Tag Archives: Short Stories

Another Kind of Paradise by Trevor Carolan, Ed.

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Synopsis:
Short Stories from the New Asia-Pacific.

Review:
Another Kind of Paradise is a collection of stories from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma, Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia, and more. My favorite was “Their Son” by Hong Ying from China, which takes expectations about parents and children and totally upends them. It was sad, sweet, funny, and provocative. “Third Meeting” by Mi-na Choi from Korea had a narrator that really grabbed me, even though the story was heartbreaking beyond words.

The Inheritance and Other Stories by Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm

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Synopsis:
A set of stories by two authors sharing one body: edgy sci fi by Megan Lindholm and longer fantasy by Robin Hobb.

Review:
I really enjoyed almost all of the stories in The Inheritance. I liked returning to the Rain Wilds in Hobb’s stories, especially because these stories were longer. But the Lindholm stories have an edge to them that I miss in Hobb’s works, and I yearn to see more of that anger and complexity in the Six Duchies stories.

This is definitely a must-read for any Hobb/Lindholm fan, and a good introduction to anyone who wants to check either of them out. (And by the way, they are the same person!)

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Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

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Synopsis:
4 new stories that probe what ordinary people might do when faced with evil.

Review:
There were times when I considered putting down Full Dark, No Stars because it went so deep into the blackness. I know that sounds odd, because of who the author is, but for some reason these stories felt compressed in an unpleasant way. When King takes more time to develop his stories and let them breathe, you get some relief from the evil. That’s not the case with these small stories. And because in each one the evil is so intimate, the stories are claustrophobic to the extreme. I much prefer the mode where the evil is externalized to a greater degree. To me, his gold standard for the short form is “The Langoliers,” where you have an outside menace that then causes a moral breakdown amongst a group for characters. Moving among points-of-view provides a bit of an escape and some characters are also freed to find their best selves. Here you do get some glimpses of courage and even heroism, but the overall mood is relentlessly cynical and bleak.

That said, these stories do have solid literary merit, in terms of concept and execution. I guess I just might have too much Christmas spirit to appreciate them now. I might have liked them better in March.

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The Great Bazaar and Other Stories by Peter V. Brett

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Synopsis:
A selection of deleted scenes from Peter V. Brett’s debut fantasy novel The Warded Man.

Review:
The Great Bazaar and Other Stories is a fun little read for fans of the world and characters created by Peter V. Brett in The Warded Man and its upcoming sequel The Desert Spear (which is so so so so so good, by the way–watch for my review and an interview with Peter in April!)

I enjoyed reading a few more stories about characters I have come to really love, particularly the healer Leesha, who delivers some unorthodox marriage advice to a troubled couple in one of the stories. I also loved Brett’s original opening chapter, showing Arlen as a young boy. The opening novelette, “The Great Bazaar,” serves as a nice teaser for The Desert Spear–you’ll definitely get excited for the book when reading it.

Many thanks to Subterranean for the review copy.

Posted in American Literature | Tagged , , , | 3 Replies

Just An Ordinary Day by Shirley Jackson

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Synopsis:
A collection of unpublished and previously uncollected short stories by the reigning queen of gothic Americana.

Review:
Short stories are not usually my cup of tea, because they’re over far too quickly. But I’ll read anything that Shirley Jackson writes, and I really enjoyed the stories found in Just An Ordinary Day, which I’ve been reading in fits and starts for several months.

Oddly enough, my favorites were among the unpublished pieces. In particular, I greatly enjoyed “My Recollections of S.B. Fairchild,” about a mail order department store purchase gone terribly wrong. There’s nothing unheimich about the story; rather, it’s a sharply conceived, tightly executed piece of American satire whose quotidian-ness is an asset, not a liability.

What I admire most about Jackson is her precision. I really don’t know if any modern writer as prolific as Jackson also produces such relentlessly perfect prose.

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Just After Sunset by Stephen King

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Synopsis:
A collection of short stories.

Review:
Just After Sunset offers a lackluster selection of short stories, hardly any of which really grabbed me by the collar. Many of them had a fancy twist ending that could be spotted a mile away (“The Mute”), while others were just deadly dull (“The Things They Left Behind”).

I did enjoy “N,” which evoked the same creepy unease that I so loved in Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves. However, once it reached the final section it had no more surprises for me. “The Stationary Bike” was hypnotic, particularly because I listened to it while driving a very long stretch of I87 from Albany back to New York City. However, it just didn’t blow me away. Finally, “A Very Tight Place,” which concerns a man trapped in a tipped-over, locked port-o-potty, managed to gross me out, keep me riveted, and surprise me with some nice character touches. I think it’s the best of a subpar bunch.

Posted in American Literature | Tagged , , , , | 2 Replies

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

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Synopsis:
A collection of short stories featuring Indian American protagonists.

Review:
Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel The Namesake was one of my favorite books I read the year I was pregnant with Superfast Toddler, and I was so happy to get Unaccustomed Earth for Christmas this year.

What I love about Lahiri’s stories is that I never feel shortchanged by them. No matter how good a short story is, for the most part I always wish I were reading a novel instead. Short stories are too brief, too concise, to economic for me. I prefer to languish in my reading. Somehow, Lahiri manages to create short fiction that feels novelistic. I get lost in her stories, and never feel like they’ve ended too soon.

The second half of the book is a love story told in three parts: from the point of view of each of the lovers, and then in the third person as their love affair plays out. It’s basically a novella, yet each section offers its own unique satisfactions and pleasures. She captures love and passion so well, not to mention the (usually) inevitable heartbreak.

I’m teaching a college writing course this spring and planning to use one of Lahiri’s stories. I have no idea yet which one, because they’re all so marvelous. Her effortless prose style has beauty but no ostentation, but in her simplicity she captures so much complexity. I can’t think of anyone better from whom to learn the craft of fiction writing.

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The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling

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Synopsis:
A collection of traditional wizarding fairy tales translated by Hermione Granger and annotated by Albus Dumbledore–with an introduction by JK Rowling.

Review:
Why couldn’t Beedle the Bard be twice as long? I loved these stories, which read just like “real” fairy tales, but with a spin that marks them as belonging to the world of Harry Potter and friends. What could be a clever gimmick works because the stories themselves work even if you know nothing of Harry Potter. They’re classic in their execution despite their revisionist elements, reminding me of The Practical Princess, a favorite of mine from childhood.

Each story comes with a fusty commentary from Albus Dumbledore. Usually I don’t care for these kids of postmodern tropes, but here it worked because the commentary added a layer of resonance to the Harry Potter story. There was humor and insight–and it was great to hear from Dumbledore again!

Thanks to Superfast Brother for getting this for me for Christmas!

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Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris

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Synopsis:
A collection of previously published works by humorist David Sedaris on the topic of Christmas.

Review:
To the tune of “Frosty the Snowman”

Da-vid Se-daris
Was a writer oh-so-droll
With a quirky style and take on life
That will put you on the floor.

Da-vid Se-daris
Writes the weirdest stuff you’ll see
About the Christmas whore and the Macy’s elves
And deathly children’s pageantry.

There must have been some crazy
In the Sedaris family tree
‘Cause David ain’t the only one
Have you seen his sister Amy?

Oh! Da-vid Se-daris!
Can your stories all be true?
It matters not when you write as hot
As in Holidays on Ice!

Posted in American Literature | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Replies

Button, Button by Richard Matheson

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Synopsis:
A collection of short stories by a preeminent contributor to “The Twilight Zone.”

Review:
Button, Button is an uneven bit of business, purporting to highlight the very best of Richard Matheson’s “Uncanny Stories.” Some are good, one is spectacular, but others have not aged well.

First, the good:

“Button, Button” exhibits a flawless “Twilight Zone” concept and execution. Apparently a Cameron Diaz movie based on it is coming soon. Seems like a bad idea to me. The genius of the story demands a smallness not readily translatable to the big screen.

“Dying Room Only” is a quick and dirty thriller with great atmosphere, but a weak ending.

“A Flourish of Strumpets” seems more suited to the talents of Shirley Jackson, with its priggish couple assailed by a gang of prostitutes with the tenacity of door-to-door Jehovah’s Witnesses. Jackson would’ve mined the story’s full Gothic potential. Matheson keeps it clean but I wanted more quirk.

“Pattern for Survival” is a funny little tale about a most successful author. It took me a few reads to get the joke, which is quite subtle but highly rewarding.

The not-so-good:

“Creeping Terror” takes an amusingly sociological look at the spread of Los Angeles. It’s written like a research paper, a gimmick that doesn’t do it for me.

The outstanding:

“Girl of My Dreams” is a noir version of a gothic premise: a young woman who can see how people may die, and her blackmailing boyfriend have a disagreement over a mark. I loved the tone he maintains throughout. This is the one I’d most like to see as a movie.

“Mute” is quite different than the other stories, lacking either a gimmick or a stylized tone. It’s the story of a young man who can’t talk, and the people who are trying to usher him into the world of language. Ferocious and mysterious, this is the story that most sucked me in.