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balancinghistorybooks's review against another edition
2.0
Mary Gaitskill's short story collection, Don't Cry, was first published in the USA in 2009, and in the United Kingdom in 2017. Gaitskill was not an author whom I had read before, but I'd heard such great things about her writing, and consequently picked up Don't Cry when browsing in my local library.
Described as 'full of jagged, lived emotion and powerful, incisive writing', I was certainly intrigued by this collection, which is made up of ten stories. Gaitskill's opening sentences are often quite startling and unusual, and sometimes packed a real punch. 'College Town, 1980', for instance, begins: 'Dolores did not look good in a scarf'; and 'Mirror Bowl' opens 'He took her soul - though, being a secular-minded person, he didn't think about it that way'. They also provide a sense of intrigue. 'Don't Cry', the title story, has 'Our first day in Addis Ababa, we woke up to wedding music playing outside our hotel' as its first sentence.
I admired Gaitskill's skill at creating striking sentences and images, but found that there was perhaps a little too much sexual content, darkness, and grit in Don't Cry for my personal taste. I found a few of the stories grotesque, and quite difficult to read in consequence. Whilst Gaitskill's stories are largely about everyday occurrences, she twists them around until they seem nasty and unsettling. Only some of her characters interested me, and I wasn't that taken by her quite matter-of-fact writing. The title story in the collection was by far my favourite, but it has not led me to want to pick up any more of Gaitskill's work in future.
Described as 'full of jagged, lived emotion and powerful, incisive writing', I was certainly intrigued by this collection, which is made up of ten stories. Gaitskill's opening sentences are often quite startling and unusual, and sometimes packed a real punch. 'College Town, 1980', for instance, begins: 'Dolores did not look good in a scarf'; and 'Mirror Bowl' opens 'He took her soul - though, being a secular-minded person, he didn't think about it that way'. They also provide a sense of intrigue. 'Don't Cry', the title story, has 'Our first day in Addis Ababa, we woke up to wedding music playing outside our hotel' as its first sentence.
I admired Gaitskill's skill at creating striking sentences and images, but found that there was perhaps a little too much sexual content, darkness, and grit in Don't Cry for my personal taste. I found a few of the stories grotesque, and quite difficult to read in consequence. Whilst Gaitskill's stories are largely about everyday occurrences, she twists them around until they seem nasty and unsettling. Only some of her characters interested me, and I wasn't that taken by her quite matter-of-fact writing. The title story in the collection was by far my favourite, but it has not led me to want to pick up any more of Gaitskill's work in future.
supposedlyfun's review against another edition
2.0
Unmitigated, Unreadable Despair
The stories in Mary Gaitskill’s Don’t Cry reflect characters who are profoundly vexed, but not in a profound way. It seems that Ms. Gaitskill has contrived both them and their situations with the simple goal of shocking her reader. The stories are visceral, yes, but they lack substance, and the fact that Gaitskill herself seems to harbor nothing but disdain for her characters makes it impossible for the reader to feel anything for them either. That’s all that there is to this collection – a shame, because Gaitskill does seem like a talented writer, albeit one whose brain I would never want to pick over coffee. By the halfway point I began questioning the point in slogging through the rest of the collection, and when I was about seventy-five percent through I gave up. This is not something that I typically do. Yet I have no regrets.
I had decided to read this collection because I was interested in reading Gaitskill’s novel Veronica. Emphasis on was. Instead, I’ll be looking for a writer with a touch of empathy, whose goal is not to shock and appall for no purpose other than the joy of having shocked and appalled.
Grade: D
The stories in Mary Gaitskill’s Don’t Cry reflect characters who are profoundly vexed, but not in a profound way. It seems that Ms. Gaitskill has contrived both them and their situations with the simple goal of shocking her reader. The stories are visceral, yes, but they lack substance, and the fact that Gaitskill herself seems to harbor nothing but disdain for her characters makes it impossible for the reader to feel anything for them either. That’s all that there is to this collection – a shame, because Gaitskill does seem like a talented writer, albeit one whose brain I would never want to pick over coffee. By the halfway point I began questioning the point in slogging through the rest of the collection, and when I was about seventy-five percent through I gave up. This is not something that I typically do. Yet I have no regrets.
I had decided to read this collection because I was interested in reading Gaitskill’s novel Veronica. Emphasis on was. Instead, I’ll be looking for a writer with a touch of empathy, whose goal is not to shock and appall for no purpose other than the joy of having shocked and appalled.
Grade: D
jodiwilldare's review against another edition
3.0
What has always drawn me to the short stories of Mary Gaitskill is that she spends a lot of time writing about the struggle women have with their intelligence and their sexuality and how giving into one always feels like subverting the other. This is a struggle a lot of intelligent women have because giving in to sex means turning off your brain and that’s scary. Plus, it can get you into a lot of trouble.
Don’t Cry, Gaitskill’s third short story collection, isn’t about struggle. In fact, I’m not entirely sure what it’s about. Not that collections are about any one thing, but usually have a sort of common theme that ties the stories together (like a record comprised of different songs).
As an avowed Gaitskill fangirl, I find myself floundering a bit when it comes to talking about this book.
Read the rest on MN Reads
Don’t Cry, Gaitskill’s third short story collection, isn’t about struggle. In fact, I’m not entirely sure what it’s about. Not that collections are about any one thing, but usually have a sort of common theme that ties the stories together (like a record comprised of different songs).
As an avowed Gaitskill fangirl, I find myself floundering a bit when it comes to talking about this book.
Read the rest on MN Reads
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