The Collected Stories Of Elizabeth Bowen
by Bowen, Elizabeth
Elizabeth Bowen was born in Dublin in 1899, the only child of an Irish lawyer and landowner. Her book Bowen's Court (1942) is the history of her family and their house, in County Cork. Throughout her life, she divided her time between London and Bowen's Court, which she inherited. She wrote many acclaimed novels and short story collections, was awarded the CBE in 1948, and was made a Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature in 1965. She died in 1973.
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On Oct 12, 2015, oldlibrarybook said
The British spirit holds an eternal fascination for world-wide audienced. With their unique, damp-climate characteristics they people the novels and short stories of Elizabeth Bowen, an upper-class Anglo-Irish author whose long writing career spanned four decades. In fact, the stories in this collection are divided chronologically, beginning with her early stories from the roaring twenties and thirties through the war and its aftermath. Although Bowen masterfully conveys the haughty elegance and self-absorption of the upper classes, it is with the middle and working class characters that she is at her best. But perhaps that view reflects a personal inability on my part to care about the petty concerns of the elite and an ease with identifying with what motivates the average person living in the twentieth century. Of her early stories, my favorite was “The Shadowy Third” in which a second wife of a quite average man is haunted with the thought that their happiness was arrived at via the unhappiness of the first wife, who may have died of a broken heart. The twenties also saw the story of a recently married woman happily living with her sisters- and mother-in-law. In “Joining Charles,” Mrs. Charles dreads leaving the household to join her husband. Subtily, Bowen reveals the nature of the title character and hints at the subject of abuse. One of Bowen’s strongest suits is her characterization of the inner life of children, as in “The Visitor,” in which a young lad is being entertained by well-meaning family friends while his mother lies at home dying. While the author seems to be able to plumb the depth of her child characters’ thoughts, the adult characters in the stories are significantly at a loss to do the same. If, as Bowen writes in “A Day in the Dark,” the last story of this volume, “Literature, once one knows it, drains away some of the shockingness out of life,” then the detailed portraits of characters in this 79-story volume, persons at once unique and universal, prepare the reader well for meeting much of the “shockingness” of everyday life. Her carefully crafted details of setting as well as of character provide her readers with all the they need to understand the time, place, and people of which she writes.
On Oct 4, 2015, a reader said
Ah, the Brits! You just gotta love ‘em. WIth their unique, damp-climate characteristics, they people the novels and short stories of Elizabeth Bowen, an upper-class Anglo-Irish author whose long writing career spanned four decades. In fact, the stories in this collection are divided chronologically, beginning with her early stories from the roaring twenties and thirties through the war and its aftermath. Although Bowen masterfully conveys the haughty elegance and self-absorption of the upper classes, it is with the middle and working class characters that she is at her best. But perhaps that view reflects a personal inability on my part to care about the petty concerns of the elite and an ease with identifying with what motivates the average person living in the twentieth century. Of her early stories, my favorite was “The Shadowy Third” in which a second wife of a quite average man is haunted with the thought that their happiness was arrived at via the unhappiness of the first wife, who may have died of a broken heart. The twenties also saw the story of a recently married woman happily living with her sisters- and mother-in-law. In “Joining Charles,” Mrs. Charles dreads leaving the household to join her husband. Subtily, Bowen reveals the nature of the title character and hints at the subject of abuse. One of Bowen’s strongest suits is her characterization of the inner life of children, as in “The Visitor,” in which a young lad is being entertained by well-meaning family friends while his mother lies at home dying. While the author seems to be able to plumb the depth of her child characters’ thoughts, the adult characters in the stories are significantly at a loss to do the same. If, as Bowen writes in “A Day in the Dark,” the last story of this volume, “Literature, once one knows it, drains away some of the shockingness out of life,” then the detailed portraits of characters in this 79-story volume, persons at once unique and universal, prepare the reader well for meeting much of the “shockingness” of everyday life. Her carefully crafted details of setting as well as of character provide her readers with all the they need to understand the time, place, and people of which she writes.
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The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen
by Bowen, Elizabeth
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- 1981
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Alfred A. Knopf. Fine+ in Very Good- dust jacket. 1981. Second Printing. Thick Hardcover, illus.. 0394516664 . Book square and Very tight. NO notes, names or ANY markings. NOT remaindered. DJ with nasty shelf tear at front near spine base, else NO other bruises, Bright and NOT rubbed. Not price clipped ($17.95) ; Ships In a box,… Read more about this item Item Price
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The collected stories of Elizabeth Bowen
by Bowen, Elizabeth (1899-1973)
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Harmondsworth : Penguin, 1993. First Edition. Softcover. Good paperback copy. Classic Penguin design. Particularly well-preserved. Physical description: 784 pages : illustrations ; 20 cm. Subjects: Ireland Social life and customs ; Fiction. Genre: Literature. Language: English. Item Price
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The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen
by Elizabeth Bowen
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Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1981. Hardcover. Acceptable. Disclaimer:A readable copy. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact. Pages can include considerable notes-in pen or highlighter-but the notes cannot obscure the text. An ex-library book and may have standard library stamps and/or stickers. At ThriftBooks, our motto is: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not… Read more about this item Item Price
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The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen
by Bowen, Elizabeth
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NY: Knopf, 1981. Hardcover. Very good. Hardcover. First American Edition. Light foxing to page edges, else a very good hardback in slightly tanned jacket that has a couple of tiny closed tears.
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The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen
by Elizabeth Bowen
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Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1981. Hardcover. Acceptable. Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed. Item Price
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The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen
by Bowen, Elizabeth
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New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1981. First American Edition (stated). 1st Printing. Cloth. Near Fine/Near Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. First American Edition (stated), First Printing. Hard cover 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall in beige cloth w/ stamped gold initials and spine titles. Near Fine book in like unclipped DJ, now in… Read more about this item Item Price
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The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen
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London: Jonathan Cape, 1982 Hardcover book , reprint in dustjacket. All of Elizabeth Bowen's short stories in one volume. A Fine book in a Fine unclipped dustjacket. Pictures available. Item Price
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The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen
by Elizabeth Bowen
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Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen: Introduction by John Banville (Everyman's Library Contemporary Classics Series)
by Elizabeth Bowen
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The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen
by Bowen, Elizabeth
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The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen
by BOWEN, Elizabeth
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London: Jonathan Cape, 1980. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. First edition. Introduction by Angus Wilson. Boards slightly bowed, light soiling on bottom edge, very good in a very good dust jacket with small stains on the spine and a chip at the crown. Item Price
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The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen
by Bowen, Elizabeth
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Barnes & Noble, 1996. Hardcover. Very Good. Disclaimer:A copy that has been read, but remains in excellent condition. Pages are intact and are not marred by notes or highlighting, but may contain a neat previous owner name. The spine remains undamaged. At ThriftBooks, our motto is: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed. Item Price
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The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen
by Bowen, Elizabeth
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THE COLLECTED STORIES OF ELIZABETH BOWEN
by BOWEN, ELIZABETH
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NEW YORK NY: ALFRED A KNOPF CO. FINE IN A VERY GOOD+ D.J.. PUB 1981. FIRST EDITION. HARDCOVER. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ANGUS WILSON / Includes all the contents of Bowen's superb collection "Ivy Gripped the Steps" . PUBLISHER'S ORIGINAL BUFF CLOTH COVERED BOARDS WITH GILT TITLES TO THE SPINE AND THE FRONT COVER AND TOP EDGE STAINED LIGHT BLUE.… Read more about this item Item Price
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THE COLLECTED STORIES OF ELIZABETH BOWEN
by Elizabeth Bowen
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New York: Alfred A Knopf Inc. 1981. First American Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. 0394516664 . Very Good+ in a Near Fine dust jacket. ; 8.5 X 5.9 X 1.9 inches . Item Price
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The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen
by Bowen, Elizabeth
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- 1996
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Barnes & Noble. Very Good+ in Very Good- dust jacket. 1996. Hardcover. 0760703485 . Binding solid. Pages unmarked and barely aged. Cloth/paper cover has a little shelf-wear. Dustjacket has some wear at edges, but otherwise okay. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 786 pages . Item Price
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The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen
by Elizabeth Bowen
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- 1998
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The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen
by Elizabeth Bowen with an Introduction by Angus Wilson
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- 1981
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New York: Knopf, 1981. Hardcover. Fine in Fine dust jacket. Widely known for her much-admired novels, including The Heat of the Day, The House in Paris, and The Death of the Heart, Elizabeth Bowen established herself in the front rank of the century's writers equally through her short fiction. This collection brings together seventy-nine magnificent stories written over… Read more about this item Item Price
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The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen
by BOWEN, Elizabeth
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- 1981
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Ridgewood, New York, USA
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NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1981. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Good/Very Good. NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1981. First American edition. 784pp. Octavo; oatmeal cloth stamped in gilt to front board and spine; light blue topstain; dust jacket. A few spots of soiling to boards; light sag to textblock. Very good or better in very good jacket, unclipped, with toning… Read more about this item Item Price
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The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen
by Bowen, Elizabeth
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Mishawaka, Indiana, USA
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Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Used - Good. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Item Price
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