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A review by alba_marie
The Long Gaze Back: An Anthology of Irish Women Writers by Sinéad Gleeson
2.0
This is an anthology meant to celebrate Irish women's voices in a time when most Irish women haven't had much of a voice. This is a great idea in theory. But I have to say that the execution wasn't amazing. Gleeson, the editor, has a very different idea abut what makes a good story. I've been reading a lot of short stories this year, even if this isn't usually my genre of choice. But this has also taught what a good short story can be - in most cases, similar to a novel,just shorter. I still expect plot, world building, character development, secondar characters.
Most of the stories here were barely stories - almost none had plot and character development was lacking. They weren't the most interesting. And the themes where so banal. I usually avoid contemporary works and dislike domestic themes,which comprised most of the stories. Motherhood, grief, regret and break ups seemed the predominant themes. Not my area of interest! The best stories were when they took you away from domestic homes and to other lands like Egypt and Italy - at last the world Yalding was good!
All in all I will keep reading Irish writers and female writers and even short stories but will choose them on my own because I really found these stories pretty blah. When I read, I'd like to go somewhere exciting, not someone's boring domestic existence.
Most of the stories here were barely stories - almost none had plot and character development was lacking. They weren't the most interesting. And the themes where so banal. I usually avoid contemporary works and dislike domestic themes,which comprised most of the stories. Motherhood, grief, regret and break ups seemed the predominant themes. Not my area of interest! The best stories were when they took you away from domestic homes and to other lands like Egypt and Italy - at last the world Yalding was good!
All in all I will keep reading Irish writers and female writers and even short stories but will choose them on my own because I really found these stories pretty blah. When I read, I'd like to go somewhere exciting, not someone's boring domestic existence.