Reviews

Bliss and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield

r_reads2winnie's review against another edition

4.0

This was my introduction to Katherine Mansfield, a modernist. One of my goals is to read more short stories this year, so when I found out Audrey was hosting the listen-along, I decided to participate. I am glad I did. 

 

This collection has six short stories: Bliss, Mr. Reginald Peacock’s Day, Pictures, The Little Governess, Feuille d’Album, and A Dill Pickle. They are all different, but they explore themes of struggles and isolation of marginalized people. Mansfield captures a moment in each story, and I like her use of symbolism. It’s hard to pick my favorites, but I enjoyed Mr. Reginald Peacock’s Day, Feuille d’Album, and A Dill Pickle a little more than the rest. 

 

The narration by Juliet Stevenson was wonderful, and I enjoyed the illustration. The notes from the expert, Sophie Corser, helped me understand and appreciate Mansfield’s work. The listen-along pace was manageable, and reading other participants’ thoughts enhanced my reading experience. 

atuin's review against another edition

funny relaxing sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A beautifully written anthology of short stories from a writer who died too soon (although that could be said for every writer). These short stories mostly focus on feminist issues of the early 20th century through the lens of British life. I thought the narrator did an excellent job, and the included guide had some interesting analysis of the stories, while providing valuable background info on the time it was written. My favorite stories were "Mr. Reginald's Peacock's day", a day in the life of a deeply arrogant man, "Pictures", where a woman has to find out how to pay her rent, and "Feuille d'album", a socially anxious man works up the courage to speak to a girl he has a crush on. The language was beautiful and each character felt distinct. 

nele_vds's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

stephanelli's review against another edition

reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

emmajanereads's review against another edition

relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

minou_noir's review against another edition

5.0

I loved the experience. This is a reread; my original review is filed under Bliss By Katherine Mansfield, published by Audrey.

dima_taji's review against another edition

3.75

This was my first time reading Mansfield, and the way she describes what often are mundane everyday events is captivating. The book consists of 6 short stories, that I felt showed some of the horrible parts of human beings. 

Bliss tells the story of a woman who was feeling extraordinarily happy one day, and I wanted to express it in every single way. At the end of the day,

she learns that her husband is having an affair with a new close friend of hers.

Mr Reginald Peacock's Day tells the story of Reginald, a music teacher, who feels he is miserable in his marriage because his wife doesn’t care about his interests, and he constantly feels personally attacked by everything she says. The story shows his interactions with different women in his life that he teaches music to, and he is convinced that he is a man of society that all these women are interested in him, and that he can get anyone that he wants. By the end of the day,

when he goes home to his wife, he attempts to connect with her one more time, only to find that all he has are the empty words that he says to the other women.

Pictures tells the story of a singer who is no longer in her prime and is struggling to find a job performing. It follows her throughout the day trying to talk to producers and conductors without success. At the end of the day,

she ends up going home with a man to be able to get the money and afford her rent. It was absolutely heartbreaking.

The Little Governess tells the story of a young naive English woman who is traveling for the first time all by herself on a train from France to Germany to take a job as a governess there. On the train, she ends up sharing a compartment with an old man whom she starts thinking of as a grandfather figure. She has been advised to be careful of people and not to trust anyone on her trip, but she deems the man harmless and lowers her guard with him. He convinces her that she should let him show her around Munich instead of spending the day alone at the hotel waiting for the woman who will take her to the town where she’ll be working. When she tries to leave to go back to the hotel he insists that they go for ice cream first, then

back to his apartment where he kisses her without her consent. She leaves and goes back to the hotel to find that she is late, and the woman who was meeting her came and left when she didn’t find her and no one could tell her where she was or when she would come back.

Feuille d'Album tells the story of a young artist in Paris who intrigues women with the mystery around him, and his inclusiveness. And the artist himself is obsessed with a woman who lives in the building across from his. He imagines how their lives together would be, and

orchestrates a “chance” meeting with her when he follows her while she’s doing her shopping one day, walks behind her till she gets home, and then pretends that he has found an egg that she had “dropped”.

I particularly liked this story because it highlights how people's expectations and perceptions of others sometimes overshadow who they really are. 

A Dill Pickle tells the story of an encounter between two people who used to be involved romantically. The man keeps going on about all the things he accomplished since they have last seen each other. The woman, while still attracted to him, notices how his focus is more on himself and money and not their relationship. The highlight of the story for me was when

the woman simply gets up and leaves him while he’s still mid-sentence. However, we find out that he did not even care that she left, and was more concerned with not being charged extra for the cream he didn’t add to his coffee.

I thought that those stories were very interesting, and invited quite a lot of reflection. I enjoyed the guide’s notes and the pointers that were provided, as they helped put some of those reflections in a better context. They also managed to point out things that I would have otherwise overlooked in the stories. 

gudrqa's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.0

The stories are not that interesting and very, very slow even though they are so short. I wonder if it might be the narrator’s voice. They read everything with quite bored voice so it might heavily impact my feelings.
The plot twists in every story are very underwhelming and obvious from the start so that they read more as “children cautionary tales”.
 

teeclecticreads's review against another edition

3.75

I’m really grateful that I was chosen by the Audrey team to be an Audrey reviewer. I’ve enjoyed the listen-alongs that I’ve done in the past and this is no different. I can admit that I’m not a major fan of classics so some of these stories didn’t particular pique my interest. However, I love the format of a collection of short stories with the accompaniment of guides to give fascinating information at the end of each. 

The research that went into these is commendable and I think Mr Reginald Peacock’s Day, Pictures, and The Little Governess were the most memorable.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity

mipa_jt's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0