In short

   

     It so happens that I have two collections of short stories on the go just now, Arthur Conan Doyle's The Complete Sherlock Holmes (you get plenty pages for your money with that one!) and The Pleasant Light of Day by Philip Ó Ceallaigh.

     I'm finding Holmes and Watson perfect bedtime reading, each story thoroughly engaging, of a straightforward but ingenious complexity, and each one neatly and satisfactorily complete. You might expect that Conan Doyle would need the scope of a novel to set out and solve his mysteries, and while there are much longer pieces in the collection, it is the 'small but perfectly formed' shorter ones I've begun with and have been reading with great pleasure.

    I'm not far enough on with Philip Ó Ceallaigh's book to make any definitive judgements - it might be fair to say he takes a bit of 'reading in' - but so far there has been a mixture of moods and settings, black humour and parody, though themes are already apparent. He's not nearly as gentle, as understated, as delicate even as Simon Van Booy in his short story collection  Love Begins in Winter (which I wrote about recently), so thus far is less appealing to me, but as with food, we must taste and see, and each story here is a strong, new flavour, a different class of 'bite'! 

Comments

[Dark Puss]

I know I have recommended this collection of short stories before, notably on Books Do Furnish a Room , but I do urge you and fellow Cornflower readers to try Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by Z.Z. Packer.

Don't however expect too much "gentility" from Ms Packer.

[Jodie]

Sherlock Holmes is a big book, when you drop in the three longer stories. It makes for a very satisfying read, especially in cold weather.