Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Short Stories Of JM Barrie: "Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves."
    The Short Stories Of JM Barrie: "Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves."
    The Short Stories Of JM Barrie: "Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves."
    Ebook98 pages1 hour

    The Short Stories Of JM Barrie: "Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves."

    By James Matthew Barrie

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The short story is often viewed as an inferior relation to the Novel. But it is an art in itself. To take a story and distil its essence into fewer pages while keeping character and plot rounded and driven is not an easy task. Many try and many fail. In this series we look at short stories from many of our most accomplished writers. Miniature masterpieces with a lot to say. In this volume we examine some of the short stories of JM Barrie. Peter Pan is a classic story. The Admirable Crichton is a classic play. And here, in this volume are two classic short stories. They are certainly of their day and perfect pieces of their craft. And really that’s not surprising for JM Barrie was a writer of great note. Short stories are often overlooked as being the poor, under-developed relative of a greater work. But from writers of the calibre of Barrie this is just not so. He picks stories and creates characters that drive, meld and create pages that in their numerically shorter length are in fact the perfect length. Many of these stories are also available as an audiobook from our sister company Word Of Mouth. Many samples are at our youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/PortablePoetry?feature=mhee The audiobook volume of this book can be purchased from iTunes, Amazon and other digital stores. They are read for you by Richard Mitchley

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCopyright Group
    Release dateSep 24, 2013
    ISBN9781780005942
    The Short Stories Of JM Barrie: "Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves."
    Author

    James Matthew Barrie

    J.M. Barrie, the son of a weaver, was born near Dundee, Scotland, in 1860. He was a journalist and novelist and began writing for the stage in 1892. Peter Pan, first produced in London on December 27, 1904, was an immediate success. The story of Peter Pan first appeared in book form (titled Peter and Wendy, and later Peter Pan and Wendy) in 1911. Barrie died in 1937, bequeathing the copyright of Peter Pan to the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, a hospital for children.

    Read more from James Matthew Barrie

    Related to The Short Stories Of JM Barrie

    Related ebooks

    Classics For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Elephant And The Goldfish

      Aug 5, 2021

      The Elephant And The Goldfish
      8 min read

    • Article

      Mature Adults In Your Area

      Aug 8, 2022

      I would say that I don’t normally do this kind of thing, except that on and off over the months and years, I’ve done “these kinds of things” too many times for that to be true. So yeah, I go on dates from time to time. This recent guy wouldn’t choose

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Five People You Meet In A Pandemic

      May 14, 2021

      The Five People You Meet In A Pandemic
      5 min read

    • Article

      Mrs W-C Gets The BRUSH-OFF

      Jun 1, 2022

      Mrs W-C Gets The BRUSH-OFF
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Leather Coat

      Apr 4, 2024

      The Leather Coat
      6 min read

    • Article

      Out Of The FRYING PAN

      Dec 23, 2019

      “We never had these when I was young,’ said the man in bright red trousers, who was eating his second sausage-wrapped-in-bacon on a stick. ‘We did have cheese and pineapple on a stick, although most people ate the pineapple and left the cheese on the

      3 min read

    • Article

      Alpharetta

      Jun 1, 2020

      My brother William, 10 years old to my 13, visibly shook in the big feather bed and gave me his famous zombie gaze; he had a way of somehow flattening his face so that his dark brown eyes, science-fictionally wet at all times, nailed you—a look of di

      17 min read

    • Article

      Tomorrows

      Mar 15, 2022

      The night, as most nights, was like a dream. At ten, once I’d fed the dog the last scraps off the stove. Once I’d cursed the cat for scratching up my mama’s antique furniture, then welcomed him back into my arms. Once I’d slicked my hair into a ponyt

      26 min read

    • Article

      Now The Leaves Are Falling Fast

      Nov 10, 2023

      I watched my wife leave our neighbor’s house, her empty hands shoved deep in the pockets of her red anorak. She came inside through our carport. I met her in our kitchen. “Beverly was really happy for the soup,” she said. “Honestly, it was a little s

      8 min read

    • Article

      The After

      Jun 10, 2023

      He is sitting opposite me, staring blankly like a dead fish. Stone eyes. Cobalt and lifeless. Pale gray skin, dripping scales. I imagine him hauled out of the water and dumped on the riverbank, gasping for breath. Just as he deserves. I only agreed t

      13 min read

    • Article

      Fridge of SIGHS

      Feb 10, 2021

      “Who would have thought that William Shakespeare of all people would have known about my fridge. ‘When sorrows come,’ he wrote in Hamlet , and I know it was him because I’ve just looked it up, ‘they come not single spies. But in battalions.’ It wa

      3 min read

    • Article

      Now The Leaves Are Falling Fast

      Apr 10, 2021

      I watched my wife leave our neighbor’s house, her empty hands shoved deep in the pockets of her red anorak. She came inside through our carport. I met her in our kitchen. “Beverly was really happy for the soup,” she said. “Honestly, it was a little s

      8 min read

    • Article

      Ladies, BEWARE!

      Feb 22, 2023

      Mr Dear needed clarification. ‘Tell me again – what does he look like?’ I was telling him about David, the new volunteer at our charity shop, immediately nicknamed Captain Birdseye by his new colleagues. We’re kind like that. If he stopped shaving f

      3 min read

    • Article

      A PRECIOUS Moment In Time

      Jun 17, 2019

      There’s something about Lambrook Hall that always draws me back and I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve been here. I don’t really care if it’s hundreds, to be honest. I can’t resist it. I’m in the dining room again now. Not the ballroom or the lib

      6 min read

    • Article

      Human Contact

      Aug 10, 2022

      Beer tasted like wet money—or maybe just bad beer did. Viola had never tried any other kind. She preferred white wine, but there was no white wine at this party. “Drink it like medicine,” the guy manning the keg said. “It’ll loosen you up.” He wore a

      18 min read

    • Article

      The Blind Dates

      Mar 15, 2021

      I spot him immediately when I walk into the bar. He smiles at me like he knows me, despite the fact this is a blind date and we’ve never met before. Nerves take hold of my body and my hands begin to tremble as I approach him. “Hi,” he says. “Hi, um,

      5 min read

    • Article

      New DATING

      Mar 2, 2022

      New DATING
      3 min read

    • Article

      THREE’S A Crowd

      Feb 19, 2020

      “There are times when I wonder whether this page should contain a health warning for those of a delicate disposition. You might be flicking through Woman’s Weekly in the doctor’s waiting room, and a sudden onset of high blood pressure or a racing pul

      3 min read

    • Article

      Dressing with Care

      Jun 11, 2021

      Dressing with Care
      6 min read

    • Article

      Wish You Weren’t Here!

      Oct 11, 2016

      Wish You Weren’t Here!
      2 min read

    • Article

      Let’s Say

      Oct 7, 2022

      I magine a sticky, early August morning, around three o’clock. It is dark, the moon blocked by clouds, no streetlights, a siren in the distance, medics running to a heart attack. Imagine a man out on a bike or walking a sick dog, or maybe a woman who

      10 min read

    • Article

      Seeing RED

      Mar 31, 2021

      Seeing RED
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Short Stories Of JM Barrie

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Short Stories Of JM Barrie - James Matthew Barrie

      The Short Stories Of JM Barrie

      The short story is often viewed as an inferior relation to the Novel.  But it is an art in itself.  To take a story and distil its essence into fewer pages while keeping character and plot rounded and driven is not an easy task.  Many try and many fail. 

      In this series we look at short stories from many of our most accomplished writers. Miniature masterpieces with a lot to say.  In this volume we examine some of the short stories of JM Barrie.

      Peter Pan is a classic story. The Admirable Crichton is a classic play. And here, in this volume are two classic short stories. They are certainly of their day and perfect pieces of their craft. And really that’s not surprising for JM Barrie was a writer of great note.

      Short stories are often overlooked as being the poor, under-developed relative of a greater work. But from writers of the calibre of Barrie this is just not so. He picks stories and creates characters that drive, meld and create pages that in their numerically shorter length are in fact the perfect length.

      Many of these stories are also available as an audiobook from our sister company Word Of Mouth.  Many samples are at our youtube channel   http://www.youtube.com/user/PortablePoetry?feature=mhee   The full volume can be purchased from iTunes, Amazon and other digital stores.  They are read for you by Richard Mitchley

      Index Of Stories

      The Inconsiderate Waiter

      Better Dead

      The Inconsiderate Waiter

      Frequently I have to ask myself in the street for the name of the man I bowed to just now, and then, before I can answer, the wind of the first corner blows him from my memory. I have a theory, however, that those puzzling faces, which pass before I can see who cut the coat, all belong to club waiters.

      Until William forced his affairs upon me that was all I did know of the private life of waiters, though I have been in the club for twenty years. I was even unaware whether they slept downstairs or had their own homes; nor had I the interest to inquire of other members, nor they the knowledge to inform me. I hold that this sort of people should be fed and clothed and given airing and wives and children, and I subscribe yearly, I believe for these purposes; but to come into closer relation with waiters is bad form; they are club fittings, and William should have kept his distress to himself, or taken it away and patched it up like a rent in one of the chairs. His inconsiderateness has been a pair of spectacles to me for months.

      It is not correct taste to know the name of a club waiter, so I must apologise for knowing William's, and still more for not forgetting it. If, again, to speak of a waiter is bad form, to speak bitterly is the comic degree of it. But William has disappointed me sorely. There were years when I would defer dining several minutes that he might wait on me. His pains to reserve the window-seat for me were perfectly satisfactory. I allowed him privileges, as to suggest dishes, and would give him information, as that some one had startled me in the reading-room by slamming a door. I have shown him how I cut my finger with a piece of string. Obviously he was gratified by these attentions, usually recommending a liqueur; and I fancy he must have understood my sufferings, for he often looked ill himself. Probably he was rheumatic, but I cannot say for certain, as I never thought of asking, and he had the sense to see that the knowledge would be offensive to me.

      In the smoking-room we have a waiter so independent that once, when he brought me a yellow chartreuse, and I said I had ordered green, he replied, No, sir; you said yellow. William could never have been guilty of such effrontery. In appearance, of course, he is mean, but I can no more describe him than a milkmaid could draw cows. I suppose we distinguish one waiter from another much as we pick our hat from the rack. We could have plotted a murder safely before William. He never presumed to have any opinions of his own. When such was my mood he remained silent, and if I announced that something diverting had happened to me he laughed before I told him what it was. He turned the twinkle in his eye off or on at my bidding as readily as if it was the gas. To my Sure to be wet to-morrow, he would reply, Yes, sir; and to Trelawney's It doesn't look like rain, two minutes afterward, he would reply, No, sir. It was one member who said Lightning Rod would win the Derby and another who said Lightning Rod had no chance, but it was William who agreed with both. He was like a cheroot, which may be smoked from either end. So used was I to him that, had he died or got another situation (or whatever it is such persons do when they disappear from the club), I should probably have told the head waiter to bring him back, as I disliked changes.

      It would not become me to know precisely when I began to think William an ingrate, but I date his lapse from the evening when he brought me oysters. I detest oysters, and no one knew it better than William. He has agreed with me that he could not understand any gentleman's liking them. Between me and a certain member who smacks his lips twelve times to a dozen of them William knew I liked a screen to be placed until we had reached the soup, and yet he gave me the oysters and the other man my sardine. Both the other member and I quickly called for brandy and the head waiter. To do William justice, he shook, but never can I forget his audacious explanation: Beg pardon, sir, but I was thinking of something else.

      In these words William had flung off the mask, and now I knew him for what he was.

      I must not be accused of bad form for looking at William on the following evening. What prompted me to do so was not personal interest in him, but a desire to see whether I dare let him wait on me again. So, recalling that a caster was off a chair yesterday, one is entitled to make sure that it is on to-day before sitting down. If the expression is not too strong, I may say that I was taken aback by William's manner. Even when crossing the room to take my orders he let his one hand play nervously with the other. I had to repeat Sardine on toast twice, and instead of answering Yes, sir, as if my selection of sardine on toast was a personal gratification to him, which is the manner one expects of a waiter, he glanced at the clock, then out at the window, and, starting, asked, Did you say sardine on toast, sir?

      It was the height of summer, when London smells like a chemist's shop, and he who has the dinner-table at the window needs no candles to show him his knife and fork. I lay back at intervals, now watching a starved-looking woman sleep on a door-step, and again complaining of the club bananas. By-and-by I saw a

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1