War Crimes (short story collection)

War Crimes (1979) is a collection of short stories by Australian writer Peter Carey. It was published by University of Queensland Press in 1979.[1]

War Crimes
AuthorPeter Carey
LanguageEnglish
PublisherUniversity of Queensland Press
Publication date
1979
Publication placeAustralia
Media typePrint
Pages282 pp
ISBN0702214167
Preceded byThe Fat Man in History 
Followed byThe Fat Man in History and Other Stories 

The collection includes 13 original stories by the author.[1]

Contents

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  • "The Journey of a Lifetime"
  • "Do You Love Me?"
  • "The Uses of Williamson Wood"
  • "The Last Days of a Famous Mime"
  • "A Schoolboy Prank"
  • "The Chance"
  • "Fragrance of Roses"
  • "The Puzzling Nature of Blue"
  • "Ultra-violet Light"
  • "Kristu-Du"
  • "He Found Her in Late Summer"
  • "Exotic Pleasures"
  • "War Crimes"

Critical reception

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Writing in The Canberra Times Marion Halligan noted: "This imagination of Carey's is a source of amazement throughout the collection of stories. One is conscious of the elaborate construction of other worlds, as close to ours as the reflection in a faintly distorting mirror. The discrepancies tantalise. Carey mostly writes in a grave formal prose the more surrealistic the stories...Myths, fables for our time, worlds of the imagination that illuminate as they cast doubt on the real world: Carey's stories are a stimulating excursion into the relevance of the mysterious. He charms, he amazes, he appals, he amuses; our emotions are not often run through so full a gamut."[2]

Publication history

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After its original publication in 1979[3] the collection was reprinted by the University of Queensland Press in 1981[1] and 1984.[4]

Awards

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The collection won the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction in 1980.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "War Crimes by Peter Carey". Austlit. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  2. ^ ""Stories for running the emotional gamut"". The Canberra Times, 22 December 1979, p13. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  3. ^ "War Crimes (UQP 1979)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  4. ^ "War Crimes (UQP 1984)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  5. ^ "Christina Stead Prize 1980". AustLit. Retrieved 8 November 2023.