short stories by Saki, known for English humor and unexpected twists. Saki often places country gentlemen, society ladies, boys, and uninvited beasts side by side in the respectable world of Edwardian society, using calm, restrained narration to create absurdity and satire, often with a final turn of phrase that lingers. The stories are short and brisk, suited to reading one at a time in spare moments, and also make a good introduction to the English tradition of short satirical fiction. The English is carefully worded and deftly constructed, making it good material for English readers to experience irony and understated humor. Do not rush to the ending; watch for the gap between the narrator's understatement and the characters' self-assurance, where the humor and the edge usually lie.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who like English humor and short stories with twist endings
Learners who want to experience English irony and understated satire in the original
Casual readers who need short, brisk stories they can finish one at a time
Literary fans interested in satire on English social manners

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer serious, weighty themes and moral instruction
Readers expecting continuous long-form plots and character development
Beginners whose English is too weak to catch the ironic tone

Reading tips

Read one or two stories at a time; the wit is easier to appreciate on close reading
Before the last sentence, pause and guess where the twist will fall
Watch the contrast between the narrator's calm tone and the characters' words and deeds; that is where the satire lies
You can read your favorite pieces aloud to feel the rhythm and humor of the English sentences

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What reading pace suits Saki's short stories?

They suit fragmented reading. Each story is short and stands alone; reading one or two at a time is enough, and there is no need to read straight through. You can open to any story and quickly enter its situation.

Is this book the original English text?

According to the information provided, this is an English e-book released by Project Gutenberg, in English; readers need some ability to read English to appreciate the irony and humor.

What if I don't understand the English humor?

First focus on the twist at the end and the characters' self-assured words and deeds, then go back to the narrator's understated sentences; the contrast is often the joke. Use a dictionary for key words if needed.

Compared with serious literature, is this worth reading?

It offers a different kind of pleasure: short, clever, barbed satire. If you want to understand the English tradition of short satirical fiction or simply change your reading fare, this collection has distinct value as a reference.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Saki, 1870-1916 Author

Saki (1870–1916) is the pen name of a British short-story writer whose real name and biographical details are only limitedly documented in publicly available sources. Judging from the nine works held in the collection, his output consists mainly of short stories, along with satirical longer fiction and parody, including Beasts and Super-Beasts, The Chronicles of Clovis, Reginald, Reginald in Russia, and Other Sketches, The Unbearable Bassington, The Toys of Peace, and Other Papers, When William Came, and The Westminster Alice. These works are mostly set in Edwardian English society and are written in a light but sharp style, making use of unexpected twists and black humor; through witty dialogue and absurd situations they often satirize the hypocrisy and manners of the upper classes. His distinctive style holds a clear place in the tradition of the satirical short story and has had some influence on later English comic literature.