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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Shortstory collections sind ja immer so eine Sache, aber diese hier lohnt sich absolut. Es gab keine Geschichte darin, die mir nicht gefallen hätte.
Man findet sich auch leicht in jede hinein und sie passen insgesamt sehr gut zusammen, da sie alle eine ähnliche melancholisch-drückende Stimmung verbreiten.
Man findet sich auch leicht in jede hinein und sie passen insgesamt sehr gut zusammen, da sie alle eine ähnliche melancholisch-drückende Stimmung verbreiten.
adventurous
challenging
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is one of the best short story collections I have ever read and definitely the best I have read in a long time. I actually liked each and every story and that usually never happens. Writing great short stories is a special talent not many writers have. These stories are on the darker side and children are the main focus in this collection. And writing good child characters, some you can believe in, is also very hard and rarely successful. But I believed in every single one of these voices. Very impressive, I highly recommend this collection.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Julie Orringer looks at the ungainly, gawky, blundering period of childhood and adolescence with a razor-sharp eye -- indeed, I'm convinced she wrote these stories with a blade in hand, carving the words from the paper with surgical, mad precision.
The writing is simple and straight-to-the-point while still being able to rapture the reader's total attention. I felt there was a force pulling me into these stories, and I consumed (most of) them without blinking, honestly, without breathing. As if I was underwater. As if I was learning how to breathe.
It's all about feeling, about the exploration of womanhood and the awkwardness of bodies, of growing up, of living with grief, of understanding oneself, of overcoming it. I think there's something so unsettling about children, how the purity of their minds can be two-fold, a double-aged sword, and how girls destroy themselves most in their early ages, the catiness that is either born or forced into them. In that way, 'How to Breathe Underwater' is a stunning achievement, a true page-turner.
The writing is simple and straight-to-the-point while still being able to rapture the reader's total attention. I felt there was a force pulling me into these stories, and I consumed (most of) them without blinking, honestly, without breathing. As if I was underwater. As if I was learning how to breathe.
It's all about feeling, about the exploration of womanhood and the awkwardness of bodies, of growing up, of living with grief, of understanding oneself, of overcoming it. I think there's something so unsettling about children, how the purity of their minds can be two-fold, a double-aged sword, and how girls destroy themselves most in their early ages, the catiness that is either born or forced into them. In that way, 'How to Breathe Underwater' is a stunning achievement, a true page-turner.
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is, so far, my favorite collection of short stories. "How to Breath Underwater" was, ironically enough, a breathtaking set of stories with young protagonists from all walks of life. A few of my favorites were "The Isabel Fish" and "A Note to My Sixth Grade Self". I only had to read one story from this collection for my Fiction Workshop class, but I ended up reading everything else. Once you start a collection by Julie Orringer, you won't be able to stop. I strongly recommend this book to my peers and even those who are mature. Everyone will be able to find a piece of themselves in the stories.
I don't read enough modern fiction, but this collection of short stories were bewildering for me, even a bit comfortable at times. Each story dug up some of my own awkward feelings of my own youth, trying to always to submit myself to self-guilt, ongoing trepidation, and wanting to know all the answers right away. Crazily enough, I love writing that makes me to succumb to feelings as previously described. I'm looking forward to reading more Orringer.
emotional
reflective
I'm not a big reader of short stories, but this particular volume's buzz drew me in. Though many of these stories are depressing, with a definite emphasis on cancer, a sort of light shone through some of them. My favorite by far was "Isabel Fish," in which a girl who was involved in a near-drowning deals with the aftermath of the accident. 3.5 stars.