5 h 27 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 5 h 27 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What is charm worth when a life begins to slip toward ruin?
In The Unbearable Bassington, Saki brings charm and ruin into the same frame. This Edwardian comedy of manners turns attention toward the price of a life wasted. Its sharp humour invites laughter, but its central idea gives that laughter an uncomfortable edge.
Here, manners are more than a pleasant subject for comedy. They provide the ground for satire, with charm set against the possibility of ruin. Read for the wit, and for the darker question beneath it: what does a wasted life cost?
What you’ll discover
- Charm against ruin Explore the uneasy contrast that gives this comedy its darker promise.
- An Edwardian world Enter a comedy of manners with a sharp satirical edge.
- Laughter with a sting Find humour tied to the troubling idea of a life wasted.
- The price of waste Consider a question that reaches beyond charm and outward manners.
- Saki's sharp comedy Discover a literary work that places wit beside the prospect of ruin.
Who will love it
Readers who love razor-sharp dialogue, drawing-room satire and Edwardian London will find a feast here, along with comedy that carries real feeling underneath.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A son becomes his mother's hope
- Francesca builds her future on marriage
- Comus turns power into cruel amusement
- Comus laughs away another possible future
- Elaine weighs charm against selfishness
- Parting exposes what pride keeps hidden
- Charm offers no settled place
- The jokes carry an approaching sorrow
- Small acts put large hopes at risk
Who’s who
- Francesca BassingtonA well-dressed widow who treasures her drawing room and the house in Blue Street, and hopes to see her son marry money.
- Comus BassingtonHer handsome, mocking, untameable son, who loves life's best things and will not work or save to keep them.
- Henry GreechFrancesca's solemn brother, a parliamentarian who offers advice and loans and talks too much.
- Elaine de FreyA grave, rich young woman who judges everyone's motives and must choose between two suitors.
- Courtenay YoughalA witty young politician with elegant waistcoats and little money, who needs a rich wife and wants to rise.
- Lady Caroline BenaresqA gently spoken, merciless society woman whose purring remarks expose pretension and discomfort her fellow guests.
- Lancelot ChetrofA timid new schoolboy and Emmeline's brother, who is caned by Comus on his first week.
- Molly McQuadeA fearless hunting woman and long-time flirt of Youghal, who says goodbye at the Zoo with brave good humor.
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The Unbearable Bassington in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Unbearable Bassington
by Saki · 1912
A charming, penniless young man courts an heiress while his mother guards her treasured drawing room.
Challenging2–5 hours to read16 languages
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“This story has no moral.”
In short
What does a woman love more, her only son or her drawing room? In Blue Street, London, Francesca Bassington pours China tea beneath a grand battle painting and worries about the day she may lose the house.
The Unbearable Bassington at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 5 min2 h 25 min fast, 3 h 40 min slow
- Length
- 44,200 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1912by Saki
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A drawing room can become a woman's soul
Francesca Bassington sits at tea with her brother Henry in her house in Blue Street. She is forty, slender and well dressed, and her friends and enemies agree that she has no soul. Saki answers that if she were asked to describe her soul, she would describe her drawing room.
Every treasure holds a story. A bronze on the mantelpiece came from a sweepstake win. A group of Dresden figures was left by a discreet admirer. Above them all hangs the great Van der Meulen, a pompous battle scene that came with her wedding dowry and fits its wall panel exactly.
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Which edition is right for me
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1912
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 3 h 30 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Saki. The Unbearable Bassington. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-unbearable-bassington.
Saki. (2026). The unbearable Bassington. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-unbearable-bassington (Original work published 1912)
Saki. The Unbearable Bassington. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-unbearable-bassington.
@book{saki2026unbearable,
author = {Saki},
title = {The Unbearable Bassington},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-unbearable-bassington},
note = {First published 1912}
}
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What is The Unbearable Bassington about?
It follows Comus Bassington, a charming young man in Edwardian London who cannot hold a purpose, and his mother Francesca, who needs his marriage to keep her house. Their hopes rest on an heiress named Elaine de Frey.
Who is Saki, the author of The Unbearable Bassington?
Saki is the pen name of Hector Hugh Munro, a British writer who died in 1916. He is known for sharp, witty short stories, and this novel brings the same satirical eye to a family and its society.
Is The Unbearable Bassington a comedy or a tragedy?
It is both. Most of the book is a comedy of manners full of quick dialogue and comic types, but the central story of Comus and his mother carries real sadness. The author's note says it has no moral.
The author
Saki
1870–1916 · British short story writer
Saki was the pen name of Hector Hugh Munro (1870–1916), a British writer born in Burma. He lived in England and worked as a journalist. He wrote short stories and the novel The Unbearable Bassington (1912). His collections included Beasts and Super-Beasts (1914). He died in France during the First World War.
“This story has no moral.”
More by Saki
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