The Complete Short Stories, Volume One

By: W. Somerset Maugham

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

There have been few masters of the short story as popular as W. S. Maugham. His dry wit, worldweary loftiness, pungent cynicism, and penetrating powers of observation have contributed to the creation of some of the greatest short stories ever written.

Over a long period, Maugham continued to write stories that were highly interesting and controversial. With a creative verve for plot development and a jaded eye for the foibles of mankind, Maugham's stories crackle with the irrepressible energy of a master story teller.

All of Maugham's short stories in this and subsequent volumes will be presented in the order in which they were published, beginning in 1921.The stories in Volume One are:

• 1. Rain
• 2. The Fall of Edward Barnard
• 3. Mackintosh
• 4. Red
• 5. Honolulu
• 6. The Pool
• 7. The Letter
• 8. Before the Party
• 9. The Force of Circumstance
• 10. The Outstation
• 11. The Yellow Streak
• 12. P. & O.
• 13. Jane
• 14. The Round Dozen
• 15. The Creative Impulse

The Complete Short Stories, Volume One will continue in volumes two and three.

All stories not in public domain are the property of and published by agreement with the W. Somerset Maugham Royalty Trust.

Public Domain (P)2013 Audio Connoisseur

his description of people

I enjoyed it being in short story form and how he was knowledgeable on tropical growth but mostly how he described the characters

Awesome performance !

Loved every moment of it - Looking forward to listening to all of his books and traveling to those wonderful south sea islands !

Read in inverse order.

The first story is called Rain. Please, don't read it first. The later stories are the strongest, the earlier ones start to feel very predictable due to the order in which they are listed. Further, WSM does an incredible job with his characters, always knowing just how much depth to present, but Rain feels very cookie-cutter and predictable. It's not necessarily bad. just not the place to start.
Aside from his talent for personalities, he opens up that odd overlap when people still lived a traditional life in islands just a few dozen miles from city dwellers listening to jazz. It's all done with extreme respect for the different cultures involved. Again, he presents just enough so you can see the beauty of the natural surroundings without being weighted down.

Bizarre mispronunciations...

If you could sum up The Complete Short Stories, Volume One in three words, what would they be?

Classic Maugham stories often do a slow burn but worth going for the ride.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I especially love the stories set in colonial Malaya.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

I would say this narrator is great but for some irksome mispronounciations. Every time he says ' ship's passage', he pronounces it pah-sage or 'chortle' becomes 'Kortle'. There are a hundred bizarro alternative readings of not-very-elevated english words. Bloody weird and a bit cringey. I think he's an American doing an excellent Brit accent (wonky Scots), but has not researched unfamiliar words. Shame, coz it's an epic commitment to read the full omnibus.

Mixed reviews

Maugham is always a great story teller with a wonderful, evocative use of subtle language. Griffin's narration is superb and suits the atmosphere of this set of stories, set for the most part in the far east. Would have gotten five stars except for the introduction of unnecessary musical interludes, which were sufficiently annoying to consider not getting volumes 2 and 3.
David Evan Glasser