Bookended by two novellas, Property was a fairly tenuous link between all the stories, but as ever Shriver's writing was tight, wry and smart. Nothing escapes her notice as a writer, and with this collection she stays up there in my list of favourite writers.

My only disappointment was that the first novella is The Standing Chandelier, which I read as a standalone novel for my RLBC a few months ago. I hate doing rereads as time's too short, but I also hate partially reading books so I read it again despite myself and enjoyed it all over again.

The final novella was surprisingly based in Belfast (although I don't know why I was surprised as Shriver lived there for 12 years back in the Nineties), and as well as being an enjoyable (but slightly stressful) account of an unexpected flat share with a difficult flatmate, it was an interesting portrayal of Belfast seen through an outsider's eyes, an American who, like Shriver, had been living there for a decade. I'm not sure the Northern Ireland Tourist Board will be quoting from this novella in its advertising any time soon, but I think Shriver captured the city and its people pretty well, warts and all (and she certainly doesn't hold back on the criticism). She also doesn't shy away from looking her fellow Americans straight in the eye, calling out American sympathy for the IRA and Nationalism (the novella is set just after the Good Friday Agreement). I was curious about this, so I read up on a few interesting pieces online in which she talks about how her eyes were very much opened by her time in Belfast, changing her home politics away from liberalism as she was angry that murderers were being viewed through rose-tinted glasses.

Anyway, this is simply a review and not a political manifesto. The stories in between these two novellas were also very clever and amusing - I may be warming to the short story genre after all.

4 stars - dropping half a star for cheating me with a repeat of that separately published novella, but I remain in the Shriver fandom. ( )

Au travers de ces 12 nouvelles, et au-delà de la propriété physique d’un objet, d’un jardin, d’un appartement, … l’auteur aborde le sujet de la propriété morale que l’on peut avoir dans nos relations. Peut-on parler de propriété dans la relation d’un couple par rapport aux anciennes relations, quelle relation de propriété il y aurait-il entre les parents et leurs enfants, se sentir en quelque sorte propriétaire vis à vi de son groupe d’ami d’être le premier d’avoir découvert un lieu, un pays et sa culture.
Douze nouvelles extrêmement bien écrites, très grinçantes. Lionel Shriver décrit formidablement l’évolution psychologique de ses personnages. J’ai été particulièrement touché par les deux « novella », Le lustre en pied et la sous-locataire. ( )

Lionel Shriver aplica su sagaz, irónica y feroz mirada al formato breve. Su primera e imprescindible colección de cuentos.

Un regalo de boda muy personal se convierte en una fuente de disputas; un árbol enfrenta a dos vecinos, que se verán arrastrados por una hostilidad creciente; un treintañero se resiste a abandonar el hogar familiar; un cartero espía las cartas que reparte; una cooperante en Kenia vive una aventura inesperada; un padre y un hijo se ven envueltos en una situación complicada en un aeropuerto; una pareja se enreda en una trifulca por la compra de una casa; un fugado de la justicia se harta del paraíso en el que se ha escondido; dos mujeres extranjeras se cruzan en Belfast en pleno conflicto...

Los variopintos personajes que pueblan los cuentos de Lionel Shriver viven situaciones tensas provocadas por la fijación por la propiedad. Por el empeño de poseer bienes inmobiliarios, objetos o personas. Como es habitual en la autora, las situaciones cotidianas pueden desbordarse en cualquier momento, y las personas en apariencia más cabales son perfectamente capaces de perder los papeles hasta límites insospechados.

Un abanico de parejas, padres e hijos, vecinos y familias se ven sometidos a una montaña rusa de engaños, obsesiones, miedos, deseos y desencuentros. Con su sagacidad –y afilado estilete– de costumbre, Shriver escruta y radiografía la sociedad contemporánea en estos cuentos que pueden ser al mismo tiempo desoladores y descacharrantes, hirientes y poéticos, virulentos y profundos. En la brevedad del relato la autora no pierde ni un ápice de su mordiente: la condensa en un elixir irresistible.

I don't usually enjoy short stories but this collection had me gripped. I even found myself relaying snippets of the stories to my (non-bookish) partner. I thought the writing showed some bravery in exploring some every-day, less attractive aspects of character. The 5 stars reflects my enjoyment and my surprise at that enjoyment. ( )

I like Lionel Shrivers writing a lot. Especially because she is typically making a point with everything she writes. In this collection of stories, the points are diverse and strong. Also typically, I do not agree with her libertarian point, but I find it refreshing to read the argument in a literary way. Libertarians making their point in a straight-forward argumentative article typically bore me. Of course, making a political point in fiction is a bit of a cheap trick, because you can make your characters behave stupid or illogical as you wish. But if the psychology of the story is good and the message not too thickly spread on top, it can be really powerful.
Most of these stories really made me think, some of them actually changed my opinion, be it a little bit. ( )