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bonnieg's review against another edition
3.0
This collection was rather disappointing. The book had the feel of something thrown together by the publisher to cash in on the popularity of the Cromwell series while book 3 is in progress. The book is pumped up like a teenager's tissue-stuffed bra. The margins are so wide that each page is perhaps 2/3 of the length of a normal page, The font is large enough to see from space, and several blank or nearly blank pages precede each story. Without this trickery this volume would be at most 100 pages. Add to that the fact that all but one story (the title story, which was excellent) had been published before, There were 3 stories I thought excellent, but the rest were just fair to good and there was no cohesion, no stylistic or content flow. There were many times Mantel's erudition and wit were displayed to great advantage but none of this was among her greatest issue. I feel like I have been had for around $25.
edwardhabib's review against another edition
3.0
7/10. When it's good, its great. But overall, a bit of a mixed bag of dark short stories peeling the varnish off everyday life. Here is my ranking and brief reaction to each story:
GREAT
The School of English - Mantel's mastery of English language, metaphors, and witty word play are at their peak here.
Winter Break - My jaw dropped when I read that final line. I'm undecided on whether I think this story gave us just enough or not.
The Heart Fails Without Warning - An incredibly grim portrayal of a young girl with an eating disorder. However, beyond the surface, this is a broad exploration of a family's decay.
GOOD
Terminus - At first I really thought this was filler, but right at the end Mantel won me over. Don't think of this as a story. Instead, it is much more a musing on what it means to be alive, to be real, and the phenomenon of being lonely in a crowded place.
How Shall I Know You? - This one was a slow burn and a genre-bender. The best stories in this collection end in such a way that you rethink everything you just read, and this is definitely on display here. The journey to get there wasn't quite as interesting though. This one may be most worthy of a re-read.
The Long QT - The first of these stories to start off fairly mundane and predictable, but end with a dramatic, dare I say, shattering conclusion.
Comma - Probably the median in terms of the quality on display in this volume.
DISAPPOINTING
The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher - Really disappointed with the title story. I was hoping for more of a thriller here. In the Wolf Hall trilogy, Mantel excelled at giving voice to a politically-divisive figure, but that is not what this story is about at all.
Offenses Against the Person - This story is shares a good bit of DNA with The Long QT, but with way less impact. It's a story you've definitely heard, read, and seen a thousand times.
Sorry to Disturb - Among the weakest entries here. Certainly claustrophobic, but not much else to see here.
Harley Street - Nothing in this story stuck with me at all. If I had to pick "the boring one" in this volume, this would be it.
GREAT
The School of English - Mantel's mastery of English language, metaphors, and witty word play are at their peak here.
Winter Break - My jaw dropped when I read that final line. I'm undecided on whether I think this story gave us just enough or not.
The Heart Fails Without Warning - An incredibly grim portrayal of a young girl with an eating disorder. However, beyond the surface, this is a broad exploration of a family's decay.
GOOD
Terminus - At first I really thought this was filler, but right at the end Mantel won me over. Don't think of this as a story. Instead, it is much more a musing on what it means to be alive, to be real, and the phenomenon of being lonely in a crowded place.
How Shall I Know You? - This one was a slow burn and a genre-bender. The best stories in this collection end in such a way that you rethink everything you just read, and this is definitely on display here. The journey to get there wasn't quite as interesting though. This one may be most worthy of a re-read.
The Long QT - The first of these stories to start off fairly mundane and predictable, but end with a dramatic, dare I say, shattering conclusion.
Comma - Probably the median in terms of the quality on display in this volume.
DISAPPOINTING
The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher - Really disappointed with the title story. I was hoping for more of a thriller here. In the Wolf Hall trilogy, Mantel excelled at giving voice to a politically-divisive figure, but that is not what this story is about at all.
Offenses Against the Person - This story is shares a good bit of DNA with The Long QT, but with way less impact. It's a story you've definitely heard, read, and seen a thousand times.
Sorry to Disturb - Among the weakest entries here. Certainly claustrophobic, but not much else to see here.
Harley Street - Nothing in this story stuck with me at all. If I had to pick "the boring one" in this volume, this would be it.
elwong50's review against another edition
4.0
A good quick read.
Short stories are a tricky thing to pull off. For me, when a short story works, it leaves an after-image in my mind that I replay over and over. Alice Munro stories do that for me nine times out of ten. This collection was probably seven out of ten. Not bad.
Short stories are a tricky thing to pull off. For me, when a short story works, it leaves an after-image in my mind that I replay over and over. Alice Munro stories do that for me nine times out of ten. This collection was probably seven out of ten. Not bad.
lagarrett's review against another edition
3.0
The usual well written observation in some odd little stories.
lagarrett's review against another edition
Good writing with a wide variety of settings and characters (like many short story collections). If you like Hillary Mantel, you will enjoy these.
jammy_dodger123's review against another edition
1.0
On the whole I’m not a fan of short stories but I thought I’d give this a go since the Cromwell trilogy are probably the best I’ve read. I found the assassination story interesting but was underwhelmed by the rest. They’re on the whole quite dark and depressing and show the worst side of human nature- not really my thing!. Yes, there was humour (eg the names of the medics in Harley Street)- but again not really that funny tbh.
yvetteadams's review against another edition
3.0
A bunch of readable short stories but nothing worth writing home about. the Margaret Thatcher one was the best of them.
colinlusk's review against another edition
5.0
Some of the best short stories [not "abort stories" as the first version of this review suggested thanks to autocorrect] I've read. It can be a slightly precious form, but these ones are sparkling with life.
bimblinghill's review against another edition
4.0
I'm still not sure how I feel about this book. A collection of contemporary / recently set short stories is a very different format from Mantel's historical novels, but it gives her the chance to bring her meticulous eye for character and grubby detail to the fore.
Most of the stories are unsettling, and some are quite disturbing. If there's a theme it's 'complicity' - characters often slip through ignorance or cowardice into exploitation or cruelty.
It's her tight and vivid prose that earns the 4 stars for me, but while I've rated her novels 5 star, these stories are often unsatisfying and sometimes appear unfinished, so I can't rate this volume as highly.
Most of the stories are unsettling, and some are quite disturbing. If there's a theme it's 'complicity' - characters often slip through ignorance or cowardice into exploitation or cruelty.
It's her tight and vivid prose that earns the 4 stars for me, but while I've rated her novels 5 star, these stories are often unsatisfying and sometimes appear unfinished, so I can't rate this volume as highly.
kalimccullough's review against another edition
3.0
Maybe I'm missing something, but I didn't "get" most of these stories. It felt like a lot of exposition, and then a sudden one-liner that, I think, was meant to reveal everything, but that I didn't find very revelatory. Still, Mantel is a talented (if palpably British writer), and this was a good, quick read, perfect for airplane travel.