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202nd out of 225 books
—
880 voters
There Is No Long Distance Now
In these forty life-altering, life-affirming, and extremely short short stories, the award-winning poet Naomi Shihab Nye proposes that no matter how great the divide between friends, siblings, life and death, classmates, enemies, happiness and misery, war and peace, breakfast and lunch, parent and child, country and city, there is, in fact, no long distance. Not anymore.
Hardcover, 201 pages
Published
October 11th 2011
by Greenwillow Books
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I love Naomi Shihab Nye's poetry and personal narratives. Her words are always real and heartfelt and true in a way that speaks to my bones. But her novels and short stories don't grip me in the same way. There is No Long Distance Now was an easy read-- each of the thirty-something stories less than 1,000 words long-- and it was fiction, although most of her characters shared many of her own personality traits and interests. A few characters popped up multiple times throughout the pages. Althoug...more
Short, short stories. I like Nye's poetry, but not so much her short, short stories. Here's my bad analogy: Like pit stops on a longer literary journey. Like rest stops; once in awhile, a poetic moment that makes you glad, like when there's clean toilet and toilet paper, but sometimes forgettable, and sometimes, so bad that you're bitter even when the good moment comes along and you're so busy trying to get over the hasty ending that you just can't enjoy that good poetic moment in the next story...more
1.) The name caught my eye. It just sounded nice. I imagined people being separated, I don't know, haha.
2.) I had heard praise of Naomi Shihab Nye.
So I had to reasons to believe it was worth a shot. It wasn't. Maybe it was just short stories aren't that well-suited for Naomi Shihab Nye. It felt like a lot of stories didn't have a satisfying ending, or they would've if they hadn't been short. It seemed like they were just cut off before you even got a hold of the character. I did like some stori...more
2.) I had heard praise of Naomi Shihab Nye.
So I had to reasons to believe it was worth a shot. It wasn't. Maybe it was just short stories aren't that well-suited for Naomi Shihab Nye. It felt like a lot of stories didn't have a satisfying ending, or they would've if they hadn't been short. It seemed like they were just cut off before you even got a hold of the character. I did like some stori...more
I really like Naomi Shihab Nye, and her rich/poetic style of prose. Her easy ability to develop a narrator via their thoughts and emotions is also very enjoyable.
The title, There Is No Long Distance Now, is what originally caught my eye, although the stories differed from my expectation (not necessarily in a bad way). Overall, I found Shihab Nye's short stories to center around connection--the fact that we are all connected and perhaps always been, but we may understand and realize it more now....more
The title, There Is No Long Distance Now, is what originally caught my eye, although the stories differed from my expectation (not necessarily in a bad way). Overall, I found Shihab Nye's short stories to center around connection--the fact that we are all connected and perhaps always been, but we may understand and realize it more now....more
I like short stories, but these were TOO short. It was almost like I was reading monologues, in my opinion, except for they wouldn't work as monologues because a lot of it was commentary. A lot of the stories were forgettable, but I did like all of the ones about Rainey and Leo, and the one about the kid who decides he wants to be a weatherman. Also the one titled Enough, about the Arab-Israeli conflict. The rest I don't particularly remember, didn't feel struck by, or am puzzled over their awkw...more
This was such a sweet little book. I received it as part of the Goodreads First Reads program. Forty very short stories all exploring the many ways that people communicate with each other. Some showed that no matter our proximity to others, we can create vast distances between ourselves and the people around us by simply remaining silent. Other stories exhibited how simple it can be to create connections with people. We live in a time where information can travel across the world in a matter of...more
Ms. Nye is going to be the keynote speaker at the 2013 Katchemak Bay Writers' Conference in Homer, Alaska, so I felt like I ought to read something of hers. Additionally, I hoped to find inspiration in short stories, a form I am currently struggling with. This book is comprised of a number of very short (~1,000 words) stories, all featuring adolescent narrators. They are thought provoking, and surely deserved more attention than I gave them.
Nye is a poet at heart, and her collection of extremely short stories illustrates that beautifully. This collection of stories--snippets, really--offers mere glimpses and moments of the process of growing up. Each story is unique, the characters in them complex, fascinating, and a little heartbreaking. While the book is geared towards a young adult audience, I'm not sure how much it'll appeal to the casual reader. This is a book that would work well in high school classrooms, and it would defini...more
Not a big reader of short stories...but these were quite good. Nearly every story drew me in and left me wishing for more. I would have liked it if those that contained the same characters were grouped together...but I can see why she didn't do that. I especially liked the one where a list of punishments is made. And I enjoyed all of the stories with Rainey. Nye grapples with some difficult situations and seems to have a good understanding of what young adults think about/experience.
I sometimes wonder if we're forgetting the art of the short story. While I love a good short story collection, I certainly don't read enough of them. But I'm beyond glad that I picked up the latest collection from Naomi Shihab Nye, whose lyric prose and sharp wit highlight every very short story in this collection.
THERE IS NO LONG DISTANCE NOW is a collection of 40 pieces of flash fiction -- each story is under or around 1,000 words. Each one captures a moment in time -- a sliver of a life that...more
THERE IS NO LONG DISTANCE NOW is a collection of 40 pieces of flash fiction -- each story is under or around 1,000 words. Each one captures a moment in time -- a sliver of a life that...more
I love Naomi as a poet, and every time I read one of her other works, I am hopeful that it will be as good. But, in my opinion, her poetry is the best. Everything else is not quite as good. This was not a bad book, and it was interesting and entertaining and filled with luminescent lines, but it wasn't amazing, like her poetry is.
I thought that this book'd be really good, since I really loved the blurb. It sounded like a really interesting book with short stories. But my thought was really wrong. I can't say I hate this book, but I really don't like it.
I guess I'm not much of a short story reader. I just didn't enjoy this one enough to finish it. I read a few stories and felt like I was reading the same one over and over again. The writing style made it hard for me to make any connection to the characters and their stories.
Honestly, a lot of these short stories were forgettable. Don’t get me wrong, the writing was fantastic and unique, but I just wish the “very short stories” were a tad bit longer. This was the second book of short stories I’ve completed and I'm not so sure how I like the genre of short fiction yet. I much prefer longer short fiction verses two page short stories, but if you are into shorter short fiction, then check this out, you just might like it!
This is a book for older teens who are used to reading more complicated prose. The stories remind me a lot of the things my fellow creative writing students used to write in college - thoughtful, deep, and filled with idealism and hope for a better future. High school kids interested in activism will eat up this collection, as will those kids who aspire to write fiction. Many of the pieces in this collection are open-ended and difficult to understand at first glance, or even after just one readi...more
I won this book from Goodreads Giveaway as a proof.
The thing about this book is, it's not bad if you like short stories. In fact it reminded me a great deal of the movie Paris, Je T'Aime. Which was a fabulous movie. But as a book...
I think the problem for me was that because all these vignettes were self contained there was really nothing to propel me forward. I would read one or two and then go weeks or even months without picking it back up. This is evidenced by how very long it took me to fin...more
The thing about this book is, it's not bad if you like short stories. In fact it reminded me a great deal of the movie Paris, Je T'Aime. Which was a fabulous movie. But as a book...
I think the problem for me was that because all these vignettes were self contained there was really nothing to propel me forward. I would read one or two and then go weeks or even months without picking it back up. This is evidenced by how very long it took me to fin...more
I don't usually read YA fiction. She doesn't write down ... nothing juvenile about these stories ..
It's impressive how a good writer can create a story that reveals so much with less than 1000 words!
And easy to read collection of short stories.
Interesting short (very short!) stories, and they did a fantastic job of painting a picture of a moment, but I kept getting attached to the characters. I kept feeling disappointed when the story ended, because I wanted to read more about it.
Love this author.
Stories I Loved:
- Somebody Needs to Be Punished
- Enough
- Feeding Nightmares
- His Own Voice
- Mailbox
- Mary Alvarez is Nineteen Today
- Teeth
- Freshen Up
- Somebody Needs to Be Punished
- Enough
- Feeding Nightmares
- His Own Voice
- Mailbox
- Mary Alvarez is Nineteen Today
- Teeth
- Freshen Up
I read about 10 if the stories and just didn't feel compelled to keep going. I would like to read her poetry in the near future.
I like short stories but these were just too short!
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Naomi Shihab Nye was born to a Palestinian father and an American mother. During her high school years, she lived in Ramallah in Jordan, the Old City in Jerusalem, and San Antonio, Texas, where she later received her B.A. in English and world religions from Trinity University. She is a novelist, poet and songwriter.
She currently lives in San Antonio, Texas. She was elected a Chancellor of the Acad...more
More about Naomi Shihab Nye...
She currently lives in San Antonio, Texas. She was elected a Chancellor of the Acad...more
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“It was terrible when a single conversation with someone determined your whole future relationship.”
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