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67th out of 100 books
—
16 voters
Open
by
Lisa Moore
The only certainty in life, according to these stories, comes from the accumulation of moments that refuse to be contained. The stories in Open cover these moments, familiar territory in the hands of most writers, in unfamiliar ways. The interconnectedness of a bus ride in Nepal and a wedding on the shore of Quidi Vidi Lake; the tension between a husband and wife when thei...more
Paperback, 218 pages
Published
March 15th 2005
by House of Anansi Press
(first published 2002)
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My appreciation of short stories is growing. It helps to come across a selection like this one. Great collection!!!
Most authors can put together a compelling plot, tell engaging stories, and interest us in their characters. They can evoke a place, a time, or an emotion. But few authors can actually evoke the senses, making us feel and see and smell and hear and taste the worlds in which their characters live. 2002 Giller Prize Finalist Lisa Moore is one of the rare few whose engagement with the senses escapes the page, forcing the reader to become more than a passive cypher for the text.
“Open,” Moore’s secon...more
“Open,” Moore’s secon...more
When I was a young adult, I was committed to reading nonfiction. Probably because I never finished university, I was on a quest for self-education and could haughtily sneer to myself, "I don't have time to read novels when there's so much in the world to learn." I should also add that before university, I read mostly pulp: Stephen King, Anne Rice, Piers Anthony (on the badgering advice of a close friend/superfan). Then, a most astonishing thing happened: not long after becoming a mother, and pic...more
There is no question that Lisa Moore is a talented writer. I just felt a little dissatisfied with these stories. So many of them seemed to do that Canadian Literary thing where a story doesn't amount to much more than a great big stack of terrific sentences. What was the story about? I don't know. But my, what clever sentences!
Feels sort of like a few hundred fabulous one-liners that don't build toward anything in particular. Canadians seem to love this technique. I'm not crazy about it.
Feels sort of like a few hundred fabulous one-liners that don't build toward anything in particular. Canadians seem to love this technique. I'm not crazy about it.
I hate to use the phrase "I don't get it" but that's how I felt when listening to this. Disjointed storytelling and I would find myself, five minutes after pressing play, completely unaware that a book was even playing. The combination of poor narration and runaway sentences left me uninterested. I skimmed quite a bit and skipped sections, eventually. Maybe it is more tolerable in written form?
The poetical aspects in Lisa Moore's novels (which I love) almost becomes too much for the short stories, in my opinion. She does have such a way with words and I love how she describes suspended moments of clarity. Most of these stories are about relationships between women and men (and mostly wife/husband). She uses an event, like a party, as the beginning point and the thoughts--real and imagined--of the female character flick between present day and past memories. The bonds between best frie...more
Well, this style of writing is certainly different.. her sentences, or thoughts of her characters bounce back and forth like a ping pong ball with lots of them going astray. I can guess that a lot of people wouldn't have the patience to read her work. I found most of her stories ended in mid air. Myself? I'll get one of her longer books before I decide. Lots of dialogue is not my favourite kind of writing.
Not my style. Its all the same character, same issues, same attitudes in the different stories. I stopped reading midway
Short stories - some good, some merely weird. She's an excellent writer though, her novel "February" highly recommended.
My first Lisa Moore, her story themes could be based on bits of my past,I feel like I can relate to her characters very well.
I am obsessed with pretty much anything this author writes...
Still can't beat Nakedness, but really good.
Jul 20, 2011
Fran
added it
Beautiful collection of short stories
Didnt' finish
Mar 30, 2007
Zarya Rubin
is currently reading it
This collection of short stories grips you, takes you, shakes you to the core. Lisa Moore has a way of executing such precise, vivid language that you are immediately transported into the emotional lives of the complex, melancholy, solitary characters that populate her stories. I'm only half-way through because I can only take them in in small doses, savouring every page and word and image that is seared onto my brain.
Reading this book was frustrating because I experienced brief moments of intense interest that were spaced by long moments of not having any idea where the story was going. This approach will sometimes work for in a novel, but most of these short stories just weren't worth my time to pay attention to them. I don't think that I'll read this author again.
Mar 30, 2007
Talya Rubin
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone and everyone
Shelves:
favoriteauthors
One of the most suprising, awake and alive books of short stories I have ever read. Lisa Moore is a Newfoundland writer and her work is truly unusual. Her voice feels sharp, her rhythms unexpected, the lives of her character's are painfully authentic and her stories resonate with meaning. Highly recommend discovering this author's work.
This was my introduction to Lisa Moore and I hated the first two stories I read (which was at random- I think they were "Craving" and "Melody"). But then I tried again and "The Way the Light Is" reeled me so far in that I knew immediately I was gone for good.
"The screenplay is a messy jumble. Everything out of order. Full of dream sequences (self-indulgent, according to the story editor)..."
The stories are full of memories rather than dreams. They are messy jumbles, but then so is life, isn't it?
The stories are full of memories rather than dreams. They are messy jumbles, but then so is life, isn't it?
Unfinished, more a long poem than novel, cool stuff but not my cup of tea. I respectfully move on.
May 20, 2013
Tammy
is currently reading it
May 20, 2013
Muffe_muffe
marked it as to-read
May 18, 2013
Greg Bell
marked it as to-read
May 17, 2013
Doris
marked it as to-read
Apr 30, 2013
Dima
marked it as to-read
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Lisa Moore has written two collections of stories, Degrees of Nakedness and Open, as well as a novel, Alligator.
Open and Alligator were both nominated for the Giller Prize. Alligator won the Commonwealth Prize for the Canadian Caribbean Region and the ReLit Award, and Open won the Canadian Authors' Association Jubilee Prize for Short Fiction.
Lisa has also written for television, radio, magazines (...more
More about Lisa Moore...
Open and Alligator were both nominated for the Giller Prize. Alligator won the Commonwealth Prize for the Canadian Caribbean Region and the ReLit Award, and Open won the Canadian Authors' Association Jubilee Prize for Short Fiction.
Lisa has also written for television, radio, magazines (...more
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“I think about how much of a good story seems to happen elsewhere, off the canvas or screen or page, in Europe or a backwater New Brunswick town, in what is left unsaid. A word on the tip of the tongue, ungraspable. The teasing smush of a feather boa over naked breasts in a striptease.”
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Jul 07, 2012 05:57am