Language English Publication date December 1956 Originally published December 1956 Country United Kingdom | Publisher Renown Publications Genre Science Fiction | |
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Similar The Pacifist, The Man Who Ploughed, Death and the Senator, The Ultimate Melody, If I Forget Thee - Oh Earth | ||
"The Reluctant Orchid" is a science fiction short story by Arthur C. Clarke, first published in 1956, and later anthologized in Tales from the White Hart. Like the rest of the collection, it is a frame story set in the pub "White Hart", where the fictional Harry Purvis narrates the secondary tale.
Contents
According to the American orchid biologist, Joseph Arditti, Clarke told him that the story was inspired by the H.G. Wells story "The flowering of the Strange Orchid" (1894, Pall Mall Budget), which is mentioned in Clarke's story, about a carnivorous orchid that almost kills the man who buys it at auction.
Plot
The story narrated by Purvis describes the relationship between a very timid acquaintance of his named Hercules Keating, and Hercules's rather overbearing aunt. Hercules is an orchid fancier, and cultivates obscure varieties of these. On one particular occasion, he comes across a carnivorous orchid, and is nearly killed by it. This inspires him to use it to murder his aunt, whom he hates. However, the aunt tames the orchid, thus deflating the scheme.
Publication
Originally published in the magazine Satellite Science Fiction, the piece was later published as the eleventh story in Clarke's collection Tales from the White Hart. Galaxy reviewer Floyd C. Gale praised the collection as "as light and frothy a conglomeration of sidesplitters as it has been my good fortune to read."