The World of Saki

by H H Munro

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The World of Saki is a collection of short stories by British writer H. H. Munro, who wrote under the pen name Saki.

The stories are fanciful, amusing, and deliciously snarky (but always polite!). They are basically a satire of Edwardian society and culture; the attitudes and behaviors of the aristocrats. Munro's clever wit is just delightful.

Some of my favorite quotes:

"It was like one of the angriest sounds, set to Strauss's music."

"And be surrounded by Americans trying to talk French? No thank you. I love Americans but not when they try to talk French. What a blessing it is that they never try to talk English."

Alexander Spencer, who has narrated a number of classic titles, as well as Jeeves and Sherlock Holmes stories, was the perfect choice of narrator for this collection. The pacing and inflection are fantastic, and Spencer has a clear, distinct voice with wonderfully British pronunciation (a must for these tales).

This collection runs for almost 3 hours, with each story being anywhere between 5 and 18 minutes long. I completely enjoyed these stories ("Tobermory" was my favorite by far), and will likely listen to them again in the future.