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2.85 AVERAGE
2.85 AVERAGE
slow-paced
I was very disappointed by this collection, especially when I loved Beattie's New Yorker stories. Too many of these stories didn't feel finished; they ended abruptly before there was any kind of an arc, making them feel more like snapshots. It's not that I need resolution in all of my stories. These stories ended when they needed a little more to make them satisfying. There was little to no emotional resonance. Nothing to make them memorable.
Of course, the writing itself is excellent with well developed characters. I liked that there was at least an attempt to show how Maine has some unusual characters not unlike a more developed part of the country. It just felt like Beattie didn't feel like finishing some of these stories and called it quits early.
Of course, the writing itself is excellent with well developed characters. I liked that there was at least an attempt to show how Maine has some unusual characters not unlike a more developed part of the country. It just felt like Beattie didn't feel like finishing some of these stories and called it quits early.
started really enjoying it a third in!! give it time!!
Imagery: Good
Character Development: Fair
Style: Great
Overall: Blah.
Ann Beattie is just not for me. I think the book title is misleading. It would be more accurate to call these "stories" prose/free-writing. The first 5 stories, which is what I read, seemed like first drafts. Maybe second drafts... but I can't imagine any further doctoring was implemented.
If you like weird little snapshots of life that really don't tell a story so much as give you a brief movie reel-like flicker of a story, maybe you'd enjoy this book.
Character Development: Fair
Style: Great
Overall: Blah.
Ann Beattie is just not for me. I think the book title is misleading. It would be more accurate to call these "stories" prose/free-writing. The first 5 stories, which is what I read, seemed like first drafts. Maybe second drafts... but I can't imagine any further doctoring was implemented.
If you like weird little snapshots of life that really don't tell a story so much as give you a brief movie reel-like flicker of a story, maybe you'd enjoy this book.
I’ve been picking this up here and there for a couple months (in my continuing exploration of what it means to be a Mainer or From Away) and now that I’ve finished all I can say is “meh.” I’d hoped for more Maine, frankly.
Read my full review and others at:
http://eyesandbooks.weebly.com/reviews/the-state-were-in-by-ann-beattie
Boring set of short stories that don't really stand out from one another. The real stand out in this group is "Yancey", a short story that was worth reading through the others to get to.
http://eyesandbooks.weebly.com/reviews/the-state-were-in-by-ann-beattie
Boring set of short stories that don't really stand out from one another. The real stand out in this group is "Yancey", a short story that was worth reading through the others to get to.
The subtitle here is superfluous. These stories could have taken place anywhere--there is nothing about the descriptions of place or the characters themselves that make these Maine stories. There is the occasional insertion of the name of a local York establishment, such as The Stage Neck Inn or the Dockside, but then nothing to distinguish that place from a restaurant or hotel in Ames, Iowa or Cleveland. She does manage to avoid the faux pas of others who have tried to write about Maine without really understanding it (rabbits on Cape Neddick? Not for years. Tarter sauce for a lobster roll--never!)
None of that, however, has to do with the rating. That is due to the utter lack of resolution, of interesting dilemma or characters in most of these inter-woven stories. There is absolutely no reason to read these stories.
None of that, however, has to do with the rating. That is due to the utter lack of resolution, of interesting dilemma or characters in most of these inter-woven stories. There is absolutely no reason to read these stories.
I generally love short stories but these were so disconnected, so without direction that I was bored. And lost. Does this say more about the author's intelligence or mine?
Ann's greatest strength as a short story writer are her endings--which are very hard to pull off correctly in that form. Sometimes I got a little confused and had to go back and re-read certain sections; these stories are somewhat linked, so if you weren't all that excited about a couple of characters, you had to endure several stories about them. That said, still a solid collection.
Didn’t love this aside from the story “The Little Hutchinsons.” I liked the details and her easy way of showing you about a character but I often felt like the stories had no destination.