Published initially in 1912 as the first novel ever written by Saki, The Unbearable Bassington might, at first glance, suggest that it’s simply a work similar to anyone of Saki’s popular stories, just taken to a larger scale. However, significantly more condensed and complicated, the book grows well beyond that level, featuring surprisingly well-developed characters and a great number of entertaining and surprising...
situations that the author places them in. H.H. Munro, often writing under the pen name Saki, was a British author well-known for his uncanny ability to ridicule Edwardian high society through his satirical and sometimes macabre tales about individuals who tend to make less inspired choices in life, and the manifold consequences of these choices.
His many exceptional short stories were included in a number of widely recommended volumes, such as The Chronicles of Clovis, Reginald, or Beasts and Super Beasts.
Saki’s novel tells the story of Francesca Bassington and her son, Comus (the unbearable) Bassington. Being used to living in her luxurious house, Francesca Bassington cannot forget the fact that she and Comus are merely allowed to live there until the owner’s daughter, Emmiline, gets married.
Trying to plan ahead, Francesca devises plot after plot, first trying to get her son married to Emmiline herself – a plan that utterly backfires – then attempting to find him a job, or even an extremely rich wife who would have the money to buy the house herself, allowing Comus’ mother to keep living there. All of Francesca’s intricate ego-driven plans seem to fail mainly because of Comus’ own insufferable character.
A young dandy with a very cynical outlook on life, Comus thwarts one of his mother’s efforts after another in her interest of finding an easy way to maintaining their high class living conditions as comfortably as humanly possible.
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