fbpx
Wikipedia

The Delicate Prey and Other Stories

August 27, 2023

The Delicate Prey and Other Stories is a collection of 17 works of short fiction by Paul Bowles, published in 1950 by Random House.[1][2]

The Delicate Prey and Other Stories
First edition
AuthorPaul Bowles
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
PublisherRandom House (US)
Publication date
1950
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages307 pp
ISBN0-88001-263-3

Typical of Bowles's oeuvre, the majority of the stories in this volume are set in Latin American and North Africa. Only two are set in the United States.[3][4][5]

Bowles, at the time of its publication, was known primarily for his work as an American modernist composer. The Delicate Prey and Other Stories established him as a notable literary talent.[6][7][8] The stories published in this collection include a number of chef-d'oeuvres, including "A Distant Episode", "Pages from Cold Point" and "The Delicate Prey".[9]

Stories Edit

Theme and style Edit

"What is immediately striking--and particularly characteristic of Bowles's fiction--is the distanced, clinical, quietly confident, and authoritative tone; the rigorously unadorned, quasi-journalistic prose style; the sleek, controlled elegance of his sentences…Bowles's approach to his material and to his characters is relentlessly anthropological, unbiased by either contempt and derision on the one hand or by sympathy and affection on the other…"—Francine Prose, in Harper's Magazine (2002)[10]

"In the stories of The Delicate Prey, 1950, the medium's limitation seems to enhance the basic virtue of Bowles, his tight control of savage and baleful situations, and to foreshorten his main weakness, the inability to conceive and develop characters dramatically."—Ihab Hassan in The Pilgrim as Prey: A Note on Paul Bowles (1954)[11]

One of the unifying features of the stories in this collection are their settings: many of them occur in regions foreign to most Americans, including North Africa and Latin America. From these settings arise Bowles's "thematic concerns."[12] Author Gore Vidal notes that "Landscape is all-important in a Bowles story" and Bowles himself remarked: "It seems a practical procedure to let the place determine the characters who will inhabit it."[13][14] The characters are impelled towards alien and strange territory, both physically and psychologically, challenging their Western cultural assumptions.[15][16]

Bowles's "unmistakably modern" thematic concerns" are demonstrated by his "depiction of violence and terror."[17] The violent episodes that appear in the stories of this collection have been widely remarked upon, as well as the style in which they are rendered.[18][19][20] Literary critic Allen Hibbard, though recognizing the "thorougly pessimistic" themes, traces Bowles's literary style to that of 19th Century authors, such as Flaubert, Turgenev and James:[21]

Transgressive acts, as shocking as they may be, are contained within traditionally crafted forms. Generally, the Bowles' story is told in a fairly straightforward, linear manner [which] supports no moral comment on the actions that take place.[22]

Bowles, commenting on his own style: "I don't try to analyze the emotions of any of my characters. I don't give them emotions. You can explain a thought but not an emotion. You can't use emotions. There's nothing you can do with them."[23]

Literary critic Francine Prose observes:

Bowles's fiction is the last place to which one would go for hope, or even for faint reassurance that the world is anything but a senseless horror show…It would be hard to think of another writer so unmoved and uninterested in the traditional values and virtues that we associate with Western humanism (compassion, generosity, empathy), just as it's difficult to find one genuinely heroic character or act of heroism, selflessness, or sacrifice in Bowles's oeuvre.[24]

Footnotes Edit

  1. ^ Hibbard, 1993 p. 3: Random House "...brought out [the collection] in November, 1950..."
  2. ^ Good Reads description
  3. ^ Hibbard, 1993 p. 3, And p.xi: "One of the most distinguishing features of Bowles's fiction is his use of foreign settings."
  4. ^ Vidal, 1979: "The stories fall into rough categories…Mexico and North Africa are the principal settings. Landscape is all-important in a Bowles story."
  5. ^ Hibbard, 1993 p. 237
  6. ^ Hibbard, 1993 p. 12
  7. ^ Hibbard, 1993 p.ix: Vidal: "His stories are among the best ever written by an American…as a short story writer, he has few equals in the second half of the twentieth century."
  8. ^ Hibbard, 1993: The collection "established a range of themes…helped secure Bowles's literary reputation. These early works were responsible for creating in large part the image most readers and critics have of the author today [1993]."
  9. ^ Hibbard, 1993: "...'The Delicate Prey' and 'A Distant Episode, two stories for which Bowles is perhaps best known."
  10. ^ Prose, 2002
  11. ^ Hibbard, 1993 219: Hassen quote originally in The Western Review, 19 (1954): 23-36
  12. ^ Hibbard, 1993 p.xii: "Bowles's thematic concerns arise from the experiences of his characters have in these foreign landscapes."
  13. ^ Hibbard, 1993 p.xi: "One of the most distinguishing features of Bowles's fiction is his use of foreign settings."
  14. ^ Vidal, 1979: "The stories fall into rough categories. First, locale. Mexico and North Africa are the principal settings. Landscape is all-important in a Bowles story.
    Hibbard, 1993 p. 237
    Hibbard, 1993: Bowles: "It seems a practical procedure to let the place determine the characters who will inhabit it."
  15. ^ Hibbard, 1993 p.xii
  16. ^ Prose, 2002: "Paul Bowles's obsessive subject is the tragic, even fatal mistakes that Westerners so commonly make in their misguided and often presumptuous encounters with the mysteries of a foreign culture."
  17. ^ Hibbard, 1993 p.xii
  18. ^ Hibbard, 1993 p.xii: "A sense of terror to which he subjects his characters and readers." And p. 239: Joyce Carol Oates: "...a horror far more persuasive than anything in Edgar Allan Poe."
  19. ^ Tóibín, 2007: Tennessee Williams: "It wasn't the Arabs I was afraid of while I was in Tangier; it was Paul Bowles, whose chilling stories filled me with horror.
  20. ^ Vidal, 1979: "...a sense of strangeness and terror…" in 'The Delicate Prey' and 'A Distant Episode.'"
  21. ^ Tóibín, 2007: On the passage in which the professor's tongue is cut out in "A Distant Episode': "The passage has all the hallmarks of Bowles. It is clearly written, coldly imagined, cruel and sensual at the same time."
  22. ^ Hibbard, 1993 p.xiii: "The teller's presense is intensely felt, yet at the same time he is distant, coy, cold, or simply out of reach."
  23. ^ Tóibín, 2007
  24. ^ Prose, 2002

Sources Edit

August 27, 2023
delicate, prey, other, stories, collection, works, short, fiction, paul, bowles, published, 1950, random, house, first, editionauthorpaul, bowlescountryunited, stateslanguageenglishpublisherrandom, house, publication, date1950media, typeprint, hardback, paperb. The Delicate Prey and Other Stories is a collection of 17 works of short fiction by Paul Bowles published in 1950 by Random House 1 2 The Delicate Prey and Other StoriesFirst editionAuthorPaul BowlesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishPublisherRandom House US Publication date1950Media typePrint hardback amp paperback Pages307 ppISBN0 88001 263 3Typical of Bowles s oeuvre the majority of the stories in this volume are set in Latin American and North Africa Only two are set in the United States 3 4 5 Bowles at the time of its publication was known primarily for his work as an American modernist composer The Delicate Prey and Other Stories established him as a notable literary talent 6 7 8 The stories published in this collection include a number of chef d oeuvres including A Distant Episode Pages from Cold Point and The Delicate Prey 9 Contents 1 Stories 2 Theme and style 3 Footnotes 4 SourcesStories Editat paso rojo pastor dowe at tacate call at corazon under the sky senor ong and senor ha the circular valley the echo the scorpion the fourth day out from santa cruz pages from cold point you are not i how many midnights a thousand days to mokhatar tea on the mountain by the water delicate prey a distant episodeTheme and style Edit What is immediately striking and particularly characteristic of Bowles s fiction is the distanced clinical quietly confident and authoritative tone the rigorously unadorned quasi journalistic prose style the sleek controlled elegance of his sentences Bowles s approach to his material and to his characters is relentlessly anthropological unbiased by either contempt and derision on the one hand or by sympathy and affection on the other Francine Prose in Harper s Magazine 2002 10 In the stories of The Delicate Prey 1950 the medium s limitation seems to enhance the basic virtue of Bowles his tight control of savage and baleful situations and to foreshorten his main weakness the inability to conceive and develop characters dramatically Ihab Hassan in The Pilgrim as Prey A Note on Paul Bowles 1954 11 One of the unifying features of the stories in this collection are their settings many of them occur in regions foreign to most Americans including North Africa and Latin America From these settings arise Bowles s thematic concerns 12 Author Gore Vidal notes that Landscape is all important in a Bowles story and Bowles himself remarked It seems a practical procedure to let the place determine the characters who will inhabit it 13 14 The characters are impelled towards alien and strange territory both physically and psychologically challenging their Western cultural assumptions 15 16 Bowles s unmistakably modern thematic concerns are demonstrated by his depiction of violence and terror 17 The violent episodes that appear in the stories of this collection have been widely remarked upon as well as the style in which they are rendered 18 19 20 Literary critic Allen Hibbard though recognizing the thorougly pessimistic themes traces Bowles s literary style to that of 19th Century authors such as Flaubert Turgenev and James 21 Transgressive acts as shocking as they may be are contained within traditionally crafted forms Generally the Bowles story is told in a fairly straightforward linear manner which supports no moral comment on the actions that take place 22 Bowles commenting on his own style I don t try to analyze the emotions of any of my characters I don t give them emotions You can explain a thought but not an emotion You can t use emotions There s nothing you can do with them 23 Literary critic Francine Prose observes Bowles s fiction is the last place to which one would go for hope or even for faint reassurance that the world is anything but a senseless horror show It would be hard to think of another writer so unmoved and uninterested in the traditional values and virtues that we associate with Western humanism compassion generosity empathy just as it s difficult to find one genuinely heroic character or act of heroism selflessness or sacrifice in Bowles s oeuvre 24 Footnotes Edit Hibbard 1993 p 3 Random House brought out the collection in November 1950 Good Reads description Hibbard 1993 p 3 And p xi One of the most distinguishing features of Bowles s fiction is his use of foreign settings Vidal 1979 The stories fall into rough categories Mexico and North Africa are the principal settings Landscape is all important in a Bowles story Hibbard 1993 p 237 Hibbard 1993 p 12 Hibbard 1993 p ix Vidal His stories are among the best ever written by an American as a short story writer he has few equals in the second half of the twentieth century Hibbard 1993 The collection established a range of themes helped secure Bowles s literary reputation These early works were responsible for creating in large part the image most readers and critics have of the author today 1993 Hibbard 1993 The Delicate Prey and A Distant Episode two stories for which Bowles is perhaps best known Prose 2002 Hibbard 1993 219 Hassen quote originally in The Western Review 19 1954 23 36 Hibbard 1993 p xii Bowles s thematic concerns arise from the experiences of his characters have in these foreign landscapes Hibbard 1993 p xi One of the most distinguishing features of Bowles s fiction is his use of foreign settings Vidal 1979 The stories fall into rough categories First locale Mexico and North Africa are the principal settings Landscape is all important in a Bowles story Hibbard 1993 p 237Hibbard 1993 Bowles It seems a practical procedure to let the place determine the characters who will inhabit it Hibbard 1993 p xii Prose 2002 Paul Bowles s obsessive subject is the tragic even fatal mistakes that Westerners so commonly make in their misguided and often presumptuous encounters with the mysteries of a foreign culture Hibbard 1993 p xii Hibbard 1993 p xii A sense of terror to which he subjects his characters and readers And p 239 Joyce Carol Oates a horror far more persuasive than anything in Edgar Allan Poe Toibin 2007 Tennessee Williams It wasn t the Arabs I was afraid of while I was in Tangier it was Paul Bowles whose chilling stories filled me with horror Vidal 1979 a sense of strangeness and terror in The Delicate Prey and A Distant Episode Toibin 2007 On the passage in which the professor s tongue is cut out in A Distant Episode The passage has all the hallmarks of Bowles It is clearly written coldly imagined cruel and sensual at the same time Hibbard 1993 p xiii The teller s presense is intensely felt yet at the same time he is distant coy cold or simply out of reach Toibin 2007 Prose 2002Sources EditHibbard Allen 1993 Paul Bowles A Study of the Short Fiction Twayne Publishers New York ISBN 0 8057 8318 0 Prose Francine 2002 The Coldest Eye acting badly among the Arabs Harper s Magazine March 2002 https harpers org archive 2002 03 the coldest eye Retrieved July 10 2022 Toibin Colm 2007 Avoid the Orient Review of Paul Bowles A Life by Virginia Spencer Carr London Review of Books Vol 29 No 1 January 4 2007 https www lrb co uk the paper v29 n01 colm toibin avoid the orient Retrieved July 11 2022 Vidal Gore 1979 Introduction to Paul Bowles Collected Stories 1939 1976 Black Sparrow Press Santa Rosa 2001 ISBN 0 87685 396 3 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Delicate Prey and Other Stories amp oldid 1139937893, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.