Showing posts with label Short Story Read in 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Short Story Read in 2010. Show all posts

Monday, December 27, 2010

Two's Company by Jonathan Franzen


I have had Jonathan Frazen on my TBR (To be read) for a long time.  So, when I saw John's review of the short story, Two's Company, I knew I had to read it.  Though not all authors have the special talent to write a good short story, I find they can be a good introduction to "new to me" authors.

Paul and Pam are a successful comedy writing couple who have won Emmys.  They are known as a very loving couple and have even been profiled in magazines as such.

They are hired to write a romantic comedy movie.  As they work on the movie script together, their true colors start to unfold.  It turns out they aren't the romantic and loving couple everybody has pegged them as.

This story seems to be a kind of spoof on the Three Company's writers from the 70's.  Remember that show?  Yeah, I wish I didn't remember it either.  In fact, I'm gagging right now, thinking of it. LOL!  The ending of this story could of been better however, I agree with John, it's a fun story.  I hope to read more Franzen soon.

You can read Two's Company at The New Yorker.

If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays, go to John of The Book Mine Set. He has a short story review every Monday and a place for you to link your short story review. Come join in the fun!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:26 PM 2 comments  

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Monday, December 20, 2010

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

First published in 1892 in the New England Magazine, The Yellow Wallpaper is said by many to be Charlotte Perkins Gilman best short story.  This is the first story I have read by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.  If her other shorts are only half as good as The Yellow Wallpaper, I want to read them all.

Narrated in the first person by an un-named woman, The Yellow Wallpaper delves into the woman's post-partum depression.  Her husband, John takes her to a rented summer home, where she is kept in a roon with yellow wallpaper, that use to be a nursery.  Her husband/doctor prescribed total rest without any stimulation what so ever.  She is not even allowed to see her baby.

The woman thinks that some work, going outside, and meeting with friends would help her but her husband will not allow it.  So the woman goes about stimulating herself by staring at the ugly yellow wall paper for hours at a time.  She notices different patterns and shapes where the wallpaper has torn away from the wall and eventually she sees that there is a woman trapped in the wallpaper.

Total rest and no stimulation was the prescription for postpartum depression and depression for women back then. Both were viewed by men as "in the woman's head" rather than an actual disease.  Luckily things have changed.  Now exercise other stimulating activities are seen as very beneficial.

This is a gem of a story.  It's very deep and contemplative and explores the treatment of women.  Ms. Gilman had trouble getting anyone to publish it at first.  I would guess that it dug a little too deeply into woman's issues.  Highly recommended.  You can read it here.

Also reviewed by:

If you reviewed this story as well, please leave a link and I will post it.  Also, if you have any other writing by Charlotte Perkins Gilman to recommend, please leave a comment.  Of course any and all comments are always welcome.

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Posted by Teddy Rose at 12:01 AM 11 comments  

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Sunday, December 12, 2010

The End of the Ice Age by Terence Young

The End of The Ice Age is Terence Young's second short story collection. If the first collection is anywhere near as good as this one, I must read it. I find most short story collects to be very uneven, some really good stories and some not so good or even terrible. There was only one story in this collection I didn't like, 'Rumours of Human Sacrifice'. To be honest, I didn't really get the point of it. Perhaps a discussion with my Book Club would help?

The rest of the stories were quite strong. Back in October, I reviewed one story in this collection, 'That Time of Year.' You can read my review of it here. Reading many of the stories took me on an emotional rollercoaster ride. Never sentimental but very moving, Young wrote of different life circumstances which included people from young to old.

The majority of the stories took place here, in Canada. After all, Young lives here, in British Columbia. I love how he captured the landscape while telling such dark stories. These stories will be in my thoughts for a long time to come, perhaps a lifetime.

Terence Young has published four books before this one and all four have been nominated for various awards. I can see why. Terence Young is a author whose work is not to be missed.

4/5

Thanks to the Vancouver Public Library for circulating such a great selection of great books, including this one.

Also reviewed by:
If you reviewed this book or any of its contents, please leave a link in the comments so I can post it here.

 

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:30 PM 2 comments  

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Monday, December 6, 2010

Xingu by Edith Wharton

I have read two Edith Wharton novels so far, my favorite being,The Age of Innocence.  I plan to read more one of these days but I also wanted to check out some of her short stories.  Xingu happened to work out well with the Historical Fiction Alphabet Challenge that I am in.

Xingu starts out with a ladies lunch club that was formed by ladies who enjoyed culture and the arts but didn't want to be seen going to events alone.  It wasn't decent to do that at the time.  They met to discuss a book by an author that they invited to one of their up-coming meetings.  However, Mrs. Roby neglected to read the book.

"Mrs. Roby wrinkled her sunny brows in a conscientious effort of memory, as a result of which she recalled that, oh, yes, she HAD seen the book at her brother's, when she was staying with him in Brazil, and had even carried it off to read one day on a boating party; but they had all got to shying things at each other in the boat, and the book had gone overboard, so she had never had the chance--"

 The other members gossiped about Mrs. Roby and discussed if she was an appropriate member of the club.  

The next meeting was at Mrs. Ballinger's home.  She hadn't prepared as well as she would have liked for the guest author and hadn't picked a topic of discussion.  However, Mrs. Roby was able to come up with one off the top of her head during the meeting and asked the author a question about Xingu.  The rest of the ladies were relived that Mrs. Roby was such a quick thinker and came to the rescue.  The discussion progressed and then both Mrs. Roby and the author had to leave.

The rest of the ladies didn't like how both left so abruptly but continued the discussion of Xingu.  However, one by one they all admitted that they knew nothing about it.  They decided to look it up.  

You'll have to read it to see what happened next.

Though I was able to guess a piece of the ending before it came, I did enjoy this story.  It got quite funny during the scene where they discussed Xingu.  Edith Wharton has a way of capturing ladies of society in an amusing way.  You can read Xingu, here.


Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:04 PM 9 comments  

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Sunday, November 28, 2010

Farewell by Guy de Maupassant

Back in July, JoAnn of Lakeside Musing reviewed Farewell by Guy de Maupassant.  She said, "A one sentence summary of "Farewell" by Guy de Maupassant might go something like this: As two old friends reflect on aging, one recounts how the process went unnoticed until a chance meeting with a former lover sparked the revelation of his own decline. Simple, yet there is much more..."

She summed it up perfectly.  The story opens as two friends are having dinner at a cafe and talking about aging.  Henri Simon, said "Ah! I am growing old.  It's sad.  Formerly, on evenings like this, I felt full of life.  Now, I only feel regrets.  Life is short!"   

Pierre Canier, a bit older than Henri, felt differently.  He said, "Well, my boy, I have grown old without noticing it in the least. I have always been merry, healthy, vigorous and all the rest. As one sees oneself in the mirror every day, one does not realize the work of age, for it is slow, regular, and it modifies the countenance so gently that the changes are unnoticeable.

 "He went on however, to say that something happened to make him see himself differently.  He said, The revelation of my decline came to me in a simple and terrible manner, which overwhelmed me for almost six months--then I became resinged.

He goes onto say how this "revelation" came to him.

I think that what happened to him, happens to a lot of people, they don't see how much they have really aged until.. (I wont spoil it for you.)  It's a very short story of only about 6 pages but it does speak a truth.  It would make for a nice little discussion. Go see for yourself, here.

Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893), French author of the naturalistic school who is generally considered the greatest French short story writer.The gift of a photographic memory enabled him to gather a storehouse of information, which later helped him in his stories about the Norman people.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Sweet Dreams by Sherry Isaac

Back in September, John of The Book Mine Set reviewed this story, Sweet Dreams by Sherry Isaac.  John and his wife had been house hunting and he wrote, "I was in the mood for a dose of domesticity this week."  However, with Sweet Dreams, he got something different from domestic bliss.

It starts out innocent enough, the unknown female narrator is making her way downstairs in her house in the middle of the night.  She tells us how she has done this over the years for various reasons including "children wakened by nightmares in need of warm milk and an even warmer hug".  However, tonight she was going downstairs because of her husband, Frank. 

She gets his crossword puzzle ready for him when heg gets up setting on the table with his bifocals and pen.  Then she got her couch ready for sleep.  She has a conversation of sorts with her cat, Taboo.  "Easy for you to judge little fella, you didn't take the vows.  For better or worse, till death do us part."

You'll have to read it for yourself to see where it goes.  For less than a 5 page story, it really packs a punch.  Domestic bliss, yeah, right.  LOL!  You can read Sweet Dreams, here.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 9:08 PM 2 comments  

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Monday, November 15, 2010

The Headstrong Historian Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Nwamgba was born and raised in a small village in Nigeria. They had very primitive ways. She fell in love with Obierika, to the dismay of her family, who thought she could do better. However, her father finally agreed that they could marry.

They were very successful and wealthy by the village standards and Obierika helped out his four cousins by giving them seeding sweet potatoes and other things. After several miscarriages, they had a healthy son, Anikwenwa however, shortly after, Obierika died. Nwamgba thinks that his death was mysterious and thought that perhaps, his cousins might have had a hand in his death.

Soon after Obierika died, his four cousins started to harass Nwamgba. They took things from her, like all of the seeding potatoes. They also claimed that her property was theirs. She feared that they would take that away, eventually. When the white man came and told her about the new school, she decided to enroll Anikwenwa in the mission school, where he would learn English. Her hope was that her son would be able to read the legal documents she had, including the deed to their house and thereby, get free and clear from the four cousins, once and for all.
Nwamgba was very proud of Anikwenwa for how well he did in school but was not happy that he would not participate in the family and village traditions.

This is a powerful story of how one culture can go to another culture and quickly change traditions and values to their own beliefs, thereby "civilizing" natives. In this story, Englishmen came from a Christian mission and assimilated the village children to their beliefs and reject their own. Highly recommended.  You can read it here.

Also reviewed by:
Musings of a Bookish Kitty

Other Short Stories I have reviwed by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie:
Quality Street
A Private Experience 

If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays, go to John of The Book Mine Set. He has a short story review every Monday and a place for you to link your short story review. Come join in the fun!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 12:01 PM 2 comments  

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Monday, November 8, 2010

An Honest Exit by Dinaw Mengestu

(Author photo courtesy of Riverhead Books)

This story is narrated by a  "Early American Literature" teacher, who teaches priveleged freshmans in high school.  He tells his students about his father's exodus from Ethiopia to Sudan, and his final escape to England and the the United States of America.

The teacher confesses to the reader that part of the story is true but part he has made up as he went along.  He tells his fathe'rs story over several days until one day, he runs into the dean in the school hallway. 


"I knew that it was only a matter of time before I was called to account for what I had been teaching my students. On a Friday, the dean caught me in the hall just as I was preparing to enter my classroom. There was nothing threatening or angry in his voice. He simply said, “Come and see me in my office when your class is over.”

When he goes to see the dean after class, the dean asks how much of the story is true.  The teacher confesses, "almost none of it."  The dean responds, “it’s good to hear them talking about important things. So much of what I hear from them is shallow, silly rumors. They can sort out what’s true for themselves later.”

I found An Honest Exit to be a mesmorizing story.  Even though it is not true, the way it was told and the circumstance rang true to me.  Things like the son's story have happened in history, even recent history. Dinaw Mengestu uses traditional storytelling for this story and I think it worked well.  I highly recomend that you read this story!  You can read it at The New Yorker, here.

If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays or just find out about some great short stories, go to John of The Book Mine Set. He has a short story review every Monday and a place for you to link your short story reviews. Come join in the fun!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 7:27 PM 0 comments  

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Sunday, October 31, 2010

He Wishes This Were Something Else by Eva Moran

(Photo by John Paul Kragg)
Back in September, John of The Book Mine Set reviewed this story.  I hadn't heard of Eva Moran before but John's review made me very curious, especially about the "disappointing" sex scene.  LOL!  

The Story centers around Carson, a young man who meets Nikki, when he travels to Vancouver.  They start dating and get pretty serious, at least from Carson's perspective.  Nikki, on the other hand just seems to be going through the motions of dating Carson with no real interest.  He's there, he's interested, so why not pass some time going out with him?  At least, that's my interpretation of how she feels.

The sex scene John refereed to was disappointing but they were just having a "quickie", LOL!  That's why it was so disappointing to the reader, there was no substance but I think that was the point.  It demonstrated to me just how uninterested Nikki really was.  Like John, I didn't like Nikki either.  She came across as shallow and uncaring to me.

John ended up liking the story but I could take it or leave it.  It certainly wasn't a "must read" or anything near that for me, it was okay.  I liked the start of it the best, when it touched on Carson's childhood.  If you would like to read it, go here.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:54 PM 4 comments  

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Monday, October 25, 2010

That Time a Year by Terence Young

In continuation a reviewing short stories by authors who participated at the 23 Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival, this is a review on a story I read from Terence Young's latest short story collection, 'The End of the Ice Age.'

'That Time of Year' is about a unnamed couple who go for a swim in the lake by their cabin.  It was the last day of the summer. The husband was splashing loudly, near by.  The wife saw some owls and asked her husband if he saw them but he did not answer.  She hated it when she saw something that no one else has, "to see something wondrous by herself was not to see it at all."

She asks her husband again, if he saw the owls but there is still no answer and she no longer hears him.  She starts to panic an envisioning his death.  How she would run to the cabin and call the police and how they wouldn't search for him until the morning because it was getting too dark.

I won't tell anymore because I don't want to risk spoilers.  I really liked this story.  It was well written and I could picture the landscape and lake the pair were in.  I look forward to reading the rest of the collection.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:47 PM 0 comments  

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Monday, October 18, 2010

Do Not Touch by Billie Livingston



This is the second in a series of short story reviews of authors I will be seeing at the Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival.  The event I will see them at is #64 Short Stories, Varied Voices, on Sunday, October 24th.

This short story by Billie Livingston appeared in The Walrus and is from her new book Greedy Little Eyes.  You can read it here.

The first sentence of this story is, "You are never as lonely as when you are lonely in the company of your lover."  This sets the tone for the entire story.

The narrator of the story is a un-named woman who has a boyfriend, Thomas.  She was working in a record shop and because of a comment he made about her, she was promoted to assistant manager.  She said, "Thomas has clout in the music world."   

Soon after that she moved in with Thomas.  She said, "I should have known something was wrong when Thomas sucked back the better part of a twenty-sixer of Glenlivet before he could kiss me the first time."  There was something wrong however, I wont tell you any more because I don't want to risk spoilers.

The story feels a little choppy and rushed to me but does reach a surprising conclusion.  From reading this very short story, all of eight pages, I can tell Billie Livingston has the gift of prose.  I look forward to reading the rest of this short story collection.

Please stay tuned tomorrow, for my review of 'Bow Grip' by short story writer Ivan E. Coyote.  She has done several short story collection but Bow Grip is her first novel.  She will also be appearing at event #64 Short Stories, Varied Voices, on Sunday, October 24th.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 3:38 PM 5 comments  

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Monday, October 11, 2010

Paul Farenbacher’s Yard Sale by Sarah Selecky

This is the first in a series of short story reviews of authors I will be seeing at the Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival.  The event I will see them at is #64 Short Stories, Varied Voices.

This short story by Sarah Selecky appeared in The Walrus.  You can read it here.

The story starts with Meredith, the narrator saying, "Paul Farenbacher always told me, Never call yourself a salesperson. What you do isn’t sales, he’d say. You aren’t in sales. What you are doing is providing people with an opportunity." 

Paul was not only her mentor but also her neighbor where she grew up.  He gave her, her very first job.  

When Paul died, his wife, Margaret had a yard sale because she has sold the house, to move in with her boyfriend Bruce.  Bruce attended Paul's funeral with Margaret just two months before the yard sale.  Meredith, Bruce, and Margaret's son Trevor are helping with the sale.  t is apparent that Trevor isn't too keen on the sale.

The story takes place mostly at the yard sale but the story focus on the characters relationship with Paul.  It was a bit quirky but also quite touching.  This is a story that I highly recommend.

Posted by Teddy Rose at 12:01 AM 2 comments  

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Monday, October 4, 2010

The Vagrants of the Barren by Charles G.D. Roberts

Back in May, John of The Book Mine Set reviewed this story.  His review made me curious to read the story which, I put on the back burner until now.

Pete Noel was asleep in his cabin in the middle of the woods but was awoke by a fire. 

"As he leaped out in desperate flight, he had snatched with him not only blankets, but his rifle and cartridge-belt, and also his larrigans and great blanket coat.  He had been sleeping, according to custom, almost fully clothed."

He was not able to get his shoes or anything else.  However, he was determined to beat this round of  "man versus nature."  Read the story and see if he did, here.

This is an fast paced story but not quite the usual for a survival story.  Pete was able to stay completely calm , while most of us would panic.  Mr. Roberts writing is very fresh and descriptive, it flowed oh, so smoothly.  This is much more than a story of a man's survival.

About Charles G.D. Roberts: January 10, 1860 – November 26, 1943.  Born in New Brunswick, Canada.  Canadian author, known as the "father of Canadian Poetry."

Posted by Teddy Rose at 12:01 AM 3 comments  

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Monday, September 27, 2010

The Snowstorm by Alexander Pushkin

 Back in August, I reviewed The Queen of Spades by Alexander Pushkin.  John of The Book Mine Set, commented that "The only Pushkin I've read was "The Snow Storm" (or "The Blizzard" as it is sometimes translated). I enjoyed the writing, but not the ending."  Of course, I had to read it for myself.


At the end of 1811, Marya Gavrilovna was 17 years old.  She grew up in a rather rich social class but feel in love with a man from a lower class, Vladimir.  Her family would not allow them to marry, so they made plans to elope.  Unfortunately, I may give away spoilers if I tell you any more.

The writing was tight and fluid, as in The Queen of Spades.  There was a surprise ending to the story, which I have to agree with John on, I didn't like it.  I actually that it was stupid..  If you want to read a really good short story by Pushkin, read The Queen of Spades.  You can find the link to that story here.

To read The Snowstorm, go here.

If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays or just find out about some great short stories, go to John of The Book Mine Set. He has a short story review every Monday and a place for you to link your short story reviews. Come join in the fun!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 12:02 PM 2 comments  

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Sunday, September 12, 2010

Missives from Possible Futures #1, Alternate History Search Results by John Scalzi


About the photo.  Apparently John Scalzi likes to alter his likeness in photos to amuse himself.  This is one of those photos. 

In a way, the photo is a good representation of what this story is about.  The story is actually written as an advertisement to customers of "Multiversity", interested in alternative history.  All the customer needs to do is tell the company what alternative history she/he would like and they get a fully researched report.

They use the death of Adolf Hitler in the sample scenarios.  For instance the first sample scenario is "Adolf Hitler is Killed by Mugging on the Steps of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna."  The results and scenarios get get more crazy as the story progresses.  It's really a fun story and has made me want to read more by John Scalzi.  You can read the story, here.

Also reviewed by:
The Book Mine Set

If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays, go to John of The Book Mine Set. He has a short story review every Monday and a place for you to link your short story review. Come join in the fun!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:00 PM 3 comments  

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Monday, September 6, 2010

Riff-Raff by Heather O'Neill


Heather O'Neill is the author of Lullabies for Little Criminals which, is on my TBR (to be read).  I thought I could get a tase of her writing by reading one of her short stories.

Riff-Raff is narrated by an un-named 19 year old woman from Montreal.  She is in a bad relationship with a man, Leroy, whom she met at McGill University.  She claims that, "I prayed that I would have the strength to leave him, but I never did."

As her first year of school was coming to an end, she met an "American boy" and she decided it was time to change her life.  She was going to follow the  American back to New Mexico.  Her father paid for the Greyhound Bus ticket and she had $80 to cover meals for the three day trip.  However, in St. Louis something happened. 

I don't want to spoil the story, so this is all I will tell you.  

This is a truly Canadian story.  In fact, Ms. O'Neill throws in some Canadian Steriotypes into her story telling.  I liked Ms. O'Neill's writing style however, I am finding the devise of making fun of Americans using Canadian Stereotypes a bit old.  Because of this, I wasn't too crazy about the overall plot and the ending was lame.

That said, I would like to read more by Heather O'Neill.  She does show great writing potential.  You can read Riff-Raff here.

Also reviewed by:

The Book Mine Set

If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays, go to John of The Book Mine Set. He has a short story review every Monday and a place for you to link your short story review. Come join in the fun!
 

Posted by Teddy Rose at 5:09 PM 0 comments  

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Sunday, August 29, 2010

Quality Street by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie


John of The Book Mine Set reviewed this short back in April.  I have wanted to read more by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, ever since I read and reviewed her short story, A Private Experience.

In Quality Street, Sochienne arrives back in Nigeria after attending university in the United States.  Her mother, Mrs. Njoku is quite disheartened by the change in her daughter. Sochienne not only turned vegetarian but she also is advocating for the lower class.  She goes as far as inviting their driver to join herself and Mrs. Njoku for lunch.  Instead, Mrs. Njoku promptly tells the driver to take them home, after arguing with Sochienne.

This story does make a statement about the class system however the main theme is that of mother and daughter.  In fact, it reminded me a lot about my relationship with my mother when I came home after being away at school.  

I have always been a pretty "down to earth" kind of person but I became even more so after I was able to experience some of life on my own.  I got engaged to a man with a Master's degree but he came from a lower middle class family.  My family was perhaps just slightly more well off but of course, mom disapproved.  In the end my parents gave me the wedding of my mom's dreams.  I wanted simple but got lavish, complete with ice sculptures and hundreds of people I had never even met before and never saw again.  In Quality Street, Mrs. Njoku wanted to give Sochienne a wedding quite like the one I had.

My marriage only lasted two years but it was not because of class or income.  I realize now that my mom did want what was best for me but also wanted to keep up with her higher class friends.  I also know now that she went along with my getting married out of fear of losing all together.  I love her for that!  

After I moved here to Canada and met the true man of my dreams, we paid for our own wedding and kept it simple.  Mom and Dad and our other immediate family came.  It was such a lovely day and 13 years later we are still together and very much in love.

Dad passed away, three years ago, September.  I miss him like crazy.  Now my mom is elderly and is here visiting, perhaps for the last time.  The trip seems to be too hard on her.  I am trying to come to terms with the fact that she probably won't be around much longer but it is so hard.  Even through our ups and downs in our relationship, I always knew that Mom was always be there for me and she always has been.  It's doesn't seem fair that eventually, we all lose our parents. 


If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays, go to John of The Book Mine Set. He has a short story review every Monday and a place for you to link your short story review. Come join in the fun!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 11:06 PM 3 comments  

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Monday, August 16, 2010

The Millennium Party by Walter Jon Williams

Carol of Carol's Notebook reviewed this story back in February.  It sounded like a strange story but her review made me interested enough to read it.

The Millennium Partyis a kind of dystopian type story about a couple, Darien and Clarisse sharing their 1000th year wedding anniversary.  In the future, people will be able to switch parts of their brain to fit every occasion.  Since this is suppose to be a joyous occasion, Darien switches to his brain labeled,  "Clarisse/Passion, the brain that contained memories of his time with his wife."  It only contains good memories with love and passion. 

The party seemed perfect in every way.  The next morning Darien switched his brain again to do some work.  He put Clarisse/Passion back on the shelf, where it would stay until the following anniversary.

This is a very short story of less than four pages.  It would be a great story for discussion about the brain and how we are all the sum of all of our parts, not just part of our parts.  You can read it at The Infinite Matrix.

If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays or just find out about some great short stories, go to John of The Book Mine Set. He has a short story review every Monday and a place for you to link your short story reviews. Come join in the fun!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 11:00 AM 3 comments  

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Sunday, August 8, 2010

Khamaseen By Gretchen McCullough


John of Book Mine Set reviewed this story back in June.  He was looking for stories set in Egypt and ran across this one.  His review intrigued me enough to want to read this story for myself.

Niko's fiancee, Carly had just left him to study for her "Master's Degree in Skeletons.."  He was in his Cairo apartment when the khamaseen started up.  Khamaseen is "fifty days of cyclonic wind which whirled up from the Saharan desert into Egypt", which his neighbor, Margarete warned him of when he moved in.

All of a sudden debris and a bird were whirled into his apartment.  Then somehow, a bunch of feral cats came in too.  He called his selfish friend, Javier to ask for help however, he was on his way to pick up his new TV and wouldn't come over to help.

It became clearly apparent that Niko didn't have any friends.  His crisis was an over the top symbolism for that.  However, the story was an interesting character study of Niko and while I didn't love the story, I did like it.  You can read the story on Gretchen McCullough's website, here.

If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays or just find out about some great short stories, go to John of The Book Mine Set. He has a short story review every Monday and a place for you to link your short story reviews. Come join in the fun!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:00 PM 6 comments  

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Sunday, August 1, 2010

Extreme Solitude by Jeffrey Eugenides



A couple of month after I started this blog, I read and reviewed Jefferey Eugenides, Middlesex.  If you click to read it, you will see that my reviews have improved some since then.  LOL!  However, I did really like the book.  So, when I came across this short story last week at The New Yorker, I had to read it. 

It is in the 1980 and Madeleine is working a an undergraduate degree in literature.  She is taking an upper level course in semiotics.  The professor has a convoluted theory and assigns a lot of literature that Madeleine has some trouble understand at first.  

In class she meets Leonard and eventually falls in love with him.  She goes on to describe their relationship.  Is this a good and health relationship?  You need to decide for yourself.  

I believe that Eugenides is trying to make fun of his characters and love in this story.  The story itself didn't really work for me.  However what did work well was how he weaved what Madeleine was reading in with her relationship with Leonard.

You can read the story, here.

If you would like to participate in Short Story Mondays or just find out about some great short stories, go to John of The Book Mine Set. He has a short story review every Monday and a place for you to link your short story reviews. Come join in the fun!

Posted by Teddy Rose at 10:13 PM 0 comments  

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