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Sto caricando le informazioni... The Reasons I Won't Be Coming (2005)di Elliot Perlman
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Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. I love Elliot Perlman. The thing about an anthology is that it's very difficult to write a cohesive review of the entire text without just talking about each individual story. I was surprised that the last story took up approximately half of the book; of course, it was an excellent story. All of the selections contained that signature Perlman style I've come to know and love, and for that I'm grateful. Perlman likes to address himself to you and because I don't read much from this perspective, it's off-putting. Many of the stories here address me the reader as if I were someone else, leaving me scant clues as to who and what my relationship is to the narrator. While intriguing, it leaves me too distanced from the story. He is talented though and I find his writing to have depth and resonance; he makes me think about things differently, which may be the positive aspect of his odd framing. My favorite one would have to be the final; A Tale in Two Cities.
Perlman shapes his tales of bruised humanity from the detritus of strained relationships. Fond of psychiatric and legal terms, characters wander in a Kübler-Rossian ether, pointing out logical flaws in each other’s emotions.
This collection of stories explores the late-20th-century world of downsizing, anxiety and sexual confusion. An office worker discovers his lover's betrayal via e-mail, and a woman hires a private detective and trawls through the underworld for her brother. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999Classificazione LCVotoMedia:
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I recently gave the book to a used-bookshop.
I was so fucking tired of everyone and their "stories" except for the novella-length one at the end.
Story after story was of some whiny fucker wailing over a failed relationship, that unprotected heterosexual sex can lead to pregnancy, about how his feelings for her were not mutual, about how when someone is using you to cheat on their spouse, they owe you -nothing- (these men always thought sex forever bonded a woman to them, and uh, NO), and THE UTTER INABILITY OF ANYONE, EVER, TO GET A DIVORCE IN ANY OF THESE GODDAMN STORIES. UGH.
MOVE ON, MEN.
AND THAT IS -ME- SAYING THIS.
I adored these short stories for years because of how well the author wrote to emotions, the complication of emotions people can have towards one another, and decisions they make around them.
Then one day I realized, ew.
This book is still a skillful example of Elliot Perlman's talent as an author. The fact that I hated nearly every story in this book by the time I was twenty-six just says I had more life experience.
The novella at the end sometimes made me cry. It was about family, and how bonds are stretched during certain circumstances, and how everyone reacts differently. The last two sentences will always haunt me: "The phone rang. It was louder than usual."
I would be happy to re-read -this- story and this story alone, but it is part of a collection of stories in a book I otherwise have come to a point that no, it needed to go.
I do not recommend this short story collection to people. In fact, I do not think I ever have. From the first read, I knew it was not for everyone, and in fact, it was probably only for Elliot Perlman fans. I will, however, routinely mention this short story collection as a testament to his skill as a writer. So it does have a place, with me: to prop up his status when I mention his works to other people. I am glad I read the collection, and I am glad it gave me so much over the years. I am still glad, that this year, I did away with it. ( )