The Birds and Other Stories

The Birds and Other Stories

The first UK edition under its original title, The Apple Tree
Author	Daphne Du Maurier
Original title	The Apple Tree
Cover artist	Val Biro
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Publisher	Gollancz
Publication date	1952
Media type	Print, audio & eBook
Pages	264
OCLC	1278358

The Birds and Other Stories, originally published as The Apple Tree, is a collection of short stories by Daphne du Maurier published in 1952 by Gollancz in the UK. It was also titled Kiss Me Again, Stranger by Doubleday in the US.^[1] It includes "The Birds," which was made into a film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock in 1963. The anthology has been then republished under the current name, The Birds and Other Stories.

Stories

• "The Birds" tells of birds which inexplicably begin attacking man. It is told from the viewpoint of Nat Hocken, a farm worker in an England peninsula, and his family.

• "Monte Verità" tells of an isolated mountain, home to a mysterious sect rumoured to be immortal and feared by the local communities from whom it attracts young women who are never heard of again. It is told from the viewpoint of a nameless mountaineer whose best friend's wife disappears on a trip to climb the peak. It is based on the actual colony of Monte Verità in Switzerland which preached a return to nature.

• "The Apple Tree" follows the actions of a man who, following the death of his neglected wife, suspects her spirit inhabits an old apple tree in his garden which he resolves to remove, but never gets around to doing so. That is his mistake.

• "The Little Photographer" tells of a rich Marquise bored and dissatisfied with her life who attempts to spice up her life by having an affair with a photographer whilst holidaying on the French Mediterranean coast.

• "Kiss Me Again, Stranger" in which a shy mechanic follows a cinema usherette home from work and is led to a cemetery. Only later does the mechanic discover the terrible truth about the usherette. A short film was later made, starring Leonard Nimoy and Juliet Mills.

• "The Old Man" follows a family history as told by a neighbour who suspects the father of killing one of their children.

Reception

Reviewing the American edition in F&SF, Boucher and McComas noted that while nearly half the work fell into the fantasy genre, some bordering on science fiction, the stories were "largely overlong and not too original."^[2] In contrast Dan Schneider was very positive, "a memorable volume...she was a hell of a great writer, and these are simply, with one exception, great, great short stories in every aspect of the craft. You will not regret reading them". (the exception being "The Little Photographer")^[3]

Adaptations

• For the 1963 Alfred Hitchcock film, see The Birds (film)
• For other adaptations of "The Birds" see "The Birds" (story)
• "Kiss Me Again, Stranger" was adapted for television in 1953 as part of the Suspense US TV series.

Publication history

• 1952, UK, Gollancz, Hardback
• 1953, US, Doubleday, Hardback (as Kiss Me Again, Stranger)
• 1963, UK, Pan, Paperback (as The Birds and Other Stories)
• 1968, UK, Penguin, 0-14-001941-3, Paperback (as TheBirds and Other Stories)^[4]
• 1977, UK, Pan, ISBN 0-330-25081-7, Paperback (as The Birds and Other Stories)
• 1987, US, Dell, ISBN 0-440-14576-7, Pub date 01 Apr 1987, Paperback (as The Birds and Other Stories)
• 1992, UK, Arrow Books, ISBN 0-09-986640-4,Paperback (as The Birds and Other Stories)^[5]
• 1996, UK, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 1-85799-749-2, Paperback (as The Birds and Other Stories)^[6]
• 2003, UK, Virago, ISBN 1-84408-087-0, Paperback (as The Birds and Other Stories)

^[7]

References

External links

• "Suspense" Kiss Me Again, Stranger at the Internet Movie Database