This book defies easy evaluation - the plot structure leads one to expect a psychological thriller but the plot is comparativelt flat. Yet, as a depiction of the slow self-recognition/realization of the narrator Manuel, the book is very successful. This self-realization grows in the context of the suicide of Gregorio, a mentally ill young man and Manuel's best friend; the disappearances of Tania, Manuel's lover and (ex-)girl-friend of Gregorio; and anti-social behavior of Manuel himself. The result is an interesting and believable exploration of alienational - personal, familial, and social.
While not up to the quality of "Silk" or "Ocean Sea", Baricco's prose continues to delight - clear, filled with "the perfect" images etc. However, in this slim volume the plot seems more contrived or didactic than in his other work. The psychological understanding of his characters is still "spot on" making the book well worth the time required to read it.
The first half of the book sets the stage - a young girl hiding under the floor while her father and brother are murdered. The second half explores the relationship between the now grown girl and the surviving murderer. The totality of the book serves as a meditation on the brutality of war.
In terms of writing, plot development, and character building, this book is indistinguishable from many other collections of short stories. However, it is distinguished in its portrayal of characters torn between cultures - both traditional vs. modern Iran and Iran and the West. For example, the first story compares a scholarship student who has gone abroad to study with her much richer girlhood friend who became politically active in Iran. The final story, explores the world of an American boy with an absent Iranian father. "The Poet" explores the power of a few words to open rifts in a schoolgirl friendship between unequals.
This book is certainly worth the reader's time - both opening cultural understanding and forcing introspection.
I would label this a book of fixed-form prose poems rather than stories although one could also think them to be sudden-fiction or short-shorts. Each story is 240 words long - the last 240 words rushing through the narrators' mind after the head is severed from the body. The historical figures represented are a cross-section - Medusa, Anne Boleyn, Gooseneck (court jester), John the Baptist, Jayne Mansfield ... Some of the pieces are stunning e.g. Chin Chin Chan, a Chinese student 1882 A. D. Some are humorous e.g. the Dragon 310 A.D. Unfortunately, there are some for which I need a more detailed knowledge of French and English history "to get." Still the book is well worth the time to read.
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Memory presents the Holocaust from the prespective of Jews who safely made it to unoccupied France, in the processing providing both a coming of age story and a love story. The author is a psychiatrist who succeeds in portraying the emotional life of the characters in such a believable manner that you believe you are reading biography not fiction. The novel is short and sparse - no extra baggage, every sentence matters. Highly recommended.
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Martha J. has commented on (5) products.
The Night Buffalo by Guillermo Arriaga
Martha J., August 24, 2008
This book defies easy evaluation - the plot structure leads one to expect a psychological thriller but the plot is comparativelt flat. Yet, as a depiction of the slow self-recognition/realization of the narrator Manuel, the book is very successful. This self-realization grows in the context of the suicide of Gregorio, a mentally ill young man and Manuel's best friend; the disappearances of Tania, Manuel's lover and (ex-)girl-friend of Gregorio; and anti-social behavior of Manuel himself. The result is an interesting and believable exploration of alienational - personal, familial, and social.Without Blood by Alessandro Baricco
Martha J., August 24, 2008
While not up to the quality of "Silk" or "Ocean Sea", Baricco's prose continues to delight - clear, filled with "the perfect" images etc. However, in this slim volume the plot seems more contrived or didactic than in his other work. The psychological understanding of his characters is still "spot on" making the book well worth the time required to read it.The first half of the book sets the stage - a young girl hiding under the floor while her father and brother are murdered. The second half explores the relationship between the now grown girl and the surviving murderer. The totality of the book serves as a meditation on the brutality of war.
Veils : Short Stories (92 Edition) by Nahid Rachlin
Martha J., August 23, 2008
In terms of writing, plot development, and character building, this book is indistinguishable from many other collections of short stories. However, it is distinguished in its portrayal of characters torn between cultures - both traditional vs. modern Iran and Iran and the West. For example, the first story compares a scholarship student who has gone abroad to study with her much richer girlhood friend who became politically active in Iran. The final story, explores the world of an American boy with an absent Iranian father. "The Poet" explores the power of a few words to open rifts in a schoolgirl friendship between unequals.This book is certainly worth the reader's time - both opening cultural understanding and forcing introspection.
Severance: Stories by Robert Olen Butler
Martha J., August 11, 2008
I would label this a book of fixed-form prose poems rather than stories although one could also think them to be sudden-fiction or short-shorts. Each story is 240 words long - the last 240 words rushing through the narrators' mind after the head is severed from the body. The historical figures represented are a cross-section - Medusa, Anne Boleyn, Gooseneck (court jester), John the Baptist, Jayne Mansfield ... Some of the pieces are stunning e.g. Chin Chin Chan, a Chinese student 1882 A. D. Some are humorous e.g. the Dragon 310 A.D. Unfortunately, there are some for which I need a more detailed knowledge of French and English history "to get." Still the book is well worth the time to read.(2 of 3 readers found this comment helpful)
Memory by Philippe Grimbert
Martha J., August 11, 2008
Memory presents the Holocaust from the prespective of Jews who safely made it to unoccupied France, in the processing providing both a coming of age story and a love story. The author is a psychiatrist who succeeds in portraying the emotional life of the characters in such a believable manner that you believe you are reading biography not fiction. The novel is short and sparse - no extra baggage, every sentence matters. Highly recommended.