Piranha To Scurfy And Other Stories

3.50 out of 5 (2 ratings)

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Format:: Audio cassette
Publisher:: Cornerstone
Publication Date:: 07 September 2000
Category:: Modern & Contemporary
ISBN:: 9781856866248

Description

The long title story is about a man whose life, in a sense, is a book. There are shelves in every room, packed with titles which Ambrose Ribbon has checked pedantically for mistakes of grammar and fact. Life for Ribbon, without his mother now, is lonely and obsessive. He still keeps her dressing table exactly as she had left it, the wardrobe door always so that her clothes can be seen inside, and her pink silk nightdress on the bed. There is one book too that he associates particularly with her - volume VIII of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Piranha to Scurfy. It marked a very significant moment in their relationship. In the other stories, Ruth Rendell deals with a variety of themes, some macabre, some vengeful, some mysterious, all precisely observed. The second novella, High Mysterious Union, explores a strange, erotic universe in a dream-like corner of rural England, and illustrates very atmospherically what range Ruth Rendell has as a writer. 'If the crime short story is an endangered species, Ruth Rendell is one of the few courageous environmentalists fighting for its survival. She presents irrefutable evidence that the genre deserves not merely to survive but to flourish.'The Times

Reader Reviews

Showing 1-3 out of 3 reviews.

Up until now I haven't been a great fan of Ruth Rendell's short stories, but this collection contains several which are as good as her novels.

3.50 out of 5

nearasyouget
Good selection of stories with a variety of characters, plots and settings. They range from the seriously scary: Fair Exchange and High Mysterious Union, to the amusing and ironic: Walter's Leg. And continue with the mediocre: The Beach Butler to the excellent and my favorites: Piranha to Scurfy, incredibly detailed and well-paced, and The Wink, a victim reclaims her life after many years in this short story, and the Professional, a young man knows it's best to keep quiet about what he saw, and the Astronomical Scarf, which tells the story of a few characters with thorough description of their lives and thoughts through an inverted type of treasure hunt. I did wonder at times how the same author could have written all these stories, soon realizing this is Rendell's strength. Definitely enjoyable!

3.50 out of 5

Bookish59
So far so good. The first story is excellent.

out of 5

teriz