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A review by daniellewalsh
Happy Stories, Mostly by Norman Erikson Pasaribu
2.0
This year I've been reading a lot of shorter novels, and I've also read more short story collections. I find the idea of these difficult sometimes as it's only a tiny segment of life, and not enough time for me to completely delve into somebody's history. However, in the case of 'Happy Stories, Mostly', I actually found that the shorter of the stories were the ones I found easier to digest and enjoy.
At times I did find it hard to follow some of the stories. Although some are linked, at times I felt it hard to remember where some of the angles intercepted. It can be hard to review a collection of short stories when some stick with you more, and others get lost. In this case there were about three that stood out and I will remember as heartfelt and powerful stories.
The concept of the book is that it takes a spin on stereotypically heterosexual characters and puts an LGBTQIA+ spin on things. As pretty much every review says, this book should be titled ‘Sad Stories, Mostly’.
The collection is unique and another one to add to my slowly growing Tilted Axis Press collection. The translations that they are publishing are doing absolutely great work at bringing translated fiction to the masses. The interview between the author, Norman, and the translator Tiffany, at the end was great to read and see their connection with one another.
At times I did find it hard to follow some of the stories. Although some are linked, at times I felt it hard to remember where some of the angles intercepted. It can be hard to review a collection of short stories when some stick with you more, and others get lost. In this case there were about three that stood out and I will remember as heartfelt and powerful stories.
The concept of the book is that it takes a spin on stereotypically heterosexual characters and puts an LGBTQIA+ spin on things. As pretty much every review says, this book should be titled ‘Sad Stories, Mostly’.
The collection is unique and another one to add to my slowly growing Tilted Axis Press collection. The translations that they are publishing are doing absolutely great work at bringing translated fiction to the masses. The interview between the author, Norman, and the translator Tiffany, at the end was great to read and see their connection with one another.