The Short of It:

Endlessly amusing.

The Rest of It:

I think this is the third short story collection that I’ve read by Murakami and it might be one of his tamest. These stories are a bit longer than the ones I’ve read in the past. Some of them almost had a novella feel to them, but what they all share is that these are normal folks doing or experiencing very strange things.

In one story, a women goes about her life without sleeping and she is perfectly fine with it. In another, TV People come and go delivering large TV screens to a man’s home and office, without anyone noticing them except him. My favorite one had to do with a man who has decided to mow his last lawn. I should also mention that one of the stories in this collection was the basis for The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, one of his more popular novels.

This is a great collection to read if you want to escape from the day-to-day. I read it very slowly, right before bed over the course of several months and it never failed to lull me into a deep sense of relaxation. Something about Murakami’s writing leaves me utterly calm and at peace with the world. He has a way of taking “normal” and twisting it just enough to make it interesting. Some of his stuff can be overly sexual in nature but this collection was not. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

The Short of It:

Reading this collection of short fiction is like walking into a dream only to experience extreme consciousness. It’s unyielding in the most satisfying way.

The Rest of It:

I used to reserve the reading of short fiction for very specific times. For instance, short story collections are perfect for the nightstand as they are easy to pick up and put down right before bed. They are also great for work when you don’t have quite enough time to delve into that novel you’ve been reading.

However, my feelings about short fiction have changed over the year and I attribute that to collections like this one. This is not a collection that you pick up and immediately put down. It’s a collection that once started, you can’t help but continue with. I found myself making time for it and that’s not my usual routine when it comes to short fiction. For one, the writing is impressive. Tight prose and beautifully constructed sentences certainly help, but the stories are amazing.

So what’s it about? The stories in this collection include characters who are searching for that elusive something and they happen to be doing it from a questionable state of consciousness. Are they awake? Dreaming? Hovering somewhere between this life and the next?

In one story, a man feels extreme guilt over the separation of a Siamese twin, in another, a  man tries to understand his son’s night terrors and how they relate, if at all, to the child he abandoned years before. All of the characters are unsettled and anxious and there is a suspenseful thread that weaves itself between these stories. That same, tenacious thread wraps itself around you and demands your attention from beginning to end.

This is a riveting collection of fiction, steeped in isolation and loneliness. It’s not a collection of “happy little stories” but it’s a collection that begs to be read and contemplated. Although not technically a collection of short fiction, I felt the same way about Chaon’s novel Await Your Reply which I  enjoyed very much. You really can’t go wrong with either book. Both are examples of solid, atmospheric writing, which is what I typically enjoy.

Source: Sent to me by the publisher via Library Thing’s Early Reviewer program.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

The Secret Lives of People in Love
By Simon Van Booy
Short Stories (single author)
(Harper Perennial, Paperback, 9780061766121, March 2010, 208pp.)

The Short of It:

Lovely and quiet.

The Rest of It:

This collection of short stories was sent to me some time ago. I can remember the day clearly. It arrived, I plunked myself down to read the first story, sighed and then placed the book on my nightstand. You might think it odd,  but for me, it was the perfect reaction. The writing in that first story blew me away. I think I was a little bit awestruck and needed to take some time to process the beauty of the words themselves.

What happened next was odd, though.

I did the exact same thing every time I picked it up. There are nineteen stories and over the course of the year, I’d choose one to enjoy. Not every night (obviously) and not even every week, but whenever I felt like it. I just finished the book last month and it was such a pleasure to take the time to really enjoy this one.

These stories deal with people in love… or various stages of love and sometimes (often) loss. They are simply told, yet with beautiful, flowery prose. Here are some examples of the writing:

This morning I woke up and I was fifteen years old. Each year is like putting a new coat over all the old ones. Sometimes, I reach into the pockets of my childhood and pull things out.  (Little Birds)

…her life, like a cloud, split open, and she lay motionless in a rain of moments. (French Artist Killed in Sunday’s Earthquake)

Words fell from their minds like a rain of hard stones, snapping branches of blind desire, trapping the fresh blooms of feeling within the darkness of meaning. (The Mute Ventriloquist)

I really enjoyed peeling away the layers and enjoying this one in small bits. Although it wasn’t my intention to take an entire year to read it, reading it this way seemed proper. These are not stories to rush through. This was my first experience with Van Booy’s writing but it definitely won’t be my last.

Source: Sent to me by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

After the Quake  - Short Stories (single author)
By Haruki Murakami
(Vintage, Paperback, 9780375713279, May 2003, 160pp.)

The Short of It:

Simple prose yet so complex. The stories in this collection are thought-provoking and dreamy in a surreal, fantastical way.

The Rest of It:

This is a very brief collection of stories. Six stories, all set at the time of the 1995 Kobe earthquake. None of the stories are really about the earthquake. Instead, the earthquake itself serves as a reminder of how delicate life is, how fragile Japan is and how a tiny shift in thinking can affect our daily existence.

Murakami is a powerful writer. The novels I’ve read so far took me to a place I’ve never been before. A far, out-there place where cats can talk and pimps are named Colonel Sanders. But, this collection of stories is the total opposite of his novels.

There are a few fantastical elements contained within this collection, but they are the sort of nightmarish, creepy hallucinations anyone could experience while sleeping. This collection of stories feels more accessible to me, if that makes sense. I’m thinking that those who found Murakami’s work too extreme in the past, might enjoy these stories. Actually, I’m sure of it.

I read this collection in one sitting. I was mesmerized, charmed and in one case totally weirded out yet I could not put the book down once I started reading it. To me, Murakami is this awesome, Japanese Cowboy who rides into town and sweeps me off my feet with his lyrical prose and knack for dialogue.

I’m a bit smitten with his writing. Can you tell?

Source: Borrowed (but now I want to buy my own copy)

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Miss Hildreth Wore Brown
By Olivia deBelle Byrd
(Morgan James Publishing, Paperback, 9781600377488, May, 2010, 176pp.)

The Short of It:

If you don’t have any Southern friends, you’ll want some after reading this.

The Rest of It:

Is it possible to be a Southern Belle without having ever stepped foot in the South? No, I didn’t think so, but as I was reading, I saw so much of myself in what Ms. Byrd shared. Each story is short…sometimes VERY short, as in one or two pages long, but no matter how short, she injects humor and charm into each one. Anyone who loves all things Southern, will enjoy it and it’s short enough to pick up and enjoy at your leisure.

Some of the topics you’ll find in this collection:

• The whole debate over wearing white after Labor Day (anyone in their right mind knows that it’s not done, ever!).
• The importance of Chanel No 5, its cost and why you should never tell your husband how much you spend for it.
• How having coffee at a coffee gathering is an absolute necessity and not up for discussion.
• How Thank You cards have gone to the wayside and why they should make a comeback.

Although this is not typically a book I would have sought out on my own, I must say that I enjoyed it quite a bit. The Girl read some of it over my shoulder and although she’s only seven, she laughed at some of the sayings. Especially when I said them with  my version of a Southern accent! I had to fix myself some sweet tea after reading it. It was good too!

So if you love everything Southern or know someone who does, this would be a great little book to pick up.

Source: Sent to me by the author.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.