The Greatest British Short Stories - Embassy Books Collection

I picked this book up from Harsha's collection - I like short stories and this collection was too good to be left alone. So there is 'The Blue Cross' by GK Chesterton and his famous Father Brown who is a detective, now on the tracks of the infamous criminal Flambeau who is trying hard to throw them off track by placing all kinds of signals in his path. 'The Secret Sharer' by Joseph Conrad is an unusual story about a young captain of a ship who finds a naked young man sitting on his ship's stairs at night and pulls him in and gives him secret sanctuary despite knowing that he is accused of murder, and finally lets him go safely at great risk to himself. Conrad's knowledge of ships and boats is amazing.

'The Fiddler of the Reels' by Thomas Hardy is a disturbing story of a fiddler who entices young women and woos away young Car'line who gives birth to his illegitimate child, then goes to her admirer Ned with the child and then the fiddler runs away with the child in the end. 'The Garden Party' by Katherine Mansfield is about a rich family which throws a huge garden party and continues despite knowing that a poor neighbour had died - only the daughter is affected enough or sensitive enough as she takes over the leftovers from the party reluctantly to the grieving widow. 'The Door in the Wall' by HG Wells is about a politician who succeeds in life but is always missing an enchanted door he used to fantasise about when he was young and dies in grief at not being able to access it.

'Young Archimedes' by Aldous Huxley is about a young genius who is brilliant at music and maths and who kills himself as he is stifled by a woman who tries to exploit his talents. 'The Mark on the Wall' by Virginia Woolf is a stream of consciousness essay when she sees a mark on the wall. 'The Odour of Chrysanthemums' by DH Lawrence (I could sense his style) is a sad story of a young mother who is awaiting the return of her husband form the mine, only to discover that he died, and also to discover that they had been strangers to one another despite living together for so many years. 'Rain' by Somerset Maugham has an ending that's predictable but still holds enough energy throughout - a missionary man tries to set a girl's character right and well, falls prey to the pleasures of the flesh, only to take his own life in the end.

Most of them are rather bleak I realise, with death and betrayal and stuff. Perhaps Father Brown is an exception. But still, enjoyed reading all of these great writers and realised that I could spot something familiar in their writing - a turn of phrase, the setting, the mood, the characters. Thanks Harsha.