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maa_pix's review
3.0
To expand on the sub-title, specifically four short-stories and a novella.
Overall, Lynch is a masterful writer. His prose is beautifully constructed. I found the first three short stories most engaging. That they focused on men from Michigan in mid-life probably had something to do with it. That's pretty much where I'm at in life as well. The fourth story I found to be a seed of a good idea, but literally left the heroine up a tree. The novella I found somewhat pointless. It was a story of a pastor who left the clergy after his wife left him and he serendipitously became a best-selling author. The story is told for the most part in first person flashback, after the narrator has achieved a great deal of worldly success as an author. I found parts of the novella to be promising: details of how the man deals with the literary life, the realities of being a small-town pastor, dealing with his wife's departure, his friendship with the local catholic priest. But the parts weren't stitched together that well.
So three pretty good short stories, one not-so-good short story and one not-so-good novella. Hence, three stars.
Overall, Lynch is a masterful writer. His prose is beautifully constructed. I found the first three short stories most engaging. That they focused on men from Michigan in mid-life probably had something to do with it. That's pretty much where I'm at in life as well. The fourth story I found to be a seed of a good idea, but literally left the heroine up a tree. The novella I found somewhat pointless. It was a story of a pastor who left the clergy after his wife left him and he serendipitously became a best-selling author. The story is told for the most part in first person flashback, after the narrator has achieved a great deal of worldly success as an author. I found parts of the novella to be promising: details of how the man deals with the literary life, the realities of being a small-town pastor, dealing with his wife's departure, his friendship with the local catholic priest. But the parts weren't stitched together that well.
So three pretty good short stories, one not-so-good short story and one not-so-good novella. Hence, three stars.
zielins's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
pattydsf's review
4.0
I think Lynch is an excellent author. His essays are remarkable - I didn't think that I would ever want to read a book by an undertaker, but Lynch convinced me to do so. So I was looking forward to these short stories.
They did not disappoint. The first story, "Catch and Release" moved so smoothly - like the river that the speaker is visiting. I had to catch my breath at the end. The other story that stuck with me was "Matinee de Septembre". The main character was mesmerizing. One review referred to Stendhal syndrome when speaking of this story. A new concept to me, but it does help to define the story in my mind.
I hope that Lynch writes more fiction, soon.
They did not disappoint. The first story, "Catch and Release" moved so smoothly - like the river that the speaker is visiting. I had to catch my breath at the end. The other story that stuck with me was "Matinee de Septembre". The main character was mesmerizing. One review referred to Stendhal syndrome when speaking of this story. A new concept to me, but it does help to define the story in my mind.
I hope that Lynch writes more fiction, soon.
lawralthelibrarian's review
2.0
There are some truly beautiful moments in each story in Apparition & Late Fictions, the kind you want to copy out and carry around with you because they are so gorgeously written, even out of context, but the stories themselves didn't quite do it for me. Even though they're not related, they all kind of run together with the same setting, same sentiment, almost the same single narrator in each one brooding on their aloneness (not that this isn't warrented, this is a book that is all about the aftermath of death). This is still a relaxing a beautiful read, but the stories will be much more appreciated if they are spaced out and not read all at once.
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