'ONLY CONNECT...'

The Celestial Omnibus (1911 or 1914) - short stories

News

Who is Forster?

Works
 ~ by Forster
 ~ about Forster
~ inspired by Forster

Quotes

Film adaptations

About this site & its maintainer

Shop

Links to other sites

Main index page

The preface says that the stories in this collection were first published in The Albany Review, The English Review, The Independent Review, The Pall Mall Magazine, and Putnam's Magazine. (I have not read this collection.)

The edition I have as a reference:

    No original copyright information. Borzoi Books Edition (Alfred A. Knopf, New York), 1923; hardcover, printed in Great Britain. (Property of Honnold/Mudd Library of the Claremont Colleges)

The book's dedication:

    TO THE MEMORY OF THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW

Contents:

  1. "The Story of a Panic"
  2. "The Other Side of the Hedge"
  3. "The Celestial Omnibus"
  4. "Other Kingdom"
  5. "The Curate's Friend"
  6. "The Road from Colonus"

"The Story of a Panic"

    Opening line: "Eustace's career -- if career it can be called -- certainly dates from that afternoon in the chestnut woods above Ravello. ..."

    This story is divided into three untitled parts.

"The Other Side of the Hedge"

    Opening line: "My pedometer told me that I was twenty-five; and, though it is a shocking thing to stop walking, I was so tired that I sat down on a milestone to rest. ..."

"The Celestial Omnibus"

    Opening line: "The boy who resided at Agathox Lodge, 28, Buckingham Park Road, Surbiton, had often been puzzled by the old sign-post that stood almost opposite. ..."

    This is also divided into three parts.

"Other Kingdom"

    Opening line: " ' "Quem, whom; fugis, are you avoiding; ah demens, you silly ass; habitarunt di quoque, gods too have lived in; silvas, the woods." Go ahead!' ..."

"The Curate's Friend"

    Opening line: "It is uncertain how the Faun came to be in Wiltshire. Perhaps he came over with the Roman legionaries to live with his friends in camp, talking to them of Lucretilis, or Garganus or of the slopes of Etna; they in the joy of their recall forgot to take him on board, and he wept in exile; but at last he found that our hills also understood his sorrows, and rejoiced when he was happy. ..."

"The Road From Colonus"

    Opening line: "For no very intelligible reason, Mr. Lucas had hurried ahead of his party. He was perhaps reaching the age at which independence becomes valuable, because it is so soon to be lost. ..."

    This story is arranged into two untitled sections.


Site disclaimer

Created 19 December 1996. Content last modified 15 November 2000, 01:09 PST.
'Only Connect': The Unofficial E. M. Forster Site <http://www.musicandmeaning.com/forster/works/celestial_omnibus.html>