The Fires

published	September 1st 2007 by Santa Fe Writer's Project
binding	Paperback
isbn	0977679918 (isbn13: 9780977679911)
pages	128
description	Finely-honed portraits of hope and change, these two novellas are linked so skillfully that they achieve the intensity of a single novel in which some...more [close] Finely-honed portraits of hope and change, these two novellas are linked so skillfully that they achieve the intensity of a single novel in which some characters succeed and others fail on separate but equally compelling quests. In "The Fires," Gina Morgan makes a pilgrimage to Uzbekistan to carry out her husband's final wish—to be cremated—only to find herself entirely at sea in the strange new reality of the former Soviet republic, while in "The Exorcism," Tom Swanson begins to make sense of his life when he retrieves his angry daughter from her exclusive New England college after her expulsion for setting fire to a grand piano. [close]
date added	06-03-07 edit book

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Jessica rated it:

07/07/08

Read in July, 2008

The Fires, by Alan Cheuse is a collection of two novellas or two short stories, depending on how you define “novella” and “short story.” (I’m counting the entire book as a novella for the Novella Challenge.) In any case, the two stories, “The Fires” and “The Exorcism,” both share themes of death, loss, cremation, fire, Hinduism, healing, memory, and sexual desires.

“The Fires” appears first and is told in third person from a widow’s perspective as she travels to Uzbe...more The Fires, by Alan Cheuse is a collection of two novellas or two short stories, depending on how you define “novella” and “short story.” (I’m counting the entire book as a novella for the Novella Challenge.) In any case, the two stories, “The Fires” and “The Exorcism,” both share themes of death, loss, cremation, fire, Hinduism, healing, memory, and sexual desires.

“The Fires” appears first and is told in third person from a widow’s perspective as she travels to Uzbekistan to cremate her recently deceased husband. The woman, Gina, is about to enter menopause following years of unsuccessfully trying to have another child after their first died. Irony abounds because her menopause no longer matters in the face of her husband’s death.

“The Exorcism,” on the other hand, is told from the first person perspective of a father. After his famous jazz pianist ex-wife dies from a heroine overdose, their daughter sets fire to a piano at her college. The story largely consists of the narrator’s stream-of-consciousness as he drives his daughter home. As he tells his backstory, he is constantly forgiving those around him, while judging himself.

I think the biggest strength of this offering lies in the comparison of the two stories, both with each other and with each reader’s experience. Each of the stories evoke similar themes but in completely different ways. For example, the Hindu religion comes up in “The Fires” as a solution to Gina’s cremation problem in the midst of an Arab prohibition on cremation and in “The Exorcism” through the Hindu scripture, Bhagavad Gita, playing as a book on tape. Through the references are very different, the Hindu allusions represent healing in both stories. Another, obvious example is the fire theme. In “The Fires,” Paul, Gina’s husband is cremated, and Gina has a dream that she is purged through fire. In “The Exorcism,” the narrator’s ex-wife is cremated, the narrator’s daughter sets fire to a piano, and the narrator describes smelling burning wood and flesh during a healing ritual. Again, in both stories, the fire represents healing but in different ways.

As other reviewers have commented, Cheuse definitely gets you into the head of his characters. Both of these stories were compelling and the chatacters interesting. The comparison exercise was engaging and enlightening. I must confess, though, that this short taste of Cheuse left me satisfied but not dying for more. However, though I had a few minor holdups with, say, some of the language in the book, I would recommend this quick read. ...less

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Literary Ventures Fund rated it:

11/27/07

Read in September, 2007

recommends it for: Any fan of Alan Cheuse as he's the "Voice of Books" on NPR

From acclaimed author Alan Cheuse come two novellas of compelling intensity.

In "The Fires," Gina Morgan makes a pilgrimage to Uzbekistan to carry out her husband's final wish only to discover that in this former Soviet republic things are not as they used to be. And in "The Exorcism," Tom Swanson retrieves his angry daughter from her exclusive New England college after her expulsion for setting fire to a grand piano.

Publisher's Weekly has praised Cheuse's "impres...more

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Jess rated it:

02/20/08

Read in February, 2008

the reason i liked these two novellas is this: the author did in about 50 pages what most "bestsellers" stretch out over 250.
these stories are both deeply felt family dramas, but because they were told so economically, they never ran the risk of becoming sappy. nice reading.

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