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4.39 AVERAGE
4.39 AVERAGE
Somewhere from 4-4.5 stars. I really liked these short stories and I couldn’t exactly pinpoint why except that I felt their moodiness, their weather (seriously convinced that Shattuck wrote this whole book from a cold, drafty room in New England and had to incorporate that feeling into each story at some point), and their melancholy. So few happy characters, basically none I think? All at least hurting over some lost love or missed opportunity or longing, but it somehow wasn’t annoying. The moodiness fit with the whole vibe and I felt drawn into each of their lives, in quite a tender way.
That said, I think maybe my favourite part of the book was the fake Radiolab episode and the subsequent story “The Auk” of a man trying his best to reconnect with his wife who is slowly drifting away from dementia. And these two were probably two of the most hopeful and sweet stories so maybe I was craving a bit more of that and not the bleak sadness of some of the others haha.
Also started crying reading his acknowledgement section about Jenny Slate, because I also think she is great and it’s so sweet to see him express his love for her. So I was probably biased all the way through this book by knowing she loves him.
That said, I think maybe my favourite part of the book was the fake Radiolab episode and the subsequent story “The Auk” of a man trying his best to reconnect with his wife who is slowly drifting away from dementia. And these two were probably two of the most hopeful and sweet stories so maybe I was craving a bit more of that and not the bleak sadness of some of the others haha.
Also started crying reading his acknowledgement section about Jenny Slate, because I also think she is great and it’s so sweet to see him express his love for her. So I was probably biased all the way through this book by knowing she loves him.
challenging
dark
emotional
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:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Haunting and beautiful, and it really left an impression on me from both angles. I'm not usually into short story collections, but these 12 weave together though time, themes, and sometimes even question and answer... If I remember correctly, they all touch on love and loss in some way.
In the first pages he calls out --
"Hook-and-chain: A song or poem form popularized in eighteenth-century New England, in which the first and last lines rhyme and contains rhyming couplets within.
As in: A BB CC DD EE FF A.
The second half of the couplet often completes the sentence or sentiment of the first."
And that's the format of this book. The A at the end is the capstone for the A in the beginning, which brings it full circle. In between are sets of two connected stories.
This is an easy 4 star read, but creativity and effectiveness of pulling off that format bumps it up to 5 stars.
Audiobook is great. It has a full cast, several narrators familiar names as Hollywood actors. I did the kindle/audio combo and really absorbed each story.
In the first pages he calls out --
"Hook-and-chain: A song or poem form popularized in eighteenth-century New England, in which the first and last lines rhyme and contains rhyming couplets within.
As in: A BB CC DD EE FF A.
The second half of the couplet often completes the sentence or sentiment of the first."
And that's the format of this book. The A at the end is the capstone for the A in the beginning, which brings it full circle. In between are sets of two connected stories.
This is an easy 4 star read, but creativity and effectiveness of pulling off that format bumps it up to 5 stars.
Audiobook is great. It has a full cast, several narrators familiar names as Hollywood actors. I did the kindle/audio combo and really absorbed each story.
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated