01/06/14
I bought this book in Spanish. Then I read it in English, only to confirm (once again) that some translators are ruthless butchers.
Anyway, reading Saki was a weird delight. I found a writer with unusual wit and a bit macabre at times. But I just couldn't stop reading nor feeling guilty because I was cracking up when someone wasn't having such a good time in his stories. It is Saki's fault. Him and his smart and playful writing. It is a perfect mixture between a normal sense of humor and a twisted one that makes people wonder why on Earth you are not medicated. He can make you laugh with his characters' witty remarks, and also make you feel uncomfortable.
I loved “The Unrest-Cure”. A man that dislikes changes to the point of feeling irritated because of the relocation of an innocent thrush. Too funny. I would like to know what is like to be so relaxed that you start questioning little things like how toasts fall: Every time I accidentally drop a toast, it falls jam side down; today, it fell the other way around. What's next? A five o'clock tea at 5.20 p.m.?
Or how flies fly: I like a nice straight and level flight, stop flying on circles, damn it!
Anyhow, I can relate to some of these characters; it takes a lot of courage to use curry on a non-curry day.
“Sredni Vashtar” is another favorite of mine.
I liked the other stories too, especially “The Storyteller”, “The Open Window” (that girl is heartless), “Esmé” and “Tobermory”.
I could have said that I liked the whole book and saved me all these nonsense, really.
Anyway, reading Saki was a weird delight. I found a writer with unusual wit and a bit macabre at times. But I just couldn't stop reading nor feeling guilty because I was cracking up when someone wasn't having such a good time in his stories. It is Saki's fault. Him and his smart and playful writing. It is a perfect mixture between a normal sense of humor and a twisted one that makes people wonder why on Earth you are not medicated. He can make you laugh with his characters' witty remarks, and also make you feel uncomfortable. I loved “The Unrest-Cure”. A man that dislikes changes to the point of feeling irritated because of the relocation of an innocent thrush. Too funny. I would like to know what is like to be so relaxed that you start questioning little things like how toasts fall: Every time I accidentally drop a toast, it falls jam side down; today, it fell the other way around. What's next? A five o'clock tea at 5.20 p.m.?
Or how flies fly: I like a nice straight and level flight, stop flying on circles, damn it!
Anyhow, I can relate to some of these characters; it takes a lot of courage to use curry on a non-curry day.
“Sredni Vashtar” is another favorite of mine.
Without his imagination, which was rampant under the spur of loneliness, he would have succumbed long ago. (99)A beautiful line.
I liked the other stories too, especially “The Storyteller”, “The Open Window” (that girl is heartless), “Esmé” and “Tobermory”.
I could have said that I liked the whole book and saved me all these nonsense, really.
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Photo credit: Book cover via Goodreads.
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