Katherine Mansfield's 'The Garden Party' is praised for its genius in capturing life's fleeting emotions and moods. The stories are more about the feelings than the characters, with a delicate portrayal of human experiences.
Katherine Mansfield's 'The Garden Party' is celebrated for its ability to convey the essence of life through its characters' emotions and moods. The stories are not driven by plots but by the subtle, often fleeting feelings of the characters. Mansfield's talent lies in her ability to capture these moments with such beauty and precision that the reader is left with a lasting impression of the moods rather than the characters themselves. The review compares her work to Tchehov's, noting both similarities and differences, but ultimately highlights Mansfield's unique ability to give a taste of life in her stories.
Quick quotes
Miss Mansfield does not write what one usually thinks of as a “short story.” She is interested in people, not in plots, in the substance and color of life, and not the chess patterns that can be made with it.
She is a connoisseur of the ripples that mean so much more than waves, a collector of little emotions caught on the wing, never pinned or bottled in her pages, but kept alive there in all their fragile iridescent colors.
Perhaps the clearest example of Miss Mansfield’s ability to give you the taste of life is the story which gives its title to her latest collection.