Reviews for The Collected Works Of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 1 (Large Print Edition)

The average rating for The Collected Works Of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 1 (Large Print Edition) based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-08-23 00:00:00 Terence Doocey Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) was many things, but what comes across most in this, the first of twelve volumes of his collected works now available free on Gutenberg Project, is Bierce the satirist and in a way, Bierce the journalist. The first half of this volume are all short stories involving the protagonist travelling to strange new lands with unusual cultures and beliefs. In this way I was reminded of Gulliver's Tales, however with a level of absurdism and satire that made me think of Stanislaw Lem. Each of these stories is essentially a "What if"; What if death was considered the greatest achievement? What if money was considered vulgar and people paid their employers to let them work? and so on. While these make diverting and occasionally thought provoking stories individually, when they are collected as they are here then the similarities become obvious and you realise you are reading variations on a theme. The second half of the book is based on Bierce's experiences as a soldier, and I have to admit that these stories held little interest for me so I only skimmed through them.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-08-17 00:00:00 Rob Noble The shorts about the Civil War were ok, but the 1st fifty percent of the collection was satirical/speculative(?)/fabulism(?), and not interesting at all. A hit-and-miss collection with too many misses. I'm hoping volume 2 is more fun to read.