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The Complete Short Stories

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The Complete Short Stories

By: Muriel Spark
Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson, Emilia Fox, Richard E. Grant
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About this listen

From the cruel irony of A Member of the Family to the fateful echoes of The Go-Away Bird and the unexpectedly sinister The Girl I Left Behind Me, in settings that range from South Africa to the Portobello Road, Muriel Spark coolly probes the idiosyncrasies that lurk beneath the veneer of human respectability, displaying the acerbic wit and wisdom that are the hallmarks of her unique talent.

The Complete Short Stories is a collection to be loved and cherished, from one of the finest short-story writers of the twentieth century, rediscover it on the 100th anniversary of Muriel Spark's birth with outstanding performances by Emilia Fox, Richard E. Grant and Juliet Stevenson.

©2001 Copyright Administration Ltd (P)2011 Canongate Books Anthologies & Short Stories Classics Fiction Short Stories

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All stars
Most relevant  
I’m not sure why I discovered Muriel Spark so late, apart from the movie w Maggie Smith, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, but at least I haven’t missed her.
MS spent time in Southern Africa and her merciless observations (for the first few) transform into hard hitting short stories which are a delight and well narrated, albeit w an exaggerated SA accent.
For the rest, and there’re over 50, the settings and material are wide and varied and the narration is quality .
It’s a prolific, imaginative, worldly and well constructed collection; often w a humorous wry edge, a twist or an enigmatic line at the climax, that magically allows the “short” story to become complete. MS must have been a sharp witted and entertaining personality !
I really appreciated this anthology, dipping in intermittently, so the stories didn’t run into one another. I’d easily rate this at least equal to the collections of Somerset Maugham and O Henry which feel dated and stuffy.

BTW....don’t miss the Audible version of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, this was astoundingly read by Miriam Margolys.

Imaginative, worldly and well constructed

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Well worth the listen, so many hours of great story telling and fab narration. Ghost stories are excellent, as are many others.

Some fab short stories, brilliantly narrated

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This well read book will keep you entertained for hours with each chapter highly recommend

Very entertaining

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1 - 6 The Go-Away Bird
7 - 8 The Curtain Blown by the Breeze
9 - 11 Bang, Bang You're Dead
12 - The Seraph and the Zambezi
13 - The Pawnbroker's Wife
14 - The Snobs
15 - A Member of the Family
16 - The Fortune Teller
17 - The Father's Daughters
18 - Open to the Public
19 - The Dragon
20 - The Leaf Sweeper
21 - Harper and Wilton
22 - The Executor
23 - Another Pair of Hands
24 - The Girl I Left Behind Me
25 - Miss Pinkerton's Apocalypse
26 - The Pearly Shadow
27 - Going Up and Coming Down
28 - You Should Have Seen the Mess
29 - Quest for Lavishes Ghast
30 - The Young Man Who Discovered the Secret of Life
31 - Daisy Overend
32 - The House of the Famous Poet
33 - The Playhouse Called Remarkable
34 - Chimes
35 - Ladies and Gentleman
36 - Come Along, Marjorie
37 - The Twins
38 - 'A Sad Tale's Best for Winter'
39 - Christmas Fugue
40 - The First Year of My Life
41 - The Gentile Jewesses
42 - Alice Long's Dachshund's
43 - 44 The Dark Glasses
45 - The Ormolu Clock
46 - 47 The Portobello Road
48 - 49 The Black Madonna
50 - The Thing About Police Stations
51 - A Hundred and Eleven Years Without a Chauffer
52 - The Hanging Judge
53 - Credits for the audiobook

Chapter list

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I enjoyed this collection of stories. Well-written, as one might expect, and often full of humour pocking fun at human vanity and snobbery. The stories are varied and encompass such themes as crime, the supernatural and the cares of the human heart.
The narrators are all accomplished performers of audio books and add to the pleasure

Entertaining

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Nothing . to dislike. But I do dislike this 15 word minimum for the review of books.

The uniqueness of having individual stories. Perfect for bedtime, listening.

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I only knew Muriel Sparks from Miss Jean Brodie and am not generally a fan of short stories, but was taken by the prospect of readings by Juliet Stevenson, Emma Fox and Richard E Grant. I am so glad – the stories have great range and the narration is absolutely top notch. Some of the stories are a good 2 hours long. All are atmospheric and I loved Sparks’ sly wit.

Exceptional reading of substantial short stories

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Very well chosen readers for these short stories which cover a pretty wide geographical area as well as revealing a lot about what makes some of us tick.

Excellent

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Mad accents. What were they thinking? Fox doing the six counties as northern English? Lovely Grant going pure bonkers.
Really great stories (unsettling and funny) along with terrible ones..I wish I could go back with named stories.

Mad accents

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The complete short stories in one volume at least gives the satisfaction of having read all that there is to read. The range of the subject matter is wide - from a childhood in South Africa, to Scotland and Manchester to the sad ruminations of a judge in North London. But the quality of the voice is not that great - one or two flashes of insight, but in the main very pedestrian and at times down-right tedious.

I can’t really think of one of the short stories that I really enjoyed, but can easily recall three that I really didn’t enjoy. Still, its read now isn’t it.

No mark Spark

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