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lelia_t's review
3.0
I’m not a good reader of short stories. I tend to prefer a gradual immersion into a narrative that you get with a novel over the brief dunking of a short story. Some of the stories in this collection are not even a dunking, just a splash with a sentence or two.
I liked them. Most were unexpected in some way. My favorite was one of the longer ones, “Marie Curie, So Honorable a Woman.” But overall, I didn’t know what to make of these stories - I’m intrigued and at a loss. So this book will definitely go on my “to be re-read” list, but more out of curiosity than pleasure.
I liked them. Most were unexpected in some way. My favorite was one of the longer ones, “Marie Curie, So Honorable a Woman.” But overall, I didn’t know what to make of these stories - I’m intrigued and at a loss. So this book will definitely go on my “to be re-read” list, but more out of curiosity than pleasure.
sloatsj's review
5.0
Love this, especially "Jury Duty," "Happiest Moment" and "Letter to a Funeral Parlor." Also "Finances."
People often admire Davis's wit, humor, skillful sadness, etc, but mostly I feel (with relief) a kind of detachment, observation, a wondering about what's going on, as if I'm in on an out-of-body experience.
People often admire Davis's wit, humor, skillful sadness, etc, but mostly I feel (with relief) a kind of detachment, observation, a wondering about what's going on, as if I'm in on an out-of-body experience.
teerah's review
2.0
A little too post-modern for me, although I did like a few of the longer short stories.
kathrichards's review
Lydia Davis paces her short story collections better than I know how to pace a novel, I think. Very intentional, sometimes so funny, sometimes a bit sad, always thoughtful—so much interiority and thoughts. Woolf's "moments of being and non-being" come to mind. One of my favorite stories in the collection is titled "Companion" and here is it: "We are sitting here together, my digestion and I. I am reading a book and it is working away at the lunch I ate a little while ago."
jasonfurman's review
4.0
There is nothing else like a Lydia Davis story. They are odd, disorienting, perceptive and carefully crafted. They range from a single sentence (the name of the title story is “Samuel Johnson is indignant:” and the entirety of the story is “that Scotland has so few trees.”) to ~40 pages. Their form varies, but many are about people, their relationships to each other, and the contrast and conflict in the different ways they see things. I can’t really tell you the difference between this and the other two collections of hers that I’ve read, but I certainly plan to read more—and to flip around and re-read various ones as well. All that said, about one-third of the stories fell pretty flat for me, either a bit boring or I wasn't sure why they existed.
devinayo's review against another edition
5.0
"You can’t tell everyone the truth all the time, and you certainly can’t tell anyone the whole truth, ever, because it would take too long." Lydia Davis in Samuel Johnson Is Indignant
Reading Lydia Davis involves a lot of emotions: to be awed, dazzled, confused, depressed, brought to tears and laughter too. In so few words, Davis manages to deliver so much more. Every word throws a punch. Brevity is the magic of Davis's writing, it is something that gives her stories gravity.
Davis's stories are remarkable for their compactness. Within the constraints, the stories reveal incisive observations about our daily lives. The characters in Davis's stories rarely do a lot of things. It seems to me that the stories happen in the middle of an afternoon, on a slow day, when the characters have time to sit alone with their thoughts and then think about their lives.
Consider, for instance, this story titled "The Old Dictionary", in which a mother reflects on her relationship with her son through the means of comparison with an old dictionary.
The strangeness of the revelation might seem cold as it defies the stereotype about loving mothers. And yet, this brings forth a moment of epiphany that perhaps, when we are in close relations with another human being, we are so overwhelmed with the complexities of lives and emotions, that we often forget what really matters. The same goes with "Letter to a Funeral Parlor", in which a character writes a letter to complain about a poor choice of words that fail to lend sympathies to a grieving family. Through this letter, we understand how much care and thoughts Davis puts into every word in her stories.
Davis's stories do not all contain such insights or punchlines. Sometimes the stories end without a conclusion. Sometimes the readers are abruptly cut off from the moment. Sometimes we read the short ones quickly and they begin to blur. For me, reading Lydia Davis is a reminder of the abundant richness and oddities in life, even down to the most trivial moment, if only we pay more attention.
Reading Lydia Davis involves a lot of emotions: to be awed, dazzled, confused, depressed, brought to tears and laughter too. In so few words, Davis manages to deliver so much more. Every word throws a punch. Brevity is the magic of Davis's writing, it is something that gives her stories gravity.
Davis's stories are remarkable for their compactness. Within the constraints, the stories reveal incisive observations about our daily lives. The characters in Davis's stories rarely do a lot of things. It seems to me that the stories happen in the middle of an afternoon, on a slow day, when the characters have time to sit alone with their thoughts and then think about their lives.
Consider, for instance, this story titled "The Old Dictionary", in which a mother reflects on her relationship with her son through the means of comparison with an old dictionary.
Each time I handle it, I take the greatest care not to harm it: my primary concern is not to harm it. What struck me today was that even though my son should be more important to me than my old dictionary, I can’t say that each time I deal with my son, my primary concern is not to harm him.
The strangeness of the revelation might seem cold as it defies the stereotype about loving mothers. And yet, this brings forth a moment of epiphany that perhaps, when we are in close relations with another human being, we are so overwhelmed with the complexities of lives and emotions, that we often forget what really matters. The same goes with "Letter to a Funeral Parlor", in which a character writes a letter to complain about a poor choice of words that fail to lend sympathies to a grieving family. Through this letter, we understand how much care and thoughts Davis puts into every word in her stories.
Davis's stories do not all contain such insights or punchlines. Sometimes the stories end without a conclusion. Sometimes the readers are abruptly cut off from the moment. Sometimes we read the short ones quickly and they begin to blur. For me, reading Lydia Davis is a reminder of the abundant richness and oddities in life, even down to the most trivial moment, if only we pay more attention.
kewlpinguino's review against another edition
4.0
A return to form for Davis after the disappointing (to me, at least) [b: Almost No Memory|48842|Almost No Memory|Lydia Davis|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1372677714s/48842.jpg|47783]. I always end up skipping the longest story in Davis's collections because they're almost never as good as any of the other ones; in this case I skipped "In A Northern Country". I'll probably buy her Collected Stories anyway, so I can always go back and reread it. This is probably a good place to start if you've never read Davis before, also.
lucasmiller's review
5.0
i really enjoyed this book. it made me feel that i was reading an answer key to a creative writing class. these stories feel like exercises. the point is rarely plot driven, but more as if there is something specific to be achieved. i thought that this would become really tiresome, but davis is very intelligent, and funny and sad and a very good writer.