Customer Reviews

To Cut a Long Story Short

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Jeffrey Archer is by far the most versatile and fluid author of contemporary fiction. He has written novels ranging from politics (First Among Equals) to revenge (Not A Penny More, Not A Penney Less) to corporate rivalry (The Fourth Estate), all of which have elements of his trademark 'twist' at some point.

I awaited To Cut A Long Story Short with much anticipation, as I strongly believe that writing short stories is what he does best.

I found this book highly enjoyable though certain stories were a little disappointing.

'The Endgame', 'The Grass Is Always Greener' and 'Chalk And Cheese', were especially entertaining. 'The Grass Is Always Greener', in particular, I thought was a really superb read, both in terms of content and language. One aspect of Archer that makes his books so zestful and fun to read is his balanced usage of simple and complex language.

Then again, I found 'A Weekend To Remember' rather dull and mundane. Perhaps the plot was rather limited as it was based on a true incident.

Archer has written two very short stories, 'The Letter' and 'Love At First Sight'. These were not exceptionally good, but then, how many of us can produce really good short stories?

Contrary to the five stars displayed, I award this book 4.5 stars. It loses the 0.5 star as I still think A Quiver Full Of Arrows outperforms it in terms of plot twists. Certain stories, however, such as 'The Grass Is Always Greener' show Archer to be capable of outperforming himself. All in all, this is one terrific book.

I've only read Archer's novels, not his short stories, so I was pleasantly surprised by the cleverness of these stories. The reviewer who called them "O Henry-esque" is on target. All these stories contain stunning reversals or trick endings that will keep you guessing. I loved The Endgame especially. Most of the stories are short, well-conceived and well-executed. The tale of two pub friends who trade off roles in their lawyer/expert witness routine is hilarious. In fact, Archer's droll wit is apparent on just about every page. I thought 3-4 of the stories were terrific, but even the "sub-par" ones I found enjoyable. I read the whole book in one sitting. Most readers of this kind of surprise short story should find these diabolically clever and suspenseful. Sure, you may guess one or two of the endings, but overall Archer will remain a step ahead.

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.

The cliche "master storyteller" is appropo for Jeffrey Archer in this incredible collection of short stories, but perhaps not sufficient. After I had read a couple of the stories and been entranced and stunned by them, I couldn't help but try to figure out where the remaining stories were going as I read them. There's always a twist, a surprise, an "Ooohh, alright."
I'm not a short-story fan but I am definitely a Jeffrey Archer short-story fanatic.

A collection of short stories of mixed length, quality, and subject matter. Most readers will like at least some of the stories, most of which have an English setting. The stories range from a roughly one-page Arabian nights account ("Death Speaks") to a 78-page account of a man determining his true friends ("The Endgame"). The majority are based on true incidents, and some, e.g., "Crime Pays" and "Too Many Coincidences," involve people using their knowledge of the law for their own benefit. I personally liked the last story, "The Grass is Always Greener," which points out that success and happiness are a matter of perception.

Although not as good as Jeffery Archer's first collection (A Quiver Full of Arrows), most of the stories are highly entertaining, with clever plots and characters. What's not so clever are the endings, which in some cases can be spotted four or five paragraphs into a story. While in several stories, Archer writes at the same excellent level that he managed in "First Among Equals" (which he alludes to in one of the longer stories), the value of the book would have been enhanced if at least three other tales were just left out.

I have to say I'm a bit disappointed by this book. I have never read any of Mr. Archer's short stories, so I was quite excited to get my hands on this book.

The book is comprised of 14 short stories of different lengths and subjects. Of the stories, I have to say that "The Engame," a story of a man trying to find out who are his true friends, "Crime Pays," a man using the law to his advantaged, "Chalk and Cheese" two brothers and how they choose to work through life, and the "Grass Is Always Greener. . ." showing that success and happiness depends on how you view it, were the best of the lot. The rest of the book was just filler.

Still, I love Mr. Archer's writing, however, I would only recommend this if you needed something to read while waiting at the airport.

Many long-time readers of Jeffrey Archer were probably delighted when he, for reasons we won't discuss here, suddenly had more time to spend writing books... :-) I myself have read all his books, but none of his plays. Jeffrey Archer specialises in very long novels at the same time as short stories: an unusual combination.

Short stories are difficult to write, and I know only a handful who do it better than Jeffrey Archer. I don't know what he says himself, but to me it look like Roald Dahl is his role model: the stories often end with an unexpected twist that at the same time is perfectly logical. This time my favourite story is the one about the warm-hearted civil servant trying to build a swimming pool. That story contains another Archer-speciality: the short story that covers a long period of time.

A final observation: as a non-native speaker of English, I have always found all of Archer's books very easy to read, but I cannot explain why! The language is not extremely poor, it is on the contrary very good English. So if you find English difficult to read, give Jeffrey Archer a try!

Of the entire collection of short stories in this book, I liked the following best: The End Game, Chalk & Cheese, & The Grass is Always Greener. These 3 seem to be the favorites among readers, based on th various reviews I have seen prior to writing my own. Their plots seem to be very real & interesting from start to end. Stories with legal background were enlightening as you see the loopholes in the profession; interesting at first but the endings were quite so-so. Others like Something for Nothing & A Weekend to Remember were simply ok while Too Many Coincidences was too long.

Not all stories were excellent but overall, the book was one good & entertaining read.

I have to admit I was much more enthusiastic about this book before I started than after. It does have just two or three excellent stories (the shorter ones) that get you thinking. But alas there is not enough for me to wholeheartedly recommend spending time on this book. I would take a look at some of his previous (excellent) novels and short story collections. For a good read you might even want to try his biography, Stranger Than Fiction, written by Crick.