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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
Best stories are “Notes To My Biographer”, “War’s End”, and “The Volunteer”. Brownie points for every other story. Anything Haslett writes is worth reading.
Really powerful series of short stories mostly focused on mental illness. I'm not typically a fan of the short story as I prefer having more time for character and story development. However, this collection is one of the best I've read. It's poignant and nuanced handling of mental health is outstanding. As someone who knows quite a bit about the subject, each of these stories felt real and raw and true. I highly recommend it, particularly if you'd like more insight into the mentally ill. So great!
Incredibly poignant stories. If you're interested in psychology or if you know anyone with mental health diagnoses, I'd definitely recommend.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Poignant and devastating.
This is an excellent collection. Almost all the stories are about mental illness with a few exceptions. I especially appreciated “Notes to My Biographer,” “The Good Doctor,” “The Beginnings of Grief,” and “Devotion” (one of the few in the collection not about mental illness). After the first four the stories were harder for me to get through, but still very good.
This book is exactly why I love short stories. When done well the author will submerge you into the story and almost leave you breathless at the end. These are dark stories that center around very tragic circumstances or include characters dealing with mental illness. Some will stay with me for some time.
3.5 stars. Well written, but characters are damaged and situations are dark and depressing.
Of the nine stories in this debut collection, at least six are definite 5 star gems...the rest, although equally well-written, I was less enthusiastic about, but I decided the collection as a whole did merit five stars. As in his most recent book, Imagine Me Gone (my favorite book of the past year, hence impelling me to read Haslett's backlist), the emphasis here is on both mental illness (usually depression or bipolar disease) and the effects of such on family dynamics. Only two of them exhibit the humor that made Imagine so enjoyable and unusual, and the lack is definitely noticed, although not entirely appropriate for these more dour examples.
Really masterful short stories. Shades of Salter. Themes of relationships -- often child/parent -- mental illness, homosexuality. I was really impressed.
I think this may be the best collection of short stories that I have ever read. I’m stunned! I have no words to describe the words that Haslett has used to transport me to other places. Exquisite? Perfect? I give up.