Davies's worldly stories, reflecting his Welsh and Chinese heritage, delight in odd--and memorable--juxtapositions and counterpoints. Elegant and o...
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reviews
Feb 11, 2009
Dan
rated it: 
Short stories are a fickle beast. Some authors are consistent with theirs (I've always enjoyed Roald Dahl's short stories. F. Scott too). Some authors are extremely hit or miss (Murakami, i love you, but you need at least 400 pages to get your plots right. most of the time at least). Peter Ho Davies does a good job w/ these stories. Not to get too much into any specific plot, the stories seem to revolve pretty strongly around Ho Davies' heritage (welsh and chinese). Some stories are based
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Jul 05, 2011
Beni
rated it:
Peter Ho Davies is a welsh-chinese writer who was brought up in Coventry and now lives in the USA (I think). An interesting set of differences brought together in one package, but his writing celebrates our commonality.Not only are his stories told from myriad points of view in different periods of history, but the topical material stretches from bank robbing to Chinese funeral rituals to Welsh labor strikes to siblings dying of AIDS. The Ugliest House selection contains tales set in Malaysia, S
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Nov 16, 2009
Jill
rated it:
My favorite story in this collection was "The Union" for the emotional connection between husband and wife on the last page of the story. But the rest made me laugh out loud or at least grin with enjoyment at the end. I'm glad it was recommended to me.
Sep 29, 2007
Ben
rated it:
An excellent collection of stories. Davies has a consistently clear, unpretentious tone--although this consistency, combined with the first-person narration of many of the stories, has a tendency to flatten the characterization. (The Welsh outlaw in colonial South America, for example, sounds awfully similar to the contemporary mortuary assistant.) While the mix of contemporary and historical stories shows Davies' versatility, he seems to be at his best in the familiar, mistily nostalgic realm
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May 09, 2007
The first collection by an amazing writer. All of the stories are impressive, but "Relief" is the one that I find myself thinking about long after I've put the book down. At first it appears to be a story about farting--and then, as you read farther, it's also a story about fear, pride, vulnerability, and being human. How does Peter Ho Davies DO this? I want to know.
Dec 05, 2007
Isabella
rated it: 
Story by story:
"The Ugliest House in the World" ***** - Very sad.
"Relief" ** - Basically a story about farting.
"A Union" * - Didn't finish.
"Safe" *** - OK
"I Don't Know, What Do You Think?" **** - Again, a sad one.
"Coventry" *** - OK
"Buoyancy" **** - Weird, but interesting
"The Silver Screen" **** - Strange
"The Ugliest House in the World" ***** - Very sad.
"Relief" ** - Basically a story about farting.
"A Union" * - Didn't finish.
"Safe" *** - OK
"I Don't Know, What Do You Think?" **** - Again, a sad one.
"Coventry" *** - OK
"Buoyancy" **** - Weird, but interesting
"The Silver Screen" **** - Strange
Dec 21, 2010
Katie
rated it:
I didn't get all the way through this collection of stories because it was due back at the library. But the ones I read were really pretty good. There was an entire story about a fart at a formal dinner gathering. LOVE IT! Another was about a strike in Wales in the early 1900s. The unionist in me really enjoyed that one as well.
Nov 18, 2007
Theo!
rated it: 
I'm not too into contemporary fiction, but I found this one to be particularly fascinating. I've had about 3 copies now and have given them all away.
By "given away" I mean that I've lent them out and never got them back.
By "given away" I mean that I've lent them out and never got them back.
Feb 27, 2008
Aishe
rated it: 
I didn't even get through this book. Some of the short stories seemed interesting at the outset, but it failed to capture my attention and I put it down and returned it to the library.
Sep 06, 2010
A short story collection from a Welsh/Asian writing, living in England. He takes many traditional themes of love, travel, aging, war and puts a fun modernist spin on them.
Jan 04, 2008
Alex
rated it:
These stories take you across the world and across time. I recall that one or two of them were as rich as novels. Great stuff.
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