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zendanzig's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
tjmitrovic's review
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.5
I’m not a huge short story person but these were so special. Lee writes some understated, beautiful stories. My personal favourites were “Min” and “Fialta”.
becksbooksmpls's review
funny
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
magsmybags's review
emotional
reflective
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
in_and_out_of_the_stash's review
4.0
Although the stories had repetitious passages relating to this was the last time something happened and similar, this was an enjoyable collection of short stories as each one felt like a complete story and not just a collection of words that suddenly stop.
liketheday's review against another edition
2.0
Fun while reading but the details didn't stick in my mind past the end of each story. Might have more to say when book club reminds me what happened?
gleefulreader's review against another edition
2.0
I desperately wanted to like this book, but felt bogged down the further I went with the unevenness and the flimsiness of the stories. The characters were never compelling - indeed, less than an hour after finishing the book I'd have difficulty in differentiating the characters from each other. The first story, Bobcat, was probably the strongest although the "unexpected conclusion" really wasn't that unexpected.
Johanna Skibsrud, the Giller-winning author, gave the book this cover copy "Alternately poignant, searingly intelligent and laugh-out-loud funny" and I left wondering if we read the same book. Rarely did I care much as to the outcome of the characters, heart-strings were not pulled and at no point was there anything approaching humor. It is perhaps the most misleading cover quote I've seen lately.
Johanna Skibsrud, the Giller-winning author, gave the book this cover copy "Alternately poignant, searingly intelligent and laugh-out-loud funny" and I left wondering if we read the same book. Rarely did I care much as to the outcome of the characters, heart-strings were not pulled and at no point was there anything approaching humor. It is perhaps the most misleading cover quote I've seen lately.
ridgewaygirl's review
4.0
He would turn his moony, moody eye on a sketch and see things I had never imagined -- sunlit pools, fragrant winding gardens, gathering parties, cascading staircases. He would see people living out their lives. He would see life on earth. I would emerge from these sessions with him wanting desperately to run and run to catch up with his idea of what I might do, and in this way he created within me an ambition that would long outlast our association.
This is a collection of seven short stories by Rebecca Lee. Mostly set in the world of academia, the stories are varied in topic; in Bobcat a New York dinner party attended by a few writers and their editor becomes an observation of one marriage, while also foreshadowing another's demise, while The Banks of the Vistula involves a college freshman dealing with the repercussions of an act of plagiarism.
She smiled at me and then walked off. And I turned to walk back to my room, slightly horrified at myself. Go ahead, I repeated to myself. Oh, hey, go ahead. This is the whole problem with words. There is so little surface area to reveal whom you might be underneath, how expansive and warm, how casual, how easygoing, how cool, and so it all comes out a little pathetic and awkward and choked.
What differentiates this from any other short story collection is the quality of the writing. Lee writes beautifully, with well-crafted sentences that create an atmosphere in each story. At their best, short stories contain all the depth and color of a novel, distilled down into a perfect few pages, and Lee's short stories are very good at this. She's a short story writer for fans of that medium and I look forward to reading her next collection.
If you looked carefully, he was a wonderful man. He played the harmonica, he had a beard, he was ten years older than me, he was a settled man, and smart and humble, you could trust him never to have an affair or even leave the house too much.
This is a collection of seven short stories by Rebecca Lee. Mostly set in the world of academia, the stories are varied in topic; in Bobcat a New York dinner party attended by a few writers and their editor becomes an observation of one marriage, while also foreshadowing another's demise, while The Banks of the Vistula involves a college freshman dealing with the repercussions of an act of plagiarism.
She smiled at me and then walked off. And I turned to walk back to my room, slightly horrified at myself. Go ahead, I repeated to myself. Oh, hey, go ahead. This is the whole problem with words. There is so little surface area to reveal whom you might be underneath, how expansive and warm, how casual, how easygoing, how cool, and so it all comes out a little pathetic and awkward and choked.
What differentiates this from any other short story collection is the quality of the writing. Lee writes beautifully, with well-crafted sentences that create an atmosphere in each story. At their best, short stories contain all the depth and color of a novel, distilled down into a perfect few pages, and Lee's short stories are very good at this. She's a short story writer for fans of that medium and I look forward to reading her next collection.
If you looked carefully, he was a wonderful man. He played the harmonica, he had a beard, he was ten years older than me, he was a settled man, and smart and humble, you could trust him never to have an affair or even leave the house too much.
meghan111's review
3.0
"And what is a love affair if not a little boat, pushing off from shore, its tilting, untethered bob, its sensitivity to one's quietest gestures?"
"Her body was like a tract of nature that she understood perfectly - a constellation whose movement across the night sky she could predict, or a gathering storm, or maybe, more accurately, a sparkling stream of elements into which she introduced alcohol with such careful calibration that her blood flowed exactly as she desired, uphill and down, intersecting precisely, chemically, with time and fertility."