I purchased Tiny Tales at the last Planned Parenthood Book Sale, in September 2022. The subtitle is "Stories of Romance, Ambition, Kindness, and Happiness." Alexander McCall Smith is a well-known author of mysteries, and he has written multiple series. I read the first book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series (twenty years ago) but stopped there. I have never tried any of his other writing, until now.
I was attracted to Tiny Tales because there are illustrations by Iain McIntosh between each set of stories. These are single-page cartoons, with the text written by McCall Smith. The format of the book is small, and the stories appear to all be very short, each under 10 pages.
The first set of stories is titled Tales of Love.
"Descent"
This is a very short story (three pages), very silly, and also fun. It is about a young woman learning to do a parachute jump.
"Sister Angelica"
This story about a former nun and missionary is a little longer. Angelica Docherty was recruited to the Order of the Little Helpers at a very young age, while in a Catholic Girls School just outside Austin, Texas. She eventually ends up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with her friend, Francesca. Angelica is no longer a nun but still doing good deeds.
"By Post"
A man orders a bride from Thailand but she cannot speak a word of English. It is a sweet story with a lovely ending.
"Takahashi Ichiro, Passenger-pusher"
This story is told in first person by Takahashi Ichiro. He began his working life as a passenger-pusher, an oshiya in Japanese. He would push passengers into carriages on a train so that the doors would close efficiently. This is a real occupation, although maybe not as much used today as in the past. This was another light story with a happy ending, but my favorite part was learning about passenger-pushers.
I enjoyed these stories and the illustrated cartoons that followed. I will continue reading the stories and I hope they are all as much fun.
16 comments:
Cool. I might keep an eye out for that. Smith seems to have been rather the internationalist, though such things as "passenger-pushers" seem ready-made for fictional treatment (I've certainly seen older news and documentary film about them in action...and a citizen might well consider asking, Why the hell not more passenger compartments on the trains?).
Like you, I only read the first book and then watched the PBS series. Both charming.
I like McCall Smith's writing a lot, Tracy, and I've read several (admittedly not all) of his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books. I've read one of his Scotland Street books, too. What's funny is, much as I like his work, I've never read his short stories. This collection does sound good, and sometimes it's nice to dip into some short stories...
Alexander McCall Smith is someone I should be trying out and his short stories would be the way to start. I love books with illustrations and they work particular well with classic 19th century Victorian novels but also with mystery novels. As I recall Ellery Queen Magazine always makes sure to have one illustrations per story in each issue.
Todd, Just in these four stories there were 3 different settings and I was surprised. And yes, the reason for the need for passenger-pushers did confuse me a bit, even after reading about it on Wikipedia. But I loved the lightness of these stories, and the overall optimism.
Patti, I would probably enjoy the PBS series of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books, but don't have access to it right now. Maybe someday. I would like to try another series by Alexander McCall Smith, and I have the first book in the 44 Scotland Street series and the Detective Varg series.
I did enjoy these stories, Margot. Alexander McCall Smith just recently published a book of espionage and revenge stories and that was my motivation to read these stories. To see if I liked his style. I think these stories are very different from the new book, I still think I will get a copy later.
Kathy, I have seen some of those old short story magazines, both mystery and science fiction, that had illustrations for the stories. Those are very nice and I think illustrations do add a lot.
I quite like McCall Smith's non-crime writing fiction. He's a man with a lot of insight. I may well have read a few of his short stories in mixed collections, in fact I'm sure I have and found them to be very good. I'll keep an eye out for this one, my library keeps a 'lot' of his books in.
Diane and I saw McCall Smith when he came to Buffalo to speak a few years ago. He wore a kilt. Diane loves his books especially the Isabel Dalhousie Series.
Cath, I was surprised at how much I liked these brief stories; they make a point and at the same time tell a fun or enlightening story. I read these stories to see if I might like a new book by McCall Smith, The Private Life of Spies and The Exquisite Art of Getting Even: Stories of Espionage and Revenge. I think the stories in both books are entirely different, but I am now sure I will be reading that new short story book.
George, I would enjoy seeing McCall Smith at such an event, I can imagine that he is very entertaining.
I hope to try some novels by him, will probably wait to see what I can find at the book sale first.
I've enjoyed McCall Smith's book series. I saw a little of the TV's No 1 Ladies Detective Agency but thought the actress, though good, was too young to play Precious, who always struck me as middle-aged! The Scotland Street series was a little hard for me because I really disliked some characters (Bertie's mom and Bruce). I always get a kick out of Isabel and how her mind goes off on philosophical tangents while she's trying to resolve whatever problem the book is about.
Marty, thanks for commenting and letting me know what you think of some of McCall Smith's series. It looks like I should try the Isabel Dalhousie Series. I recently saw a brief trailer of the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency TV series and I was surprised at how youthful the main character looked.
One thing about the various series, you need to read them in order unless you don't mind getting that did-I-miss-something feeling a LOT! The Isabel books are too "talky" for some people, but I just enjoy her company.
Marty, I will keep that in mind. I always prefer to read series in order, as long as I can find the books.
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