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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well written yet gloomy collection of short stories. Definitely identifies areas where people feel lost, at sea, disappointed, etc. and does an excellent job of describing those emotions. Couldn't tell after awhile whether the author was British or American, so looked him up and found out he is both. In subtle ways, this comes out in some of the stories. Themes include mental illness, homosexuality and death.
The eight stories in this collection do more than even justice to the genre. They touch the effects of mental illness, dealing with losing a parent and tentative gay life – all experiences in the author’s life. Each story tenderly speaks to adjacent areas in the lives and thoughts of the characters that are impacted by these aspects. Few of the stories vary in style, very cleverly so.
In “Notes to my biographer”, the rush of action and words to portray the protagonist’s state while there is the large undercurrent of desperation to connect with his son was sad but a made a beautiful story. “Devotion” must be one of the cleverest stories that I have ever read, one that showed dependence and love and asks what came first, a touch of O’Henry in it. In “The Good Doctor”, the author repeatedly jolted me with the next thought while I was lingering on the previous flow of dialogue.
A couple of stories did not evoke as strong a feeling as these stories or some others. It is never up to me to question an author’s scope, and if at all, only how I feel about its execution. On that, most of these stories were remarkable for me, most wanting me to complete them in one sitting.
In “Notes to my biographer”, the rush of action and words to portray the protagonist’s state while there is the large undercurrent of desperation to connect with his son was sad but a made a beautiful story. “Devotion” must be one of the cleverest stories that I have ever read, one that showed dependence and love and asks what came first, a touch of O’Henry in it. In “The Good Doctor”, the author repeatedly jolted me with the next thought while I was lingering on the previous flow of dialogue.
A couple of stories did not evoke as strong a feeling as these stories or some others. It is never up to me to question an author’s scope, and if at all, only how I feel about its execution. On that, most of these stories were remarkable for me, most wanting me to complete them in one sitting.
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Very deep, very serious. Not for the faint of heart. Some of the short stories really moved my heart. Incredible to think they were all written by the same person and that they are not nonfiction.
This collection features stories centred upon characters suffering from mental illness, misery related to their homosexuality, and sometimes both. All the stories are good, some are total knockouts. The blurb on the back uses the term 'Chekhovian' but that didn't ring true for me only because Chekov's stories depicted the lives of an entire country's cross-section, whereas this collection predominantly focuses on the lives of affluent American northeasterners or Brits. It reminded me of Salinger's stories, which is obviously a very good thing.
What Haslett does exceptionally well is characterize. There's not a great deal of action in most of the stories, instead it's about inner lives, and almost everyone is suffering. Haslett has an remarkable ability to illuminate that suffering without a scintilla of apparent manipulation.
The most enjoyable story for me was the opener, Notes to My Biographer, yet it's also anomalous in its obvious (and highly successful) play for laughs. The narrator suffers from a narcissistic form of mental illness, with an obsession for devising purported inventions that would earn him acclaim and wealth (he's near destitute). The manic illness wipes out his moral compass, and in the story, he visits this upon his long-suffering, depressed gay son and his partner during a visit.
The second story is the only one that reminded me of Chekov because of the obvious connection where a doctor accepts assignment to a poor, rural region and encounters a depressed patient whose background trauma raises the question of whether medical science, notwithstanding good intentions, can really offer any help.
A British brother and sister share unrequited love for the same man, and despite the fact this might be the quietest story in the collection, there's a devestating revelation that drives a deep impact. Maybe the most devastating is Reunion, in which we learn the main character is dying from the AIDS virus, and in spite of his ravenous need for physical comfort, ultimately consigns himself to a solitary death.
Just a tremendous collection, with stories that I might revisit in the future.
What Haslett does exceptionally well is characterize. There's not a great deal of action in most of the stories, instead it's about inner lives, and almost everyone is suffering. Haslett has an remarkable ability to illuminate that suffering without a scintilla of apparent manipulation.
The most enjoyable story for me was the opener, Notes to My Biographer, yet it's also anomalous in its obvious (and highly successful) play for laughs. The narrator suffers from a narcissistic form of mental illness, with an obsession for devising purported inventions that would earn him acclaim and wealth (he's near destitute). The manic illness wipes out his moral compass, and in the story, he visits this upon his long-suffering, depressed gay son and his partner during a visit.
The second story is the only one that reminded me of Chekov because of the obvious connection where a doctor accepts assignment to a poor, rural region and encounters a depressed patient whose background trauma raises the question of whether medical science, notwithstanding good intentions, can really offer any help.
A British brother and sister share unrequited love for the same man, and despite the fact this might be the quietest story in the collection, there's a devestating revelation that drives a deep impact. Maybe the most devastating is Reunion, in which we learn the main character is dying from the AIDS virus, and in spite of his ravenous need for physical comfort, ultimately consigns himself to a solitary death.
Just a tremendous collection, with stories that I might revisit in the future.
I read the first story and was blown away, but the rest of it was just so damn...sad. I got maybe 5 stories in and never finished