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Bezig met laden... Assorted Fire Events: Storiesdoor David Means
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Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. Strange short stories. Assorted events (such as coitus; holding onto the side of a railroad car for dear life in The Grip; or the title story itself) are the catalysts for strings of thoughts. During the heat of passion a man's thoughts turn to the accidental drowning death of his brother on a canoe trip. The man in Coitus is having an affair and his mind is filled with guilt-ridden thoughts over his brother's death which happened over a year before. These brief stories are filled with ethical dilemmas and life changing decisions. There is grief and sadness, but the intense examination of these qualities bring the emotions into a clearer focus. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
From a married man consummating a hazy summer affair and getting lost in a reverie that explains the far-away look in his eyes" ("Coitus") to a recently widowed mother who must decide what to do with a video of her honeymoon love-making ("The Widow Predicament"), David Means probes the depths of the human heart. The stories collected here range the American landscape: suburban sprawl leads to disastrous consequences in Pushcart Prize-winning "What They Did;" a Depression-era hobo holds on to a freight train that roars through the desert night as well has his scattered past ("The Grip"); sneaking into a wedding reception, a homeless man forever changes the lives of all present ("The Interruption"); and in "The Railroad Incident," a business executive sheds his shoes for an evening walk straight into the heart of darkness. Everywhere crystalline moments emerge that seem strange yet gritty and remarkably real. Means never fails to find the locus of grace and redemption in the most complex, and sometimes horrifying situations. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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As impressive as Means's technique is, I can't help but think that some readers will find these stories too dry by half, and there is a claustrophobic, snow globe quality to some of his work. The author consistently chooses to use five-dollar words even when writing from the perspective of characters that probably wouldn't know them. That's an inconsistency that drives lots of readers crazy, but I'm thinking that realism isn't quite what the author is trying for. "Assorted Fire Events" reads like a master class in short story writing where every phrase is perfectly turned and every plot element carefully considered, and readers looking for superior literary craftsmanship will probably find this collection immensely satisfying. Incidentally, the back cover of my copy of "Assorted Fire Events" says that Means teaches writing at Vassar and has published stories in Harper's and the Paris Review. Imagine my surprise. ( )