Reviews

Dictation: A Quartet by Cynthia Ozick

liketheday's review

2.0

This is a book of four short stories (less than 50 pages each) that weren't really connected in any way, as I thought they were going to be when I picked up the book.
read more...

zisi's review

4.0

I've read this book several years ago, but like most of Ozick's fiction, improves upon rereading. It's a collection of four long short stories, and are densely and poetically written. The first (and title story) concerns Henry James' and Joseph Conrad's female amanuenses, who meet by accident, and the extraordinary stenographic trick they play to ensure their own immortality. The other three stories are similarly inventive and playful.

dllh's review

4.0

I'm a little conflicted about this short collection because the two middle stories I find kind of puzzling, but I really liked the title story and the last ("What Happened to the Baby") very satisfying. Ozick again (I've mentioned a couple of her books before) here displays sort of dazzling creativity and a concern for big things like art and creative agency and human suffering that I find admirable. I'd like to read this collection again in a few years and will certainly keep reading Ozick.

kairhone's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

kansass's review

5.0

A raiz de estar leyendo [b:La mecanógrafa de Henry James|36451011|La mecanógrafa de Henry James|Michiel Heyns|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1508584110l/36451011._SY75_.jpg|58154685], de [a:Michiel Heyns|261047|Michiel Heyns|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1255254110p2/261047.jpg] e investigando, me enteré de que este cuento de Cynthia Ozick, estaba directamente relacionado con la novela dado que aquí, al igual que en la novela de Heyns, volvían a aparecer Henry James y su mecanógrafa Theodora Bosanquet, pero además Joseph Conrad y la suya, Lilian Hallowes. Ambas jóvenes se conocen casi por casualidad en 1910 y a raíz de este momento se hacen amigas; las dos adoraban a sus jefes/maestros y ambas eran profundas conocedoras de su obra.

El cuento es genial por como explora las relaciones humanas, el espiritu artistico, los egos y celos y lo hace con humor y un profundo conocimiento de la obra de James y Conrad. La conspiración de las dos mecanógrafas (que eran vistas solo como meros instrumentos, meros alargamientos de la máquina de escribir) para dejar su propio sello personal en la obra de ambos autores resulta una delicia.

Este cuento se puede encontrar en [b:Cuentos reunidos|25668105|Cuentos reunidos|Cynthia Ozick|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1433474810l/25668105._SY75_.jpg|372789].