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Collected Stories
Collected Stories
includes both volumes of the National Book Award-winning author Shirley Hazzard's short-story collections--Cliffs of Fall and People in Glass Houses--alongside uncollected works and two previously unpublished stories
Including twenty-eight works of short fiction in all, Shirley Hazzard's Collected Stories is a work of staggering breadth and talent. Taken together, Hazzard's short stories are masterworks in telescoping focus, "at once surgical and symphonic" (The New Yorker), ranging from quotidian struggles between beauty and pragmatism to satirical sendups of international bureaucracy, from the Italian countryside to suburban Connecticut.
In an interview, Hazzard once said, "The idea that somebody has expressed something, in a supreme way, that it can be expressed; this is, I think, an enormous feature of literature." Her stories themselves are a supreme evocation of writing at its very best: probing, uncompromising, and deeply felt.
Including twenty-eight works of short fiction in all, Shirley Hazzard's Collected Stories is a work of staggering breadth and talent. Taken together, Hazzard's short stories are masterworks in telescoping focus, "at once surgical and symphonic" (The New Yorker), ranging from quotidian struggles between beauty and pragmatism to satirical sendups of international bureaucracy, from the Italian countryside to suburban Connecticut.
In an interview, Hazzard once said, "The idea that somebody has expressed something, in a supreme way, that it can be expressed; this is, I think, an enormous feature of literature." Her stories themselves are a supreme evocation of writing at its very best: probing, uncompromising, and deeply felt.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published November 3, 2020
About the author
Shirley Hazzard
27 books278 followersShirley Hazzard was born in Australia, and as a child travelled the world due to her parents’ diplomatic postings. At age 16, she began working for British Combined Intelligence Services in Hong Kong, monitoring civil war in China. After her family moved to New York City, she worked for several years as a typist at the United Nations Secretariat in New York.
After leaving this post, she became a full-time writer and a passionate opponent of the United Nations, the subject of several of her nonfiction books.
Known for elegant and controlled writing, Hazzard’s works of fiction include five novels. Her last novel, The Great Fire, was shortlisted for the 2004 Man Booker Prize for Fiction and the 2005 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
After leaving this post, she became a full-time writer and a passionate opponent of the United Nations, the subject of several of her nonfiction books.
Known for elegant and controlled writing, Hazzard’s works of fiction include five novels. Her last novel, The Great Fire, was shortlisted for the 2004 Man Booker Prize for Fiction and the 2005 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
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November 10, 2023
my becoming-a-genius project, part 26!
the background:
i have decided to become a genius.
to accomplish this, i'm going to work my way through the collected stories of various authors, reading + reviewing 1 story every day until i get bored / lose every single follower / am struck down by a vengeful deity.
we're approaching the third anniversary of my commencement of this project and also i have not undertaken an installment of it in several months, so this is an exciting event.
let's get into it.
view project parts 1-26 here
DAY 1: THE PARTY
starting this whole thing off on a real "men are trash" note.
and ending the first story (which had many witticisms and clever turns of phrase) on a real "cheesy dialogue" note.
rating: 3
DAY 2: A PLACE IN THE COUNTRY
hell is a teenage girl!!!
rating: 3.5
DAY 3: VITTORIO
the guiding philosophy of this story is one i agree with (that women are very beautiful and know everything nearly before it happens).
rating: 3.5
DAY 4: IN ONE'S OWN HOUSE
ignoring everything i'm supposed to be paying attention to in this one to be incredibly disturbed by the idea of being a wealthy widow whose two adult sons and daughter in law STILL LIVE IN HER HOUSE.
rating: 3.5
DAY 5: VILLA ADRIANA
lately everything i pick up seems like it's set in italy. at first this was fun because in 2ish weeks i'll be in italy, but now like anything else it's getting old.
rating: 3
DAY 6: CLIFFS OF FALL
well, it's been 3 weeks and i've taken a full whirlwind trip through europe during which i initially (delusionally) thought i'd be keeping up this project, but...
obviously i didn't. but this was a nice way to resume!
rating: 3.5
DAY 7: WEEKEND
birthday story. this one has to be good.
couples are so evil. you can spend your whole life single and then finally give in to a relationship and suddenly you're wickedly sympathetic to anyone who doesn't share your plight.
rating: 3.5
DAY 8: HAROLD
such a bummer to be on a good story streak and then have one that's incontrovertibly meh. it feels inappropriate to be able to obviously tell what a story is trying to do while seeing that it isn't doing it...like someone whose skirt is tucked up in their underwear.
rating: 2.5
DAY 9: THE PICNIC
a sequel story!
to be honest i am blown away with myself for remembering the names of characters in a short story i read a month ago.
rating: 3.5
DAY 10: THE WORST PART OF THE DAY
hope the answer here is "waking up."
in spite of the fact that this story says its title about 11 times (see day 8), none of those times is waking up.
rating: 3
DAY 11: NOTHING IN EXCESS
this is like a satire of corporate life if the satire had to keep excusing itself to explain itself to you.
rating: 2.5
DAY 12: THE FLOWERS OF SORROW
not a sequel story...
rating: 2.5
DAY 13: THE MEETING
well. it appears that this whole section (titled, a bit obviously, PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES) is a set of stories about the same people at the same company.
god help me.
rating: 2.5
DAY 14: SWOBODA'S TRAGEDY
i confess to looking ahead to see how many stories i still have yet to spend in this terrible awful "Organization" and i am demoralized to see the answer is 5.
i'll be tolerating these well into next week.
rating: 2.5
DAY 15: THE STORY OF MISS SADIE GRAINE
this is a story about a person's name who, when referenced in the last story, entered into a coquettish parenthetical about how sadie was a person in and of herself and we might be hearing HER story someday.
sigh. lucky us.
rating: 2.5
DAY 16: OFFICIAL LIFE
i did appreciate this story for agreeing with what i've always said: that it's actually tuesdays (not mondays) that are the worst day of the week.
but not for much else.
rating: 2.5
DAY 17: A SENSE OF MISSION
and so we beat on...boats against the current....
these never do stick the landing either.
rating: 2.5
DAY 18: THE SEPARATION OF DINAH DELBANCO
what joy...the final installment of this section.
rating: 2.5
DAY 19: WOOLLAHRA ROAD
with great relief and gratitude we move our way into the UNCOLLECTED / UNPUBLISHED section, and i hope i'm not soon saying "i see why."
phew.
rating: 3.5
DAY 20: FORGIVING
this story should have been clichéd first and foremost, and maybe it was, but all i know is i felt completely charmed by it.
rating: 4
DAY 21: COMFORT
i really can't believe THESE are the unpublished / uncollected ones. after all we've been through...
rating: 4
DAY 22: OUT OF ITEA
okay...well this has already taught me a new word if nothing else.
oh. never mind. it's a place, not a type of shrub. anyway this was fairly lovely.
rating: 3.5
DAY 23: THE EVERLASTING DELIGHT
that's what they call me. because of my unparalleled conversational skills, obviously.
i love House Talk.
rating: 3.5
DAY 24: THE STATUE AND THE BUST
extremely cool to be a smart and effortlessly charming woman who manages to mildly embarrass some random guy while simultaneously not thinking of him at all...
rating: 3.5
DAY 25: LEAVE IT TO ME
this one felt needlessly confusing. but maybe i'm just irritable.
rating: 3
DAY 26: SIR CECIL'S RIDE
oh men and women and young and old and so on and so forth.
rating: 3
DAY 27: LE NOZZE
i'd love to someday love anything as much as shirley hazzard loves italy.
this one was very romantic, and also not italian. whoops.
rating: 4
DAY 28: THE SACK OF SILENCE
what a nice note to end on: just banter city.
rating: 3.5
OVERALL
so much of this — the stories that feel like small captured moments of everyday life — is perfectly wonderful. unfortunately, bizarrely, inexplicably, a whole central swath of this book was what i can only refer to as the horrible corporate section.
i enjoyed this, for the most part, except when i detested it utterly.
rating: 3
the background:
i have decided to become a genius.
to accomplish this, i'm going to work my way through the collected stories of various authors, reading + reviewing 1 story every day until i get bored / lose every single follower / am struck down by a vengeful deity.
we're approaching the third anniversary of my commencement of this project and also i have not undertaken an installment of it in several months, so this is an exciting event.
let's get into it.
view project parts 1-26 here
DAY 1: THE PARTY
starting this whole thing off on a real "men are trash" note.
and ending the first story (which had many witticisms and clever turns of phrase) on a real "cheesy dialogue" note.
rating: 3
DAY 2: A PLACE IN THE COUNTRY
hell is a teenage girl!!!
rating: 3.5
DAY 3: VITTORIO
the guiding philosophy of this story is one i agree with (that women are very beautiful and know everything nearly before it happens).
rating: 3.5
DAY 4: IN ONE'S OWN HOUSE
ignoring everything i'm supposed to be paying attention to in this one to be incredibly disturbed by the idea of being a wealthy widow whose two adult sons and daughter in law STILL LIVE IN HER HOUSE.
rating: 3.5
DAY 5: VILLA ADRIANA
lately everything i pick up seems like it's set in italy. at first this was fun because in 2ish weeks i'll be in italy, but now like anything else it's getting old.
rating: 3
DAY 6: CLIFFS OF FALL
well, it's been 3 weeks and i've taken a full whirlwind trip through europe during which i initially (delusionally) thought i'd be keeping up this project, but...
obviously i didn't. but this was a nice way to resume!
rating: 3.5
DAY 7: WEEKEND
birthday story. this one has to be good.
couples are so evil. you can spend your whole life single and then finally give in to a relationship and suddenly you're wickedly sympathetic to anyone who doesn't share your plight.
rating: 3.5
DAY 8: HAROLD
such a bummer to be on a good story streak and then have one that's incontrovertibly meh. it feels inappropriate to be able to obviously tell what a story is trying to do while seeing that it isn't doing it...like someone whose skirt is tucked up in their underwear.
rating: 2.5
DAY 9: THE PICNIC
a sequel story!
to be honest i am blown away with myself for remembering the names of characters in a short story i read a month ago.
rating: 3.5
DAY 10: THE WORST PART OF THE DAY
hope the answer here is "waking up."
in spite of the fact that this story says its title about 11 times (see day 8), none of those times is waking up.
rating: 3
DAY 11: NOTHING IN EXCESS
this is like a satire of corporate life if the satire had to keep excusing itself to explain itself to you.
rating: 2.5
DAY 12: THE FLOWERS OF SORROW
not a sequel story...
rating: 2.5
DAY 13: THE MEETING
well. it appears that this whole section (titled, a bit obviously, PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES) is a set of stories about the same people at the same company.
god help me.
rating: 2.5
DAY 14: SWOBODA'S TRAGEDY
i confess to looking ahead to see how many stories i still have yet to spend in this terrible awful "Organization" and i am demoralized to see the answer is 5.
i'll be tolerating these well into next week.
rating: 2.5
DAY 15: THE STORY OF MISS SADIE GRAINE
this is a story about a person's name who, when referenced in the last story, entered into a coquettish parenthetical about how sadie was a person in and of herself and we might be hearing HER story someday.
sigh. lucky us.
rating: 2.5
DAY 16: OFFICIAL LIFE
i did appreciate this story for agreeing with what i've always said: that it's actually tuesdays (not mondays) that are the worst day of the week.
but not for much else.
rating: 2.5
DAY 17: A SENSE OF MISSION
and so we beat on...boats against the current....
these never do stick the landing either.
rating: 2.5
DAY 18: THE SEPARATION OF DINAH DELBANCO
what joy...the final installment of this section.
rating: 2.5
DAY 19: WOOLLAHRA ROAD
with great relief and gratitude we move our way into the UNCOLLECTED / UNPUBLISHED section, and i hope i'm not soon saying "i see why."
phew.
rating: 3.5
DAY 20: FORGIVING
this story should have been clichéd first and foremost, and maybe it was, but all i know is i felt completely charmed by it.
rating: 4
DAY 21: COMFORT
i really can't believe THESE are the unpublished / uncollected ones. after all we've been through...
rating: 4
DAY 22: OUT OF ITEA
okay...well this has already taught me a new word if nothing else.
oh. never mind. it's a place, not a type of shrub. anyway this was fairly lovely.
rating: 3.5
DAY 23: THE EVERLASTING DELIGHT
that's what they call me. because of my unparalleled conversational skills, obviously.
i love House Talk.
rating: 3.5
DAY 24: THE STATUE AND THE BUST
extremely cool to be a smart and effortlessly charming woman who manages to mildly embarrass some random guy while simultaneously not thinking of him at all...
rating: 3.5
DAY 25: LEAVE IT TO ME
this one felt needlessly confusing. but maybe i'm just irritable.
rating: 3
DAY 26: SIR CECIL'S RIDE
oh men and women and young and old and so on and so forth.
rating: 3
DAY 27: LE NOZZE
i'd love to someday love anything as much as shirley hazzard loves italy.
this one was very romantic, and also not italian. whoops.
rating: 4
DAY 28: THE SACK OF SILENCE
what a nice note to end on: just banter city.
rating: 3.5
OVERALL
so much of this — the stories that feel like small captured moments of everyday life — is perfectly wonderful. unfortunately, bizarrely, inexplicably, a whole central swath of this book was what i can only refer to as the horrible corporate section.
i enjoyed this, for the most part, except when i detested it utterly.
rating: 3
May 20, 2024
4.5 stars. Shirley Hazzard has a lot to say in these stories and it appears much of it is autobiographical. This collection consists of Hazzard's two books of short stories released during the 60's and 70's while the 3rd section of this collection is uncollected and unpublished stories. Hazzard is originally from Australia but lived in the New York City--where she worked at the U.N. for 10 years and later made her home in Italy and the island of Capri. She married a man much older than herself and this is a theme (younger women involved with an older men) that runs through many of her stories.
My favorite stories were in the first section, Cliffs of Fall and the later unpublished or uncollected works which I felt was surprisingly the strongest of all. The middle section People in Glass Houses is a group of linked stories about The Organization (alluding to the workings of the U.N). This section felt cynical and at times almost malicious in its attitude. The stories were interesting but rarely had anything good to say about The Organization.
The last section contained two of my favorite stories. The Statue and the Bust took top place for me--a story about a young woman leading a group of girls around Italy where she meets in passing an older man who is enchanted with her and their short encounter is both beautiful, poetic and slightly sad. The story Forgiving was another favorite about a husband and wife talking over an infidelity with interesting results.
Overall it was a great collection and I really enjoyed most of it. Hazzard is a wonderful writer and has a real gift for bringing the surroundings in the story to life. She uses humor frequently and this brings relief to what be very difficult and melancholy subjects. I both read and listened to the audio of this collection. The audio is read by Susan Lyons who has the perfect voice and narration for these stories which are mostly told from a female point of view. Zoe Heller lead off the audio with a wonderful Introduction to the collection that helped me to understand how Hazzard's own life influenced her work.
My favorite stories were in the first section, Cliffs of Fall and the later unpublished or uncollected works which I felt was surprisingly the strongest of all. The middle section People in Glass Houses is a group of linked stories about The Organization (alluding to the workings of the U.N). This section felt cynical and at times almost malicious in its attitude. The stories were interesting but rarely had anything good to say about The Organization.
The last section contained two of my favorite stories. The Statue and the Bust took top place for me--a story about a young woman leading a group of girls around Italy where she meets in passing an older man who is enchanted with her and their short encounter is both beautiful, poetic and slightly sad. The story Forgiving was another favorite about a husband and wife talking over an infidelity with interesting results.
Overall it was a great collection and I really enjoyed most of it. Hazzard is a wonderful writer and has a real gift for bringing the surroundings in the story to life. She uses humor frequently and this brings relief to what be very difficult and melancholy subjects. I both read and listened to the audio of this collection. The audio is read by Susan Lyons who has the perfect voice and narration for these stories which are mostly told from a female point of view. Zoe Heller lead off the audio with a wonderful Introduction to the collection that helped me to understand how Hazzard's own life influenced her work.
November 28, 2020
Collected Stories is a book of twenty-eight works of short fiction by award-winning Australian author, Shirley Hazzard. Eighteen have been previously published in two volumes: Cliffs of Fall and People in Glass Houses, while eight are uncollected and two, previously unpublished.
The first ten stories are virtually devoid of any trace of joy, or any hint of humour; in fact, the first two stories, concerning older men taking advantage of young women, are particularly depressing. One young woman muses: “She reflected that in love one can only win by cheating and that the skill is to cheat first. (Having coveted neither the advantage nor the skill, however, she had no justification for disputing—as she did—the defeat that confronted her.)”
Hazzard’s descriptive prose is often beautiful, and her characters are complex, but whether people really spoke that way in the late 1950s, only a reader of a certain vintage and class could comment. Some of these stories feel unfinished, rather more like the first chapter of a longer work.
Hazzard’s work at the UN certainly authenticates the second collection, People In Glass Houses. These eight stories, satires on bureaucracy, feel more complete, and various characters appear in each other’s stories, the whole being set mostly in Geneva at the offices of “The Organization”. While there is humour in them (DALTO, the Department of Aid to the Less Technically Oriented. The work of this department— to induce backward nations to come forward, with sections like Forceful Implementation of Peace Treaties and Peaceful Uses of Atomic Weapons), by the time the reader reaches Sadie Graine, boredom and skimming may well set in.
The remaining ten stories are, except for some, pleasant enough reads, and Hazzard is skilled at portrayals of moments of crisis and understanding of the relationships between men and women. She throws her characters into situations and records their reactions, so the result is very much dialogue and inner monologue driven. As with Anne Tyler novels, not much happens, but Tyler does it better, or at least with more appeal to the common reader. A mixed bag.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
The first ten stories are virtually devoid of any trace of joy, or any hint of humour; in fact, the first two stories, concerning older men taking advantage of young women, are particularly depressing. One young woman muses: “She reflected that in love one can only win by cheating and that the skill is to cheat first. (Having coveted neither the advantage nor the skill, however, she had no justification for disputing—as she did—the defeat that confronted her.)”
Hazzard’s descriptive prose is often beautiful, and her characters are complex, but whether people really spoke that way in the late 1950s, only a reader of a certain vintage and class could comment. Some of these stories feel unfinished, rather more like the first chapter of a longer work.
Hazzard’s work at the UN certainly authenticates the second collection, People In Glass Houses. These eight stories, satires on bureaucracy, feel more complete, and various characters appear in each other’s stories, the whole being set mostly in Geneva at the offices of “The Organization”. While there is humour in them (DALTO, the Department of Aid to the Less Technically Oriented. The work of this department— to induce backward nations to come forward, with sections like Forceful Implementation of Peace Treaties and Peaceful Uses of Atomic Weapons), by the time the reader reaches Sadie Graine, boredom and skimming may well set in.
The remaining ten stories are, except for some, pleasant enough reads, and Hazzard is skilled at portrayals of moments of crisis and understanding of the relationships between men and women. She throws her characters into situations and records their reactions, so the result is very much dialogue and inner monologue driven. As with Anne Tyler novels, not much happens, but Tyler does it better, or at least with more appeal to the common reader. A mixed bag.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
December 13, 2020
I might have just found a new favourite author. (Well, I have many, but who's counting.)
Hazzard is funny in a non obvious way; the stories in "People in Glass Houses", which probably reflect her own experience at the UN, are humorous with a touch of kafkaesque absurdity. But she also manages to capture domestic conflicts in a very particular way—her characters in "Cliffs of Fall" are incredibly believable; they're mature, intellectual, they quote poetry and know about art and mythology, they're flawed and sometimes misogynistic, they have affairs or live in solitude.
I only wished it was a collection of selected stories, but I'm just picky.
P.S. William Maxwell really did have a nose for good storytelling.
Hazzard is funny in a non obvious way; the stories in "People in Glass Houses", which probably reflect her own experience at the UN, are humorous with a touch of kafkaesque absurdity. But she also manages to capture domestic conflicts in a very particular way—her characters in "Cliffs of Fall" are incredibly believable; they're mature, intellectual, they quote poetry and know about art and mythology, they're flawed and sometimes misogynistic, they have affairs or live in solitude.
I only wished it was a collection of selected stories, but I'm just picky.
P.S. William Maxwell really did have a nose for good storytelling.
February 22, 2021
This collection was my first introduction to the late Shirley Hazzard's writing. It is broken into three sections: the first deals with love and betrayal and despite the evocations of Europe, just felt depressing. The second section about a nebulous UN-like Organization contained some interesting perspectives on the soul-killing life inside a bureaucracy. The last section contained uncollected stories which had better dialogs than the previous ones.
I am not sure why some folks listed this one as a Pulitzer potential because it only had moments of brilliance for this reader anyway.
I am not sure why some folks listed this one as a Pulitzer potential because it only had moments of brilliance for this reader anyway.
August 22, 2020
These decadent stories, I found, were very satisfying served morning after morning with my coffee. There's a sunny, transcendent quality to them - a world where everyone has perfect diction and visits the tailor with regularity. An alternate world where I sit up straight and always wash my face. Dense and elegant.
December 27, 2020
This was my introduction to Shirley Hazzard, and I'm so glad that her estate consented to have these stories published. They are at once, rooted in the time of writing, and also timeless in their insights.
The first section of the stories examines relationships generally, and men in particular. Hazzard had a lot to say about uneven power dynamics. A couple of my favorite of her incisive observations:
"She thought that the digressions in the minds of men were endless. How many disguises were assumed before they could face themselves. How many justifications were made in order that they might simply please themselves. How dangerous they were in their self-righteousness, infinitely more dangerous than women, who could never persuade themselves to the same degree of the nobility of their actions."
Also:
"Marriage is like democracy--it doesn't really work, but it's all we've been able to come up with . . ."
There's a shorter middle section which didn't engage me nearly as well as the first or third. Still, those stories were an effective and scathing indictment of bureaucracy. Perhaps the brilliance of them is that the reader may truly get bogged down in the absurdity.
The last section is a set of sometimes sweet, and always illuminating, slice of life stories. Those were a joy to read.
Shirley Hazzard was a remarkable writer and observer of humanity. This collection is a worthy introduction to her work.
The first section of the stories examines relationships generally, and men in particular. Hazzard had a lot to say about uneven power dynamics. A couple of my favorite of her incisive observations:
"She thought that the digressions in the minds of men were endless. How many disguises were assumed before they could face themselves. How many justifications were made in order that they might simply please themselves. How dangerous they were in their self-righteousness, infinitely more dangerous than women, who could never persuade themselves to the same degree of the nobility of their actions."
Also:
"Marriage is like democracy--it doesn't really work, but it's all we've been able to come up with . . ."
There's a shorter middle section which didn't engage me nearly as well as the first or third. Still, those stories were an effective and scathing indictment of bureaucracy. Perhaps the brilliance of them is that the reader may truly get bogged down in the absurdity.
The last section is a set of sometimes sweet, and always illuminating, slice of life stories. Those were a joy to read.
Shirley Hazzard was a remarkable writer and observer of humanity. This collection is a worthy introduction to her work.
December 18, 2020
I’m not a great reader of short stories, often finding them frustrating and unsatisfactory, but this collection completely won me over. The 28 stories collected here from Australian-American writer Shirley Hazzard are without exception captivating, showing insight and a shrewd observation of relationships, insecurities and the pain and disappointments of love and life. I read one a day, a real treat to start my mornings. The collection is divided into 3 parts. The first comprises stories from her 1936 collection Cliffs of Fall, sometimes quite brutal stories about love and connection – or lack of it. The 2nd section is from her 1967 collection People in Glass Houses and in these her humour and wit come to the fore. The tales here are sometimes considered a novel but felt more like a series of linked vignettes about life at an international organisation based on the UN, where Hazzard herself worked for a time and she casts a jaundiced eye over bureaucracy in all its absurdities. The last section comprises previously unpublished stories that are tender and often melancholy and sad. Precisely observed, nuanced and compassionate, this timeless collection as a whole made me laugh and cry in equal measure, and her calm measured style, where every word counts, is short story writing at its best.
February 22, 2022
As stiff and lifeless as cardboard.
July 21, 2021
This book is heaven on earth. Shirley Hazzard is a force. What an honor to read her stories bound together in a perfect edition by FSG. While the stories in part I, Cliffs of Fall, brought me to tears and stunned me in their perfect sentences and renderings, the second set of stories, People in Glass Houses, was extraordinary in the way of a near-complete novel. So familiar are the descriptions of work in an administrative agency akin to the UN or similar, with unremarkable leaders and frustrated attempts at recognition and dignity among employees. Still the stories are light and with a sense of hope or slow-coming change. I look forward to reading the rest of Hazzard's work. She was in a league of her own in elegance of voice and sincerity of story. As written in this edition's introduction:
"The stately epigrammatic precision of her observations, the decorousness of her glancing, ironic blows—have a closer affinity with the classic prose of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries than with the frank, unbuttoned work of her contemporaries."
"The stately epigrammatic precision of her observations, the decorousness of her glancing, ironic blows—have a closer affinity with the classic prose of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries than with the frank, unbuttoned work of her contemporaries."
September 6, 2021
Man this took forever. The first section was the strongest; the uncollected were an interesting mix. People In Glass Houses was cohesive but eventually tedious; vaguely dystopian settings don’t hold my interest.
October 5, 2022
This volume is comprised of three parts: a collection of stories, published as "Cliffs of Fall", a second collection, "People in Glass Houses", and a collection of stories which hadn't appeared in book form, amongst which are aa couple of previously unpublished stories.
The bookending segments are pretty much standard "New Yorker" fare; stories of disaffected, well heeled people in New York, New England, England, and Italy, and entertaining enough, but generally exemplars of why the fiction selection is the one part of the magazine which I seldom get around to reading. The middle segment, "People in Glass Houses", is very much the meat in this sandwich; a multifaceted view of "The Organization" (read: the United Nations), with recurring characters and themes, which comprises a fascinating and darkly humorous view of a vast bureaucracy, and the little individuals who make it function (or not).
The bookending segments are pretty much standard "New Yorker" fare; stories of disaffected, well heeled people in New York, New England, England, and Italy, and entertaining enough, but generally exemplars of why the fiction selection is the one part of the magazine which I seldom get around to reading. The middle segment, "People in Glass Houses", is very much the meat in this sandwich; a multifaceted view of "The Organization" (read: the United Nations), with recurring characters and themes, which comprises a fascinating and darkly humorous view of a vast bureaucracy, and the little individuals who make it function (or not).
February 9, 2021
I read this to get out of my comfort zone as I don't often read short stories.
The book consists of 3 sections: Cliffs of Fall, People in Glass Houses and Uncollected/Unpublished stories.
People in Glasshouses was my favourite as it was an interesting take on the nuances of the United Nations (took me a minute to figure out as it is simply referred to as 'The organization')
The author had spend a considerable about of time in Europe, and that is reflective of her writings - it was somewhat pleasant to be transported to various scenes in the Italian countryside
That being side, the book was a bit flat and unexciting, and basically read as a bunch of privileged WASPS having boring convos.
The book consists of 3 sections: Cliffs of Fall, People in Glass Houses and Uncollected/Unpublished stories.
People in Glasshouses was my favourite as it was an interesting take on the nuances of the United Nations (took me a minute to figure out as it is simply referred to as 'The organization')
The author had spend a considerable about of time in Europe, and that is reflective of her writings - it was somewhat pleasant to be transported to various scenes in the Italian countryside
That being side, the book was a bit flat and unexciting, and basically read as a bunch of privileged WASPS having boring convos.
October 23, 2023
I will never give my beloved Shirley Hazzard less than five stars. I’m a little distracted this month, bc I’m working on my own project which means I should probably stick to non fiction for the next while. That’s why it’s taken so long to finish this.
My favorite stories in the collection dealt with love, and particularly, unrequited love. She’s excellent at that. Less appealing were the stories of office politics. Still, SH has an old fashioned sensibility that I adore.
Luckily, there are still one or two novels of hers that I haven’t read yet.
My favorite stories in the collection dealt with love, and particularly, unrequited love. She’s excellent at that. Less appealing were the stories of office politics. Still, SH has an old fashioned sensibility that I adore.
Luckily, there are still one or two novels of hers that I haven’t read yet.
April 27, 2023
4.5 for the UN stories
August 28, 2021
The short stories set in the United Nations style bureaucracy in the 1960s are a delicious satire that will appeal to anybody who has worked in a large corporate office, or a non profit or indeed a UN supported organisation. A classic and a sui generis. Her eye for detail is exquisite. The relationship based short stories are more problematic to a modern eye.
February 27, 2021
Ignore the rating - how can you rate a collection of short stories when some are brilliant and very leave you and others are meh?
This collection is filled with stories about what it's like to work in a huge, powerful and faceless bureaucracy which is a shame because her stories about human relationships are the ones that haunted me.
Masterful writing. An absolute gem.
This collection is filled with stories about what it's like to work in a huge, powerful and faceless bureaucracy which is a shame because her stories about human relationships are the ones that haunted me.
Masterful writing. An absolute gem.
December 26, 2021
A collection of all of Shirley Hazzard’s short stories, including those previously uncollected, even a few previously unpublished. Hazzard’s stories were mostly written during the 60s and generally published in the New Yorker. Her writing style, as in her novels, is formal, her sentences carefully wrought and convoluted (think Henry James lite). The foreword, by Zoe Heller, mentions that Hazzard had toiled thanklessly and unhappily, with no hope of advancement, for seven years in the UN Secretariat, which explains the large number of stories set in “the Organization” (unmistakably the UN, but never called that in the stories), in which she turns a savage, satiric gaze on the people beavering away in a sanctum of mindless, fruitless bureaucracy. She clearly had a residue of bitterness and chagrin to work out, but her years at the UN weren’t entirely wasted, as she spent her time in clear-eyed observation that she later used to good purpose in her stories. But in the end, I found these stories tedious, as they trod the same ground repeatedly. I far preferred the stories about the young women who engage in doomed and unhappy relationships. The same observant gaze is turned on them, minus the satire, and plus a lot of compassion.
September 28, 2024
Why did it take me all these years to discover Shirley Hazzard? I have now read The Great Fire, The Transit of Venus and, with this volume, all of her short stories. What I most adore about her is that she is the heir to the great British authors of the nineteenth century in her precision of language, in the craft with which she constructs her sentences and paragraphs. I just want to yell out loud reading some of the beautiful words she writes. These skills, combined with an uncanny insight into the depths of her characters' souls, makes her writing extraordinary. And, I also have to note her wicked sense of humor and satiric wit (very Thackeray-esque) as she skewers the United Nations in the People in Glass Houses collection. She has now become one of my top favorite authors of all time. I wish I could award her ten stars!!!
January 2, 2021
Shirley Hazzard is an excellent writer but the stories in this collection lack soul. The settings, time lines, and other details are expertly written but the characters are interchangeable. I have a feeling that the characters aren't the point of her stories. At times I felt like I was reading movie scripts rather than fiction. Also, while Hazzard's writing was advertised as fresh and modern in a recent review, I found it to be just the opposite. Very old fashioned. The characters, and there are many of them, are sexless, much like characters in Victorian writing. Ultimately, that's what this compendium reminded me of. Worth the read, though, but be prepared to be less than dazzled.
April 5, 2021
The late Shirley Hazzard is not a natural fit for this reader, but that’s all right: she generally wins me over through the integrity of her iciness and her steadfast refusal to go along with modern literary trends and tendencies. Much of the time reading her COLLECTED STORIES feels like reading something from an earlier century, and I don’t mean the Twentieth.
I’ve read two of her novels, of which The EVENING OF THE HOLIDAY intrigued me and THE GREAT FIRE for the most part left me cold. Her stories have the psychological complexity of the former and none of the preciosity of the latter.
Her judgments are always unsparingly intoned, as when she says of a character: “She had excessive confidence in the instructive power of experience.” Or of another character: “She had a proprietary way of admiring other people’s possessions, as if all good taste were in some measure a tribute to herself.” Of another: “Svoboda was not a brilliant man. He was a man of what used to be known as average and is now known as above-average intelligence.”
I thought at one point of French experimentalist Nathalie Sarraute ’s tropisms, but no, I suspect that Hazzard would probably shun Sarraute’s clinical approach to human character and insist that human character is often and perhaps fortunately unclear. Hazzard’s characters judge others and themselves and as often as not end up in a quandary.
Catch her use of the word “nonsensically” in this passage about a young woman recently widowed and temporarily staying with friends: “In spite of the calamity that brought her there, the time assumed a simple perfection, so that when she and the Stricklands had become nonsensically estranged, that September remained in her memory as something like happiness.” That unexpected word comes from Hazzard’s sure sense of the peculiarity and unaccountability of so much of human affairs.
Nothing I had previously read by this writer, in novels or in this collection of short stories, prepared me for the full-tilt, laugh-out-loud satire of bureaucracy in her story “Nothing in Excess” (from her second collection of short stories, PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES, published in 1967.) I doubt that I’ll ever forget the Mexican rat poison called The Last Supper. I don’t know whether she found that or invented it, but it’s damned funny.
Here she goes with another summation of a character, in “Svoboda’s Tragedy,” one of the strongest stories from PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES: “Since his formal instruction was limited and he had, as a youth, few like-minded companions, his self-education ranged wide, altering course almost from day to day; many subjects were touched upon, though none exhausted, and surprising gaps were left. (These arbitrary gaps subsequently contributed to an impression that Marvyn had educated himself on a desert island, by means of an Encyclopedia Brittanica of which one volume — say, that from LORD to MUMPS — happened to be missing.)"
Surely I’m not alone in giving points to stories that get off to an irresistibly engaging start. Here’s the opening paragraph of “Official Life,” also from PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES: “‘Tuesdays are the worst,’ Luda said. She was sitting on a chair in Ismet’s office taking off her waterproof boots. A succession of people had used the chair for the same purpose in the last fifteen minutes because the office coat-rack was just outside Ismet’s door This annoyed Ismet in general, and he minded it particularly when it was Luda.” With that, I’m ready to read on The next paragraph begins with: “Luda, a beauty, was looking terrible …”
The final section of the book presents eight stories previously published in magazines but never collected and two stories never previously published at all. I’m particularly grateful that “Out of Itea” and “The Everlasting Delight” have been rescued for us.
Hazzard was married to the translator Francis Steegmuller,
Note: You should never do to a book what Hazzard is doing to one in front of her in the author photo on the dust jacket. I assume that she never worked in a library.
I’ve read two of her novels, of which The EVENING OF THE HOLIDAY intrigued me and THE GREAT FIRE for the most part left me cold. Her stories have the psychological complexity of the former and none of the preciosity of the latter.
Her judgments are always unsparingly intoned, as when she says of a character: “She had excessive confidence in the instructive power of experience.” Or of another character: “She had a proprietary way of admiring other people’s possessions, as if all good taste were in some measure a tribute to herself.” Of another: “Svoboda was not a brilliant man. He was a man of what used to be known as average and is now known as above-average intelligence.”
I thought at one point of French experimentalist Nathalie Sarraute ’s tropisms, but no, I suspect that Hazzard would probably shun Sarraute’s clinical approach to human character and insist that human character is often and perhaps fortunately unclear. Hazzard’s characters judge others and themselves and as often as not end up in a quandary.
Catch her use of the word “nonsensically” in this passage about a young woman recently widowed and temporarily staying with friends: “In spite of the calamity that brought her there, the time assumed a simple perfection, so that when she and the Stricklands had become nonsensically estranged, that September remained in her memory as something like happiness.” That unexpected word comes from Hazzard’s sure sense of the peculiarity and unaccountability of so much of human affairs.
Nothing I had previously read by this writer, in novels or in this collection of short stories, prepared me for the full-tilt, laugh-out-loud satire of bureaucracy in her story “Nothing in Excess” (from her second collection of short stories, PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES, published in 1967.) I doubt that I’ll ever forget the Mexican rat poison called The Last Supper. I don’t know whether she found that or invented it, but it’s damned funny.
Here she goes with another summation of a character, in “Svoboda’s Tragedy,” one of the strongest stories from PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES: “Since his formal instruction was limited and he had, as a youth, few like-minded companions, his self-education ranged wide, altering course almost from day to day; many subjects were touched upon, though none exhausted, and surprising gaps were left. (These arbitrary gaps subsequently contributed to an impression that Marvyn had educated himself on a desert island, by means of an Encyclopedia Brittanica of which one volume — say, that from LORD to MUMPS — happened to be missing.)"
Surely I’m not alone in giving points to stories that get off to an irresistibly engaging start. Here’s the opening paragraph of “Official Life,” also from PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES: “‘Tuesdays are the worst,’ Luda said. She was sitting on a chair in Ismet’s office taking off her waterproof boots. A succession of people had used the chair for the same purpose in the last fifteen minutes because the office coat-rack was just outside Ismet’s door This annoyed Ismet in general, and he minded it particularly when it was Luda.” With that, I’m ready to read on The next paragraph begins with: “Luda, a beauty, was looking terrible …”
The final section of the book presents eight stories previously published in magazines but never collected and two stories never previously published at all. I’m particularly grateful that “Out of Itea” and “The Everlasting Delight” have been rescued for us.
Hazzard was married to the translator Francis Steegmuller,
Note: You should never do to a book what Hazzard is doing to one in front of her in the author photo on the dust jacket. I assume that she never worked in a library.
January 30, 2024
Before delivering her well-regarded novels, Shirley Hazzard published scores of short stories, mostly in The New Yorker during the 1960s. This volume brings together her first collection, Cliffs of Fall, a second, People in Glass Houses, and a number of uncollected or unpublished stories. Cities of Fall features men and women enduring bad marriages, travelling to Italy, and conducting not particularly happy love affairs. New Yorker stories, that is, although very well written ones. My copy is well-marked with margin lines highlighting favorite lines including gems like:
• She had a proprietary way of admiring other people’s possessions, as if all good taste were in some measure a tribute to herself.
• He reflected that she was probably the only person he knew who didn’t attach importance to his work. And it *was* important; something would be changed in the field, however imperceptibly, when his book came out.
• She thought of him as a source of knowledge rather than experience; a good, though not contemporary mind, a person rather than a man.
• Like everyone else, he was willing to admit the general probability so long as no specific instance was brought to his attention.
People in Glass Houses reflects the decade Hazzard worked for the United Nations as a typist. In these linked stories, she explores “The Organization,” populated by bureaucrats like Millicent Bass (“one of those who find it easy and even gratifying to direct fraternal feelings toward large numbers of people living at great distances”), and Swoboda (“It was the documents that finally got Swoboda down,” begins the story Swoboda’s Tragedy. “His colleagues supposed that the further postponement of his promotion had been the last straw, but in fact it was the documents that did it.”) Swoboda himself “was not a brilliant man. He was a man of what used to be known as average and is now known as above-average intelligence.”
Higher up the bureaucratic food chain, we encounter Pylos, managed deftly---for a time---by his formidable secretary Miss Sadie Graine: “First-class minds, being interested in the truth, tend to select other first-class minds as companions. Second-class minds, on the other hand, being interested in themselves, will select third-class comrades in order to maintain an illusion of superiority; and it was this way with Pylos.”
And higher still: “Jaspersen was a man whose Out-tray was fuller than his In-tray; whose head was above water, whose feet were on the ground. Who administered a section, and would day direct a branch. Jaspersen had everything to live for---in short, every reason to get up in the morning and come to his office. For years he had tranquilly pursued his work as head of the Contingency and Unresolved Disputes Section, and would eventually go on to even more gratifying tasks in areas yet more contentious.”
As a Sector 7-G Man myself, I found these stories both profound and upsetting. As with much short fiction, at times I felt not quite up to the task of extracting maximum value. But I’m glad I for a time immersed myself in a world where the ladies routinely quote verse and the (usually unworthy) gentlemen assume a particularly serious look “when delivering lay opinions on scientific subjects.”
Definitely more Hazzard in my future. 4 stars.
• She had a proprietary way of admiring other people’s possessions, as if all good taste were in some measure a tribute to herself.
• He reflected that she was probably the only person he knew who didn’t attach importance to his work. And it *was* important; something would be changed in the field, however imperceptibly, when his book came out.
• She thought of him as a source of knowledge rather than experience; a good, though not contemporary mind, a person rather than a man.
• Like everyone else, he was willing to admit the general probability so long as no specific instance was brought to his attention.
People in Glass Houses reflects the decade Hazzard worked for the United Nations as a typist. In these linked stories, she explores “The Organization,” populated by bureaucrats like Millicent Bass (“one of those who find it easy and even gratifying to direct fraternal feelings toward large numbers of people living at great distances”), and Swoboda (“It was the documents that finally got Swoboda down,” begins the story Swoboda’s Tragedy. “His colleagues supposed that the further postponement of his promotion had been the last straw, but in fact it was the documents that did it.”) Swoboda himself “was not a brilliant man. He was a man of what used to be known as average and is now known as above-average intelligence.”
Higher up the bureaucratic food chain, we encounter Pylos, managed deftly---for a time---by his formidable secretary Miss Sadie Graine: “First-class minds, being interested in the truth, tend to select other first-class minds as companions. Second-class minds, on the other hand, being interested in themselves, will select third-class comrades in order to maintain an illusion of superiority; and it was this way with Pylos.”
And higher still: “Jaspersen was a man whose Out-tray was fuller than his In-tray; whose head was above water, whose feet were on the ground. Who administered a section, and would day direct a branch. Jaspersen had everything to live for---in short, every reason to get up in the morning and come to his office. For years he had tranquilly pursued his work as head of the Contingency and Unresolved Disputes Section, and would eventually go on to even more gratifying tasks in areas yet more contentious.”
As a Sector 7-G Man myself, I found these stories both profound and upsetting. As with much short fiction, at times I felt not quite up to the task of extracting maximum value. But I’m glad I for a time immersed myself in a world where the ladies routinely quote verse and the (usually unworthy) gentlemen assume a particularly serious look “when delivering lay opinions on scientific subjects.”
Definitely more Hazzard in my future. 4 stars.
June 4, 2021
In the 1980s remake of "The Fly", Jeff Goldblum's mad scientist teletransports a steak to test out his machine. When it comes out, it looks and cuts like a steak, but it has no taste - it's a computer interpretation of a steak, not the same as the real thing.
That's what these stories feel like. In a technical sense, they are "competent", and "well-written". But you would be hard-pressed to find writing which takes more words to convey less meaning. In most of these stories literally nothing happens . No emotion, no buildup, no climax. It's almost as though Hazzard undertook a writing exercise: "Write a detailed, 3,000 word story in which there is no plot, no character development, no conflict, and no resolution."
Mission accomplished, Shirley. Hat's off to you.
I suppose if you like stories set in the 1950s with characters that sound like they are stuck in the 1820s, this might be for you. If you like stories in which 80% of the exposition takes place only in inner monologue within the characters' heads, here's your jam. Or, if you grew up in a WASPy world of self-censure and emotional repression, you might enjoy stories in which no one says what they are thinking, ever.
The first section of the book is full of this pseudo-Victorian nonsense, a dozen stories which are literally indistinguishable from one another in anything but their setting. The second section is a collection of stories that seem almost like an in-joke by the author, as they are all set in the UN and involve the pedestrian lives of functionaries. It's as if Hazzard wanted to show us 1) I'm worldly! and 2) The lives of government officials sure are pedestrian, aren't they? And the third section is comprised of uncollected stories written later on in the author's life, to show us, I suppose, that age did not occasion any development in her as a writer.
This collection is so drab that by the end, when I got to a story in which a day-tripping group (so many of these stories involve day-tripping groups - why, Shirley? Why?) comes across a spreading forest fire, I actually had to stop and reread the page because I didn't realize that something had actually happened! . But never mind, the characters move on, and the fire recedes into the background.
This would be a great beach read, if you like to fall asleep at the beach. Or a great bedtime read, if you have incurable insomnia. Or the book would make a decent doorstop, because good god it sure is long and thick. But looking at the author blurbs on the back of the book, I question what text those critics actually read, because it sure as shit couldn't have been this one.
That's what these stories feel like. In a technical sense, they are "competent", and "well-written". But you would be hard-pressed to find writing which takes more words to convey less meaning. In most of these stories literally nothing happens . No emotion, no buildup, no climax. It's almost as though Hazzard undertook a writing exercise: "Write a detailed, 3,000 word story in which there is no plot, no character development, no conflict, and no resolution."
Mission accomplished, Shirley. Hat's off to you.
I suppose if you like stories set in the 1950s with characters that sound like they are stuck in the 1820s, this might be for you. If you like stories in which 80% of the exposition takes place only in inner monologue within the characters' heads, here's your jam. Or, if you grew up in a WASPy world of self-censure and emotional repression, you might enjoy stories in which no one says what they are thinking, ever.
The first section of the book is full of this pseudo-Victorian nonsense, a dozen stories which are literally indistinguishable from one another in anything but their setting. The second section is a collection of stories that seem almost like an in-joke by the author, as they are all set in the UN and involve the pedestrian lives of functionaries. It's as if Hazzard wanted to show us 1) I'm worldly! and 2) The lives of government officials sure are pedestrian, aren't they? And the third section is comprised of uncollected stories written later on in the author's life, to show us, I suppose, that age did not occasion any development in her as a writer.
This collection is so drab that by the end, when I got to a story in which a day-tripping group (so many of these stories involve day-tripping groups - why, Shirley? Why?) comes across a spreading forest fire, I actually had to stop and reread the page because I didn't realize that something had actually happened! . But never mind, the characters move on, and the fire recedes into the background.
This would be a great beach read, if you like to fall asleep at the beach. Or a great bedtime read, if you have incurable insomnia. Or the book would make a decent doorstop, because good god it sure is long and thick. But looking at the author blurbs on the back of the book, I question what text those critics actually read, because it sure as shit couldn't have been this one.
November 10, 2021
Was initially disappointed with this. I've read two of Hazzard's novels ('The Great Fire' and 'The Transit of Venus'), both of which were very strong, especially 'The Transit of Venus', which I think is a properly great book, so had high expectations for this collection of her stories. The book is made up of the two volumes of short fiction Hazzard published in her lifetime, and also various pieces that were never collectively published while she was alive. Working through the first batch of stories, I thought the strengths in her novels were mostly negated; with a few exceptions, her seriousness reads as a lack of humour, her deep interest in literature reads as intellectual snobbery (a character is only worthy of interest and interiority if they can casually quote 19th century poetry in conversation) and the heightened, epigrammatical dialogue of the novels reads here as being cold and stilted.
The 2nd batch of stories all revolve around the office life of the United Nations, where Hazzard worked for several years. Based on these stories, it seems she absolutely despised her time there; her disdain for the organisation energises the stories out of the coldness in the first part of the book, and pushes her to take a satirical stance that allow for a type of bitter humour, and a more sardonic authorial voice. The depiction of the U.N. as a bureaucratic black hole is unabashedly one sided, while also being enjoyable (and recognisable), but the intellectual snobbery is still present; the antagonistic characters are skewered for not catching a reference to Euripides, or knowing who Bakunin is, in contrast to the better read, and therefore more soulful, protagonists that Hazzard sympathises with. Despite the wide international make up of the United Nations, Hazzard also sticks skittishly to mostly depicting characters from the global north; it might be a bit much to expect a mid century Anglo-Australian novelist to have a multicultural range, but it is exasperating when the characters she does present are depicted with such authorial (self?) regard as intellectually curious, culturally wide ranging aesthetes.
The third batch of previously uncollected stories were by far the most powerful, and reminded me of the skill that was apparent in Hazzard's novels; the writing is more expanse, and her sympathy more wide ranging. The pieces themselves were often written around the same time as those that were published together in the other two volumes, so I'm not sure why together they are so much more impactful, but they are by far the highlight of the collection, and made me glad I hadn't given up on the book in the earlier sections.
The 2nd batch of stories all revolve around the office life of the United Nations, where Hazzard worked for several years. Based on these stories, it seems she absolutely despised her time there; her disdain for the organisation energises the stories out of the coldness in the first part of the book, and pushes her to take a satirical stance that allow for a type of bitter humour, and a more sardonic authorial voice. The depiction of the U.N. as a bureaucratic black hole is unabashedly one sided, while also being enjoyable (and recognisable), but the intellectual snobbery is still present; the antagonistic characters are skewered for not catching a reference to Euripides, or knowing who Bakunin is, in contrast to the better read, and therefore more soulful, protagonists that Hazzard sympathises with. Despite the wide international make up of the United Nations, Hazzard also sticks skittishly to mostly depicting characters from the global north; it might be a bit much to expect a mid century Anglo-Australian novelist to have a multicultural range, but it is exasperating when the characters she does present are depicted with such authorial (self?) regard as intellectually curious, culturally wide ranging aesthetes.
The third batch of previously uncollected stories were by far the most powerful, and reminded me of the skill that was apparent in Hazzard's novels; the writing is more expanse, and her sympathy more wide ranging. The pieces themselves were often written around the same time as those that were published together in the other two volumes, so I'm not sure why together they are so much more impactful, but they are by far the highlight of the collection, and made me glad I hadn't given up on the book in the earlier sections.
March 23, 2023
More of those precise and often scrumptious sentences. But primarily about posturing, affected and emotionally flawed individuals. Mainly from the upper classes but holding entirely nil amounts of joy or unfettered good intent.
Hazzard's work will stand the tests of time. The angry complaint quotient is nearly equal to our own times (post 2010). But with less true classiness, that tries to appear AS class.
She posits juxtapositions of her time well from her own points of view and her distracted or imposed upon females. And you know it throughout. Work being "important" only at the top levels.
Most of these stories are interesting, but do not expect core honesty or any traces of humor or assuming the best within them. Or respect for chores, tasks, work well done but not of the verbal or theory level administration modes or artistic world groups.
The more I have read Shirley Hazzard the more I have come to the conclusion that she is almost exactly the type of woman I have come over decades to avoid. Erudite complainer of convinced nature has a seat in almost every fiction work, of any length on top of it. But often it is easy to embed within her ambitions.
The twisty and inverted style prose of an earlier era is always on display. But often it doesn't hold together well in dialogue, IMHO. And for me, becomes stilted and hard to read.
Hazzard's work will stand the tests of time. The angry complaint quotient is nearly equal to our own times (post 2010). But with less true classiness, that tries to appear AS class.
She posits juxtapositions of her time well from her own points of view and her distracted or imposed upon females. And you know it throughout. Work being "important" only at the top levels.
Most of these stories are interesting, but do not expect core honesty or any traces of humor or assuming the best within them. Or respect for chores, tasks, work well done but not of the verbal or theory level administration modes or artistic world groups.
The more I have read Shirley Hazzard the more I have come to the conclusion that she is almost exactly the type of woman I have come over decades to avoid. Erudite complainer of convinced nature has a seat in almost every fiction work, of any length on top of it. But often it is easy to embed within her ambitions.
The twisty and inverted style prose of an earlier era is always on display. But often it doesn't hold together well in dialogue, IMHO. And for me, becomes stilted and hard to read.
March 20, 2024
I am a great fan of Shirley Hazzard and these stories do not disappoint. They are divided into three sections The first section contains stories of human relationships where men regularly and women occasionally behabe badly. She is adept at portraying our failure as human beings to understand and relate to each other's needs. The second section contain stories of The Orfganisation. These stories reflect Ms. Hazzard's career working for the United Nations in the 1950s. The stories are more humerous and reflect the author's struggles with remote bureaucracy. However they also expose cruelty and mysoginy. The last section are pieces that were not published in the author's lifetime though most were published in the New Yorker after her death. I feel a bit uncomfortable reading works not released for publication by the author in their lifetime. One almost feels like a peeping tom. Some of these pieces do feel unfinished. However the intelligence and literacy of the author's writing ensures much pleasure for the reader.
February 15, 2024
Lacking more novels to scratch the Hazzard itch, I turned to this collection of stories, itself two story collections and a smattering of other materials. The fact that it's anchored by two separate collections is important since the first--searching individuals, generally abroad, finding company and estrangement in equal (in quantity, not in quality) measure--aligns pretty cleanly with the novels, while the second--searching individuals working in the service of a British UN-style self-righteous world-building entity--leans a bit farther into political and social satire than one quite wants. Still, the ease with which Hazzard can flesh out a three dimensional personality is an almost unparalleled magic trick, and that she finds so much specificity in a world marked mostly by sameness is extraordinary. The UN volume's humor wears thin at times since it's mostly the same joke, but I still found it charming.
January 2, 2021
I read a few stories from this collection. I appreciated her writing but found them stiff in a way that didn't appeal to me now. The stories were, as the New Yorker said, (for whom she by the way wrote), that she observes with witty intelligence about "condescending, pitilessly detached men and the trapped women who love them — and they’re simply brutal." She is Australian-American best known for her book the Transit of Venus. She rebuked Stephen King at the National book awards when he pomoted popular fiction she claimed his list was not much. She walked in a literary world! Just not my cup of tea right now- I will try Transit of Venus though. Short stories I much prefer are from her contemporary in age only-William Trevor Last Stories.
December 27, 2021
The first set of stories focus on marital relationships. Or better said, marriage dysfunctions. The men are cruel. The women suffer and accept their cruelty. The second set of stories, taking place in the Organization (otherwise known as the United Nations, where Hazzard unfortunately suffered through some working years), I found more appealing. Filled with humor and wit. This collection ends with Hazzard's uncollected short stories. Some are better than others. Hazzard's language can be knotty, and rich, and her sentences can be full of observations, and thoughts, and words left unsaid, and so many shifts in thoughts, that you must keep focus or lose the thread and therefore need to re-read to catch the meaning or point.
May 21, 2023
“‘You don’t know how isolated one feels. You have so many— attachments.’
‘You make me sound like a vacuum cleaner.’ He smiled. With his other hand he lifted a strand of damp hair back from her cheek”
(This made me giggle so much)
In this collection Shirley Hazzard perfectly captured moments when things are unsaid. You could read a few pages and come out having a true sense of the characters and how it would feel to know them in real life.
She has an ironic sense of humor that is obvious in every story. It seemed to me like a message not to take life so seriously.
This made me laugh a lot, and now I want to read everything else she has written.
‘You make me sound like a vacuum cleaner.’ He smiled. With his other hand he lifted a strand of damp hair back from her cheek”
(This made me giggle so much)
In this collection Shirley Hazzard perfectly captured moments when things are unsaid. You could read a few pages and come out having a true sense of the characters and how it would feel to know them in real life.
She has an ironic sense of humor that is obvious in every story. It seemed to me like a message not to take life so seriously.
This made me laugh a lot, and now I want to read everything else she has written.
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