Complete Short Stories, Volume Two

By: W. Somerset Maugham

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

In June 1917, W. S. Maugham was asked by the British Secret Intelligence Service, to undertake a special mission in Russia to support Kerensky's government. The mission failed, and two and a half months later, the Bolsheviks took control. Maugham subsequently said that if he had been able to get there six months earlier, he might have succeeded. Quiet and observant, Maugham had a good temperament for intelligence work. The writer used his spying experiences as the basis for his collection of short stories called Ashenden: Or the British Agent. They became the prototype for the modern espionage novel involving a gentlemanly, sophisticated, aloof spy. In volume two of this series, we present the Ashenden stories along with 15 others whose subjects range from South Pacific drama among British colonialists, to Caribbean prison colonies of the French Empire, and the hot tempered Latin stories of South and Central America…masterpieces all.

The stories in volume two are:

• 1. "Miss King" (Ashenden)
• 2. "The Hairless Mexican" (Ashenden)
• 3. "Giulia Lazzari" (Ashenden)
• 4. "The Traitor" (Ashenden)
• 5. "His Excellency" (Ashenden)
• 6. "Mr. Harrington's Washing" (Ashenden)
• 7. "Footprints in the Jungle"
• 8. "The Human Element"
• 9. "Virtue"
• 10. "The Alien Corn"
• 11. "The Book Bag"
• 12. "The Vessel of Wrath"
• 13. "The Door of Opportunity"
• 14. "The Back of Beyond"
• 15. "Neil McAdam"
• 16. "A Woman of Fifty"
• 17. "The Man With the Scar"
• 18. "The Bum"
• 19. "The Closed Shop"
• 20. "An Official Position"
• 21. "A Man with a Conscience"

The Complete Short Stories of W. S. Maugham will continue in volume three.

All stories not in public domain are the property of and published by agreement with the W. Somerset Maugham Royalty Trust.

©2013 Audio Connoisseur (P)2013 Audio Connoisseur

Fabulous

I read book one thoroughly enjoyed it. Book 2 was even better. Going to read book 3.

Wonderfully Read Works!

Each of the stories inside is full of eloquent words that, until hearing/reading them then looking them up, I never knew existed. Maugham’s imagination is incredible. My only misgiving about the stories was the notion set in stone after a few tales that Maugham likes to apply a slight or sometimes heavy twist toward the end. This is not bad by any means. It was something that distracted me from the full beauty of the story, though, because halfway through a tale I would begin to wonder who would do what to whom in order to apply this twist. To keep myself distracted from this I took small breaks between each story. No big deal, really.

Charlton Griffin is a master narrator! Every word was well read and each character had his or her own voice so that there was no confusion in dialogues. He did a wonderful job narrating wonderful stories!

Great performance!

W. Somerset Maugham is one of my favorite authors, but Charlton Griffin’s narration transformed the stories to theatrical dramas. I found the Complete Short Stories Volume One narrate by Mr. Griffin by accident. I enjoyed listening to his way of performances so much that I started to purchase more of the books narrated by him. After finished listening to this volume, I will start to listen to volume 3. I have upgraded my Audiobook membership because of Charlton Griffin’s performance! Love his work!

Improved Stories

I read the first volume of collected Maugham stories and I do say that his storytelling improved in this second volume of stories arranged in the order they were published. They are more nuanced, mature. He ventures into darker regions. Given that he was a closeted gay man, he even wrote about effeminate characters that could be read as gay such as Powder Puff Percy. This all made this volume more interesting to listen to. I highly recommend it.

Excellent.

The first six stories are excellent spy tales. This has fewer stories ending in death than the first collection.
Star Trek fans might enjoy the Alien Corn.
My sole complaint is the unnecessary music with each tale. It's especially intrusive in the Alien Corn, because you have to be able to picture the style of each musician.