To Cut A Long Story Short (2001) - Plot & Excerpts
As far as memory serves this is the first Jeffrey Archer I have read. I am a lover of the short story form and so when a friend, who is a big fan of ex-Lord Archer, lent it to me it seemed a good place to begin as it would be a win-win. If I liked his style of writing then I could throroughly enjoy them and perhaps move on to something more substantial later, if I did not, well it was only a small part of my reading life wasted. I did enjoy the stories but perhaps not as much as I had hoped I would.The book consisted of 14 stories varying in length from 3 pages to 50. They were enjoyable enough but perhaps a bit of a curate's egg as so many collections of short stories often are. Archer does not have a terribly high opinion of humankind it seems to me and this is reflected in his rather tawdry characters who are, generally, unfaithful or insipid, devious or dull with a couple of notable exceptions. (The heroes of A Change of Heart and Other Blighters' efforts being their places to shine)Three stories stood out for me. The Endgame, Chalk and Cheese and the already mentioned A Change of Heart, all of which dealt with a loosely similar theme, though dealt with in totally different ways, of relationship and how looking at the world in a specific way can healthily enlarge or cripplingly skew our vision. I suppose that this is actually what a good story is always suposed to do; each one beginning as a window and ending as a mirror which is a quotation I love though can never remember where I first read it but know it is not from my own thought sadly.A numbr of the stories dealt with the legal profession both as the source of story and the end result of some of them. Archer, understandably enough thinking about his history, is ever so slightly pre-occupied with criminality, embezzlement and fraud but unlike himself who had the 'fragrant Mary Archer' as a judge so memorably described her during one of his court appearances, none of the women come out of his story terribly well. Indeed there seems a strain of misogyny, mild in its influence, but flavouring the atmosphere nonetheless.The last story The Grass is always greener is a clever reflection on the inability of most of us to see beyond the limitations of our own experience. It is well constructed and imaginative but again populated with, in the main, unattractive and bitterly closed off people. The world of Jeffrey Archer, certainly from this volume, is not a joyous one, not one in which people generally pull together or look for the good. Here again was the curse of the highblown fly-leaf where we were told that this story is possibly the best piece Archer has written, and will haunt you for the rest of your life. Hmmmm. It was good but not that good. That, I think, is why i liked particulalry the three I mentioned earlier because they do, at least, give a glimpse of something which manages to throw a healthier glow naturally rather than a cold, unsympathetic shine raking over his rather sordid world view.
I have been a fan of short stories for a while. Mainly because they are digestible and accomplishable in a short sitting. These stories are very well written. Just when you adapt to a storyline, something changes and you stumble down another path. You do physically smirk to yourself at the outcome of a story and I find this work by Jeffrey Archer very enjoyable, though I have yet to read more of his books. There's one slight glitch, If I sometimes settle in for a short story at night, it ends up a long night. It's just hard to ignore the next chapter heading winking at me, saying "read more". I do recommend this book, especially for busy people who don't have time to get through a novel.
What do You think about To Cut A Long Story Short (2001)?
This book was, to me, intriguing as nine of the fourteen books were based on true events meaning that the stories had a lot more impact on me as they had actually happened. The only problem was that it only told you which were true at the start which meant constant flicking back to the contents page.Many of the stories were very humorous, varied enough that you don’t get bored. It’s suitable for both people who want to power through them, but also people who just want to have a read every so often. I have read the book twice now in two weeks, and the stories remain just as fresh upon the second reading.In my opinion some of the stories were not as interesting as the other; Crime Pays and Other Blighters Efforts. They were however both still very readable.My favourite stories were Chalk and Cheese, which was a humorously ironic tale of two brothers and A Change of Heart, a story of a racist man who receives a black man’s heart during a transplant operation and changes his views, which was very touching. Also The Grass is Always Greener brings to light how we all have problems and always want what someone else has.Overall Archer is an excellent short story teller.
—Rachael Hewison
I think books of short-stories are wonderful and Jeffrey Archer is certainly good at story telling. I think it is good to be reading a book that you can sit down and capture the entirety of what the author is saying in one sitting and then move on. I don't like it all the time, but it's refreshing on occasion. These stories are well written and most of them had the same twists in them that you would expect from a full-length novel. I admit, there were two or three that I just didn't get, but the majority of them were enjoyable. One more thing I want to add--these stories tend to be the kind that expect people to more often than not, act badly. The characters are vice-filled, selfish and money grubbing with only a few exceptions. However, the older I get, the more I tend to view the world in the same way as the author appears to.
—Lori Bigby
Interessei-me pelo autor após ler seu fabuloso Caim e Abel, não sabia que ele também escrevia contos. O livro contem quinze, alguns baseados em fatos reais. Destaco: A Morte Fala: fábula árabe com uma mensagem sobre a inexorabilidade da hora fatal e derradeira. O Perito: um advogado usa a mesma tese em dois julgamentos diferentes, em um desacreditando e em outro confirmando a credibilidade de uma mesma testemunha (um perito), mostrando o que é o Direito. Genial. Como Água e Vinho: sobre dois irmãos e o tratamento diferente que receberam de sua mãe. Final excelente. Ambos os Lados Contra o Meio: estratégia genial para apanhar um criminoso inatingível. Todos esses merecem 5 estrelinhas, os demais não chegam a ser chatos mas não empolgam.
—Gláucia Renata
