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Whirl Away
Everyone has something they’re good at: one particular personal skill that they use to keep their lives moving forward when their worlds suddenly become difficult or near-impossible. For some, it’s denial; for others, blunt pragmatism. Still others depend on an over-inflated view of self to keep criticism and doubt at bay.
In his new short story collection, Whirl Away, Russell Wangersky – author of critically-acclaimed fiction and non-fiction including The Glass Harmonica, Burning Down the House: Fighting Fires and Losing Myself and The Hour of Bad Decisions – looks at what happens when people’s personal coping skills go awry. These are people who discover their anchor-chain has broken: characters safe in the world of self-deception or even self-delusion, forced to face the fact that their main line of defense has become their greatest weakness.
From the caretaker of a prairie amusement park to the lone occupant of a collapsing Newfoundland town, from a travelling sports drink marketer with a pressing need to get off the road to an elevator inspector who finds himself losing his marriage while sensuously burying himself in the tastes and smells of the kitchen, these are people who spin wildly out of control, finding themselves in a new and different world.
224 pages, Paperback
First published February 24, 2012
6 people are currently reading
540 people want to read
About the author
Russell Wangersky
13 books28 followers"Raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, .. his father was a professor of oceanography at Dalhousie University and his mother, a marine biologist, ran a tight ship.. Predilection for dangerous .. and explosions" led to "rugby at 16 -- gave it up two broken noses, three cracked ribs and six concussions later" at age 32. At Arcadia University, he was also "a volunteer firefighter in Wolfville.
With "wife Barbara Pratt moved to Toronto" in 1984, back to St John's Newfoundland in 1986, five years reporter at Sunday Express and CBC TV. Two sons later, joined The Telegram daily in 1997, became editor by 2002. Now married to Leslie Vryenhoek, lives and works in St John's.
With "wife Barbara Pratt moved to Toronto" in 1984, back to St John's Newfoundland in 1986, five years reporter at Sunday Express and CBC TV. Two sons later, joined The Telegram daily in 1997, became editor by 2002. Now married to Leslie Vryenhoek, lives and works in St John's.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
October 27, 2012
Usually the title of a short story collection is taken from the title of one of the stories it contains.
Not this one. None of the stories are called “Whirl Away”.
But they do all represent people whirling away in some form or another. They lose control, and can only follow the rule of centripetal force. The violent directions are inevitable and the forces difficult to overcome.
The most outstanding and unsettling story, “Echo”, is about a 5 year old boy, alone in the back yard, observing and evaluating minute details. “Suddenly, there were seeds from dandelions parachuting in on the wind under their silver-white canopies, regiments of soldiers, landing all around him, and Kevin was the only one left to protect the base, the only survivor.” He only talks in “short, tight bursts of words.” The words of his father leave his lips like some bizarre remote mouthpiece. He is like a parrot that can say the sentences but doesn’t know the meaning. Slowly the story is unfolded, pulling back one flap after another, to reveal the tragic and powerful core.
Death, accidents, violence, ambulances figure prominently. The details rang true too, as if written by an insider, someone who’s been there. The author was a volunteer firefighter for a few years. His bio says that he finally left after being “shaken by the horror and loss he encountered”. These experiences have clearly informed his stories.
Wangersky’s writing is wonderful. His years as a newspaperman are evident in the spare, tight style that make these stories so fluid. Yet the writing is often leavened with poetic prose that perfectly captures and expresses a moment, a thought, an attitude.
This is the best kind of book — it is a feast of words and sentences to be savoured, and they combine to produce polished gems of stories.
Not this one. None of the stories are called “Whirl Away”.
But they do all represent people whirling away in some form or another. They lose control, and can only follow the rule of centripetal force. The violent directions are inevitable and the forces difficult to overcome.
The most outstanding and unsettling story, “Echo”, is about a 5 year old boy, alone in the back yard, observing and evaluating minute details. “Suddenly, there were seeds from dandelions parachuting in on the wind under their silver-white canopies, regiments of soldiers, landing all around him, and Kevin was the only one left to protect the base, the only survivor.” He only talks in “short, tight bursts of words.” The words of his father leave his lips like some bizarre remote mouthpiece. He is like a parrot that can say the sentences but doesn’t know the meaning. Slowly the story is unfolded, pulling back one flap after another, to reveal the tragic and powerful core.
Death, accidents, violence, ambulances figure prominently. The details rang true too, as if written by an insider, someone who’s been there. The author was a volunteer firefighter for a few years. His bio says that he finally left after being “shaken by the horror and loss he encountered”. These experiences have clearly informed his stories.
Wangersky’s writing is wonderful. His years as a newspaperman are evident in the spare, tight style that make these stories so fluid. Yet the writing is often leavened with poetic prose that perfectly captures and expresses a moment, a thought, an attitude.
This is the best kind of book — it is a feast of words and sentences to be savoured, and they combine to produce polished gems of stories.
October 2, 2014
"No, really," she'd ask him. "How'd you even get in the same room with each other, let alone end up married?"
And John would do what he always did, pushing his hands through the hair at his temples...it was a way of saying that he wouldn't answer, that the conversation was done.
The twelve stories in Whirl Away are about people whose lives are quietly spinning out of control. This is straight-forward and precise writing grounded in realism. Nothing strange or ambiguous here, just clear-eyed visions of damaged or broken characters. What struck me about these stories was the author's attention to detail, the finely-tuned observations of his characters and the very real and subtle way they interact (or fail to interact) with each other. My favorite stories - and the ones I have read multiple times! - were the first ("Bolt") and the last ("I Like"), and I thought the author was successful, enlightened even, in writing from both male and female perspectives.
May 27, 2018
Well written short stories that contain characters who seem to live on the edge. The characters are those who seem to have one foot over the abyss, and because life isn't working as it should, many are ready to take the final step.
An award-winning Canadian book, I liked some of the stories and had empathy, while other characters were near-do-wells with whom I couldn't relate.
An award-winning Canadian book, I liked some of the stories and had empathy, while other characters were near-do-wells with whom I couldn't relate.
October 3, 2012
I'm not usually a big fan of collected short stories. My reading preferences are solidly weighted toward the novel format. The short story is, to me, more like a musical study: a showcase for one particular technique or sound. Yes, it might be terribly impressive in it's own right, but I'll take a symphony with its themes and motifs over any hundred of teasingly brilliant studies.
Every now and then, however, there is a collection of short stories that captures my attention. Whirl Away is such a one. The stories are mostly about a life that is in a wild tailspin, and the narrative freeze-frames the destructive moment when the rider tries to jump off the merry-go-round. That's not a euphemism for suicide, although there are plenty of deaths which serve as a narrative device.
What results is a layered exploration of hidden secrets and lies, and the hare-brained schemes to which we are sometimes driven in response to life's problems.
Every now and then, however, there is a collection of short stories that captures my attention. Whirl Away is such a one. The stories are mostly about a life that is in a wild tailspin, and the narrative freeze-frames the destructive moment when the rider tries to jump off the merry-go-round. That's not a euphemism for suicide, although there are plenty of deaths which serve as a narrative device.
What results is a layered exploration of hidden secrets and lies, and the hare-brained schemes to which we are sometimes driven in response to life's problems.
May 21, 2018
Too many of these stories read like first-year creative writing exercises (i.e. Write a story where a young boy uses language to cope with the domestic violence in his home; Write a story where an old woman dominates a conversation with an authority figure; Write a story where someone is served with legal papers...). These can all be decent premises if handled correctly; if the writer gives them a unique spin, or some unexpected structure. But I've read all these stories before. Done better by short story writers like David Means, Lee Henderson or Denis Johnson. Of the 12 stores here, I found three to be worthwhile: "911", "Sharp Curve" and "No Harm, No Foul".
June 26, 2025
Like any Short Story collection, some of these stories were stronger than others. I do admire the authors range in characters and story types-even from a female point of view in one story.
October 26, 2012
The 2012 Giller Prize nominees for best Canadian fiction are an impressive lot this year. I am not usually carried away by a collection of short stories, but "Whirl Away" is exceptional, and a strong part of the Giller quintet. There is a universalistic and cosmopolitan feel to this year's Giller list -- with globe-straddling settings in all four of the novels, and themes that focus on such basic human questions as the relationships between children and their parents. From this perspective, Wangersky's book feels much more localized, mainly set in Atlantic Canada (especially Newfoundland,) but its themes are also powerfully universalistic. These stories are about men and women pushed to the edges of their societies, those who are poorer, often less able to cope, victims of circumstance or of their own inadequacies, often caught up in violence and social conflict that whirls their lives away in disarray.
Certain of the stories in the book are particularly strong metaphors for this sense of social exclusion. In "McNally's Fair," Dennis Meaney is the jack-of-all-trades who keeps a rundown carnival park going; after an abortive effort to connect with the owner's attractive daughter, Dennis ends the story high up, painting the top of the roller coaster, "so high up and so far down." In "Little World," Helen Goodyear describes to a policeman what she saw as the cruel assault on a young woman by her boyfriend, vividly adding the comments that came from several neighbours; then the author broadens his lens on the scene, showing us that two black crows are the only company left for "Helen completely alone." Then there is "The Gasper," in another story, whose life has shrunk to such isolated loneliness that his body squeezes his ability to breathe so that he can access the temporary relief of the hospital ER.
Despite the human desperation that many of these stories trace, Wangersky's is not a bleak book. The writing itself is superb, with vivid images of people and superb vignettes of the landscape beauty against which many of the characters play out their problems. In "Look Away," for instance, the character of Madeline stands out dramatically against the rugged world in an isolated lighthouse location on the Avalon Peninsula -- light against dark. In "911," the reckless character of Tim McCann drives his ambulance aggressively through the settled peacefulness around Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Plus Wangersky can portray a flush sensuality that livens his work -- as in the superb descriptions of exotic cooking in "I Like" that fade into the erotic conclusion: "onions, garlic, limes, smooth skin, urgent hip, the swell of lower lip."
Vincent Lam was one author who won the Giller for his book of short stories, and what pleased me about that collection was the inter-connected nature of many of the stories, with the same characters moving through time and space. There is a little of that in this collection, too -- with two sides of a disconcerting love affair presented in "Family Law" and "Open Arms." The two stories show again the extra strength that comes from such a juxtaposition.
For me. I would have preferred that Wangersky do somewhat more of that in his collection. But, overall, I was caught up in the author's exploration of life on the edge -- and I recommend highly the excellent writing, stirring imagery and hard-edged dialogue of "Whirl Away."
Certain of the stories in the book are particularly strong metaphors for this sense of social exclusion. In "McNally's Fair," Dennis Meaney is the jack-of-all-trades who keeps a rundown carnival park going; after an abortive effort to connect with the owner's attractive daughter, Dennis ends the story high up, painting the top of the roller coaster, "so high up and so far down." In "Little World," Helen Goodyear describes to a policeman what she saw as the cruel assault on a young woman by her boyfriend, vividly adding the comments that came from several neighbours; then the author broadens his lens on the scene, showing us that two black crows are the only company left for "Helen completely alone." Then there is "The Gasper," in another story, whose life has shrunk to such isolated loneliness that his body squeezes his ability to breathe so that he can access the temporary relief of the hospital ER.
Despite the human desperation that many of these stories trace, Wangersky's is not a bleak book. The writing itself is superb, with vivid images of people and superb vignettes of the landscape beauty against which many of the characters play out their problems. In "Look Away," for instance, the character of Madeline stands out dramatically against the rugged world in an isolated lighthouse location on the Avalon Peninsula -- light against dark. In "911," the reckless character of Tim McCann drives his ambulance aggressively through the settled peacefulness around Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Plus Wangersky can portray a flush sensuality that livens his work -- as in the superb descriptions of exotic cooking in "I Like" that fade into the erotic conclusion: "onions, garlic, limes, smooth skin, urgent hip, the swell of lower lip."
Vincent Lam was one author who won the Giller for his book of short stories, and what pleased me about that collection was the inter-connected nature of many of the stories, with the same characters moving through time and space. There is a little of that in this collection, too -- with two sides of a disconcerting love affair presented in "Family Law" and "Open Arms." The two stories show again the extra strength that comes from such a juxtaposition.
For me. I would have preferred that Wangersky do somewhat more of that in his collection. But, overall, I was caught up in the author's exploration of life on the edge -- and I recommend highly the excellent writing, stirring imagery and hard-edged dialogue of "Whirl Away."
October 21, 2016
Lured by glowing reviews well written by people I admire, in addition to the accolades of the GR world, I hunted down and then coddled this book for the right moment, sure I was in for a treat and ready to be whirled away. I had recently read and quite liked RWs novelThe Glass Harmonica and indeed, I recognized his style: compact, precise, vigilant to an inner logic that unfolds to sustain the shaky structures inhabited by his shaky characters.
I sincerely hope that RW is not writing from experience. Almost all of the stories are narrated by one who is not only unreliable but seriously compromised. This can be the source of much unpleasant humour that failed to amuse me. RW often carries it off brilliantly, but I dont like to feel ashamed when I laugh.
compromises always cut someone. Often, they cut everyone. p68
This observation, from the story Family Law, about a lawyer compromising his marriage and his reputation in a risky affair, could be the motto of most of the stories in this collection, which generally feature someone thoroughly deluded (whether by innocence, naivety, or insanity) at a turning point or a loss of control. I'm usually ok with this, but in this collection there is an uneasy undertow that has a cumulative depressing effect. Even the lawyers fantastic lover is revealed down the road to be as anxious and fixated as everyone else writhing through these pages.
I'm not sure what this says about me, but my favorite story in the book is Echoes, recounted in the delusion of innocence by a child, sent out to play on the deck while his parents are fighting.
What it says to me about RW is that he has the insight and compassion combined with technical mastery to have in him a really splendid blockbuster, or even another short story collection, that is not so exceedingly bleak. I'll look forward to that.
I sincerely hope that RW is not writing from experience. Almost all of the stories are narrated by one who is not only unreliable but seriously compromised. This can be the source of much unpleasant humour that failed to amuse me. RW often carries it off brilliantly, but I dont like to feel ashamed when I laugh.
compromises always cut someone. Often, they cut everyone. p68
This observation, from the story Family Law, about a lawyer compromising his marriage and his reputation in a risky affair, could be the motto of most of the stories in this collection, which generally feature someone thoroughly deluded (whether by innocence, naivety, or insanity) at a turning point or a loss of control. I'm usually ok with this, but in this collection there is an uneasy undertow that has a cumulative depressing effect. Even the lawyers fantastic lover is revealed down the road to be as anxious and fixated as everyone else writhing through these pages.
I'm not sure what this says about me, but my favorite story in the book is Echoes, recounted in the delusion of innocence by a child, sent out to play on the deck while his parents are fighting.
What it says to me about RW is that he has the insight and compassion combined with technical mastery to have in him a really splendid blockbuster, or even another short story collection, that is not so exceedingly bleak. I'll look forward to that.
February 16, 2015
I would have liked this collection a lot more if the tone had varied away from depressing at some point. While the stories were generally perfect length and well-executed, they were so damn bleak. Every single story just drained you with its pathetic or run-down characters. There was one exception – the last story I liked quite a bit because though the story overall was rather sad, the ending featured reconciliation instead of just more isolation. Granted, I Like a good sad story once and awhile but a whole collection? Despite how small the book was, it was almost draining to pick it up because the content was so dire. Yet, the stories are pretty good, for the most part; the characterization is usually pretty solid and I found the prose easy to read but not didactic. These stories would have been great if they were interspersed with some other stories that featured a different scope of feeling. For example Some Rain Must Fall: And Other Stories has some terribly depressing stories but also some that are sweet or funny or unique in format. This collection was just sad stuff compiled onto sad stuff which made me a little depressed too.
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August 3, 2016This review was deleted following Amazon's purchase of GoodReads.
The review can still be viewed via LibraryThing, where my profile can be found here.
I'm also in the process of building a database at Booklikes, where I can be found here.
If you read/liked/clicked through to see this review here on GR, many thanks.
The review can still be viewed via LibraryThing, where my profile can be found here.
I'm also in the process of building a database at Booklikes, where I can be found here.
If you read/liked/clicked through to see this review here on GR, many thanks.
February 19, 2014
I sat down to read a few of these and found them utterly absorbing, still and easy on the surface, but plumbing great depths of disconnection and misunderstanding.
There are stories of domestic violence, sexual assault, and relationship disintegration of various kinds, but the common thread throughout is a close examination of those small moments that cause relationships and lives to begin to unravel.
There are stories of domestic violence, sexual assault, and relationship disintegration of various kinds, but the common thread throughout is a close examination of those small moments that cause relationships and lives to begin to unravel.
April 12, 2013
Although the prose is clean and the writing reasonably insightful, Wangersky's themes are common and his approach bland. Surprisingly, for a seasoned writer, these stories seem more at the level of a promising first year creative writing student. All of the writing elements (story, characters, themes) are solid, but certainly not unique. His strongest story of the lot is perhaps, 911.
October 7, 2012
Definitely my pick for the Giller. Each story is a gem!
February 8, 2018
I enjoyed this collection of short stories. Reminds me of the style of Alice Munro. Lot of bittersweet tales that exemplify the human condition. There were stories I preferred over others. But overall, this was a nice read, and I did feel I entered the lives of the characters.
**Spoiler altert:** I would have preferred a more ironic ending to Sharp Corner. Maybe that would have been too predictable and uncharacteristic of Wangersky's style, but my thought would be to have his wife die in a crash on the way home from one of those parties where he typically tried to set himself apart by telling stories about the tragedies that occurred just outside his front yard.
The Rod Serling version would have him be the one who died, with two people visiting an open house and hearing someone else assume his role as the ghoulish storyteller.
**Spoiler altert:** I would have preferred a more ironic ending to Sharp Corner. Maybe that would have been too predictable and uncharacteristic of Wangersky's style, but my thought would be to have his wife die in a crash on the way home from one of those parties where he typically tried to set himself apart by telling stories about the tragedies that occurred just outside his front yard.
The Rod Serling version would have him be the one who died, with two people visiting an open house and hearing someone else assume his role as the ghoulish storyteller.
October 26, 2017
I chose to read this book because when I was shelving books at work I came across it and no one had taken it out since 2013. Seeming brand new book I decided to give it a chance and potentially save a book from being weeded. Well it was an AMAZING book!! Clever short stories that happen all over Canada but they have a twist and a dark side to them!! (Not too dark but broken characters who find out what it’s like to have their coping skills taken away).
November 16, 2017
Wangersky seems convinced of the misery of human existence. Short stories are for examining the human condition, but the conclusion Wangersky comes to regarding the human condition doesn't quite reflect reality in my opinion. Of course his stories outline dark circumstances that happen in real life, but these stories seem to despair and hint at a kind of meaninglessness that doesn't ring true.
August 11, 2017
A mixed bag of a collection, where the strongest & most engaging stories reside in the first one hundred pages; it feels a bit more scatter-shot after that. "Bolt" is the first and best story of the collection, but honourable mention goes to the darkly humorous "Sharp Corner".
August 27, 2017
I haven't thought much of this book after reading the first couple of short stories ... then gradually warmed up to its short stories (I started to discover shades and hues, lives alike and yet so far apart). It would be boring if we were all the same.
2.5 *s and a decent quick read.
2.5 *s and a decent quick read.
January 2, 2019
This is the book that made me realize that short stories probably aren't for me. The stories are all well-written, but I found it hard to care. Most of the stories are about broken relationships or unexpected violence, but there's not much emotion and the stories were a little too small-town/boring.
July 10, 2021
I was engrossed in each of these stories; he is masterful at drawing you quickly into the scenes. It's fun reading stories set in familiar small towns and the descriptive settings take you right there.
May 3, 2018
Ugh
A couple good stories but for the most part more Canadian pretentious writing! I should have known since is won the giller award lol! Overall meh
A couple good stories but for the most part more Canadian pretentious writing! I should have known since is won the giller award lol! Overall meh
May 30, 2018
Well written stories that come from left field. Very nicely done.
July 7, 2018
A few stand out stories, like 911. But overall I didn't enjoy the voice of the characters. It was hard to get involved and that made it hard to get through this collection of stories.
July 21, 2022
3.5/5
February 27, 2025
This author clearly hates women.
TW: spousal abuse, infidelity, murder, attempted rape
TW: spousal abuse, infidelity, murder, attempted rape
September 2, 2025
Signed this out at the library. A good collection of short stories. Some better than others but all believable. Dragged on and a little boring in spots but overall, pretty good. Worth a read.
April 11, 2013
Mark Anthony Jarman has a review of Russell Wangersky's short story collection, Whirl Away (Thomas Allen, 2012), in the Globe & Mail (March 17, 2012).
It's a fine review and an excellent summary of the book, which I have just finished reading.
"Like Cheever or Munro, Russell Wangersky delves stealthily into disquieting corners of the domestic sphere, his stories dissecting lives when they are fracturing, lives at stress points, lives much like the roller coaster at the centre of McNally's Fair, an exciting and popular ride gleaming with fresh paint, but about to collapse from hidden rust and broken bolts. Such parallels are his métier and meat as a stylist. Water stains on a wall mirror flaws in the soul (daub on some paint and get rid of the place), and a meal at a diner resembles a relationship, “resolute about not living up to its promise.”"
Whirl Away is a fine example of the kind of literary realism that is often mistaken as a Canadian canonical model. Munro is the prime influence here (in Canada, I mean); Jarman is right to also cite Cheever as an international icon of this approach to short fiction.
Interestingly, Jarman's own work is product of a tradition that deviates from soft-focus realism, following a path into wilder literary terrain, territory often said to have been mapped initially (or most prominently recently) by Barry Hannah. See, for example, Airships (1978).
For an idea of how contentious the dispute between these short story "camps" can be, see 2008's Salon des Refuses.
My intention here is not to fling Whirl Away into one camp or the other, or to prioritize one approach to short fiction over the other (there are a large multiple of approaches, and they are all legitimate). All that I intend here is to use this introduction to jump at a tangent to a question that animates me from time to time.
Wither realism?
We are well past McLuhan, and well along into a world of "socially mediated" lives. We are also well past the post-modern moment and deep into a world where we not only live our lives, but also simultaneously and self-consciously reflect, tweet, post, talk about, ironize and re-contextualize them, ad nauseum. If there was ever, there is now not ... any there, there.
As a reader, I felt anxiety reading Whirl Away, a feeling I also had when I read Alex McLeod's Light Lifting and Sarah Selecky's This Cake is for the Party. Both, by the way, excellent.
As a reader, I distrust realism. I want to crack its surfaces and break it up, interrogate its assumptions, like a Cindy Sherman photograph.
Which doesn't mean I dislike realism. But, if I'm honest, it kind of pisses me off.
And I'm not sure why.
Though it's connected to the pleasure I take in stuff like Zsuzsi Gartner's Better Living Through Plastic Explosives. Gartner's break with realism couldn't be clearer.
Food for thought.
It's a fine review and an excellent summary of the book, which I have just finished reading.
"Like Cheever or Munro, Russell Wangersky delves stealthily into disquieting corners of the domestic sphere, his stories dissecting lives when they are fracturing, lives at stress points, lives much like the roller coaster at the centre of McNally's Fair, an exciting and popular ride gleaming with fresh paint, but about to collapse from hidden rust and broken bolts. Such parallels are his métier and meat as a stylist. Water stains on a wall mirror flaws in the soul (daub on some paint and get rid of the place), and a meal at a diner resembles a relationship, “resolute about not living up to its promise.”"
Whirl Away is a fine example of the kind of literary realism that is often mistaken as a Canadian canonical model. Munro is the prime influence here (in Canada, I mean); Jarman is right to also cite Cheever as an international icon of this approach to short fiction.
Interestingly, Jarman's own work is product of a tradition that deviates from soft-focus realism, following a path into wilder literary terrain, territory often said to have been mapped initially (or most prominently recently) by Barry Hannah. See, for example, Airships (1978).
For an idea of how contentious the dispute between these short story "camps" can be, see 2008's Salon des Refuses.
My intention here is not to fling Whirl Away into one camp or the other, or to prioritize one approach to short fiction over the other (there are a large multiple of approaches, and they are all legitimate). All that I intend here is to use this introduction to jump at a tangent to a question that animates me from time to time.
Wither realism?
We are well past McLuhan, and well along into a world of "socially mediated" lives. We are also well past the post-modern moment and deep into a world where we not only live our lives, but also simultaneously and self-consciously reflect, tweet, post, talk about, ironize and re-contextualize them, ad nauseum. If there was ever, there is now not ... any there, there.
As a reader, I felt anxiety reading Whirl Away, a feeling I also had when I read Alex McLeod's Light Lifting and Sarah Selecky's This Cake is for the Party. Both, by the way, excellent.
As a reader, I distrust realism. I want to crack its surfaces and break it up, interrogate its assumptions, like a Cindy Sherman photograph.
Which doesn't mean I dislike realism. But, if I'm honest, it kind of pisses me off.
And I'm not sure why.
Though it's connected to the pleasure I take in stuff like Zsuzsi Gartner's Better Living Through Plastic Explosives. Gartner's break with realism couldn't be clearer.
Food for thought.
February 2, 2014
"The bolt came through the open back window of the truck. It came in end over end. From a distance, if anyone had been watching it, concentrating, it might actually have appeared that the truck was doing the tumbling, and that the bolt was flying perfectly straight." (p. 1)
If you're like me, and by that I mean someone who has to commute a lot on a daily basis then you may understand the appeal of short stories. The length and the fact that each story can be read on its own means that you'll be able to enjoy them during short as well as long trips.
Whirl Away by Russell Wangersky is a good example of this done well. Each of the stories are quite short in length, but they really draw you in. The stories also pack quite the emotional punch and the endings though fulfilling do make you want to read more. The plot of the stories were all really interesting mostly because of how Wangersky writes his characters; though they all are or do crazy, despicable things the reader cannot help but be intrigued. This is because the characters are shown at their most vulnerable moments when their life has spun out of their control thus making them very human and easy to relate to.
"...and I suddenly believed that all the books had been lying about love, that it wasn't really endless and perfect and available after all. I also realized that I'd actually known this for a while, although I couldn't pick out the exact day when I'd discovered it." (p. 78)
Like most short story collections, there were some stories that were more enjoyable for me than others. My personal favourites were “911” and “No Harm, No Foul” both of which were really interesting. I also loved “Family Law” which is about a divorce lawyer who is having an affair while his marriage is falling apart. I liked it for its observations of various other case studies of divorce settlements and I thought the ending to this particular story was the perfect finishing touch. I also liked the fact that the story “Family Law” was connected to another story in the book, as it was interesting to see the different perspectives.
Although there were one or two stories I couldn’t really get into, overall Whirl Away was very strong collection of short stories. Wangersky’s writing is very captivating and solid throughout which made each of the stories satisfying in their own right. If you don’t mind short stories that aren’t uplifting, and like your stories to be about tragedy, loss, regret and sometimes death then you should definitely check out Whirl Away by Russell Wangersky.
http://wordsofmysteryblog.wordpress.com/
If you're like me, and by that I mean someone who has to commute a lot on a daily basis then you may understand the appeal of short stories. The length and the fact that each story can be read on its own means that you'll be able to enjoy them during short as well as long trips.
Whirl Away by Russell Wangersky is a good example of this done well. Each of the stories are quite short in length, but they really draw you in. The stories also pack quite the emotional punch and the endings though fulfilling do make you want to read more. The plot of the stories were all really interesting mostly because of how Wangersky writes his characters; though they all are or do crazy, despicable things the reader cannot help but be intrigued. This is because the characters are shown at their most vulnerable moments when their life has spun out of their control thus making them very human and easy to relate to.
"...and I suddenly believed that all the books had been lying about love, that it wasn't really endless and perfect and available after all. I also realized that I'd actually known this for a while, although I couldn't pick out the exact day when I'd discovered it." (p. 78)
Like most short story collections, there were some stories that were more enjoyable for me than others. My personal favourites were “911” and “No Harm, No Foul” both of which were really interesting. I also loved “Family Law” which is about a divorce lawyer who is having an affair while his marriage is falling apart. I liked it for its observations of various other case studies of divorce settlements and I thought the ending to this particular story was the perfect finishing touch. I also liked the fact that the story “Family Law” was connected to another story in the book, as it was interesting to see the different perspectives.
Although there were one or two stories I couldn’t really get into, overall Whirl Away was very strong collection of short stories. Wangersky’s writing is very captivating and solid throughout which made each of the stories satisfying in their own right. If you don’t mind short stories that aren’t uplifting, and like your stories to be about tragedy, loss, regret and sometimes death then you should definitely check out Whirl Away by Russell Wangersky.
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This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 11, 2016
The characters who populate the stories in Russell Wangersky's collection Whirl Away are risk takers who frequently face down life-threatening situations and even death—or else embark on risky behaviour that leads them to the brink of what is morally or socially acceptable. Because of this, most of these grim, spare stories have some degree of narrative urgency about them that propels the reader through. Wangersky's most trusted strategy is to drop the reader into a situation that is well on its way to completion, or which has been concluded some time ago and the narrator is reviewing it in flashback. These approaches are effective and make for compelling reading more often than not. However, when the same narrative structures are repeated over several stories in succession, the result can seem monotonous and somewhat predictable. The best stories here are the ones in which we see a character at a significant life moment, and either he (or she) reaches a decision ("No Harm, No Foul") or must pay the price for past transgressions ("Family Law"). Other stories succeed because Wangersky cleverly structures the narrative so that the reader becomes heavily invested in a character's fate (“Open Arms,” "I Like"). The less successful stories are the ones where a character acts impulsively or obsessively, taking risks that seem foolish (“911“), or imperiling a relationship for no good reason (“Sharp Corner”). Throughout, the writing exhibits the blunt terseness of the best journalism, a quality that makes every word count but also means literary flourishes are few. The subject matter (broken relationships, personal tragedies) leans toward the gloomy side of human experience (few if any of Wangersky's characters are happy about anything), but Whirl Away is still enjoyable and thought-provoking for anyone interested in the art of the short story. The book was long-listed for the 2013 Giller Prize and won the 2013 Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize.
December 23, 2015
***I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads/Giveaway
What caught my attention with this book was the first paragraph of the synopsis:
"The stories in this dazzling new collection look at what happens when people's personal coping skills go awry. These are the people who discover their anchor-chain has broken: characters safe in the world of self-deception or even self-delusion, forced to face the fact that their main line of defense has become their greatness weakness."
I was expecting stories with high psychology level, where I will see all the steps taken by the characters to improve their situation. It wasn't even an inch of that.
In most stories, it would feel like 20 pages of description, without anything happening. The characters where not as desperate as it was announced. There were only miserable or sad. I've try to read it at once when I've received it, but couldn't continue after the first story. Now I've read it for good and I've finished it only because it was a giveaway. I totally wasted my time with this one.
What caught my attention with this book was the first paragraph of the synopsis:
"The stories in this dazzling new collection look at what happens when people's personal coping skills go awry. These are the people who discover their anchor-chain has broken: characters safe in the world of self-deception or even self-delusion, forced to face the fact that their main line of defense has become their greatness weakness."
I was expecting stories with high psychology level, where I will see all the steps taken by the characters to improve their situation. It wasn't even an inch of that.
In most stories, it would feel like 20 pages of description, without anything happening. The characters where not as desperate as it was announced. There were only miserable or sad. I've try to read it at once when I've received it, but couldn't continue after the first story. Now I've read it for good and I've finished it only because it was a giveaway. I totally wasted my time with this one.
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