The Complete Short Stories, Volume One

By: W. Somerset Maugham

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

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

Awesome performance !

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

Somerset Maugham

These stories, so well read, have given us so many wonderful afternoons! Thanks to Audible.

A very fine read

This excellent collection of stories was very entertaining. I enjoyed them all. Sep out of modern fiction and enjoy some thought provoking beautifully written short stories.

Very civilized and engaging.

I’ve listened to it three times as I’ve done for the other two volumes. Can’t get enough five stars on all count’s

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

Wonderful introduction to WSM

I'd never read anything by Somerset Maugham before, and after the first couple of stories I wondered what all the fuss was about. I'm glad I kept on, because the master storyteller soon emerged in subsequent tales and didn't let up. I will be moving on to the remaining volumes in this series as quickly as I can. The reader is sometimes a bit leaden, and there is an unnecessary musical soundtrack at the beginning and end of each tale, which comes across like a cheesy radio production. But all in all, this is wonderful stuff!

I LOVE THIS AUTHOR!

I am writing this review before I finish listening because I'm finding this author a wonderful new friend. And I wanted to say that while the sound effects and musical interludes are unexpected, not necessary, I am enjoying them very much. I am a musician and sensitive to anything that would be too loud or vulgar or badly done. To my mind, whoever did the sounds was clever and creative with a sense of fun and drama. I love that dissonant chord that seems to say, "Oh, dear! Now what?"

Yes, this narrator has a problem with women's voices. He sounds like a man trying to speak falsetto. I have noticed that French and Japanese women still cultivate their voices. My friend Akiko sounded like little silver bells. Old recordings of Jackie Kennedy make her sound kitteny, like a kid wearing a pink angora sweater on a date! Hardly a powerful, educated woman! Griffin's women sound like that. So be it. This narrator is marvelous for the men's voices, all the accents, and the narration. He is fine by me and I will be downloading his version of "Of Human Bondage."

As for the stories, some leave me feeling better than others. All are well done. "The Outstation" has changed my life. As another reviewer put it, you notice characters similar to people you know and situations much like some you have lived with. I didn't find Warburton a snob! I admired him very much and fully understood his little routines for the preservation of sanity. As for Cooper, he is such a doofus, it costs him his life! Low class and going through life with his fists up! White socks with a dress suit and what he doesn't know probably doesn't count for much anyway! Har har! In him I saw a bit of myself, people from my hometown, George Dubbya Bush and now Trump. This story makes me want to shut up and smile and listen.

Offensive sexual stuff? Really? When? It must have been necessary to the story, and we are adults. I am finding Maugham to be whole-souled, a citizen of the world, who enjoys people and describes them wonderfully.

Buyer beware: added sound

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

The content is good, but the music and sound effects are vulgar and awful

What other book might you compare The Complete Short Stories, Volume One to and why?

Don't know

Which character – as performed by Charlton Griffin – was your favorite?

Don't know

If you could rename The Complete Short Stories, Volume One, what would you call it?

Don't know

Any additional comments?

The sound effects and music are vulgar and awful

Wonderful Stories With a Twist

I’m inclined to think that it was William Somerset Maugham’s style - at least in short stories - to fantastically describe his characters and their locations with embedded clues to the inevitable twist coming near the end of his works. And his phrases are fantastic: “It was a sharp sensation, simulating to the appetite (like hot sauce with ice cream)...” and the culture and discussions among his characters are one with the times in which he describes them.

Nothing can be ill-said of Charlton Griffin. As a narrator, he has a beautiful voice that pronounces every syllable with precision and, especially with these stories, he takes on a character (male or female) and makes them his own. I will always love to hear his voice.

My only complaint about this is that not all of the short stories are here. The title says “Volume One,” but so does my book, and I only heard and read along with the first half of the stories. But this is my own fault for not digging a little deeper, I suppose. The short stories contained in this volume are: Rain, The Fall of Edward Barnard, Mackintosh, Red, Honolulu, The Pool, The Letter, Before the Party, The Force of Circumstance, The Outstation, P & O, Jane, The Round Dozen, and The Creative Impulse. I’m hoping the next 15 stories my book contains are in the next volume. Happy reading!