Comments on: Review: You Know When the Men Are Gone, Siobhan Fallon

By: Colleen

Colleen — Mon, 30 May 2011 14:32:04 +0000

I would hazard a guess that we may have had the same problem with a novel! Let’s see what happens next month. Although, perhaps because the stories were short it led to stopping and starting in our discussion so we never gained momentum?

I most enjoyed this collection because it open my eyes to the lives of those in the military which is something to which I had little exposure.

By: Erin

Erin — Fri, 20 May 2011 06:38:57 +0000

In reply to Jenny. I'm partial to the Sword & Sorceress series for that reason. Nice classic female-lead fantasy. :D Ever tried Flash Fiction?

By: Dawn - She Is Too Fond of Books

Dawn - She Is Too Fond of Books — Fri, 20 May 2011 01:35:48 +0000

When our group has attempted to discuss short fiction, we’ve had to select a handful (4-5) to discuss/compare, rather then look at every story in the book. Unless, of course, they’re linked short stories, like Olive Kitteridge (which may be billed now as a novel?).

I just read Edith Pearlman’s collection BINOCULAR VISION. Every one a gem … try her!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Wed, 18 May 2011 02:04:58 +0000

In reply to litlove. Ah yes, the classic good short-story writers. I will read more Fitzgerald and that will happen! I will try not to expect all the short stories to be good -- it'll be like poems, right? Some are painfully awesome and some are crap, and that's just how it goes with poems (and maybe short stories too).

By: Jenny

Jenny — Wed, 18 May 2011 02:03:45 +0000

In reply to Biblibio. I would absolutely call it a worthy choice! Fallon writes very well, and her stories are very nicely constructed, and I think they make a very vivid picture of life on an army base.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Wed, 18 May 2011 02:00:11 +0000

In reply to Erin.

I’d like to hear a bunch of short story writers say how they’d like to have their stories read! I wonder if consensus would emerge that you really are supposed to enjoy them one at a time, or if half would say that and half would say read them all together. Hm.

This is why I feel like short story anthologies are worthwhile. They’re too huge for anyone ever possibly to read all at once, which means you can’t claw your way through the whole thing at once; but they don’t have stories by all one writer, so you don’t get burned out on that one person’s work.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Wed, 18 May 2011 01:57:36 +0000

In reply to Tracy. I feel gossip is a viable alternative to book talk in a book club. Just because gossip is fun. :p

By: Jenny

Jenny — Wed, 18 May 2011 01:54:38 +0000

In reply to justbookreading. The trick, I think, will be to find the right longer books to read in between the stories. You wouldn't want anything that resembled the stories, because that would be distracting, but equally I feel like you wouldn't want something that would suck up your whole mind and possess you, because then how could you go back to wee short stories afterward?

By: Jenny

Jenny — Wed, 18 May 2011 01:53:29 +0000

In reply to Heather. Yes! To everything, but particularly to the stories running together. I feel I've been unfair to each of the stories when I read them all in a row, because I'm inevitably comparing them to each other.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Wed, 18 May 2011 01:52:55 +0000

In reply to Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness). Well, my other book club did fine with Let the Great World Spin, which is loosely connected (but a novel, not short stories) -- it's possible the book bloggers book club just likes shoes and springtime too much to have productive discussions. :p