Reviews

The Stories of Breece d'j Pancake, by Breece D'j Pancake

georgiepeorgie's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

fhy's review

challenging reflective medium-paced

3.0

nickreallylovestoread's review

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

misslupinelady's review

reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

julingre's review

reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

nightwater32's review against another edition

5.0

An amazing collection of short stories. His talent is unmistakable in the quality of his characters, his eye for the details, and his knowledge of the ways of life in the rural hills. Even for having grown up in rural New England, I felt like I knew these people and the places he wrote of. For as short as his life was, he was a master of writing. The only weakness, perhaps due to his age, was his portrayal of women, which are repeatedly simple characters lacking reason, depth, or complexity.

klward27's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

jessgock's review

4.0

Pancake was an amazing writer. There's no way around that. However, for all his masterful use of language, I felt like I had to fight to stay involved in the stories; my mind kept wandering, and no sooner did I start the next story than I'd forgotten nearly everything about the last. I think part of the problem is that each story seemed to be about the same characters and have the same overarching sense of despair and futility. The tales are about people stuck in place, people who dream of bigger things while knowing they have no way out, and while Pancake did an excellent job of creating this atmosphere, I didn't feel like I knew any of the characters well enough to empathize. They had different names, were different ages and genders, lived in different West Virginia towns, but their lives and fates all felt exactly the same.

Pancake committed suicide at the age of 26, and I can't help feeling like he would have written something amazing if he'd been on this planet longer, but these stories seem more like hints at his potential than anything else. Totally recommended for writing style and atmosphere, but I think you could get that from reading one or two stories without having to finish out the entire collection.

ntharpta1's review

2.0

These stories just weren't for me.

eggp's review against another edition

2.0

A bad country song
piggies deserve a good meal
sad guys finish last.