From canon to commonplace
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| Washington Irving |
What the rather confusing title/subtitle combination of International Short Stories: American doesn’t tell you is that this is one book of a trilogy which also includes volumes of French and English stories. This particular volume, a collection of 22 short stories by American authors, was edited by William Patten and published by P. F. Collier & Son in 1910. The selections contained within are an odd mix of the classic and the obscure. Glancing down the table of contents one can see that the book begins with some of the greatest names in American literature, followed by some also-rans, and then, with a few exceptions, concluding with the barely-heard-ofs. The result is that the first half of the book reads like a greatest stories of all-time collection, while the latter half comes across as a promotional showcase for up-and-coming unknowns.
In general, not surprisingly, the better-known authors provide the best stories. The book opens with Nathaniel Hawthorne, who’s not one of my personal favorites, but his story “The Prophetic Pictures” is better than his usual fare. This is followed by a line up of heavy hitters including Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, James Fenimore Cooper and Bret Harte. Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” was likely America’s first literary masterpiece, and it still holds up excellently today. In the perfect combination of horror and humor, Irving manages to satirize American folklore while creating his own enduring piece of it. From Poe we get not one of his macabre horror tales but rather the satisfying treasure hunt adventure “The Gold-Bug.” Cooper’s offering, “Corporal Flint’s Murder,” is a solemn tale of White vs. Native American conflict, like a scene lifted straight out of the Leatherstocking Tales. From the mining camp sketches of champion yarn-spinner Harte comes “Uncle Jim and Uncle Billy,” a well crafted and vividly drawn tale of two inseparable claim partners who reach a critical point in their relationship.
So far so good, but overall the collection takes a downward dive from there. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s entry “The Notary of Perigueux” is a bit of a disappointment, given his illustrious name. Still, there are gems here and there. O. Henry delivers an entertaining tale with “The Count and the Wedding Guest.” Of the writers I would consider second-tier authors, Frank Stockton scores with a comedic yarn and Anna Katharine Green provides a tale of suspense reminiscent of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. One of the best stories, “Miss Tooker’s Wedding Gift,” is by an author I’ve never heard of, John Kendrick Bangs. It concerns an idle rich man who goes to great lengths to prove his worth to the woman he loves, with hilarious results. Other pleasant surprises spring from the pens of F. Hopkinson Smith and Charles G. D. Roberts. Too many of the remaining selections are mediocre at best, with the worst being two brief fables by George Ade that amount to little more than dumb punch lines. When taken as a whole, however, the balance sheet is favorable, and the collection hits more than it misses.
You’re not going to find many tales of profound insight or emotional power here. Editor William Patten’s intention seems to have been to pleasantly entertain, so, with few exceptions, what you get are clever, lighthearted tales with surprise endings. This is by no means the best collection of century-old short fiction I’ve ever read, but it’s pretty good overall. Readers who like this sort of thing might also check out the Stories by American Authors series, published by Charles Scribner’s Sons in 1884, of which volumes III, VI, and X are the best.
Stories in this collection
The Prophetic Pictures by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
The Gold-Bug by Edgar Allan Poe
Corporal Flint’s Murder by James Fenimore Cooper
Uncle Jim and Uncle Billy by Bret Harte
The Notary of Perigueux by H. W. Longfellow
The Widow’s Cruise by F. R. Stockton
The Count and the Wedding Guest by O. Henry
Miss Tooker’s Wedding Gift by John Kendrick Bangs
The Fable of the Two Mandolin Players and the Willing Performer by George Ade
The Fable of the Preacher Who Flew His Kite, But Not Because He Wished To Do So by George Ade
The Shadows on the Wall by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
Major Perdue’s Bargain by Joel Chandler Harris
A Kentucky Cinderella by F. Hopkinson Smith
By the Waters of Paradise by F. Marion Crawford
A Memorable Night by Anna Katharine Green
The Man From Red Dog by Alfred Henry Lewis
Jean Michaud’s Little Ship by Charles G. D. Roberts
Those Old Lunes! by W. Gilmore Simms
The Chiropodist by Bayard Taylor
“Mr. Dooley on Corporal Punishment” by F. P. Dunne
Over a Wood Fire by Donald G. Mitchell
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A mixed bag that inspires mixed emotions
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| Bret Harte |
The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Sketches is a collection of short stories and essays by Bret Harte. It was originally published in 1870, though many of the pieces included were previously published in The Overland Monthly, a popular literary periodical edited by Harte. If you do an Amazon search for Harte today, you will find many different collections with “The Luck of Roaring Camp” in the title, but the stories included in those volumes vary widely. This review is based on the contents of the original 1870 edition, which has been duplicated in the 2010 paperback edition by Kessinger Legacy Reprints. The pieces are divided into three sections: Sketches, Stories, and Bohemian Papers. There is no discernible difference between the first two categories, which combined contain twelve short stories. The four pieces included under the heading of Bohemian Papers are all brief essays.
The stories take place in the mining camps and rural towns among the mountains and foothills of northern California, with occasional forays into San Francisco or Sacramento. With this collection, Harte lays the foundation for a California literary tradition that would continue with Jack London, Frank Norris, and John Steinbeck. Harte’s mining camp stories are the obvious precursors to London’s tales of the Klondike Gold Rush, while his beautiful, almost painterly descriptions of the California landscape display the nascent qualities of the naturalistic style perfected by Norris. In the title selection, the only female citizen of Roaring Camp dies while giving birth to a baby boy. Since the child’s father is indeterminate, all the miners decide to pitch in and raise the boy as their communal son. “The Outcasts of Poker Flats” tells the tale of four ne’er-do-wells, exiled from the titular town, who unexpectedly find themselves snowed in on their way to the next village. “Brown of Calaveras” and “Tennessee’s Partner” both depict the uncommon friendships that form between gamblers and thieves. In these moments of brilliance, Harte vividly captures the rustic local color of these wild western towns and populates his tales with a lovable assortment of lowlifes, yet he relates it all through the wryly humorous narrative voice of a refined and distinguished man of letters.
Unfortunately, all too often Harte seems hell-bent on distinguishing himself as the Nathaniel Hawthorne of the West by offering narratives with too much description and not enough story. He delights in using three adjective clauses for every noun and often seems far more interested in crafting a clever turn of phrase than in telling a satisfying story. The longest story in the book, “Mliss,” details the education of a rough-and-tumble orphan girl who seeks out the tutelage of a local schoolmaster. Harte spends so much time enumerating mildly humorous instances of her quaintly uncouth behavior that the story barely moves forward until its final pages. “Miggles” depicts a quirky character living in a quirky situation, as if quirkiness were enough to compensate for a thin plot. “A Lonely Ride” offers the rambling ruminations of the solitary occupant of a stagecoach on a moonlit ride. Besides the occasional chuckle, there’s little point to it.
Harte’s influence on American literature is undeniable. Though born in New York, he was instrumental in establishing San Francisco as a literary center, one that would eventually spawn the three illustrious writers named above. Nevertheless, Harte’s writing may be too antiquated to satisfy today’s reader. If you are a fan of London and Norris, it’s a safe bet you’ll find something to like in Harte’s stories, but it’s unlikely you’ll find yourself bowled over by them.
Stories and Essays in this collection
The Luck of Roaring Camp
The Outcasts of Poker Flats
Miggles
Tennessee’s Partner
The Idyll of Red Gulch
Brown of Calaveras
High-Water Mark
A Lonely Ride
The Man of No Account
Mliss
The Right Eye of the Commander
Notes By Flood and Field
Mission Dolores
John Chinaman
From a Back Window
Boonder
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