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alexwont's review against another edition
1.0
One star, for if add up some elements from some stories, you might get one good one.
glire's review
3.0
They say there are no coincidences, that nothing in this world truly happens by accident. So perhaps, deep down, i really meant to show my penis to my entire class. After all, that one seeming mistake began the adventure that changed my life.
So... This book consists of thirteen short stories:
1. Man-Boob Summer
2. We Happy Few
3. What I’ve Been Trying to Do All This Time
4. Su Li-Zhen
5. I, Gentile
6. Vampires of Queens
7. Matinee
8. I Think of Demons
9. Hawk
10. Retrospective
11. White Tiger On Snow Mountain
12. Literature I Gave You Everything and Now What Am I?
13. The Amateur
Or at least thats what it says in the table of contents. I never really found "White Tiger On Snow Mountain", there's a mention of the title in "Retrospective", but not a short story per se. So I don't know.
All the stories are about writers and readers, and that would be great except that I get the feeling that all the stories were about the same reader and writer: David Gordon. So there are moments where everything feels too egocentric. There is even a story where the protagonist is a writer named, yes, David Gordon...
In general, the writing is beautiful, the problem is the plot of the stories. I really liked "We Happy Few", "Su Li-Zhen", "Literature I Gave You Everything and Now What Am I?", and loved "Vampires of Queens" (Actually, is only for this stories that I gave the book 3 stars). But the others were almost painful to read.
seebrandyread's review
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
While I'm not 100% sure that all or any of the stories from White Tiger on Snow Mountain are based on David Gordon's life, I think he at least wants us to wonder. He leaves vague indicators like naming a character David, multiple characters who are writers and divorcees, and stories about the childhood of the same boy. Autofiction is one of the (many) gray areas of literature because all writing, fiction or not, comes from experience and one's interpretation of it. Not to mention most readers often have an urge to project what they read onto the people who have written it.
Another gray area of this collection is how Gordon teeters on the unreal/unbelievable. In the titular story, the MC connects with people via Craigslist hook-up ads. Their conversations seem too wild to be anything other than a catfish, but they aren't, at least not provably so, showing that truth is often stranger than fiction. In another story, a struggling writer appears to be hearing the voice of a writing guru in his head.
Gordon toys with both autofiction and metafiction. Though the reader doesn't know if one of the writer characters is writing the stories they're reading, it doesn't feel out of the realm of possibility. Gordon always seems to be playing with what makes a story a story. What makes a story "good"? What separates a story from an anecdote?
I think Gordon does some smart things in this collection, some that probably went over my head, but I want to be unequivocal: I did not like this book. I don't need likeable or even moral characters, but I do need ones that I care about, and I did not care about 90% of the ones in these stories. I largely didn't care about them because they didn't care about themselves. They're self deprecating and self sabotaging to the point of irritation.
I like for story collections to have variety in character, tone, and sometimes style. Though one or two stories stood out as unique from the rest, they all seemed to be about the same white guy trying to get his act together and his ED under control, and that is just not within my area of interest.
Another gray area of this collection is how Gordon teeters on the unreal/unbelievable. In the titular story, the MC connects with people via Craigslist hook-up ads. Their conversations seem too wild to be anything other than a catfish, but they aren't, at least not provably so, showing that truth is often stranger than fiction. In another story, a struggling writer appears to be hearing the voice of a writing guru in his head.
Gordon toys with both autofiction and metafiction. Though the reader doesn't know if one of the writer characters is writing the stories they're reading, it doesn't feel out of the realm of possibility. Gordon always seems to be playing with what makes a story a story. What makes a story "good"? What separates a story from an anecdote?
I think Gordon does some smart things in this collection, some that probably went over my head, but I want to be unequivocal: I did not like this book. I don't need likeable or even moral characters, but I do need ones that I care about, and I did not care about 90% of the ones in these stories. I largely didn't care about them because they didn't care about themselves. They're self deprecating and self sabotaging to the point of irritation.
I like for story collections to have variety in character, tone, and sometimes style. Though one or two stories stood out as unique from the rest, they all seemed to be about the same white guy trying to get his act together and his ED under control, and that is just not within my area of interest.
chocolatelady1957's review
4.0
In this collection of 13 deeply personal short stories, David Gordon delves into both the absurd and the intense sides of being just what he is, a writer. Read my review of this lovely compilation of short stories here http://drchazan.blogspot.com/2014/09/stories-that-reveal-much-but-say-little.html
smay's review
3.0
The Boring Index: White Tiger on Snow Mountain - David Gordon
Who wrote these? David Gordon. This is his first collection of short stories, but he also wrote two novels called The Serialist and Mystery Girl: A Novel.
How many stories do I need to read? 13. A very decent amount. The title story is by far the longest, but most stories are between 15 and 20 pages.
What was the least boring story? I had two personal favourites. The first one is Vampires of Queens about a young boy who thinks he turned into a vampire and goes to an old blind man in his apartment – who is also a vampire – to ask for help. My second favourite is Literature I Gave You Everything and Now What Am I? about the struggles of being a writer and writing in public. The start of this story had me laughing out loud and the hard truths about the writerly life made me cringe.
What was the most boring story? The stories that stuck with me the least was What I’ve been Trying to Do All This Time. The story is about an author called David Gordon who gets contacted by an Argentinian girl who is writing her dissertation about his work. She comes over to America and finds out that Gordon also wrote a bunch of smut in his younger years to make money and then bails. Luckily for Gordon, another woman who does appreciate his porn comes along and finally they hook up Unfortunately for Gordon, none of these women are interested in reading his newest attempt at a novel. I really had to reread the story to tell you what happened in it, which is all that much.
Short Story Boring Index: The collection has a very low boring index, as most of the stories were funny, weird or interesting in some way. The title story is hard to read sometimes, especially in public with all those crazy sexual asides, but I wasn’t able to put it down either. Most of the stories deal with subjects that seem personal to Gordon, like being a writer and the insecurities that come with that, but also about being Jewish and what it is like for a somewhat nerdy boy to grow up. Some stories are even blatantly about Gordon himself, which gives the collection a very private feel. Sometimes this can come across as narcissism, but then again aren’t most writers writing about themselves in one way or another? The collection is funny and awkward and Gordon’s very recognizable voice has no problem keeping your eyes on the page.
We received an ARC from the publisher HMH New Harvest through Netgalley.
Review originally posted on boredtodeathbookclub.com.
Who wrote these? David Gordon. This is his first collection of short stories, but he also wrote two novels called The Serialist and Mystery Girl: A Novel.
How many stories do I need to read? 13. A very decent amount. The title story is by far the longest, but most stories are between 15 and 20 pages.
What was the least boring story? I had two personal favourites. The first one is Vampires of Queens about a young boy who thinks he turned into a vampire and goes to an old blind man in his apartment – who is also a vampire – to ask for help. My second favourite is Literature I Gave You Everything and Now What Am I? about the struggles of being a writer and writing in public. The start of this story had me laughing out loud and the hard truths about the writerly life made me cringe.
What was the most boring story? The stories that stuck with me the least was What I’ve been Trying to Do All This Time. The story is about an author called David Gordon who gets contacted by an Argentinian girl who is writing her dissertation about his work. She comes over to America and finds out that Gordon also wrote a bunch of smut in his younger years to make money and then bails. Luckily for Gordon, another woman who does appreciate his porn comes along and finally they hook up Unfortunately for Gordon, none of these women are interested in reading his newest attempt at a novel. I really had to reread the story to tell you what happened in it, which is all that much.
Short Story Boring Index: The collection has a very low boring index, as most of the stories were funny, weird or interesting in some way. The title story is hard to read sometimes, especially in public with all those crazy sexual asides, but I wasn’t able to put it down either. Most of the stories deal with subjects that seem personal to Gordon, like being a writer and the insecurities that come with that, but also about being Jewish and what it is like for a somewhat nerdy boy to grow up. Some stories are even blatantly about Gordon himself, which gives the collection a very private feel. Sometimes this can come across as narcissism, but then again aren’t most writers writing about themselves in one way or another? The collection is funny and awkward and Gordon’s very recognizable voice has no problem keeping your eyes on the page.
We received an ARC from the publisher HMH New Harvest through Netgalley.
Review originally posted on boredtodeathbookclub.com.
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