Reviews

In the Heart of the Heart of the Country, and Other Stories by William H. Gass

thestoryofaz's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

5.0

This phenomenal collection of stories by Gass explores isolation and place with haunting exactitude. Not a single word is wasted; his sentences are testaments to an unparalleled genius. 

bobbyii's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Loveable characters? No

5.0

greenblack's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

andrewmerritt00's review against another edition

4.0

Great writing, but I had little to no idea what was going on in the last 3 stories

reggiewoods's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The first story in this collection, “The Pedersen Kid,” is phenomenal. A gripping, suspenseful story of a child found nearly frozen in a snowstorm. Perhaps the bar was set too high with this one as none of the others quite lived up to it, although each had some memorable moments and was well executed. They depict characters in rural life, typically poor, and perhaps driven mad by the weather (or just midwest life). The final eponymous story takes more of an avant-garde style and is probably better than I am recalling it, so I might reread that one. This is the only Gass I’ve read so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I found it a bit of a mixed bag with some really strong highlights. 

joeduncan's review against another edition

There's a good mixture here. Pederson kid is straight gothic lit and brutal. The other pieces are shorter and brainier, but still pretty straightforward. As an ex-Indiana boy, the title piece was my favorite and the least narrative-centric of the bunch.

jayden_mccomiskie's review

4.0

Very good. Here's my favourite quote:

“it’s not surprising that the novelists of the slums, the cities, and the crowds, should find that sex is but a scratch to ease a tickle, that we’re most human when we’re sitting on the john, and that the justest image of our life is in full passage through the plumbing.”

reallivejim's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

halibut's review against another edition

5.0

The writing in each story feels like an attempt to capture a single character's experience of the locations they find themselves in. At points percetion feels crisp, like the clipped unmarked dialogue in The Pedersen Kid, but can switch rapidly to a more jumbled circular interiority. Most of the stories feature houses or homes pretty prominently, there's a sense of characters both rattling isolated around both these places and their thoughts.

mnkk's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0