The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen

Sylvia Plath interviewing Elizabeth Bowen. 

I usually don't read huge short story collections in their entirety.  Typically I dip in and out and after a year or two I realize I read all the stories I cared about and skipped all the bum ones.  Not only have I read nearly every story in The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen but I've also read this collection twice (the first time in 2007).  I reviewed this collection the first time I completed it, but that -- alas -- was deleted in Drunk Delete of 2007.  I figured I would give a semi-review another go since my original is gone.  Rather than review the collection as a whole, I thought I would highlight my very favorite stories.

• "Making Arrangements" -- in this story a jilted husband receives a letter from his wayward wife requesting that he send her trunk of clothing.  He does, but he does it with flair.
•  "The Working Party" -- a newlywed bride is finally hosting her small town's working party (think church ladies with sewing baskets) everything is going perfectly..... until it doesn't in a very big way.
• "Telling" -- Teddy just knifed Josephine to death in the garden and he is trying to tell his family but they brush him aside.  
• "The Cat Jumps" -- The Harold Wrights are very modern and forward thinking and not suspicious in the least so they eagerly grasp the chance to buy the beautiful house Rose Hill despite the gruesome murder that occurred at Rose Hill in the past.
• "Reduced" -- Two little girls are loyal to their governess... a governess with a shadowy past.
• "Look at all Those Roses" -- A stranded motorist gets creeped out by an invalid girl, an odd woman, and a beautiful rose garden that may or may not be fertilized by the odd woman's missing husband.
• "The Inherited Clock" -- a vindictive relative manipulates a pair of children well into adulthood and it all centers on an odd clock.  

There are 81 stories in the collection and the seven above represent my very favorite.  I think there were about 4 or 5 stories that I didn't care for, but for the majority they are gold.  For anyone who enjoys Elizabeth Bowen or other British authors from 1920- 1960 I can assure you will enjoy this collection of beautifully crafted, imaginative, deftly written tales.  

Readerly Rambles: 11/02/2011

What I gave up on:

Let me preface this by saying that I love Rebecca and I REALLY love My Cousin Rachel.  I thought I would adore Daphne Du Maurier's short-story collection Don't Look Now.  I hated it.  I simply couldn't finish.  The first story ("Don't Look Now") was fairly interesting, but I thought the ending a bit ridiculous.  I read the second story.  Meh. I started the third story.  Double Meh.  I couldn't quite but my finger on why these should-be-thrilling stories were so lackluster.  Then it hit me.  Timing.

Telling a scary story is much like telling a clever joke, the timing has to be right.  Du Maurier's short stories are too long.  Now I'm a fan of a longer story / novella but the writer must be able to sustain that level of suspense.  I felt as if Du Maurier just needed a good editor; someone to tighten the prose.  Her stories went on and on and on and on and I soon lost interest.  I couldn't care one fig what happened to the characters and my imagination was bored. 

What I read: 

The Du Maurier collection put a damper on my reading this week, but last night I picked up Susan Hill's latest novella, The Small Hand.  Holy Geez it was creepy!!!  In fact, I had planned on using my Wednesday morning at home to draft blog posts.  Instead I brewed a pot of Irish Breakfast tea, grabbed a quilt, curled up with the cat, and read my eyeballs out.  The story is so unnerving.  I think it was a bit like The House at Riverton meets MR James AND Henry James.  Go.  Read it right now.  I'll wait here. 


What's up next:


Fables #13 by Bill Willingham:  I realize that getting into novels before going to bed is folly; inevitably I spend the night reading away and am one grumpy library girl the next morning.  To curb my novel spelunking I've taken to reading graphic novels or short stories before bed.   The reviews for this volume of Fables are less than stellar; I'm not a fan of the Jack spin-off series, but I will read this volume because my OCD will not allow me to move to volume #14 without having read volume #13. 

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel:  It is time.  I have been saving this novel for a few years and I feel it calling me.  Time to dive in to some historical novel goodness.

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton:  I really enjoyed The House at Riverton and I can't wait to read this one.  After The Small Hand I find myself needing some more decaying English countryside and dark secrets.

And now for some library loot:

 
Happy Reading!

Fragile Things Readalong: Week 6

Hooray!  I enjoyed the tales this week far more than last week's readings. 

My Life
What it is:  a poem of sorts that consists of one long ramble from someone the reader can assume is frequenting a pub.  The stories are ridiculous and marvelous.  Sex-changes? Possessed Dishwashers?  General strangeness?  Check. Check. And Check.

Favorite Line:  "I like to think that if / The dishwasher had not been haunted - well, / possessed, I guess would be more accurate -- / She'd still be here today..."

What worked for me:  The reality of this poem.  And my reality I mean not the reality of dudebuddy's stories, but the reality of running into those people with fantastical tales (especially the folks with stories that MAY be true, but most likely isn't).

Fifteen Painted Cards from a Vampire Tarot
What it is:  A lovely little set of vignettes related to vampire life (erm... unlife?).  I liked some more than others.

Favorite Line:  I can't really pinpoint one favorite line, but I will say the writing is very strong.  Each vignette hints at a very complex story line.  Hooray for nice, tight writing.

What worked for me:  I think restrained Gaiman works best.  We didn't have a chance to delve into page after page of explicit sex and violence.  Instead each piece (some are only a few lines and other a few paragraphs) pricks the imagination into filling in the shadowy bits of story -- the back story and the future of the principle players.

What didn't work:  No complaints.  Although I will say I had to focus.  Sometimes with short pieces I tend to read too fast.  I think it works best to make sure you pause between each set of vampire tales in this story.

Feeders and Eaters
What it is:  one of my favorite Gaiman stories so far.  A man boarding at a family home (Mister Barrow) meets another boarder, a woman -- Miss Corvier.  The woman is old and seems to be involved in witchcraft (at the very least she is what my dad would call a "dirty hippie").  Then the cat goes missing.  And Mr. Barrow finds the cat alive and half-eaten.  Things get even more creepy from there!

Favorite Line:  I don't really have a favorite line.  The entire story is gripping (pun intended harty har har)

What worked:  Yay!  This story is gruesome, but not gruesome for shock value, simply gruesome in classic horror sense.

What didn't work:  No complaints

Diseasemaker's Croup
What it is:  Apparently a college-level writing exercise for everyone to read.  Essentially, it is a faux medical description of a fake disease.

What didn't work:  I didn't care for this.  I felt like it had no point.  It is as if Professor set a timer and said "describe a macabre disease.... go".  I think this type of writing is showy and false.  Although to be honest each time I tired to read my eyes just slid over the page.  This may be a Reader (i.e. me) fail and not a Gaiman fail.

In which the Heroine attempts to get back in the blogging game by posting her Fragile Things Group Read post...

It seems like every time I write a post on Fragile Things it seems as though I only have negative things to say, but yet I still consider Neil Gaiman one of my favorite contemporary writers.  I think I'm going to divide up my review of each story with a one sentence description of the piece, a favorite quotation, a statement on what worked for me and a statement about what didn't work.  Even the most loathsome of stories has something I like... even if it is just a turn of phrase or image or structural aspect. 

Locks
What it is:  A lovely poem about a father reading the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears to his daughter.  It is a layered piece discussing the violation the three bears (especially Papa Bear) felt after having their home infiltrated by a nosy little girl, but mostly it is about the father embracing those moments when his little girl can beg for a simple story and it is easy for him to keep her safe and make her happy. 
Favorite Line:  "We owe it to each other to tell stories. / These days my sympathy's with Father Bear. / Before I leave my house I lock the door, / and check each bead and chair on my return./ Again. / Again. / Again."
What worked for  me:  I love this poem.  It is beautifully constructed, deep, and loving with out saccharine sentimentality.  This is Gaiman at this finest.  His best writing -- to me -- showcases his ability to write subtlety quite well.  It is when he "lays it all out" that I think his writing suffers.  Keep this in mind when I write on the stories for this week.
What didn't work:  no complaints!

The Problem of Susan
What it is:  a story about C. S. Lewis's Susan post-The Last Battle.  And holy hell what a train wreck.
Favorite Line:  erm..... I got nuthin'
What worked for me:  the general idea....As one who grew up in a conservative Christian home-educated environment I can say that The Chronicles of Narnia where a HUGE part of my reading life as a young girl.  The Silver Chair is one of my most favorite books, but the series as a whole was lacking to me.  I always identified with Susan the most and I was taught when reading the last book that Susan didn't get to go to heaven because Susan didn't "believe".  I don't know what C.S. Lewis had in mind with Susan, but when I turned Bikini Kill-listening Riot Girl in the seventh grade "don't be a Susan" was hammered into my head. 
I was excited to read this story, if only to get a different interpretation and I was so so so disappointed.
What didn't work:  The disgusting over-preoccupation with sex.  From staring at a killed centaur's penis to the White Witch and Aslan having post-kid eating graphic sex, the entire story was a swirling cesspool of ridiculous, overblown sex and violence.  This is Gaiman at his worst.  When Gaiman decides to get graphic he falls prey to being a shock jock of the writing world.  I hated this story.

Instructions
What it is:  Maybe Gaiman should stick with poetry?  This is a wonderful poem about fairy tales and all of the instructions one receives in fairy-land.
Favorite Line:  "Walk up the path, and through the garden / gate you never saw before but once. / And then go home. / Or make a home. / Or rest."
What worked:  EVERYTHING.  Anne Sexton, Andrew Lang, Angela Carter, and the Grimm Brothers all nob their approval.
What didn't work:  no complaints on this one, either!

How do you think it feels?
What it is:  A man is unfaithful to his wife and has a long-term affair with another woman.  He doesn't even enjoy parenting his twin girls because he can only think about how he will one day leave them for his current hot piece of ass.  What a douche.  He ends up leading a cold and lonely existence and being dominated by some sort of gargoyle he constructed from some of said girlfriend's modeling clay THAT HE JACKED OFF IN.  EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW....... Of course this gargoyle may be real or imaginary. 
Favorite Line:  ermmmmm......
What worked:  .................
What didn't work:  OMG Neil Gaiman!  The Penis is not stronger than the sword.  Quit writing with your dick and write with your brain, heart, and other higher-order organs.  Of course there is a graphic sex scene because apparently Gaiman feels that in order to be a "real" writer there must be excessive use of orgasmic juices.  GROSSSSSSSSSSS.......

Fingers crossed that next week's story want make me turn bright red when I read in public. 

Fragile Things -- Week 2

A Bluebeardesque picture from my Alma Mater (late 1800s).

I really enjoyed all of the stories in this week's Fragile Things read along.  Click here to see what everyone else thought about this week's reading. 

"The Hidden Chamber"

This is a Bluebeard poem and I simply couldn't help myself from comparing it to Angela Carter's short story "The Bloody Chamber."  I've always been fascinated by Bluebeard (I even wrote my own Bluebeard poem for my college thesis*).  On one hand Bluebeard is a nefarious man, luring women and keeping one secret room locked away and then virtually taunting them to open it so he has an opportunity to punish (i.e. slaughter) his brides.  But if the story isn't tangible, it there isn't a literal room and if there isn't actually murder committed the story shifts.  As a deeply introverted person, I understand the need for something that is a haven for oneself, be that a room, a journal, an hour in the day.  And I can't stand that some people feel the need to grope and pry one's entire life, space, thoughts. 

What I'm trying to convey is that one can interpret Bluebeard tales on a spectrum.  The grisly murder of one's bride is obviously a Bad Thing, but what if you're simply pissed off and emotionally distant because your bride read your diary (or in Sam's case that would be like me going through his Spawn action figures in the man cave).  In Gaiman's poem I feel as if this is an emotional locked room and the Bluebeard has an inability to emotionally connect.  Try as she might, the bride will never be able to figure out his secret, his self locked away in his own loneliness.  I thought the last lines particularly beautiful:  "The world flutters like insects.  I think this / is how I shall remember you, / my head between the white swell of your breasts, / listening to the chambers of your heart."


"Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire"

It took me a bit to orient myself to this story.  Filled with the typically Gothic tropes of lighting, creatures, fleeing maidens, talking ravens, family secrets, and curses, this story is one that would laughingly frighten someone like Catherine Morland from Northanger Abbey.   This story is about a writer trying to write literary fiction and to do so taking his cue from his reality (which just happens to be a reality of Gothic horror).  A raven suggests he writes fantasy and the author writes a novel from our rather boring, rational world.  It is an interesting take.  To tell the truth, I've often wondered how things would be if my world was fantastical imagination and someone simply made me up.  But then again, I'm completely nuts.


"The Flints of Memory Lane"

My least favorite of this week's read, "The Flints of Memory Lane" sounds closest to a real ghost story.  By real, I mean those creepy things that happen that one cannot easily explain.  It is only my least favorite because it is so brief.  It concerns a teenager who has an encounter with what very well could have been a ghost.  The best part of this brief tale is the writing; I love the phrase "I like things to be story-shaped."

"Closing Time"

In his introduction, Gaiman says that this story is styled like an MR James story.  I LOVE MR JAMES (in fact, I read one of his collections a few years ago for RIP).  This story scared the living shit out of me.  A little boy hangs out with some older boys.  Pranks and jokes are played and then they find a creepy playhouse and the boys taunt the little boy into going in.  The little boy doesn't go in and instead dares the older boys to go in.  They older boys go in the terrifying playhouse and ....... never come out.  But then we learn that the boys did survive, at least to adulthood.  The terrifying part is that my stupid brain fills in the blanks.  Either this was all an elaborate ruse to scare the little boy or there is something evil and supernatural going on or there is (even scarier to me) an evil sexually abusive dad torturing the older boys.

This story really emphasized my own sense of "what is horror."  Vampires, ghosts, ghouls, and supernatural evil are creepy and thrilling.  I'll read a book or watch a movie filled with spookiness.  Human horror and horribleness is the stuff of nightmares for me.  I don't watch movies like The Accused or watch shows like Criminal Minds because to me the stuff that humans do to hurt each other is far more frightening and ghoulish then the creepiest MR James story one could conjure.

Excellent reading this week and I can't wait to continue on with the collection.

(*it was a three-part poem of pretentious drivel.  It sucked.) 

Fragile Things Readalong: Post the First

Of course I'm a day late posting my thoughts on Neil Gaiman's first four stories in the collection Fragile Things.  Yesterday started off badly, but ended up happy.  I spent my evening hours blithely stitching away and listening to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.  Then I crawled in bed and read a RIP read (Lady Audley's Secret).  It was an enjoyable read, but it isn't wise to stay up until one in the morning reading when one has a non-sleeping baby boy.

But I digress...

This morning I woke up and realized that in all my introvert retreating into books and stitchy things I forgot to post.  So here we are, belated posting. 

The first four pieces of Fragile Things are the introduction, "A Study in Emerald", "The Fairy Reel", and "October in the Chair."  I'll try to describe what I loved and what I didn't, but with no spoilers.

• Introduction:  I love Neil Gaiman introductions and I remember being especially delighted with the last collection's, Smoke and Mirrors, introduction.  Gaiman goes through each piece of his collection and describes a special something; a memory connected with writing the piece, an image, the history of the writing, a significant influence.... It all makes for fascinating reading and I feel as if he is in the room across from me chatting away over a cup of coffee.  It is so lovely to feel quite chummy with an author one has never met.
• "A Study in Emerald":  A Lovecraft meets Sherlock Holmes meets Victorian alternative universe.  Need I say more?
• "The Fairy Reel":  Alas, my brain slid over each lovely phrase in this poem.  I recall that it is about fairies and dreams and it seemed sinister and I enjoyed it, but I can't recall the details.  Yay for book remember #FAIL. 
• "October in the Chair":  I loved this story.  October -- yes, the month -- is sharing a story with all the other months as they sit around a large campfire.  The story concerns a runaway boy named Runt and a little ghost boy named Dearly.  This story drove me mad, but in a good way.  SPOILER !!!!!!!!!!!!!  Basically Runt wants to join his ghostly friend and Dearly sends him to an creepy house with the warning that "one of them may do it."  October's story ends with Runt entering a sinister house with rustlings and then....... NOTHING. The story ends.  I'm dying to know what happens to Runt!  

I'm already digging into the next set of stories and hopefully I'll post on time next week. 

Happy RIP Reading!

Readerly Rambles: 08/05/2011

What I've Finished:

My reading has been clipping along at a lovely pace -- well, for me at least -- and I've finished several books in the past month:

• Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner:  You can read my belated International Brookner Day post here.  I'll certainly be revisiting this author, as I really enjoyed her writing style.  I'm a fan of witty observations paired with quintessentially British characters. 
• The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett:  This nonfiction book is about John Gilkey, a man who has stolen over $200,000 worth of rare books and other items.  I was intrigued by the Bartlett's extensive interviews with Gilkey, her chronicling of his thievery and upbringing, the depth of her explanations of the rare book world, and her interviews with Ken Sanders (the rare book dealer who caught Gilkey).  However, I think this book lacked a certain amount of depth.  Hoover repeatedly discusses Gilkey's delusional outlook on life, his desire to "make" his image through book thieving, and his belief that he deserved these stolen goods.  She strongly emphasizes that he seems to have a mental break with reality.  HOWEVER, at no point does she discuss his issues/history with mental health professionals.  The book is a fast and enticing read despite its flaws; I finished the book while sitting in the movie theater awaiting the midnight showing of Harry Potter 7.2.
• Elizabeth I by Margaret George:  Margaret George is my new author crush.  This is the first book I've read by George even though she has been on my TBR pile for ages.  It took a good 50 pages or so for me to get into the book, but once I was in there I didn't want to come up for air!  What I liked most about the novel is that it begins with the Spanish Armada (Drake representin') and covers Elizabeth's later rule and death.  Most books seem to focus on the young Elizabeth and it was fascinating to read a novelization of her later life.  You must read this book!
• The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories:  I've actually been reading this book off and on since December 2009!  This large volume is filled to bursting with deliciously creepy ghost stories.  Let's just say I will NEVER play hide'n'seek in a house at night EVER (sorry kids). 
• Interlibrary Loan and Document by Lee Andrew Hilyer:  this was a ridiculously concise book on ILL.  I think it is for folks who are totally unacquainted with interlibrary loan.  I picked up one or two things.  Yes, I read it for work and yes, it was infinitely dull.

What I'm Reading:

I have two books going at the moment:

• A Word Child by Iris Murdoch: I adore Iris Murdoch, but I haven't picked up a Murdoch book in ages.  I'm about 100 pages in and all of my favorite Murdochisms are present - pitiful and unlikable characters to which, oddly, I find myself liking, phenomenal feats of language play, wit, dashes of mystery, and dear god her powers of description.  I can't put my finger on why I love her character descriptions so.  There earthy and real; her descriptions of people have this animal quality.  I'm on a mission to find the perfect description to illustrate this aspect of her writing.  More on that in the soonish future.
• Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin:  This is my secondary read.  This book is planted in the nursery by the rocking chair for when I'm nursing and rocking Atticus.  I've only read the first chapter of this novel about Lewis Carroll and his Alice, Alice Liddell.  I haven't read as much because I've developed a habit of dozing when rocking the baby.  I'm intrigued by the novel and slightly uncomfortable.  In the first chapter Alice is a child and mesmerized by Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) but there is something certainly creepy about the attraction between the two.

What's Next:

I have a library book and an ILL book on my nightstand to read next.  Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym (I'm on another Brit. streak) and Vin Packer's pulp novella duo Whisper his Sin / The Evil Friendship.  The Packer story The Evil Friendship is about the Parker-Hulme murder and was part of the inspiration for Heavenly Creatures.

Loads of great reading going on and even more in the future.  Tomorrow I'm taking the kids to the library so I'm sure I'll find a few more books jumping on-board.