Jigs and Reels
by Joanne Harris
|
|
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of Jigs and Reels.
discuss this book
friend reviews (0)
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
lists with this book
Where's the love? Add this book to your favorite list.
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 173)
These short stories suffer from being rather unsubtle and predictable: almost all of them end with an anvilicious “twist” or “punchline”—in fact, two of them end with the exact same “did you see what I did there?” move. (The horribly shallow subject of the tale—is actually a child! What a sad commentary on our times! *nods solemnly*) There are some interesting ideas or starts of ideas in here, and Harris is certainly a competent and at times quite evocative writer, ...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
i like Harris, but this collection of short stories seemed particularly forced. She writes about food and families and secrets best, and she should've stuck to that. Instead, half these stories read like freshman-year sci-fi, and the other half are the same story! She has two almost identical stories about "Scary possible futures!" where children too young to be doing or thinking something are doing or thinking that thing...for instance, her take on the fashion industry, where the d...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
This collection was good, and I enjoyed it, but it wasn't really what I expected. There's a lot of surrealism, a lot of speculative fiction, and I kind of got the feeling that Joanne Harris was mainly having fun here, writing the kinds of things she doesn't ordinarily write. Maybe I just haven't read enough of her work to know. It is certainly worth checking out, though, and I feel like a Ray Bradbury fan would probably enjoy this immensely.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I am a huge fan of Harris, but these stories felt amateurish and lackluster. What I find so enjoyable about Joanne Harris' writing is her building up of characters and relationships, and these short stories did not allow her time to do that.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2008
Joanne Harris is such a fabulous author. I am reminded of this every time I read one of her books. These short stories were just as good as all of her work. They are full of fantasy and dream-land. Her voice and writing style is terrific.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in July, 2007
Fantastic variety of short-stories from the author of "Chocolat". Ranging from delightful, to frightening, to sci-fi, to racy, even a bit of kitsch horror. And they are all great stories, very well written. Very impressive.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 2008
This book is a stunning collection of short stories.
The characters populating these stories are ordinary and otherworldly, flawed and fabulous. You want to know them all, even the disagreeable ones.
The characters populating these stories are ordinary and otherworldly, flawed and fabulous. You want to know them all, even the disagreeable ones.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 2008
I was really disappointed by this book as I like most of this author's other stories. None of the short stories grabbed me. I found this very disappointing and wouldn't recommend this to anyone!
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in February, 2008
An interesting collection of short stories by one of my favourite writers. Many of them had the kind of sting in the tail that the 'Tales of the Unexpected' had.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I still remember one of the stories very clearly because I liked it so much. This is exceptional because I read it over two years ago and I have a bad memory.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2007
Really struggled with this book. Series of short stories and after I had read the first few, I just didn't feel I wanted to be bothered reading any more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in March, 2005
Harris does just as fine a job with these short tales as with her marvelous books.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
recommends it for:
Folks who love short stories
Fantastic short stories. I would read her short stories over her novels
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I've not been a fan of short stories, but really enjoyed this book.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2007
Well, it was no "Five Quarters of the Orange". Ok, but not great.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Magical, but loosely woven plotlines. Not my favorite.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
