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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Short story collection, fiction
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Child death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Pregnancy, Abandonment
Not as good as some of her other work. Didn't read every story in the book though.
I guess it's pointless to state that a short story collection is a "mixed bag," but I'll say it anyway. Some of these stories are great (for example "Break All the Way Down," "North Country," and "I Will Follow You," off the top of my head), and all of them written with clarity and a fine eye for craft. Gay does a great job of portraying the emotional lives of her characters, even when those lives are fraught, complex, and difficult to understand. Many of them seemed more like character sketches than stories, and a couple of them--such as an alternate history of the south--just seem to get going when they come to an end. There's a definite sameness throughout that detracts from the whole, but even so, Gay has to be one of the best stylists around right now.
I didn't finish it--I found it too depressing. She's a very good writer, but these stories were truly putting me in a bad mood, so I stopped.
This is such a hard book to review. I can't say I "liked" it because it isn't as simple as that. This isn't a fun read, at times it isn't even an enjoyable read. It is challenging, it is mind-opening, it is enraging, it is heart-breaking...it is...diffcult.
I would love to have read this book in a class or with book club that likes challenging material. This book is not for everyone, there is a lot of uncomfortable trauma here. That trauma actually made it harder for me to engage with the material. I purposely kept myself farther apart from the text, it was too much at times. Because of that barrier I put up I don't think I fully understood all that Ms. Gay wanted to convey. I think in a discussion people could add more insight for me and I would have gotten more out of it.
I settled on three stars for this because a part of me wanted to give it four for the unbridled genius of the work but another part of me wanted to give it only two stars for the unrelenting darkness/sadness that weaves through the pages.
I would love to have read this book in a class or with book club that likes challenging material. This book is not for everyone, there is a lot of uncomfortable trauma here. That trauma actually made it harder for me to engage with the material. I purposely kept myself farther apart from the text, it was too much at times. Because of that barrier I put up I don't think I fully understood all that Ms. Gay wanted to convey. I think in a discussion people could add more insight for me and I would have gotten more out of it.
I settled on three stars for this because a part of me wanted to give it four for the unbridled genius of the work but another part of me wanted to give it only two stars for the unrelenting darkness/sadness that weaves through the pages.
Really hard to read at times, filled with tragedy and violence against women. It also felt really true to the female experience. I wish I would have read it slower - it may have been easier to digest that way.
my first short story collection..i'll remember some of them but not most. at some point I felt they all blurred together, the voices all the same, the women seemed to be all the same. all very passive. either that, or they leave. there was one story I can't remember the name of about a fat girl, and I couldn't help think what is the point of this story? why did it need to be told. why did it start here, and with this man? i felt that many times reading--why this story, why this pain? although most times I felt so disconnected from the stories, or so disinterested, that I didn't care to understand
I don't usually like short stories, but these were amazing! Each felt like the story could have gone on, but they also felt completed at the end (if that makes sense).