A review by freewaygods
Collected Novellas: Collected Early Fiction, 1949-1964 by John E. Woods, Arno Schmidt

challenging dark funny reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

What an experience. Collected Novellas serves as an excellent introduction to the work of Arno Schmidt. While he may seem intimidating at first, the chronological sequence of novellas in this collection serves as a great on-ramp to acclimate you to his particularities of narrative and style as you read through the book. What is truly the most remarkable is that his stylistic experiments do not simply serve to cover over for a lack of emotional depth— on the contrary, his stories are bursting with melancholy, longing, confusion, bittersweet longing, along with hope, élan, mischievousness, promiscuity. The way Schmidt plays these off of one another dialectically is an immense pleasure to read. Highly recommend, if you can get a hold of a copy.