Caravan: The Assembled Tales Of John Galsworthy

Excerpt from the author’s foreword: Like some long caravan bearing merchandise of sorts, the tales of a writer wind through the desert of indifference towards the oasis of public favour. Whether they ever arrive, or drift to death among the shifting sands of popular taste, lies on the knees of the gods – their author has no say. When he has mustered and sent them forth, he may retire and squat afresh on the carpet of vision, having done all he can. In assembling for this ‘Caravan’ all my tales falling short of the novel in length, written between the years 1900 and 1923 inclusive, I have roped them two by two, an early tale behind and a late tale in front. Taking 1914 as the dividing year, I have thus paired forty-six out of these fifty-six tales. The five remaining pairs belong entirely to the last ten years, more prolific than the first fourteen. In selecting each tandem, I have tried to find tales which have some likeness to each other in theme, or mood, so that any reader who has the curiosity can mark such difference, as Time brings to technique or treatment. Ten of the tales thus paired are what one calls long-short, ranging from 30,000 to 8,000 words – no one of the rest exceeds, I think, 6,000. The fiction market is supposed to require of short stories a certain pattern full of pep and sting in the tail. The scorpion, it is said, if sufficiently irritated, will sting itself to death. So will the short story when worried by the demands of editors. The inveterately independent will resist these blandishments, go their own ways, imitate no one