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Title: Mr. Reginald Peacock's Day

Author: Katherine Mansfield

Narrator: Juliet Stevenson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 23 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-02-13

Publisher: Naxos AudioBooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

This is a story from the Bliss & Other Stories collection.

One of Katherine Mansfield's finest short stories, Bliss introduces us to Bertha, who experiences a sense of rapture as she reflects on her life. On her walk home one day, she is overwhelmed by a sense of bliss and contentment.

However, her joy later turns to disappointment as she discovers her husband is having an affair with her new friend Pearl.

Katherine Mansfield became well-known for her focus on psychological conflicts and complex characters; and "Bliss" displays these qualities brilliantly, exploring themes of marriage, adultery and duplicity. This set also contains five other short stories by Katherine Mansfield: "Mr Reginald Peacock's Day", "Pictures", "The Little Governess", "Feuille D'Album", and "A Dill Pickle".

Editorial Reviews:

First published in a British literary magazine in 1917, the audiobook version of Katherine Mansfields captivating "Mr. Reginald Peacocks Day" presents the listener with the titular, strikingly immodest music teacher and the uneasy relationship he maintains with his wife, from whom he seeks the unadulterated praise regularly bestowed upon him by his pupils and colleagues.

Narrator Juliet Stevensons evocative performance imbues a realism into Peacocks narcissistic tendencies and the sycophancy of his doting female students in this wry, cynical look at the mundaneness of married life.

Members Reviews:

Sadly Lacking in Substance

I have an older book from 1973 though I am sure there are others much older.

These stories are all about what's going on in the narrator's head. Nothing that actually happens is of any consequence. In fact, the narrators' thoughts are of no consequence either.

Someone else reviewed the book, speaking of Mansfield's tragic life and how she kept writing. I would have loved to read stories of that tragic life, rather than a bunch of rich people sitting around, eating, drinking or smoking.

Sorry, but this book os short stories did nothing for me. I even skipped through one section, just trying to get to the end. As they say "The truth is stranger than fiction." Mansfield's mistake was in not writing HER TRUTH.

I love the book

Katherine Mansfield is to me the real struggeling artist. Lots of real raw courage and endurance. Leaving her homeland, having a baby without been married, which was difficult stuff at the time and then heartbreak when it died.

A real creative force, who wrote her books even when everything else was falling apart.

I would love to be like her.

Rotten Print Quality

This printing of Bliss and Other Stories is a completely worthless printing. The font size is about 3 pt. or less, literally,and all the stories are run together from one big printout. I love the writer Mansfield, but this printing is physically unusable, a real rip off and a huge disservice to a great writer. Buy her stories, but NOT in this physical presentation of them.

Another excellent readine

This CD excellent, maintaining the level of the other naxos readings. The stories themselves are overrated, alas; Katherine Mansfield no longer seems to be on a par with D.H. Lawrence, and the stories have eve even 'corny' surprise endings. But if you want to read them the diction is impeccable.