A Tangled Web Short Stories in the Oxford Bookworms Collection Oxford University Press !""#$ %SB&' "()*(+!!,)+(!
Thiscollection of tales takes its title from Sir Walter Scott’s well-known quote: “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we ractise to deceive!, and is t he most recent addition to a series that surrisingl", considering the first ones aeared almost a decade ago, still numbers onl" si#$ A Tangled Web consists of ten short stories b" well-known and mainl" %&-based authors such as 'oald (ahl, )aeve *inch" and 'a" *radbur"$ +ach stor", in line with revious titles in the series, has a thematic link$ Whereas earlier titles focused on crime, love and childhood, A Tangled Web looks at the rickl" issue of decetion$ )ost of us are good good at deceiving ourselves, but how much much more leasurable it is to read how others have been fooled this title will be received and read with glee$ s this and all other stories in the O#ford *ookworms collection are comletel" unabridged and unsimlified, the intended reader of A Tangled Web will need to be at good intermediate level referabl" be"ond$ .enr" Widdowson’s foreword needs careful unacking, unacking, though, if teachers and readers are to areciate such rich material, as his comments both romote and defend the editors’ reasoning behind titles that will, b" the nature of their content, limit sales$ Widdowson oints out that no matter how noble the intentions are of ublishers who adat and simlif" literar" te#ts /sadl", he fails to name names0 and however much we might alaud what he terms their “commendable edagogic uroses!, the significance and imact of the original te#t /Widdowson feels0 feels0 cannot be areciated unless the reader is encouraged to adot the role of the intended reader$ With this in mind, A Tangled Web would be slendid for grous of advanced readers$ .owever, since a large art of man" stories consists of easil" easil" followed dialogue /eseciall" /eseciall" in 1rederick 1ors"th’s tale of chicaner" at the card table, 2Shar 3ractise’0 readers willing to e#end a bit of effort should be able to full" areciate this title$ lthough we are not informed as to the basis on which the" were select ed, the editors have for the most art chosen their stories well$ good deal of language suort is at hand: culture-secific le#is is e#lained and biograhical detail lus a brief lead-in to each stor" is rovided$ 4 was erle#ed, though, as to wh" Therou#’s ublic falling out with 5$S 6aiaul should be referred to in such a book$ )ost tales in A in A Tangled Web are Web are taken from collections ublished in the ast thirt" "ears b" authors who, aart from 'oald (ahl, Oscar Wilde and Somerset )augham are still living and, eseciall" in the cases of 5$S 6aiaul and 3aul Therou#, still roducing e#cellent work$ lthough Therou# is more widel" known for his travel literature, 4 have alwa"s felt his short s tor" outut in the 789s contained some of the finest in +nglish, so 4 was delighted to note note the inclusion of his brief tale 26eighbours’, taken from 2The ;ondon +mbass"’ /789<0, which demonstrates how being tactless ma" encourage decetion$ Of all the ten stories 2+dna, *ack from merica’ b" =lare *o"lan, a tale of intended decetion, left the most vivid images in m" mind: a suicidal +dna /or should that be 2>une’?0 is firstl " offered a new life, then discovers too late that material comfort will come at a high rice$ 4t seemed to me that the most devious characters in the whole collection involved women seeking to get their own wa" and generall" succeeding in doing so often with with gullible males@ 'a" *radbur"’s futuristic 2)arionettes, 4nc$’, e#lores artner-swaing, while )aeve *inch"’s bride, in 2Telling Stories’, surrises her husband-to be b" attending her own wedding$ wedding$ Work that one out for "ourself@ "ourself@ Wayne Trotman is a teacher of EAP writing at Yüksek Teknoloji Enstitüsü, Izmir, Trkey!Email" wayne#egenet!com!tr
