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stephanie6504's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
kathlgpa's review against another edition
5.0
So good, such great writing and it leaves you WRECKED.
Be prepared it is not for the faint of heart.
Someone said this was the worst book to read during COVID as one of the stories was set during the influenza in 1918 but it didn't bother me. However you may choose to read it in the future for that reason if it's too close to home.
Be prepared it is not for the faint of heart.
Someone said this was the worst book to read during COVID as one of the stories was set during the influenza in 1918 but it didn't bother me. However you may choose to read it in the future for that reason if it's too close to home.
anastasia1373's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ldaley3004's review
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
trixirina's review against another edition
5.0
Great Southern Gothic stories in the Flannery O'Conner vein. I was unfamiliar with Porter before reading this, but will seek out more of her short stories, she was a facinating human being. (According to Wikipedia ;).Pale Horse, Pale Rider especially felt almost too timely given the current state of the world. I enjoyed all three.
richardwells's review against another edition
5.0
Time is treating the three short novels in this collection with kindness, and well it should. Each is masterfully written, taking us places we wouldn't normally go, with characters who speak through the years in a language common to this mortal coil.
Yes, the prose is more formal than we're used to - especially in this age of the abbreviated and hyphenated colloquial - but it can be appreciated, and enjoyed with very little effort. The words flow beautifully.
In this time of Covid, the title novel, Pale Horse, Pale Rider is short cinema that for about 3/4ths of the novel takes place in the fevered hallucinations of a young woman struck down with the Spanish Flu. Katherine Anne Porter doesn't have to make much of the social conditions of the time, because she has a fine eye for those telling details that condense a time of national stress into a few sentences. It seemed awfully familiar, and I thought I could have been reading about the year 2020.
I recommend the three short novels: Old Mortality, the first about growing up privileged and lied to, Noon Wine, the second about life and a tragedy on a small dairy farm, and the third, Pale Horse, Pale Rider, about the time of flu. Miranda is the name of the protagonist in both the first and third novels. Same person? Why not?
Yes, the prose is more formal than we're used to - especially in this age of the abbreviated and hyphenated colloquial - but it can be appreciated, and enjoyed with very little effort. The words flow beautifully.
In this time of Covid, the title novel, Pale Horse, Pale Rider is short cinema that for about 3/4ths of the novel takes place in the fevered hallucinations of a young woman struck down with the Spanish Flu. Katherine Anne Porter doesn't have to make much of the social conditions of the time, because she has a fine eye for those telling details that condense a time of national stress into a few sentences. It seemed awfully familiar, and I thought I could have been reading about the year 2020.
I recommend the three short novels: Old Mortality, the first about growing up privileged and lied to, Noon Wine, the second about life and a tragedy on a small dairy farm, and the third, Pale Horse, Pale Rider, about the time of flu. Miranda is the name of the protagonist in both the first and third novels. Same person? Why not?
johndiconsiglio's review against another edition
Pandemic classics continue with these 3 short novels. (Porter wouldn’t say “novella.”) The 1939 titular story is about doomed lovers during the Great Influenza. It’s autobiographical—although she claimed to hate writers whose fiction was “a thinly disguised personal confession which better belongs to the psychoanalyst’s séance.” As a reporter for the Rocky Mountain News, Porter nearly died of influenza while romancing a young soldier. She claimed she wrote her stories in one sitting. (We should all be so blessed!) She’s fallen out of style, but you can hear her storytelling influence in Southern writers from Eudora Welty to Flannery O’Connor.
maryehavens's review against another edition
5.0
Loved it. Her writing is so engaging, despite being written 70 years ago. It draws you in and you can feel the humanity in it all. There are a few antiquated words/phrases that I had to look up but other than that, I felt I WAS one of the main characters. Their deepest thoughts are mine and that's what makes these stories so incredibly beautiful and poignant.
shreecat's review against another edition
5.0
Some of the best “short novels” I’ve ever read thank u miss katherine anne