The British and Irish Short Story Handbook

The British and Irish Short Story Handbook guides readers through the development of the short story and the critical issues involved in discussions of short fiction. By including in–depth analysis of non–canonical writers and non–realist writers alongside that of major authors and their works, the handbook offers a comprehensive and much–needed appraisal of this area of literary study. The guide contains a brief history of the development of the form since the 1880s, with discussions of central texts by, amongst others, Rudyard Kipling, H. G. Wells, Jean Rhys, V. S. Pritchett, James Sheridan Le Fanu, and Samuel Beckett. There follows an examination of some central issues in contemporary short–story criticism: definition of the short story; its status as a genre; the collection as an interpretive context; the importance of the motif of marginality; canonicity; and the role of institutions in the form’s development. It continues with a discussion on the range of genres in the twentieth and twenty–first century short story, with particular attention to the interplay of realist and non–realist genres. The book also examines the work of selected major short–story writers. Irish authors considered throughout the book include George Moore, Seán O’Faoláin, John McGahern, William Trevor, and Mary Dorcey; discussion of writers active in mainland Britain includes  Robert Louis Stevenson, Henry James, Katherine Mansfield, Elizabeth Bowen, Somerset Maugham, J. G. Ballard, and Angela Carter.

Acknowledgments xi Preface xiii Part 1 A Brief History of the British and Irish Short Story 1 Part 2 Issues in Short Story Criticism 33 Definitions 35 Genre? 40 Collections 42 Marginality 48 Canonicity 51 Institutions 54 Part 3 Genres 57 The Ghost Short Story, the Supernatural Short Story, and the Gothic Short Story 61 The Science Fiction Short Story and the Fantasy Short Story 63 The Fable 66 The Short Story of Exotic Adventure 68 The Detective and Crime Short Story 70 The Historical Short Story 72 The Realist Social–Psychological Short Story 74 The Metafictional/Experimental Short Story 77 Part 4 Key Authors 81 Richard Aldington (1892–1962) 83 J. G. Ballard (1930–2009) 84 Samuel Beckett (1906–1989) 86 Frances Bellerby (1899–1975) 88 John Berger (born 1926) 89 Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973) 91 Angela Carter (1940–1992) 93 Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) 95 Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) 97 A. E. Coppard (1878–1957) 99 Hubert Crackanthorpe (1870–1896) 101 Walter de la Mare (1873–1956) 103 Hugh Fleetwood (born 1944) 104 Graham Greene (1904–1991) 106 Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) 108 Henry James (1843–1916) 110 Gabriel Josipovici (born 1940) 112 James Joyce (1882–1941) 114 James Kelman (born 1946) 116 Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) 118 Hanif Kureishi (born 1954) 120 James Lasdun (born 1958) 122 Mary Lavin (1912–1996) 124 D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) 126 Doris Lessing (born 1919) 128 George Mackay Brown (1921–1996) 130 Julian Maclaren–Ross (1912–1964) 132 Bernard MacLaverty (born 1942) 134 Katherine Mansfield (1888–1923) 136 E. A. Markham (1939–2008) 138 W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) 140 Ian McEwan (born 1948) 142 John McGahern (1934–2006) 144 Michael Moorcock (born 1939) 146 H. H. Munro ("Saki") (1870–1916) 148 Frank O′Connor (1903–1966) 150 Sean O′Faolain (1900–1991) 152 Mollie Panter–Downes (1906–1997) 154 T. F. Powys (1875–1953) 156 V. S. Pritchett (1900–1997) 158 Jean Rhys (1890–1979) 161 Alan Sillitoe (1928–2010) 163 Muriel Spark (1918–2006) 165 Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) 167 Sylvia Townsend Warner (1893–1978) 169 William Trevor (born 1928) 171 H. G. Wells (1866–1946) 173 Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) 175 Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) 176 Part 5 Key Works 177 Robert Louis Stevenson, "Markheim" (1885) 179 Oscar Wilde, "The Canterville Ghost: A Hylo–Idealistic Romance" (1887) 182 Oscar Wilde, "The Selfish Giant" (1888) 186 Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Adventure of the Engineer′s Thumb" (1892) 188 Hubert Crackanthorpe, "Modern Melodrama" (1895) 191 Henry James, "The Altar of the Dead" (1895) 194 Joseph Conrad, "Amy Foster" (1901) 199 George Moore, "Home Sickness" (1903) 203 H. G. Wells, "The Valley of Spiders" (1903) 206 M. R. James, "Canon Alberic′s Scrap–Book" (1904) 209 H. H. Munro ("Saki"), "Sredni Vashtar" (1911) 212 James Joyce, "An Encounter" (1914) 214 D. H. Lawrence, "Tickets, Please" (1919) 217 Virginia Woolf, "Kew Gardens" (1919) 221 Katherine Mansfield, "The Stranger" (1921) 224 A. E. Coppard, "The Higgler" (1925) 228 Rudyard Kipling, "The Gardener" (1926) 232 Jean Rhys, "Mannequin" (1927) 236 W. Somerset Maugham, "Footprints in the Jungle" (1927) 239 T. F. Powys, "John Pardy and the Waves" (1929) 242 Sean O′Faolain, "Midsummer Night Madness" (1932) 245 V. S. Pritchett, "Handsome Is As Handsome Does" (1938) 249 Mollie Panter–Downes, "Goodbye, My Love" (1941) 254 Alun Lewis, "The Last Inspection" (1942) 257 Mary Lavin, "At Sallygap" (1943) 261 Elizabeth Bowen, "Mysterious Kor" (1944) 265 Julian Maclaren–Ross, "The Tape" (1944) 268 Denton Welch, "Narcissus Bay" (1948) 271 Frank O′Connor, "Eternal Triangle" (1954) 274 J. G. Ballard, "The Terminal Beach" (1964) 277 Samuel Beckett, "Lessness" (1970) 282 Gabriel Josipovici, "Mobius the Stripper: A Topological Exercise" (1974) 285 Michael Moorcock, "Waiting for the End of Time. . ."(1976) 289 Sylvia Townsend Warner, "The King of Orkney′s Leonardo" (1976) 292 William Trevor, "Another Christmas" (1978) 295 Angela Carter, "The Erl–King" (1979) 298 Clive Sinclair, "The Evolution of the Jews" (1979) 302 John McGahern, "The Conversion of William Kirkwood" (1985) 305 James Kelman, "Forgetting to Mention Allende" (1987) 309 Mary Dorcey, "A Noise from the Woodshed" (1989) 312 James Lasdun, "Ate/Menos or The Miracle" (1992) 315 Bernard MacLaverty, "A Silent Retreat" (1994) 319 Hanif Kureishi, "We′re Not Jews" (1995) 322 Patricia Duncker, "Stalker" (2003) 325 China Mieville, "Foundation" (2003) 328 Key Collections 331 References and Further Reading 338 Index 345

David Malcolm is Professor of English Literature at the University of Gdañsk. He is co–author (with Cheryl Alexander Malcolm) of Jean Rhys: A Study of the Short Fiction (1996), and author of Understanding Ian McEwan (2002), Understanding Graham Swift (2003) and Understanding John McGahern (2007). He is co–editor (with Cheryl Alexander Malcolm) of British and Irish Short–Fiction Writers, 1945–2000 , Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 319 (2006) and A Companion to the British and Irish Short Story (Wiley–Blackwell, 2008).

“Overall, The British and Irish Short Story Handbook will be a useful tool in the teaching of the short story at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Further, for scholars new to the field of short story criticism it is an accessible yet well–informed entry point.  With the range of resources it offers and the succinct summaries it provides of key issues, topics and debates it collates some of the central tenets of the field. I am sure it will set people off on a fruitful journey into the ever–developing field of the British and Irish short story and short story criticism.”  ( Irish Studies Review , 21 November 2013) “Summing Up: Recommended.  Lower–level undergraduates and general readers.”  ( Choice , 1 November 2012)