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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
found out it was not diaspora lit on page 200 out of 250. good if a little too academia-centered. fialta stands out
I don't know if it was just my expectations from other short stories or essay collections I've read, but I thought some of them felt incomplete. It was a fine read, but I finished feeling a little unsatisfied. Maybe I should just assume more from what I'm given?
I've been reading a lot of short-story collections over the past year or so, but few stories are going to stick with me the way "Slatland" did in this stunning collection. It was lyrical and moving, with this deep vein of weirdness running through its very heart, and I felt almost electrified by the end.
And, really, that's how Rebecca Lee's writing made me feel all throughout. Her writing is so at home in the fractured society of today, and she's just humbly dropping truth after truth about human nature in each of these stories. Her prose isn't flashy; it doesn't draw attention to itself, but you finish a paragraph and its effectiveness washes over you like a gentle wave. My favorite quotes:
They looked like ideas would if released suddenly from the page and given bodies—shocked at how blood actually felt as it ran through the veins, as it sent them wheeling into the west, wings raking, straining against the requirements of such a physical world.
I understood how complicated it was to be an adult, and how haunting, and how lovely.
I can feel to this day her hand where it gripped my elbow whenever she laughed. Each of her fingers sent a root system into my arm that traveled and traveled, winding and stretching and luxuriating throughout my body, settling there permanently.
She just kept rearranging things with her long, bronze hands, which I guess is what cooking is.
And, really, that's how Rebecca Lee's writing made me feel all throughout. Her writing is so at home in the fractured society of today, and she's just humbly dropping truth after truth about human nature in each of these stories. Her prose isn't flashy; it doesn't draw attention to itself, but you finish a paragraph and its effectiveness washes over you like a gentle wave. My favorite quotes:
They looked like ideas would if released suddenly from the page and given bodies—shocked at how blood actually felt as it ran through the veins, as it sent them wheeling into the west, wings raking, straining against the requirements of such a physical world.
I understood how complicated it was to be an adult, and how haunting, and how lovely.
I can feel to this day her hand where it gripped my elbow whenever she laughed. Each of her fingers sent a root system into my arm that traveled and traveled, winding and stretching and luxuriating throughout my body, settling there permanently.
She just kept rearranging things with her long, bronze hands, which I guess is what cooking is.
reflective
fast-paced
I find it difficult to even review this collection. My immediate response to each story in “Bobcat” was total immersion in the narrative, and admiration for Lee’s deftly-crafted prose. But at the conclusion of each story—an amorphous, Henry James-like non-conclusion—I was left at sea: disconnected and frustrated. A disclaimer: I am a short story writer myself, who often tells first-person narratives in differing voices, and thrives on not giving too much information to readers. I wholly believe in the ambiguity of life and in not neatly tying up everything. So if I feel the way I do about this book, I am frankly shocked at how many readers (never mind the publisher) herald it. Each story has a large, engrossing arc that abruptly ends in a vague, lightening-speed semi-resolution. The problem with this is that Lee’s characters are so wonderfully fleshed-out, the dialogue witty and brilliant, the observations astute and complex, that to trail-off suddenly as each story does feels more lazy and bizarre than purposeful and philosophical. Claire Messud’s “The Hunters” would be an excellent example of what Lee’s stories seemed like they were trying to achieve. The best two in this collection are Slatland and Bobcat; though, again, each left me with an annoyed sigh by the end.
Review on: https://www.instagram.com/p/BiuMhhXHJua/?taken-by=between.bookends
"Most [of the professors] had come from the East Coast and seemed fragile and miserable in the Midwest. Occasionally during class you could see hope for us rising in them, and then they would look like great birds flying over an uncertain landscape, asking mysterious questions, trying to lead us somewhere we could not yet go."
I attended a Midwestern college; the above passage is so humbly true.
I am not a fan of the short story... But I received this book as a gift, so ...
Bobcat - Meh
The Banks of the Vistula - ok, I guess
Slatland - can't even remember it
Min - kind of enjoyed
World Party - double meh
Fialta - I actually liked this one, but Lee's endings are just kind of lame
Settlers - also meh
O.K. I'm still not a fan of short stories.
Bobcat - Meh
The Banks of the Vistula - ok, I guess
Slatland - can't even remember it
Min - kind of enjoyed
World Party - double meh
Fialta - I actually liked this one, but Lee's endings are just kind of lame
Settlers - also meh
O.K. I'm still not a fan of short stories.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Grade: A
This relatively small collection of short stories was quite enjoyable and left me wondering, "Why did I let this sit on my shelf for NINE YEARS?"
Seven stories are included, but the first and last have an academic setting. The first story is set in the most short story-est setting ever: a dinner party in Manhattan. The final story features a group of friends in the Southeast. I don't know if I could pick my favorite, but the one that sticks most in my memory is "Slatland." All the stories are well-written, and the prose is strong.
While I wish I had read this sooner (really, there is not excuse for it to have been on the shelf for NINE YEARS), it ended up being a very satisfying collection.
This relatively small collection of short stories was quite enjoyable and left me wondering, "Why did I let this sit on my shelf for NINE YEARS?"
Seven stories are included, but the first and last have an academic setting. The first story is set in the most short story-est setting ever: a dinner party in Manhattan. The final story features a group of friends in the Southeast. I don't know if I could pick my favorite, but the one that sticks most in my memory is "Slatland." All the stories are well-written, and the prose is strong.
While I wish I had read this sooner (really, there is not excuse for it to have been on the shelf for NINE YEARS), it ended up being a very satisfying collection.
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Lee's stories intimately reflect on the pain and intricacies of relationships and personal morality. Fascinating and gorgeously written.