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A review by captainjemima
Ox-Tales: Earth by Marti Leimbach, Rose Tremain, Hanif Kureishi, Kate Atkinson, Jonathan Buckley, Nicholas Shakespeare, Jonathan Coe, Marina Lewycka, Vikram Seth, Ian Rankin
3.0
Ox-Tales Earth is part of a series of money-raising books by Oxfam, filled with short stories from well-known authors. The others in the series are Fire (which I have read), Water, and Air. Each is supposed to focus on a different area of Oxfam's work - Earth being Agricultural Development.
The stories included:
The Jester of Astapovo by Rose Tremain
The Nettle Pit by Jonathan Coe
Boys in Cars by Marti Leimback
Lucky We Live Now by Kate Atkinson
Fieldwork by Ian Rankin
The Importance of Warm Feet by Marina Lewycka
Long Ago Yesterday by Hanif Kureishi
Telescope by Jonathan Buckley
The Death of Marat by Nicholas Shakespeare
As I found with the Fire book, this one contained some short stories that I really didn't connect with. My favourites were Boys in Cars, Lucky We Live Now, and The Death of Marat.
In Boys in Cars, young Alex is autistic, and his mother goes through all the complications behind something so simple as being invited to another boy's birthday party. This was a touching observational piece, and I could really feel Alex's frustration with himself. "I'm a silly boy", he says, but his mother manages to calm him down and they go to the party.
Lucky We Live Now was a strange narrative, following Genevieve as her world falls down around her - literally. Everything turns back into what it was made of, and some strange moths follow her about. There was no real story, but it was an interesting narrative.
The Death of Marat is a story of Dilys, a white fifty-something woman born in Africa. She becomes enamoured with a painting by Munch called The Death of Marat and begins to do some research into the woman who murdered Marat, Charlotte Corday. As she does her research, we learn that the president of the unnamed African country Dilys lives in is a cruel dictator letting thugs destroy homes and snatch land from the whites. As a parallel, Dilys aligns herself with Charlotte Corday, their stories sharing a dictator and an opportunity to "take care of" these powerful men.
It's always quite nice having a book of short stories to read, if I don't feel like a novel. I must say that I didn't enjoy the stories as much as those in the Fire book, but they were still enjoyable.
The stories included:
The Jester of Astapovo by Rose Tremain
The Nettle Pit by Jonathan Coe
Boys in Cars by Marti Leimback
Lucky We Live Now by Kate Atkinson
Fieldwork by Ian Rankin
The Importance of Warm Feet by Marina Lewycka
Long Ago Yesterday by Hanif Kureishi
Telescope by Jonathan Buckley
The Death of Marat by Nicholas Shakespeare
As I found with the Fire book, this one contained some short stories that I really didn't connect with. My favourites were Boys in Cars, Lucky We Live Now, and The Death of Marat.
In Boys in Cars, young Alex is autistic, and his mother goes through all the complications behind something so simple as being invited to another boy's birthday party. This was a touching observational piece, and I could really feel Alex's frustration with himself. "I'm a silly boy", he says, but his mother manages to calm him down and they go to the party.
Lucky We Live Now was a strange narrative, following Genevieve as her world falls down around her - literally. Everything turns back into what it was made of, and some strange moths follow her about. There was no real story, but it was an interesting narrative.
The Death of Marat is a story of Dilys, a white fifty-something woman born in Africa. She becomes enamoured with a painting by Munch called The Death of Marat and begins to do some research into the woman who murdered Marat, Charlotte Corday. As she does her research, we learn that the president of the unnamed African country Dilys lives in is a cruel dictator letting thugs destroy homes and snatch land from the whites. As a parallel, Dilys aligns herself with Charlotte Corday, their stories sharing a dictator and an opportunity to "take care of" these powerful men.
It's always quite nice having a book of short stories to read, if I don't feel like a novel. I must say that I didn't enjoy the stories as much as those in the Fire book, but they were still enjoyable.