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the_sunken_library's review against another edition
2.0
Imagine someone eating a dictionary, vomiting it on paper, removing all those annoying words that people actually use and instesd retaining the obscure synonyms and then arranging it into really boring stories.
savaging's review against another edition
5.0
Barthelme ends a story like this: "The story ends. It was written for several reasons. Nine of them are secrets. The tenth is that one should never cease considering human love, which remains as grisly and golden as ever".
Which is good, but not as good as his ending for the long short story "A Manual for Sons" (a blissful romp through repressed Oedipal violence):
"You must become your father, but a paler, weaker version of him. The enormities go with the job, but close study will allow you to perform the job less well than it has previously been done, thus moving toward a gold age of decency, quiet, and calmed fevers. Your contribution will not be a small one, but 'small' is one of the concepts that you should shoot for. If your father was a captain in Battery D, then content yourself with a corporalship in the same battery. Do not attend the annual reunions. Do not drink beer or sing songs at the reunions. Begin by whispering, in front of a mirror, for thirty minutes a day. Then tie your hands behind your back for thirty minutes a day, or get someone else to do this for you. Then, choose one of your most deeply held beliefs, such as the belief that your honors and awards have something to do with you, and abjure it. Friends will help you abjure it, and can be telephoned if you begin to backslide. You see the pattern, put it into practice. Fatherhood can be, if not conquered, at least 'turned down' in this generation -- by the combined efforts of all of us together. Rejoice."
I didn't realize that THIS was the writing I was looking for until I fell into reading it. 20th century urban American Kafka. A complete delight to read. Barthelme's early pieces have the casual misogyny of early Vonnegut, but like Kurt he became more interesting with practice.
Which is good, but not as good as his ending for the long short story "A Manual for Sons" (a blissful romp through repressed Oedipal violence):
"You must become your father, but a paler, weaker version of him. The enormities go with the job, but close study will allow you to perform the job less well than it has previously been done, thus moving toward a gold age of decency, quiet, and calmed fevers. Your contribution will not be a small one, but 'small' is one of the concepts that you should shoot for. If your father was a captain in Battery D, then content yourself with a corporalship in the same battery. Do not attend the annual reunions. Do not drink beer or sing songs at the reunions. Begin by whispering, in front of a mirror, for thirty minutes a day. Then tie your hands behind your back for thirty minutes a day, or get someone else to do this for you. Then, choose one of your most deeply held beliefs, such as the belief that your honors and awards have something to do with you, and abjure it. Friends will help you abjure it, and can be telephoned if you begin to backslide. You see the pattern, put it into practice. Fatherhood can be, if not conquered, at least 'turned down' in this generation -- by the combined efforts of all of us together. Rejoice."
I didn't realize that THIS was the writing I was looking for until I fell into reading it. 20th century urban American Kafka. A complete delight to read. Barthelme's early pieces have the casual misogyny of early Vonnegut, but like Kurt he became more interesting with practice.
rbreade's review against another edition
You wouldn't think to find a heart beneath the glittering surface of such postmodern stories, would you? Yet there it is. In part, this unexpected gift is due to the poignant and just plain funny ways Barthelme will build a sentence.
Consider "Rebecca," about Rebecca Lizard's effort to change her "ugly, reptilian, thoroughly unacceptable last name" and her love for Hilda. Yes, Rebecca is a lizard, though she's also a person. Is that a problem to reconcile? Not for Barthelme. And so, near the end of the story--most of these sixty stories are only a few pages long--Hilda places her hands on Rebecca's head, signaling an end to their argument:
"The snow is coming," [Hilda] said. "Soon it will be snow time. Together then as in other snow times. Drinking busthead 'round the fire. Truth is a locked room that we knock the lock off from time to time, and then board up again. Tomorrow you will hurt me and I will inform you that you have done so, and so on and so on. To hell with it. Come, viridian friend, come and sup with me."
An earnest, almost stately declaration to appear in such a postmodern tale, but here and in hundreds of other places in this book, Barthelme shows that heart can coexist with clever formal hijinks.
"Viridian friend." Wonder of wonders.
Consider "Rebecca," about Rebecca Lizard's effort to change her "ugly, reptilian, thoroughly unacceptable last name" and her love for Hilda. Yes, Rebecca is a lizard, though she's also a person. Is that a problem to reconcile? Not for Barthelme. And so, near the end of the story--most of these sixty stories are only a few pages long--Hilda places her hands on Rebecca's head, signaling an end to their argument:
"The snow is coming," [Hilda] said. "Soon it will be snow time. Together then as in other snow times. Drinking busthead 'round the fire. Truth is a locked room that we knock the lock off from time to time, and then board up again. Tomorrow you will hurt me and I will inform you that you have done so, and so on and so on. To hell with it. Come, viridian friend, come and sup with me."
An earnest, almost stately declaration to appear in such a postmodern tale, but here and in hundreds of other places in this book, Barthelme shows that heart can coexist with clever formal hijinks.
"Viridian friend." Wonder of wonders.
rocketiza's review against another edition
3.0
A mixed bag - as a person who needs a strong narrative the stories with structure rocked my world, but I wasn't feeling the more experimental stuff with less form (though I was far more tolerant of it than I usually am). Definitely imaginative and worth reading, just know what you're getting into and realize you might skip a few on the way through.
davygibbs's review against another edition
3.0
As strange as anything I've ever read, but happily so. And the stories are short enough that the strangeness never overwhelms. Years ago, in a different life, my wife and I took turns reading these stories out loud to one another before going to sleep.
beckydham's review against another edition
2.0
I can see bits and pieces of this appeal, but it's not my kind of thing.
podbod's review against another edition
4.0
When I first started reading Sixty Stories, I wondered what the point of some stories were and wasn't sure if I was really enjoying it.
As I kept reading, the variety of stories started to impress me. When I started reading just two stories a day instead of five or six, the dangling endings and unusual language became a lot more enjoyable.
There are stories that are stinkers here, but not many. There is a lot of awesome prose and many strange ideas and also a few bland stories that make me question how in the world they ever got published.
Really good collection overall.
As I kept reading, the variety of stories started to impress me. When I started reading just two stories a day instead of five or six, the dangling endings and unusual language became a lot more enjoyable.
There are stories that are stinkers here, but not many. There is a lot of awesome prose and many strange ideas and also a few bland stories that make me question how in the world they ever got published.
Really good collection overall.
joeduncan's review against another edition
4.0
Love Love Love. With 60 stories, you'll definitely get some duds, but there are so many winners here, it's hard to complain.