Saturday, 28 April 2007

Personality of the week


For those of you who regularly read the blog you have probably noticed two things:

1) posts are a less frequent at the moment

2) Personality of the week is often late.

My apologises for these two issues. Owing to exams, however, I doubt neither will be properly fixed until the end of the exam season. Be assured that I will keep at least a couple of items for you in the week.


Without further a do then, this week’s personality of the week is….


SAKI also known as Hector Hugh Munro, congratulations to you.

Saki, and his favourite character Clovis lies somewhere between Wilde and Wodehouse both chronologically and in some ways content.

Born in India in 1870 Saki was an active writer of satirical and comic stories from around 1900 until the outbreak of World War 1.
His stories usually feature dapper and witty young Edwardian men who delight in the discomfort of their elders. In one
Clovis story for example, the main character argues that really there is no value in anything – just look at Nietzsche. Lest things get too morbid, however, on another occasion Clovis finds tremendous meaning in his sartorial elegance.
Saki is like Wilde in the sense his stories can sometimes be quite biting, but like Wodehouse in the sense that his characters tend to be wealthy and slightly childish.

Here are some nice quotations from Saki to round off the entry. Saki, your free drink awaits at the bar - but remember no smoking in public places comes into effect soon!

“Romance at short notice was her speciality”

“The stage, with all its efforts, can never be as artificial as life.”(he even sounds like Wilde!)


“The cook was a good cook, as cooks go; and as cooks go she went.”(but this word play reminds me more of dear PG!)

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