What an absolutely magnificent read. Every word enticed me and my desire to read on! The beauty of short stories is that all have a form of correlation and link that can be obvious or be in the midst of oblivion. The writing was blissful, the vocabulary used drove me to adoration. The ending line of each story had my heart pining for more but also feeling fulfilled. An author and book that I highly suggest you pick up!

Beautiful storytelling. Some were awesome, some were plain weird. Labels is the best!

3.5. Some really enjoyable stories, and a couple of weird ones too.

Very amusing

I do love a bit of Louis.

A short story & a short read about the highs & lows of obsessive collecting. I don't feel so bad about my cinema tickets now...

A pleasant surprise. Excellent writing.

An interesting collection of his short stories. There's a treat within, that anyone who has read Captain Corelli's Mandolin should enjoy. One of the stories, Labels, is a peculiar tale about a collector of catfood tin labels.

A single volume short story, really (only 33 pages). Entertaining (if not really worth the fiver it cost me!)

Funny and clever, although some of the characters felt a little stereotyped. There were some unexpectedly dark stories in this collection of mostly light tales: The Turks Are So Wonderful with Children, and the last story, A Night Off for Prudente de Moraes. My only DNF was The Two Dolphins, which didn't grab me at all. The others were all very easy to read.

Absolutely hilarious!

For those of us who revere his writing, the author who brought us Captain Corelli's Mandolin treats us to an all-embracing collection of fanciful short stories that traverse the globe.
I say 'revere'. Louis de Bernières has, for a long time, held a special place in the library of my heart and has even been a huge influence. Sadly, he has lost his mojo of late, so I was crossing my fingers, eyes and legs for this one.

It began with an enchanting intro: the author reminisces about a grandfather who knitted his own socks and cheated at croquet; also a grandmother whose hobbies included flower-arranging and social climbing. He goes on to ruminate about seeing white dog poo in bygone years. How come you don't see it anymore? It's as much a mystery to de Bernières as it is to me!

The stories often showcase our human fallibility and feature a mèlange of falls from grace, hopelessness, hubris, awkwardness and selfishness, all glazed with Louis' wry, often irreverent, humour (none of that priggish, sanctimonious, schoolmarmish nonsense).
I was also delighted to see a fleeting return to his magnum opus; a clever morality tale where Günter Weber, a young 'orders must be obeyed' German lieutenant from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, returns to the house of Doctor Iannis and his daughter, Pelagia.
I was furthermore delighted to see that Louis had thrown in a few magical realism stories to reward any diehard fans of his South American Trilogy.
Other notable yarns were The Deposit, a wonderful feelgood story, and A Day Out For Mehmet Erbil, a poignant 'lost in translation' piece involving a Turkish collector of soft drinks cans and an English botanist, which made me want to plunge into the story so I might find them a translator!
The closing story, A Night Off for Prudente de Moraes threw me a line so funny that the laugh left my throat before my fat lips had any chance to react, causing them to do that vibratory "pwwrrubrurrbbhh" noise that horses are prone to do! : )

I enjoyed this diverting collection of short stories, even though I anticipated many of the endings.
For me, Louis hasn't quite recaptured his mojo; he is a tamed-down version of his former self, though I doubt he'd be worried about what I think as he rides his golden unicorn across the elegantly-landscaped grounds of Château de Bernières!
3.5, rounded up to 4