Other Stories | R.L. Stevenson

I have finished the 'other stories' included in my R.L. Stevenson book, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Stories". I've read "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" twice previously, and it's still possible that I'll give it another read. I'll present a brief synopsis of each of the short-stories to the reader, who could pick up any number of editions of Stevenson short-stories, or a few in isolation.

The Bottle Imp - a story about an imp in a bottle, who grants the owner any number of wishes he/she would like to have. However, if the possessor of the bottle dies while in ownership, that person is confined to hell for eternity. As such, each owner is liable to get rid of the bottle while in his/her possession and find a new owner - who must pay a sum less than what it was sold to them from the previous owner. What happens when that sum falls to 1 cent? Find out.

Markheim - about a man who burglarizes a pawn shop and confronts the devil. He ultimately has to make a choice regarding the morality or lack thereof, of his life.

The Beach of Falesa (see previous post)

Thrawn Janet - a wife of a parishioner who dies suddenly after a dark man passes through Ireland, believed to be an apparition. The wife comes back as a ghost and had an encounter with her holy former-husband.

The Isle of Voices - A man, intrigued by his father-in-law's never ending source of 'new' gold coins, travels with him to the isle of voices to find out how these coins came to be. He asks to return to the isle to collect some coins for himself. Whilst in transit to the island, the father-in-law turns into a giant and leaves him in the middle of the ocean. Eventually, the man finds the island (a place where people move about unseen, where only voices are heard). There's an interesting twist at the end, which I will not divulge.

Will O' The Mill - a story about a boy who dreams of what it's like to travel down the river into the valley, away from his hometown. When he admits this to a traveller staying at his inn, this traveller convinces him that a simple life without want of a change of scenery, is the key to happiness.

The Bodysnatcher - medical students who work for a man who brings them cadavers to dissect, eventually dig up the grave of a woman and realize they've dug up something they did not anticipate.

Providence and the Guitar - a story about what it means to be 'an artist' and why choosing the path of something you love is more important than choosing what society respects.

The Enchantress - a story about a woman who enchants a beggar who has lost all his wealth in a casino. He falls in love with her and she takes advantage of him... but how?

Robert Louis Stevenson has a way of making you sit on the edge of your seat, reading as quickly as possible to get to the ending. The moral is often quite simple and often non-noteworthy, but the story in itself captivates. Adventure is never lacking and intrigue, mysticism and fables give the reader something that lasts in the mind.

The Beach of Falesa | R.L. Stevenson

Due to the unfortunately fast paced environment at Christmas time, I like to read a lot of short-stories. The thinking is, since I'm all over the place I may not have time to read full novels until the Christmas holiday officially starts. As such, I've put off reading "Crime and Punishment", the next book in our book club.

As you know, I've been reading quite a bit of Hemingway short-stories, but I decided to take a short break from them. Browsing one of my many book shelves, I came across some short-stories by Robert Louis Stevenson. The book's main draw is "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", which I've read twice. I've also read the first two short stories entitled "The Bottle Imp" and "Markheim", although I do not recall their plot lines.

The third story in this Reader's Digest version is "The Beach of Falesa" which is a 71 page narrative of a south sea trader. Mr. Whiltshire is an Englishman who comes to the island of Falesa, in order to trade with the natives. He arrives at the island and is told by a fellow sea trader, Case, that he should find a native wife. Instinctively, he chooses Uma and is wed the following day.

However, none of the natives will trade with Mr. Whiltshire, and he has no idea why as he doesn't speak the native tongue. Case translates for him, during a meeting with the village elders and finds out that he is "tabooed" - essentially tied to the devil in the minds of the natives. We later learn that the reason he is "tabooed" is due to his new wife, Uma. Case has withheld this information in translation; as it turns out, his approval of the marriage to Uma was a Machiavellian way to eliminate the competition of another trader.

A missionary then comes to the island, and details Case's dark history on the island. In the end, it is up to Mr. Whiltshire to deal with Case...

This was an interesting short-story, and illuminated the strengths and magic of Stevenson which is simply, to tell compelling stories. The language is sometimes tough, especially with the poor use of an island dialect, but overall the story flows very well for prose from the late 1800's. There are no moments of transcendent thought, but the adventure more than makes up for this fact. It is no secret to me why Stevenson's work has withstood the test of time, with children and adults alike.

Disgrace | J.M. Coetzee

J.M. Coetzee's novel "Disgrace" was awarded the Booker Prize in 1999. Having enjoyed some previous Booker winners (ie: Life of Pi), I decided to give it a shot this weekend.

The novel is about David Lurie, a middle aged professor, who falls under the spell of one of his female students. He has an affair with her and inevitably, things turn sour and he is brought into a hearing to plead his case to the university. He refuses to admit sympathy or remorse for his actions, but he is quite willing to concede that he is guilty.

Now jobless, he decides to visit his daughter, Lucy, in a rural area of South Africa. He only somewhat understands the choices she has made in becoming a 'peasant', working for a living by boarding dogs and selling produce, but finds joy in the quiet life... until their world is turned upside down.

This novel explores the black verses white conflict in South Africa, in addition to challenging the boundaries and definitions of relationships. The themes are tough ones, which not everyone will enjoy. But sometimes literature can explore tough themes, and still amaze us. Somehow there can still be beauty contained in the meaning and in the lives of the characters. However, Coetzee falls so short of this mark that I cannot see why anyone would recommend this book, let alone how a novel such as this could win the Booker Prize.

There is a confusing parallel of an opera, being written by Lurie about Byron and his lover Teresa. It fails to offer anything to the story; the half-hearted attempt at literature by Lurie is echoed by the half-hearted attempt by Coetzee.

I found myself lacking any interest in the characters, and the African landscape was not shown as beautiful or hideous... it was simply not shown. If I wasn't continually reminded the story took place in Africa, I wouldn't have noticed a difference. The prose was poor and the plot simply had trouble developing. After Lurie was relieved of his teaching duties, I had no interest in the rest of the novel. I read it in two days, simply because I did not want to devote any more time to it.

I would like to point out that there were a few interesting parts within the story, which I should have written down. It would have been nice had some of these insights been explored further, or used as central themes instead of the simplistic male impulses and challenging of social boundaries.

The only interesting twist was on the subject of 'disgrace' itself. Initially, you were meant to believe that the book would be about the disgrace of David Lurie. However, as the novel developed you could see that David's daughter Lucy, was just as disgraced despite being a victim rather than a perpetrator.

All in all, I would give this book 1 star... and overall, I am saddened that such a novel would be considered amongst the best of modern literature.

The First Forty-Nine | Ernest Hemingway

It's been a long time in the reading, but I have finally finished "The First Forty-Nine" short stories (375 pages) in my volume of "The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway", which was published by his Son's, post humously. What is unique about this edition, is that it also includes short stories published in books or magazines subsequent to "The First Forty-Nine" as well as some previously unpublished fiction.

There is a little amount of controversy with some Hemingway fans, regarding the publication. I have posted a little excerpt, from Amazon.ca:

The Complete Short Stories is a wonderful read. It has the fullest collection of Hemingway's short prose available. However I dispute the validity of some of the publisher's selections - which, it turns out, is what this book really is. "One Trip Across" and "The Tradesman's Return" are interesting but are actually part of To Have and Have Not. "The Last Good Country" is not a short story but an uncompleted novel. "A Train Trip" and "The Porter" are not stories at all but six chapters from an uncompleted novel called A New Slain Knight that he wrote in 1928. "The Strange Country" is also not a story but deleted chapters from Islands in the Stream. Others of his stories were also omitted: many of his early stories from the 1910s and early '20s, the fable "A Divine Gesture," a bullfight story "A Lack of Passion," and several World War II stories, including "A Room on the Garden Side," "The Monument," "Indian County and the White Army," "The Bubble Reputation" and others. Most of these stories have never been published before and it would be nice if a book would come out with all of them. Until then read this one. But still, this is a wonderful read.

I believe most of these critisms come from the other short-stories included in this collection which I have yet to read. Some of these technicalities aside, these Hemingway stories are at times poignant and graceful, and at others, dull and lacking conviction. However, there are some real gems in these stories. Hemingway has a way of delving into important aspects of life that seem small to most, but are very important to those seeking a different way of living. Some of the short-stories are so good, you wished that he would have wrote an entire novel on them because you can't believe there isn't going to be more pages and thoughts to indulge in. That being said, most are exactly as long as they need to be, with the exception of a few that didn't hit the mark.

Since it's been so long since I read some of them, I will post some consensus favourites from some reviews I read. I'd have to take some time to myself to determine what I think about the selections, but most of them stand out fairly poignantly.

The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

The Killers

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place

If you get a chance, I would urge reading some of those just to get a feel for his fiction. They are fairly indicative of his work in general, in my opinion. A majority of subjects deal with the places Hemingway has lived in his life including Spain and Cuba, and explore the nature of man, hunting, bull-fighting and relationships. In the coming months, I'll go back and try to remember all the stories and confirm the best ones to read, but this would be a good start for anyone looking to give Hemingway a try.