“I won't introduce you to my father, not personally, not yet. Changes are you already know him.”
This Inheritance collection is turning out to be a rather good one. Anthony Marra's contribution adds a bit of humour to this series. The narrator's father was responsible for a leak of classified documents, landing his own family in the spotlight. Some thought him a hero, others a traitor. Years later, after publishing a memoir on his childhood, our narrator tries to reconcile himself with his now ill father. The tone of this short story is somewhat satirical and it definitely provides its readers with quite a few amusing lines: “His Bluetooth is so firmly rooted in his ear that may, technically, qualify as a cyborg. .” There is a realistic awkwardness between the various characters' interactions which made all the more realistic.
“Honesty comes in an infinite variety, none crueler than a teenager's tedium.”
The narrator quotes Natalia Ginzburg, so yes, this story definitely a plus fo that. However, the nitpicker in me couldn't help but notice that our narrator (someone who can quote Ginzburg) fell for the classic Frankenstein slip (where instead of saying that someone looks like Frankenstein's monster, he refers to them as looking like Frankenstein): “Father Carlson's student have that Frankenstein look of being assembled from different limbs that don't quite fit together.”
Anyway, this was an entertaining short story. It may focus on self-involved individuals (who seem rather disconnected from everyday life) but it also manages to explore compassion and acceptance in very natural (non schmaltzy) way.
“I won't introduce you to my father, not personally, not yet. Changes are you already know him.”
This Inheritance collection is turning out to be a rather good one. Anthony Marra's contribution adds a bit of humour to this series. The narrator's father was responsible for a leak of classified documents, landing his own family in the spotlight. Some thought him a hero, others a traitor. Years later, after publishing a memoir on his childhood, our narrator tries to reconcile himself with his now ill father. The tone of this short story is somewhat satirical and it definitely provides its readers with quite a few amusing lines: “His Bluetooth is so firmly rooted in his ear that may, technically, qualify as a cyborg. .” There is a realistic awkwardness between the various characters' interactions which made all the more realistic.
“Honesty comes in an infinite variety, none crueler than a teenager's tedium.”
The narrator quotes Natalia Ginzburg, so yes, this story definitely a plus fo that. However, the nitpicker in me couldn't help but notice that our narrator (someone who can quote Ginzburg) fell for the classic Frankenstein slip (where instead of saying that someone looks like Frankenstein's monster, he refers to them as looking like Frankenstein): “Father Carlson's student have that Frankenstein look of being assembled from different limbs that don't quite fit together.”
Anyway, this was an entertaining short story. It may focus on self-involved individuals (who seem rather disconnected from everyday life) but it also manages to explore compassion and acceptance in very natural (non schmaltzy) way....more
“Had Harold Pardee killed his wife? In hair salons, at lunch counters, the question was posed. Such a death, in Bakerton, was without precedent.”
This being the first work I've read by Jennifer Haigh, I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm not sure if this story fits in the Inheritance collection. While others authors who have contributed to this series have focused on themes of reconciliation: Alice Hoffman and Anthony Marra, respectively in Everything My Mother Taught Me and The Lion's Den, focus on the fraught dynamics between a children and their parents, while in The Weddings Alexander Chee turns towards a complicated 'friendship'. Zenith Man has a very different tone that sets it apart from the rest these stories. It seems closer to a work of Souther Gothic or Noir. Similarly to Shirley Jackson Haigh's presents us with a slightly unsettling depiction of on an 'ordinary' town and its people. There is a sense of unease as well as a good dose of dark humour. Haigh's is a good storyteller who creates and maintains this uneasy atmosphere, one that makes us pay attention to the specific language she uses.
“In Bakerton a murder would not have been forgotten. The local memory was a powerful tool, an instrument so sensitive it recalled events that hadn't actually occurred. Conscious of its new status as a place where things happened Bakerton cleared its throat and commenced speculating.”
So while Haigh' writing style is definitely enjoyable, I wasn't as taken by the story itself. It was okay, but I was expecting a more interesting storyline.
“Had Harold Pardee killed his wife? In hair salons, at lunch counters, the question was posed. Such a death, in Bakerton, was without precedent.”
This being the first work I've read by Jennifer Haigh, I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm not sure if this story fits in the Inheritance collection. While others authors who have contributed to this series have focused on themes of reconciliation: Alice Hoffman and Anthony Marra, respectively in Everything My Mother Taught Me and The Lion's Den, focus on the fraught dynamics between a children and their parents, while in The Weddings Alexander Chee turns towards a complicated 'friendship'. Zenith Man has a very different tone that sets it apart from the rest these stories. It seems closer to a work of Souther Gothic or Noir. Similarly to Shirley Jackson Haigh's presents us with a slightly unsettling depiction of on an 'ordinary' town and its people. There is a sense of unease as well as a good dose of dark humour. Haigh's is a good storyteller who creates and maintains this uneasy atmosphere, one that makes us pay attention to the specific language she uses.
“In Bakerton a murder would not have been forgotten. The local memory was a powerful tool, an instrument so sensitive it recalled events that hadn't actually occurred. Conscious of its new status as a place where things happened Bakerton cleared its throat and commenced speculating.”
So while Haigh' writing style is definitely enjoyable, I wasn't as taken by the story itself. It was okay, but I was expecting a more interesting storyline.
I'm starting to get tired of this trend of 'if a girl acts like perv not only it's okay but it's actually funny!' First of all: this is the typeDNF 30%
I'm starting to get tired of this trend of 'if a girl acts like perv not only it's okay but it's actually funny!' First of all: this is the type of book that demands a lot of suspension of disbelief. That Rebecca would just do what Vanessa wants even if it is clearly not part of her job or connected to it (ie: Vanessa is not a tyrant, if Rebecca was to be unjustly fired on the basis of not wanting to agree to do an 'outside job' for her boss). Then again Rebecca can't be all that smart as she then believes that it's a good idea for people to believe that she is Vanessa and that they will understand if she reveals later on that she isn't (where is she living? the moon?!).
What really annoyed me was that Rebecca thinks it's perfectly okay to sneak a photo of a builder's bum as it is a very good looking one so that she can then send it to her friend. The narrative tries to make it so that she is aware that she was being a bit of a perv but it's okay since he then quite rightfully acts in an unfriendly manner towards her (so he deserved it?!). Do pervy, clueless, air-heads make for sympathetic or realistic main characters? Not really. If we were to switch their genders in that scene (so that it is a male sneaking a photo of a woman's bottom, a woman he does not even know or has even seen before)...not so funny right?
Another thing that I noticed was the lack of logic: the builder catches our protagonist red-handed and believing that she is his employer (who he knows is an unpleasant person by her reputation) tells her: "I'd thought you'd be more rottweiler than chihuahua" (which leads us to believe that he is not that threatened by her or her authority over him) before then telling off his mates for not warning him of her arrival as "I could have got myself sacked up there just now". If he was so worried about meeting Vanessa wouldn't he have avoided comparing her to a dog?
The book is also full of lazy stereotypes (like the taxi driver who pats his stomach and talks about his 'missus') that don't really come across as funny or clever takes on real people. There is Rebecca's housemate from hell (who is an exaggerated take on the lazy, smelly, sexist housemate)...Vanessa is an amalgamation of 'devil' bosses found in The Devil Wears Prada and My Not So Perfect Life
My advice is to skip this one!
Merged review:
DNF 30%
I'm starting to get tired of this trend of 'if a girl acts like perv not only it's okay but it's actually funny!' First of all: this is the type of book that demands a lot of suspension of disbelief. That Rebecca would just do what Vanessa wants even if it is clearly not part of her job or connected to it (ie: Vanessa is not a tyrant, if Rebecca was to be unjustly fired on the basis of not wanting to agree to do an 'outside job' for her boss). Then again Rebecca can't be all that smart as she then believes that it's a good idea for people to believe that she is Vanessa and that they will understand if she reveals later on that she isn't (where is she living? the moon?!).
What really annoyed me was that Rebecca thinks it's perfectly okay to sneak a photo of a builder's bum as it is a very good looking one so that she can then send it to her friend. The narrative tries to make it so that she is aware that she was being a bit of a perv but it's okay since he then quite rightfully acts in an unfriendly manner towards her (so he deserved it?!). Do pervy, clueless, air-heads make for sympathetic or realistic main characters? Not really. If we were to switch their genders in that scene (so that it is a male sneaking a photo of a woman's bottom, a woman he does not even know or has even seen before)...not so funny right?
Another thing that I noticed was the lack of logic: the builder catches our protagonist red-handed and believing that she is his employer (who he knows is an unpleasant person by her reputation) tells her: "I'd thought you'd be more rottweiler than chihuahua" (which leads us to believe that he is not that threatened by her or her authority over him) before then telling off his mates for not warning him of her arrival as "I could have got myself sacked up there just now". If he was so worried about meeting Vanessa wouldn't he have avoided comparing her to a dog?
The book is also full of lazy stereotypes (like the taxi driver who pats his stomach and talks about his 'missus') that don't really come across as funny or clever takes on real people. There is Rebecca's housemate from hell (who is an exaggerated take on the lazy, smelly, sexist housemate)...Vanessa is an amalgamation of 'devil' bosses found in The Devil Wears Prada and My Not So Perfect Life
“Why am I here? he asks himself. What am I doing?”
In just under fifty pages Alexander Chee examines a man's ch| | blog | tumblr | ko-fi | |
3.5 stars
“Why am I here? he asks himself. What am I doing?”
In just under fifty pages Alexander Chee examines a man's changing relationship to his old college friend. The weddings of the title are the backdrop to our protagonists' personal crisis. Jack Cho is a forty-something man in a committed relationship with Caleb. When they are invited to attend the wedding of a friend of Caleb's, Jack finds himself, for the very first time, wondering if he too will marry. Soon after the couple is invited to the wedding of Scott, Jack's college 'friend'. Jack is forced to confront his own repressed feelings for Scott. As certain details come to light, he becomes aware of having idealised this past relationship. There were many realistically awkward moments and some great commentary regarding marriage (the pressure to marry, the way weddings become displays of the couple's love). Jack's self-analysis was detailed in a poignant prose that conveyed his hurt and unwillingness to see Scott for who he truly is. This short story also touches upon: fetishisation (naive as I am, I had no idea what 'rice queen' and 'rice king' meant), the double 'rejection' that Jack often feels being Korean American (Koreans will not view him as truly Korean and white Americans will question his nationality). My only 'complaint' is that there was the occasional twee phrase:
“Scott was so much trouble, whatever the reason was. A beautiful disaster.”
Overall however this was a short yet intelligent story that pays careful attention to those awkward pauses and heavy silences that can fill a conversation. It reminded me a bit of Come Rain or Come Shine: Faber Stories by Kazuo Ishiguro and certain short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri.
“Even then, ha he would endlessly be a curiosity and not a person. He would forget this was true and then be reminded this way, this he most recent in the jarring series of moments that threaded thorough his whole life in America. When did it end? When would they all just get used to him—to all of them?”
“Why am I here? he asks himself. What am I doing?”
In just under fifty pages Alexander Chee examines a man's changing relationship to his old college friend. The weddings of the title are the backdrop to our protagonists' personal crisis. Jack Cho is a forty-something man in a committed relationship with Caleb. When they are invited to attend the wedding of a friend of Caleb's, Jack finds himself, for the very first time, wondering if he too will marry. Soon after the couple is invited to the wedding of Scott, Jack's college 'friend'. Jack is forced to confront his own repressed feelings for Scott. As certain details come to light, he becomes aware of having idealised this past relationship. There were many realistically awkward moments and some great commentary regarding marriage (the pressure to marry, the way weddings become displays of the couple's love). Jack's self-analysis was detailed in a poignant prose that conveyed his hurt and unwillingness to see Scott for who he truly is. This short story also touches upon: fetishisation (naive as I am, I had no idea what 'rice queen' and 'rice king' meant), the double 'rejection' that Jack often feels being Korean American (Koreans will not view him as truly Korean and white Americans will question his nationality). My only 'complaint' is that there was the occasional twee phrase:
“Scott was so much trouble, whatever the reason was. A beautiful disaster.”
Overall however this was a short yet intelligent story that pays careful attention to those awkward pauses and heavy silences that can fill a conversation. It reminded me a bit of Come Rain or Come Shine: Faber Stories by Kazuo Ishiguro and certain short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri.
“Even then, ha he would endlessly be a curiosity and not a person. He would forget this was true and then be reminded this way, this he most recent in the jarring series of moments that threaded thorough his whole life in America. When did it end? When would they all just get used to him—to all of them?”
disclaimer: the below opinions are based on a small portion of this book so if you are looking for a more comprehensive review of Determination, i recdisclaimer: the below opinions are based on a small portion of this book so if you are looking for a more comprehensive review of Determination, i recommend you check out reviews from readers who have actually finished it.
dnf
not only does her neck grow "taller" when her father praises (one would expect something along the lines of 'she stood a little taller', or that the praise made her 'straighten her shoulders' etc...). a few pages later we get a scene featuring a man whose "winged ears twitched." on the whole, the writing is very unconvincing. the opening scene struck me as particularly clunky, and there are several corny descriptions, both detailing our mc's actions and her inner thoughts/emotions. that is not to say that Khan is a bad writer or this a bad book. i believe that a more thorough editing process would have improved Khan's storytelling or, at the very least, made her writing smoother and more fluid. ...more
It's-a me, Luce, and-a welcome to my review! Bellissimo!
I wasn't a fan of Mcquiston's previous books (I only managed to finish Red, White & Royal BluIt's-a me, Luce, and-a welcome to my review! Bellissimo!
I wasn't a fan of Mcquiston's previous books (I only managed to finish Red, White & Royal Blue, which was childish, even by romcom standards) but I decided to give their latest novel a chance. However, within just a few pages, I found myself cringing at their humor (dildos...ah-ah) and their portrayal of places outside of America (that whole pub scene in London...why?)...it's giving Emily in Paris. Mcquiston writing once again delivers some serious wattpad vibes, or the kind of character interactions and scenarios that would not be out of place in a romance movie of the netflix original variety.
The introduction of the Italian tour guide sealed my dislike for this book. His welcome: "Ah! The last two! Meraviglioso!" It's the same tired caricature of an Anglo-American's perception of an Italian, which is an amalgamation of clichés based on men from Rome or Naples (who are often portrayed as loud, boisterous, charming, handsy even). Imagine someone from northern italy or from a small southern town, working with or for a British company, greeting clients with a 'meraviglioso!'. Ridiculous, right? He also says "Ciao bella" to Theo because of course he fucking does.
And don't get me started on the cheek-kissing... Americans have misunderstood this whole kissing cheeks greeting. Depending on where you are in Italy, you might do it with family, friends, and depending on the setting, with friends of friends or when your friends are introducing you to someone or whatever. The Italians who work in Britain or with a British/non-Italian clientele wouldn't pull this.
It's frustrating how this Fabrizio character, despite his fluency in English, can't seem to resist sprinkling in Italian phrases/words like 'meraviglioso,' 'ciao,' 'grazie mille,' etc. It feels lazy and perpetuates a shallow stereotype. Frankly, it comes across as puerile, so much so that I doubt whether I'll bother finishing this book. Unless it's revealed later on that Fabrizio isn't actually Italian or is just playing up to the expectations of non-Italians (performing his own Italianness, so to speak), this portrayal is just lazy.
I don't care if you want to make fun of Italy and Italians, go for it. All I ask, is that you be clever, witty even, about it. Don't resort to such tired clichés, which are so unimaginative & unfunny that they could have been generated by AI.
Anyway, YMMV, so if you are the kind of reader who likes Emily in Paris chances are this book will be up your street....more
luce (cry baby)
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