tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post6774928479918764481..comments2023-11-05T10:11:31.578+00:00Comments on Just William's Luck: 'As ordinary as it all appears...'William Rycrofthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15056188088340973039noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post-25871461346577073272009-05-17T10:56:00.000+01:002009-05-17T10:56:00.000+01:00I keep reading good things about James Lasdun, goo...I keep reading good things about James Lasdun, good to finally read some <I>actual</I> Lasdun, thanks for the link John.William Rycrofthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15056188088340973039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post-54351168616534543182009-05-17T09:34:00.000+01:002009-05-17T09:34:00.000+01:00I agree with Jonathan's (underthought's) response ...I agree with Jonathan's (underthought's) response to many stories, but the same could be said of most novels. As William suggests, the key is to read the best. Although I'm not an uncritical fan of his, Richard Ford's stories (particularly in <EM>A Multitude of Sins</EM>) do give the sense of being episodes stripped almost randomly from continuing life, and don't have an artificial separateness.<br /><br />Let me offer advance notice too (well, not advance as the book came out last month, but advance in that I haven't finished it yet and may be about to regret these hasty words) of James Lasdun's collection, <EM>It's Beginning to Hurt</EM> (which I think is an excellent title). So far, four stories in, it's the best collection I've read since Tobias Wolff's <EM>Our Story Begins</EM>.<br /><br />Lasdun won the first National Short Story Award for his story 'An Anxious Man', which appears in this collection. You can download the title story, a very short piece of two pages, <A HREF="http://theshortstory.org.uk/stories/index.php4?storyid=14" REL="nofollow">here</A>.John Selfhttp://theasylum.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post-12456221404420055942009-05-14T20:57:00.000+01:002009-05-14T20:57:00.000+01:00I really wasn't into short stories at all until I ...I really wasn't into short stories at all until I began to read some of the better practitioners recently. Chekhov, Carver and Cheever have all repayed handsomely as has Tobias Wolff. Some great short stories are like snapshots, some pick important moments from a larger time-frame, most have moments that alter your perception of what has come before. I do know what you mean about neatness and contrivance but often in this collection the beginning, middle and end don't come from something happening in the narrative but are picked out from the character's personal history i.e something happening now reminds them of something from their past which explains to us the reason why they then act as they do (how bad an explanation is that?! - I hope you get what I mean) The contrivance of the power cut in the first story is exactly what makes it work for me weirdly.<br /><br />If short stories don't work for you I really recommend reading some of the better ones. What We Talk About When We Talk About Love is a slim collection from Carver filled with gems and Tobias Wolff's recent Our Story Begins contains some of his classics as well as some new stories. My review of Carver is <A HREF="http://justwilliamsluck.blogspot.com/2008/02/were-all-just-talking-right.html" REL="nofollow">here</A> and Wolff <A HREF="http://justwilliamsluck.blogspot.com/2008/11/everybody-likes-gory-details.html" REL="nofollow">here</A>.<br /><br />If you want something that really isn't neat but a little strange then Something You Should Know by A.M.Homes and No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July might be more to your taste.William Rycrofthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15056188088340973039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post-6246835463352987392009-05-14T09:47:00.000+01:002009-05-14T09:47:00.000+01:00I didn't much like this book. It's probably becaus...I didn't much like this book. It's probably because I'm not overly enthusiastic about short story collections generally. <br /><br />There's just something a little contrived about the setups. There's rarely a sense that you're being given an insight into real lives as they are lived. Real lives aren't carved neatly into chapters with beginnings, middles, ends, and morals.<br /><br />When short stories really work for me it's usually because the author has realized this problem and has avoided making the stories too neat. But Lahiri's are very neat.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7534509012046591314.post-71955193368447032762009-05-11T19:03:00.000+01:002009-05-11T19:03:00.000+01:00Excellent review, Will, and I do appreciate being ...Excellent review, Will, and I do appreciate being reminded about these stories since it is some time since I read them. I also find it intriguing that while initially I didn't like her second volume, <I>Unaccustomed Earth</I> as well as this book, it is moving up the "memory" rating.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com