Episode 522 - Sredni Vashtar & Tobermory

If you want to see Tobermory you could check out this older kids programme: https://www.tobermory.co.uk/things-to-do-tobermory/childrens-activities/balamory/

Waaaay back when I was a young teenager at school my English teacher gave my class most of the story with the ending missing, she then asked us to complete the ending as an exercise. Imagine our delight when she read out Saki's ending which was pretty much identical to what everyone wrote! Safe to say he became a firm favourite of mine from then on!

Paul Middleton

The second story lost me when Tobermory died. And then it won me back almost immediately with the punchline at the end. As someone trying to learn German right now, I am in deep sympathy with the elephant

Stewart Huntsman

Good saké is delightful. As in all things, you get what you pay for. It also doesn’t seem to travel very well, so local breweries are the better choice, if you have them. Fortunately, Saki seems to travel very well.

Peter Larsen

Definitely made the de la Mare comparison too.

Did anyone else get a "P.G. Wodehouse Goes Dark" vibe from the Saki stories? Conradin, the devotee of Sredni Vashtar, reminds me of various alarming young boys that Jeeves and Wooster have to deal with; and I can imagine Tobermory's indiscretions inspiring equal alarm in the guests of a Wodehousian house party.

Meowmento Tobermory

Sredni Vashtar is like Seaton's Aunt if Arthur had agency. Someone should form a metal band called Shredni Vashtar, and Wandering Ejaculations should be a title thereof. Tobermory reminds me of that Poe story about a mummy who reanimates and instantly begins chiding the party around him.

I don't think they covered Berenice, did they?? It's my favorite.

Or one of those super-confident unfixed Tom Cats.

Loved Tobermory, thanks for choosing it. Despite the chilly storyline, this is a very funny tale. However, in my experience, cats’ supposed disdain is largely bluff; they are much more affectionate and less confident than their reputation would suggest. However, each cat is different. Maybe Tobermory is an autistic cat.

Martinis, percolator coffee, cigarettes, and sake, all major disappointments in my adult life. Saki on the other hand, I love. Sredni Vashtar in particular is a sweet balm to anyone that has experienced bullying,... by anyone actually. The most incomprehensible is an adult that plays the dominance game with children because they already have all the power. BTW: de Ropp means "the call" in Swedish and Norwegian. Not sure what that means or doesn't mean, but I love me some good literature-inspired name research. It's also the name of a pipe maker company that would have been active during the time this story was written. A smoldering pipe makes a bit more sense I guess.

Thank you for the link! Richard Crowest also has a podcast with his readings of E. F. Benson also called "The Ghost Stories of E. F. Benson". It's delightful!

Grackles

A polecat is another way to designate a sable colouring I will post a picture of my sable ferret on the Facebook page and yes he’s a god as well

Andrew Trnacek

Lots of Saki stories read here, E.F. Benson too https://corvidae.co.uk/audiobooks/

I've never actually had sake, but I can always appreciate someone expressing their distaste for a particular food or drink item. It's such an honest visceral reaction.

Pixie Skulls

A story with a talking cat, and no ‘I’m King of the cats!!’ reference? For shame! Great show and great stories

Andrew Buchanan

I was not expecting Chad's hit job on sake. Lol. What did sake do to you Chad?

Avlin Starfall

I love sake, but I like Chad's commentary about it even more.

Andrew M. Reichart

We read “The Interlopers” in high school. Great story. Nothing supernatural that I remember but it did have wolves.

Ben Gilbert

And Chad, you ARE a scientist.

Ah yes, the story of a boy and his chicken with the added themes of macabre murder of an unnecessarily spiteful guardian and a blood thirst pole cake. And Chad’s utter disgust of Japanese alcohol, as well as his stereotypical ignorance of 19th century toast preparations gives me a pursed smile on my face. But it also makes me want to write a similar story of Saki’s revenge on Chad.

Rick Hound

Sake and ouzo have always turned my stomach. :-\

One of my favourite stories! Thanks for another wonderful episode! If anyone is craving more Sredni Vashtar, A Podcast to the Curious covered it back in ‘13 with their stories that inspired MR James series. http://www.mrjamespodcast.com/2013/03/reading-sredni-vashtar-by-saki/

Alan Ricks

Younger actor- Ben Wishaw or Colin Firth?

My worst experience with saké was during my years living in Czechoslovakia when having grown tired of slivovice and becherovka and all the other plum brandy homemade potato paint thinners oh so popular (or rather exhausted with the hangovers that inevitably accompanied them the following day or more likely days), I saw at a restaurant that they had this Japanese drink, so I said give me one of those. The bartender looked put out at the inconvenience as he had to reach under the counter, find the box, open it, pour it into a shot class and chunk it in the microwave. So many of those steps should have had me shouting for vodka instead, but I was on this trip to the very bitter end. Well it ended pretty much how you would expect as that nail polish remover did not sit well with the dumplings and buckets of gravy we’d been consuming. I’ll let you imagine the rest. After that it was strictly absinthe for me because if I was going to suffer for days after, at least I should get some cool hallucinations along the way. Oh the 90’s. And Tobermory would definitely have to be voiced by John Gielgud

Man, I love Sake...

Lord Rancid

That was absolutely delightful! I thought Saki was entirely new to me, but the cat story was familiar. I wouldn't be surprised if I read a collection of his work some decades back. I'm certainly inspired to poke around again.

You can get your bite sized Saki at - https://corvidae.co.uk/saki/

I’ve always liked that Clovis starts thinking about Hush money for Tobermory.

Other ones that I think would be good ones of his to hear your thoughts on are ‘The Hounds of Fate’ and ‘Ministers of Grace’ btw! (Edited due to brainfart putting the wrong title in!)

I’ve been a fan of Saki since I was a teenager and still keep a collection of his stories by my bedside - and was possibly my first introduction to weird fiction before I realised what weird fiction was when I discovered Lovecraft a few years later! I always loved the social satire aspects and rereading it now I really appreciate the weird aspects so look forward to hearing you cover more :)

I'm in the mood for some toast. Extra butter.

Michael J. Brugmann

I make Tobermory an optional reading for my students

Lane Mullin

What happened to Poevember??

Er, also, good episode. :)

Jennifer DeFord

Finally! Finally! "Gabriel-Ernest" is coming! Finally!

Jennifer DeFord

Sredni Vashtar is utter perfection. My mom and I bonded over Saki when I was younger, and this devilish nugget was one of our favorites.

Richard Horsman