Nicholas Hagger's Collected Stories covered five volumes containing
1,001 very short stories detailing five decades (from the 1960s to the
2000s) in the life of Philip Rawley, whose demise was misleadingly
announced at the end of the fifth volume. This sixth volume contains 201
stories and deals with the chill of winter, impending old age. These
mini-stores present a wide range of characters, and their follies and
flaws. They offer a complete literary experience in a page or two, and
their combination of opposites derives its inspiration from the 17th
century: Dr Johnson's description in his 'Life of Cowley' of the wit of
the Metaphysical poets as "a combination of dissimilar images" in which
"the most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together". They are
verbal paintings that present an image in action and reveal a poet's eye
for significant detail. Hagger's stories are innovatory in their
brevity. They are imagistic, economical and vivid, and cumulatively
reflect the Age. They are ideal for short concentration spans: reading
on journeys or in bed. Individual stories drop into the consciousness
like a stone into a well, leaving the mind to reflect on the ripples.
These imaginative stories in clean prose make excellent reading and
contain memorable images and studies of character.
