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A review by gillothen
The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories by Connie Willis
3.0
Three stars, but some of this bumper collection of stories rate more, and rather too many rate less.
Connie Willis seems fascinated by the London Blitz in some of these stories, presumably written in some cases when she was working on her pair of time-travel novels set then. Like them, however, her research seems superficial at times; if fanfic writers can get Britpickers at need, I really don't see why she can't. She makes some extraordinarily silly mistakes - a 'raspberry torte' in late autumn wartime London? Rutabagas? 'Row houses'? A Duchess of York giving the VC to an airman for shooting down 15 enemy planes. (And one, moreover, called Quincy. Who in Britain named a son that in the 1920s?) Measuring London distances in terms of blocks and omitting 'street', 'road' and so-on from street names?
These are just a few I noted from one story. They would all leap out at any Brit, but pass unnoticed by many Americans. They set my teeth on edge, particularly when historical characters, embedded in their own eras say them.
One or two of the stories were enjoyable, though quite a few were forgettable. I would suggest this collection works best for Willis completists and non-Brits.
Connie Willis seems fascinated by the London Blitz in some of these stories, presumably written in some cases when she was working on her pair of time-travel novels set then. Like them, however, her research seems superficial at times; if fanfic writers can get Britpickers at need, I really don't see why she can't. She makes some extraordinarily silly mistakes - a 'raspberry torte' in late autumn wartime London? Rutabagas? 'Row houses'? A Duchess of York giving the VC to an airman for shooting down 15 enemy planes. (And one, moreover, called Quincy. Who in Britain named a son that in the 1920s?) Measuring London distances in terms of blocks and omitting 'street', 'road' and so-on from street names?
These are just a few I noted from one story. They would all leap out at any Brit, but pass unnoticed by many Americans. They set my teeth on edge, particularly when historical characters, embedded in their own eras say them.
One or two of the stories were enjoyable, though quite a few were forgettable. I would suggest this collection works best for Willis completists and non-Brits.