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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
An uneven book of short stories originally published in the 1950s. It deals with the South and all the politics and portrayals that you'd expect with a mix of magical realism. The stories range from ~1920's to present (which was 1950's for the publication of this book).
Different stories have different writing styles, for instance White Girl Fine Girl reminded me of Faulkner's Sound and the Fury in terms of not quite getting it on the first read through. There's a lot of hidden messages in the stories, metaphors and references, that I'm sure I've missed a lot. And perhaps my inability to enjoy some stories were due to the fact that there were some thing that just flew over my head.
I do think what would have helped would have been perhaps something written about each story to give it context. While it wouldn't have been necessary when the book was initially published, the republication at this point needs it. However, how the author chose to deal with classism, racism, sexism in the American South was unique even by today's standards and I do appreciate that.
3.5/5 rounds to 4/5.
An uneven book of short stories originally published in the 1950s. It deals with the South and all the politics and portrayals that you'd expect with a mix of magical realism. The stories range from ~1920's to present (which was 1950's for the publication of this book).
Different stories have different writing styles, for instance White Girl Fine Girl reminded me of Faulkner's Sound and the Fury in terms of not quite getting it on the first read through. There's a lot of hidden messages in the stories, metaphors and references, that I'm sure I've missed a lot. And perhaps my inability to enjoy some stories were due to the fact that there were some thing that just flew over my head.
I do think what would have helped would have been perhaps something written about each story to give it context. While it wouldn't have been necessary when the book was initially published, the republication at this point needs it. However, how the author chose to deal with classism, racism, sexism in the American South was unique even by today's standards and I do appreciate that.
3.5/5 rounds to 4/5.
Where in the Sam Hill has this been all my life? On par with Jackson/O'Connor/McCullers, Grau has a frightening touch with family drama/psychological messes and this is a disturbingly wonderful collection of believable stories that made me cringe and smile at the same time.
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Like most short story collections, I loved some stories and I hated some stories so it's hard to accurately rate the collection as a whole. The overall rating must then come from what was consistent in each story.
The stories all focus on the American South and various people and families living there. You can feel the underlying class and race divides but they are rarely a major feature which I found interesting. The writing is to the point but does a fine job of building the atmosphere for the reader. At times I felt like I could hear, see, and smell the setting around me. I only wish that more attention had been paid to maintaining this feeling throughout each story as I felt descriptions of place were mostly concentrated in the first few paragraphs.
Some of the stories towards the middle I found to be too short and fairly uneventful. I didn't see the purpose to them except to bulk up the collection by a few pages which would have been better done by adding more descriptions to the stronger stories. I don't think this collection is particularly illuminating of its subject matter but it is a nice read with a feeling of nostalgia that fell just a bit short of my expectations.
The stories all focus on the American South and various people and families living there. You can feel the underlying class and race divides but they are rarely a major feature which I found interesting. The writing is to the point but does a fine job of building the atmosphere for the reader. At times I felt like I could hear, see, and smell the setting around me. I only wish that more attention had been paid to maintaining this feeling throughout each story as I felt descriptions of place were mostly concentrated in the first few paragraphs.
Some of the stories towards the middle I found to be too short and fairly uneventful. I didn't see the purpose to them except to bulk up the collection by a few pages which would have been better done by adding more descriptions to the stronger stories. I don't think this collection is particularly illuminating of its subject matter but it is a nice read with a feeling of nostalgia that fell just a bit short of my expectations.