Jeffrey Archer on the best short stories he’s ever read
Master storyteller Jeffrey Archer is much loved for his ingenious short stories, so we asked him to share some of the short stories he loves and has been inspired by.
Jeffrey Archer might be best known for his epic historical fiction series The Clifton Chronicles and his new William Warwick series, but he is also a master of the short story form. Twenty of his best-loved stories, chosen by readers, are now collected in the covetable volume The Short, the Long and the Tall, beautifully illustrated by renowned illustrator Paul Cox. Here, Jeffrey describes some of the best short stories he’s ever read.
Over the past 40 years, I’ve written five sets of short stories, ninety-two in all. Stories I’ve collected from all over the world, including vignettes told to me of strange or remarkable incidents that have happened in peoples’ lives. Stories about crime, stories about love, stories about disaster and stories about success. I decided, after writing the last set of short stories, Tell Tale, to ask my readers to pick the twenty they liked most out of the ninety-two. Well, they came up with some very interesting choices, which I have now put together in a collection entitled The Short, The Long and The Tall, in which the stories are beautifully brought to life by distinguished illustrator Paul Cox.
It’s sad that nowadays short stories don’t have the same acclaim as novels. When I was a child, many of the great writers produced short stories that delighted us – some of my favourites are by those masters of the genre.
H. H. Munro, better known by the pen name Saki – you only have to read ‘Sredni Vashtar,’ the story of a loathsome aunt and her downtrodden nephew, to know that you’re in the hands of a master.
The Complete Short Stories of Saki
by Saki
Full of Saki’s trademark punchlines, twists and satire, the stories in this collection explode the buttoned-up world of the British upper classes with their brilliance, wit and audacity.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, who wrote one of my favourites, ‘The Diamond as Big as the Ritz’ – where did he get the idea? Such economy of prose, such wit, and all in just a few pages.
Tales of the Jazz Age
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
This beautiful Macmillan Collector’s Library edition features eleven of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s best-loved short stories including ‘The Diamond as Big as the Ritz’. These tales are a window onto the dark glamour of the Roaring Twenties, an era Fitzgerald himself coined the ‘Jazz Age’.
Guy de Maupassant – V. S. Pritchett wrote that ‘The Necklace’ was among the greatest short stories ever written. This Frenchman wrote more than 200 short stories, so it could take you some time to get through them all.
A Parisian Affair and Other Stories
by Guy de Maupassant
The thirty-three short stories in this collection, including ‘The Necklace,’ lay humanity bare with deft wit and devastating honesty. Set both in Paris and the rural Normandy of de Maupassant’s youth, these are some of the most brilliant and darkly humorous stories in nineteenth-century literature.
And there is R. K. Narayan – you’re either a devoted fan of the great Indian storyteller, or you’ve never heard of him. If you fall into the latter category, start with Malgudi Days, and you’ll understand why Graham Greene believed that Narayan should have won the Nobel Prize.
Malgudi Days
by R. K. Narayan
In this stunning collection of short stories, R. K. Narayan creates the imaginary city of Malgudi, shining a spotlight on the essence of India and the human experience. Beautifully realised characters, from an astrologer to a snake-charmer, are at the heart of these fascinating stories.
In this stunning collection of short stories, R. K. Narayan creates the imaginary city of Malgudi, shining a spotlight on the essence of India and the human experience. Beautifully realised characters, from an astrologer to a snake-charmer, are at the heart of these fascinating stories.
100 Selected Stories
by O. Henry
The stories in this collection are known for their ‘twists in the tale,’ delightfully displaying O. Henry’s lively and witty style, full of humour and humanity. Henry paints a richly colourful panorama of social life, from thieves to tycoons and Texan prairies to the streets of New York.
Here, Jeffrey tells us more about The Short, the Long and the Tall, and discusses what he loves about writing short stories:
The Short, The Long and The Tall
by Jeffrey Archer
This stunningly illustrated book is a collection of some of the best-loved short stories from a master of the short story form, Jeffrey Archer. Renowned illustrator Paul Cox brings twenty of Jeffrey’s most popular short stories to life with his beautifully rendered watercolours. This is a must-have for the bookshelf of any Jeffrey Archer fan.