Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Jan 10

18

MY DEAR MISS FAIRFAX by Nicola Slade

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on January 18, 2010
Posted in Short Story Read in 2010  | 7 Comments

Thanks to Nan of Letters from a Hill Farm for reviewing this short story last week.

This is a charming epistolary ,historical short that takes place in 1840.  There are three main characters, Mr.Ambrose Rogers, a man in his 30’s who lives in the West Indies,  looking for a wife.  Miss Adelaide Fairfax, a woman he met in Bath and writes to asking is she knows of a possible wife for him, and Lady Steyne, a woman in her 30’s who had lost hope of every becoming someones wife.
When Ambrose writes to Miss Fairfax looking for a wife, she knows just the woman, Lady Steyne and writes to her right away.  Mr. Rogers and Lady Steyne start writing each other and a spark is there.
I wont tell you anymore because I don’t want to give anything away.  I really enjoyed this story.  It was well formed with delightful characters.  I love reading epistolary stories because writing letters was the way people communicated back then.  Today, we have lost this form of expressing ourselves, for the most part.   You can read this story on Nicola Slades website.  It is a quick read and quite worthwhile.

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!

Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Jan 10

11

Chicxulub by T. Coraghessan Boyle and a Mini Challenge

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on January 11, 2010
Posted in Short Story Read in 2010  | 9 Comments

There is a bit of a story to me reading this short story.  Last week, our host, John of  Short Story Monday reviewed this story.  Before he reviewed another participant, JoAnn reviewed it, say that it was Nymeth that brought it to her attention.

John’s review convinced me to give this story a read.
The story is about with a couple’s 17 year old daughter, Maddy,  walking along the roadside alone at night.  Maddy’s father is the narrator and he goes back and for from Maddy alone, to his musing about meteors from over a million year ago in  the Tunguska in Russia and Chicxulub on the Yucatan Peninsula.
You can imagine what’s going to happen, right?  Well not quite, theres a twist.  This story really packs a punch.  I read this story while alone, my husband went to bed and the house was very quite.  While I was reading my heart felt like it was trying to exit through my throat, you know the feeling.
The mini challenge of this post:  I have said before that it took me finally reading a good short story to start liking them.  Short story writing is an entirely different craft from writing a novel.  Boy, does Boyle have the craft!  I want to pass this amazing story along to you!  I challenge you to read Chicxulub, it’s free on The New Yorker website, and review it.  Then the second part, if your game, is to read other short stories or even novels by Boyle.  A lot of his short stories and collections are referenced here.
If you want to play along, please sign up in Mr. Linky below.  Then come back and link your story reviews.

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!
Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Jan 10

3

Natalie by Anne Enright

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on January 3, 2010
Posted in Anne Enright • Short Story Read in 2010  | 10 Comments

 This story isn’t really about Natalie though the unknown narrator does focus a lot on her and how she views the world. The narrator, an teenaged female, perseverates back and forth on her relationships with her boyfriend, Natalie, and Natalie’s boyfriend, Billy.

Natalie is a what you see is what you get kind of girl. She seems to believe that people are mostly skin deep. The protagonist thought, “I’m not even thinking that she has Botoxed her emotions so she won’t ever need to do her face. The unknown protagonist tells us of her relationship with Natalie isn’t really as friends, more like acquaintances.
She thinks about their prospective boyfriends as well and thinks that Billy is more like herself. That maybe her and Natalie should switch boyfriends.
This is a difficult short story to review. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters at all and there was very little plot. It was really about a teenager trying to figure out life within her small part of the world.
This is the first piece I have ever read by Anne Enright but I do have The Gathering on my TBR. Maybe I will like her novel better than this short story. If you would like to read this story, you can read it on-line at New Yorker. I would love to get your take on this story, if you do read it.
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! 
Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

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