''The Last Pool and Other Stories'' is a 1950 collection of short stories by the English author
Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian, Order of the British Empire, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during t ...
. It was his first published book under that name (though he had published several works under his birth name Patrick Russ as a teenager). The thirteen stories are largely about rural experiences, focusing on hunting, shooting and fishing. Published by
Secker and Warburg
Harvill Secker is a British publishing company formed in 2005 from the merger of Secker & Warburg and the Harvill Press.
History
Secker & Warburg
Secker & Warburg was formed in 1935 from a takeover of Martin Secker, which was in receivership, ...
, the collection included several stories that would later be republished in ''
The Walker and other stories''.
The collection was both a critical and financial success for O'Brian.
Contents
The collection includes the following stories:
#"The Last Pool"
#"The Green creature"
#"The Returns"
#"The Happy despatch"
#"The Virtuous Pelga"
#"The Drawing of the Curranwood badgers"
#"It must have been a branch, they said"
#"The Steep slope of Gally y Wenallt"
#"The Long day running"
#"Name calls"
#"The Dawn flighting"
#"The Trap"
#"The Little death"
Themes and style
The writer and critic Steve Bodio described the stories as "some straight forward," and "some supernatural" and "uncanny" in the tradition of tales by
T.H. White
Terence Hanbury "Tim" White (29 May 1906 – 17 January 1964) was an English writer best known for his Arthurian novels, published together in 1958 as ''The Once and Future King''. One of his most memorable is the first of the series, '' The Sw ...
from the 1930s and
Geoffrey Household
Geoffrey Edward West Household (30 November 1900 – 4 October 1988) was a prolific British novelist who specialized in thrillers. He is best known for his novel '' Rogue Male'' ( 1939).
Personal life
He was born in Bristol; his father Hora ...
from the 1950s.
[ He noted that some have a "touch of terror."][
The book was published when O'Brian's English birth was not well known, some reviewers focused on the "Irish" elements within the stories. In his book ''Sportsman's Library'', Stephen Bodio described the book as capturing something Irish in its "uncanny atmosphere".][ And an '']Observer
An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment.
Observer may also refer to:
Computer science and information theory
* In information theory, any system which receives information from an object
* State observer in con ...
'' reviewer wrote "This Charming book by an Irish sportsman is a genuine collection of tales of the Irish countryside."
Reception and success
Reviews of the collection were generally favourable. Both ''The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' and the Irish novelist and playwright Lord Dunsany
Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (; 24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957, usually Lord Dunsany) was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist. Over 90 volumes of fiction, essays, poems and plays appeared in his lifetime.Lanham, M ...
in ''The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'' gave positive reviews.[ '']The Western Morning News
The ''Western Morning News'' is a daily regional newspaper founded in 1860, and covering the West Country including Devon, Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and parts of Somerset and Dorset in the South West of England.
Organisation
The ''Western M ...
'' described the stories as taking "their tense drama in hunting, fishing and shooting, and their realism in the author's intimate knowledge." The reviewer particularly liked the story "The Trap" that had "rare poetical qualities" and that "exhibits a fine sense of period and of the mind of a dolish poacher".Secker and Warburg
Harvill Secker is a British publishing company formed in 2005 from the merger of Secker & Warburg and the Harvill Press.
History
Secker & Warburg
Secker & Warburg was formed in 1935 from a takeover of Martin Secker, which was in receivership, ...
.[ According to his one of his biographers, ]Dean King
Dean King (born 1962) is an American author of narrative non-fiction on adventure, historical and maritime subjects. His books include '' Skeletons on the Zahara'' (2004) and '' Unbound'' (2010), both published by Little, Brown. He is the author ...
, O'Brian used the advance to pay for hot water and electricity for the flat that he was living in with his wife.[
]
See also
* ''Collected Short Stories'' (O'Brian book)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Pool and Other Stories, The
Books by Patrick O'Brian
British short story collections
1950 short story collections
Secker & Warburg books