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margaret_adams's review
Read for a writing friend who told me “[Barthelme’s] stories are so funny you can read them aloud at parties,” and then refused to invite me to the kinds of parties where people read Barthelme out loud; he later covered by saying something about how he’d only said you can read them aloud at parties but that didn’t mean he actually went to parties where people read Barthelme out loud. After having read forty of Barthelme’s stories now, I think that willfully fixating on this syntactical misconstruction is an appropriate authorial tribute. I want Barthelme read out loud at social functions and I feel robbed!
With less Barthelme-themed-petulance: this book had also just popped up on another friend’s syllabus for a flash fiction class he was teaching, in the same pile as Atwood’s The Tent and Saunder’s Tenth of December , the kind of company that recommends any book, in my opinion.
I couldn’t read too many of these stories in a row without feeling worn out--Barthelme is exhausting as only the rambunctiously intelligent can be (the urge to get the author a Labrador so he’ll stop writing and run around outside is as strong as it is to read his stories out loud at parties). Still. My favorites were “Chablis” (“My wife wants a dog. She already has a baby. The baby’s almost two. My wife says that the baby wants the dog.”) and “Jaws,” about a wife who bites her husband when conflict arises. From “Jaws”:
Barthelme has the ability to nail humor, absurdity, and truthfulness in one go. It’s like he’s just waiting for these three things to line up in a row like an eclipse, and then BAM, he’s got another killer flash fictions.
Other favorites: “Engineer-Private Paul Klee Misplaces and Aircraft Between Milbertshofen and Cambrai, March 1916,” “Bluebeard,” “Sakrete,” and “The Baby.”
With less Barthelme-themed-petulance: this book had also just popped up on another friend’s syllabus for a flash fiction class he was teaching, in the same pile as Atwood’s The Tent and Saunder’s Tenth of December , the kind of company that recommends any book, in my opinion.
I couldn’t read too many of these stories in a row without feeling worn out--Barthelme is exhausting as only the rambunctiously intelligent can be (the urge to get the author a Labrador so he’ll stop writing and run around outside is as strong as it is to read his stories out loud at parties). Still. My favorites were “Chablis” (“My wife wants a dog. She already has a baby. The baby’s almost two. My wife says that the baby wants the dog.”) and “Jaws,” about a wife who bites her husband when conflict arises. From “Jaws”:
“Verbal presentations, with William and Natasha, are no good. So many terrible sentences drift in the poisoned air between them, sentences about who is right and sentences about who works hardest and sentences about money and even sentences about physical appearance--the most ghastly of known sentences. That’s why Natasha bites, I’m convinced of it. She’s trying to say something. She opens her mouth, then closes it (futility) on William’s arm (sudden eloquence). I like them both, so they both tell me about these incidences and I rationalize it and say, well, that’s not so terrible, maybe she’s under stress, or maybe he’s under stress. I neglect to mention that most people in New York are under some degree of stress and few of them, to my knowledge, bite each other."
Barthelme has the ability to nail humor, absurdity, and truthfulness in one go. It’s like he’s just waiting for these three things to line up in a row like an eclipse, and then BAM, he’s got another killer flash fictions.
Other favorites: “Engineer-Private Paul Klee Misplaces and Aircraft Between Milbertshofen and Cambrai, March 1916,” “Bluebeard,” “Sakrete,” and “The Baby.”
stewreads's review against another edition
4.0
3.75 stars.
Barthelme continues to confound, if not amaze, in this collection. Much like in Sixty Stories, these very short stories are episodic, absurd to the point of incomprehension, hilarious, and extraordinarily well-written. However, Forty Stories seems to be composed mainly of the leftovers from the 5-star feast that the other collection is, and some ideas fall flat. In short, this is a very good companion collection, but I wouldn't recommend it on its own.
Barthelme continues to confound, if not amaze, in this collection. Much like in Sixty Stories, these very short stories are episodic, absurd to the point of incomprehension, hilarious, and extraordinarily well-written. However, Forty Stories seems to be composed mainly of the leftovers from the 5-star feast that the other collection is, and some ideas fall flat. In short, this is a very good companion collection, but I wouldn't recommend it on its own.
silvanasodde's review
challenging
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.5
beepbeepbooks's review
5.0
love this fucking guy holy shit. Dave Eggers did the intro (:///) but a fantastic writer with stories that made me howl laughing and stories that made me really sad. Every story is like 3 or 4 pages and so delightful, you can feel Barthelme find a word and just savor it like a caramel. So eminently readable but so opaque in meaning, if not the meaning being the pleasure of reading itself. Fantastic can't wait to read more.
timmason's review against another edition
5.0
This book is very funny. Best not to read it on the train.
kathleenish's review
5.0
All forty titles are fantastic and would also make really good band names. It's unfathomable that there aren't already forty bands named after the stories in this collection. I would pay to hear Concerning the Bodyguard play live.
Some representative sentences to help you determine if Barthelme is your thing:
Chablis
I said to my wife, "Well, you've got the baby, do we have to get the damned dog too?" The dog will probably bite somebody or get lost. I can see myself walking all over our subdivision asking people, "Have you seen this brown dog?" "what's its name?" they'll say to me, and I'll stare at them coldly and say "Michael."
Lightning
He was 45, making a thin living, curious about people who had been struck by lightning.
Porcupines at the University
And when I reach the great porcupine canneries of the East, I will be rich, the wrangler reflected. I will sit on the front porch of the Muehlebach Hotel in New York City and smoke me a big seegar. Then, the fancy women.
Some representative sentences to help you determine if Barthelme is your thing:
Chablis
I said to my wife, "Well, you've got the baby, do we have to get the damned dog too?" The dog will probably bite somebody or get lost. I can see myself walking all over our subdivision asking people, "Have you seen this brown dog?" "what's its name?" they'll say to me, and I'll stare at them coldly and say "Michael."
Lightning
He was 45, making a thin living, curious about people who had been struck by lightning.
Porcupines at the University
And when I reach the great porcupine canneries of the East, I will be rich, the wrangler reflected. I will sit on the front porch of the Muehlebach Hotel in New York City and smoke me a big seegar. Then, the fancy women.
mancolepig's review against another edition
4.0
Reading Barthelme is a bit like reading a collection of inside jokes, only some of which you are in on. I’ve read that he is the inventive master of post-modern storytelling but I’m gonna be real with you and tell you I don’t know what the hell that even means.
All I can tell you is that this guy does not waste sentences. His stories are so efficient and move so quickly that despite their length (4-8 pages each), reading just one can be a mental workout. He is also obviously well-educated. His writing teems with references to music, philosophy, art, literature, history, religion, food, wine, and babies. Actually his stories sometimes made me feel stupid, but I almost think that’s supposed to be part of the experience.
The Highlights:
Chablis
Jaws
Conversations with Goethe
Affection
The New Owner
Visitors
The Temptation of St. Anthony
Pepperoni
Some of Us had been Threatening our Friend Colby
Sakrete
The Baby
If you read some of these and don’t like them, I don’t think you’re going to like the rest of Barthelme’s stuff. But if you’re open to experimentation, check it out.
All I can tell you is that this guy does not waste sentences. His stories are so efficient and move so quickly that despite their length (4-8 pages each), reading just one can be a mental workout. He is also obviously well-educated. His writing teems with references to music, philosophy, art, literature, history, religion, food, wine, and babies. Actually his stories sometimes made me feel stupid, but I almost think that’s supposed to be part of the experience.
The Highlights:
Chablis
Jaws
Conversations with Goethe
Affection
The New Owner
Visitors
The Temptation of St. Anthony
Pepperoni
Some of Us had been Threatening our Friend Colby
Sakrete
The Baby
If you read some of these and don’t like them, I don’t think you’re going to like the rest of Barthelme’s stuff. But if you’re open to experimentation, check it out.
adamcarrington's review against another edition
5.0
A collection of literary Rubik's cubes. Clever post-modern approach to story-telling, sometimes frustratingly cerebral. Not all of these short stories are particularly enjoyable to read, but all of them do reward multiple readings. Favourites: Some of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Colby, On the Deck, Porcupines at the University.