Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Jun 10

22

Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before by Willy Vlautin

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on June 22, 2010
Posted in Short Story Read in 2010  | 4 Comments

John of The Book Mine Set reviewed this story earlier this month and made me curious.  Harper Perennial is hosting a a weekly online short story giveaway called, Fifty-Two Stories with Cal Morgan.  This is one of the stories.

The un-named narrator of the story worked in a chemical plant for six years after high school.  He said, “I’m not extraordinarily gifted in any particular way.”   He then met a girl in a bar.  They started out having a casual relationship but then something changed.  She started saying controlling things things to him like, ” A man shouldn’t sleep all day if he’s going to amount to anything,” and “I’ve seen you guzzle down the beer. Anyway, you don’t know what it’s like for me. If you knew you’d stop just ’cause of that. You’d stop because I’m a blackout drunk.”  
Then she wants to move, she says, “If you truly love me we’ll move to a real city and not stay in this shithole. Look, don’t I give you everything? Don’t I give you my entire soul?”  They move to Portland, Oregon but she is never satisfied.  She complains and crys and turns psychotic.

This is a very strange story but I liked it.  I agree with John, that the theme of this story is ambition.  If your looking for a different kind of story about relationships, you may enjoy this one.  I would be very interested in your thoughts if you do read it.  You can read it here.

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.

Jun 10

14

Appetite by Said Sayrafiezadeh

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on June 14, 2010
Posted in Short Story Read in 2010  | 4 Comments

Carol of Carol’s Notebook reviewed this story back in March , 2010.
The narrator of the story is a 25 year old underachiever who works as a cook in a busy restaurant.  Every time he gets the courage to ask his boss for a raise his boss asks why a customer got a burnt grilled cheese sandwich.  He knows not to bring up the raise then.
He thinks to himself that perhaps he could have done something better with his life, as his family expected of him.  However, as the valedictorian of his graduating class categorized,he fell in to the  “entering directly into the workforce” category.
Once the new waitress entered the story it got a bit quickly.  She extremely thin is anorexic however he secretly feels some attraction to her.  He doesn’t ask her our though because of his obvious lack of ambition in life.  It would be too much like work to take the initiative to ask someone out on a date.  She however, doesn’t leave it up to him after all. At first she calls him ” funny boy”, then “boy”, and then all of a sudden “pretty boy’, which surprises him.
Said Sayrafiezadeh’s writing is good.  He really get’s into the narraters head, or as much as the narrator gets into his own head.  I liked this story but didn’t love it.  However, I did take the time to ponder the meaning of the title, ‘Appetite’.  I think it refers to his appetite for something better, even though he doesn’t do anything to achieve anything.  I also saw his “appetite” for a woman although again, he does nothing to achieve it.  The narrator seems stuck.  Perhaps the new waitress will help him but we will never know.
You can read the story over at The New Yorker. 
 
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.

Jun 10

7

Fjord of Killary by Kevin Barry

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on June 7, 2010
Posted in Short Story Read in 2010  | 4 Comments

I am once again having a “middle aged” moment because I can’t remember who blogged about this story first.  I am pretty certain it was another Short Story Monday participant.  If it was you, please leave a link in the comments so I can give you credit.

Fjord of Killary opens with a harsh storm coming into Killary in Ireland.  The narrator is early retired and is a “wordless” poet who buys a hotel in Killary, hoping that words will come to him. He’s new to Killary and doesn’t really make any kind of impression to his clients, one way or another.  There are people at the bar drinking the night away like any normal bar scene,  There is an older couple who seem very much in love, though something about them comes out later.  

Eventually, the first floor, where the bar is starts to flood so the owner and staff move everyone up stairs to resume as usual.  The water starts to go upstairs but does eventually start to subside.

There is no plot to the story that I can determine and it felt a bit like reading about everyday life.  However, the writing is excellent and I see potential.  I looked up Kevin Barry and saw that he has a short story collection out called, ‘There Are Little Kingdoms.’  I think it would be worth checking out sometime.  Perhaps he even develops a plot in some of the stories.  You can read this story at The New Yorker.

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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