Airships
by Barry Hannah
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 292)
Read in February, 2007
recommends it for:
maniacs who love the South
It feels strange to give an explanation of why I love this book so much. I gave one of the stories, "Testimony of Pilot" to a group of kids I was teaching last winter, and I am afraid to say not a one of them found it the least bit interesting. In fact, they were mightily confused by it. We had been reading an O'Henry Prize collection, and I think they had gotten used to a very structured, rigorous kind of short story; the Hannah didn't really do if for them. But the reason I like ...more
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Read in November, 2006
recommends it for:
Hell yeah, especially to dudes
I can always tell a great book by the fact I'm constantly thinking of bits I'd like to steal while reading. By that criteria, reading Airships was like being tossed in the APC store at night without any security around. Okay, bad analogy. Airships is a collection of stories about war, sex, airplanes and horses. The usual, but done with incredible style and energy. I find that far too much modern short fiction is so polished and calculated it comes out as a dulled diamond (or more often polished ...more
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Read in June, 2008
I only read about half of this collection before I needed to return it to Stearns via Stan (thanks!), but what I read I really enjoyed. Hilarious and sometimes moving. More than anything, this book explained a gap I've long wondered about when reading Southern (male) writers -- this collection, published in the late 70s, really does seem to me to be the missing link between Faulkner and contemporary writers. It's exciting to be able to better understand the evolution of this school. I will h...more
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Read in January, 1998
recommends it for:
anyone
When I read this as a young college student it really blew my socks off. I'd never seen anyone play around with language, syntax, and detail like Hannah did. It was crazy, edgy, rough, and brilliant. What are these stories about? God knows. Like Coming Close to Donna. Wtf?
Possibly my favorite story of all time is in this collection, though: Testimony of a Pilot.
I think I've given away this book more than any other book, so if you know me and bring it up I'll probably hand you a copy the...more
Possibly my favorite story of all time is in this collection, though: Testimony of a Pilot.
I think I've given away this book more than any other book, so if you know me and bring it up I'll probably hand you a copy the...more
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Read in July, 2008
I haven't yet finished this, but just read the story "Testimony of Pilot," which is one of the best short stories I've read. His writing is a bit like Andre Dubus' in the sense that when I read it, instead of learning about fiction, or even getting to be a part of someone else's cool idea (an underrated experience) I am learning about other people's living. It's just one of those stories that makes you feel and remember instead of think. Woo hoo to that.
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Read in August, 2007
Barry Hannah's collection of short stories are exceptional because they make you cringe, smile, laugh out loud and make you want to die inside simultaneously. Hannah takes you to places with dysfunctional families, the Civil War era, and some places that can only be considered an alternate reality with bizarre rules and even more bizarre people. If you want to go for a strange yet strangely pleasurable ride, read this book.
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Read in December, 2006
This is a great book of short stories by Hannah. Some are masterpieces, some are short, some are just weird, but even the incomprehensible ones are still enjoyable to read. In a sick, twisted, Southern grotesque way, that is...
"I want to rip her arm off. I want to sleep in her uterus with my foot hanging out. Some nights she lets me lick her ears and knees. I can't talk about it..."
(from "Love too Long" p. 9)
"I want to rip her arm off. I want to sleep in her uterus with my foot hanging out. Some nights she lets me lick her ears and knees. I can't talk about it..."
(from "Love too Long" p. 9)
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Read in October, 2007
I was just speechless after reading this collection. The breadth of these stories is incredible, everything from the historical to a bit of the fantastic. What's most impressive is Hannah's style, which brings to my mind the Filipino martial arts concept of "flow." His sentences, characters, and ideas in any given tale might seem strange, even outlandish, but they always serve the point of the story.
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Read in July, 2008
Startling, disturbing, violent, fresh, whimsical, sparse, razor sharp. If you haven't already read Hannah's short stories, you're in for a wild ride and quite a treat. I think I have to let this one sink in a little bit...
I know one thing, his style is highly alluring and as a writer it's tempting to mimic. He's one of those guys who makes it look effortless to be original. Beware...
I know one thing, his style is highly alluring and as a writer it's tempting to mimic. He's one of those guys who makes it look effortless to be original. Beware...
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Read in September, 2006
recommends it for:
hip-swinging cowboy types & good old boys
This is a crazy book. Barry Hannah is a crazy man. But he's just crazy enough to be wonderful, and that's what matters. There were moments when I was reading this book and feeling as if I had no idea what was going on, and then it veered, almost magically, into eloquence in a way I didn't expect and could hardly even explain to you. Southern experimental writing at its very best.
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Read in March, 2002
I first read this classic on a spring break road trip from Virginia to Oxford, Mississippi - a pilgrimage of sorts. "The Water Liars" is paradigmatic of what a good short story, southern or otherwise, should include, and how it should sound: rhythmic and sweet. It is a simple telling of a place and space, and maybe that's all you have to do, if you do it truthfully.
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Read in January, 2008
I had forgotten how much I loved this collection. I can do without his riffing on Southern manhood and the smash-up of sex and violence (Walker Percy's Lancelot will more than fill that need), but Hannah's humor is so sharp it cuts, his characters so alive you can count follicles.
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Read in January, 1997
recommends it for:
short story lovers, Carver, Bukowski fans
Interesting collection of unconventional short stories. If you like Raymond Carver adn Bukowski, give it a try. His sujects and style range much more widely, however.
Seems like he was really experimenting at the time, in that 1970s kind of vision of the future. Dig it.
Seems like he was really experimenting at the time, in that 1970s kind of vision of the future. Dig it.
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Read in September, 2007
Just an excellent collection of short stories. Hannah's voice is enchanting and he's not afraid to chew on a genre for a while to see what sorts of interesting stuff he can extract. I read it quickly the first time and I can easily see myself picking it up again.
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He's good. Real good. The southern thing is so foreign to me that I might as well be reading science fiction for all I know that it's actually like this.
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I love the scope of these stories more than anything. Somehow Hannah can write about a character's entire life in 9 pages. Also the Civil War story where a guy destroys an entire Yankee regiment by himself is really something.
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Read in March, 2007
I'm going to take classes with this man in MS! This book is irreverant and violent. Water Liars and Testimony of a Pilot are my favorite stories. Barry Hannah writes wonderful sentences and terrifying stories.
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A completely original voice -- Hannah just puts together words and ideas in a fashion that is unlike anything I've ever read. Sometimes the wierdness goes off the rails, other times it's exhilerating.
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Read in May, 2008
Testimony of a Pilot is about life and dignity and it's on the short list of my favorite stories.
Some of the others seem too much about really neat expressions, and startling plot twists.
Some of the others seem too much about really neat expressions, and startling plot twists.
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What a book. Barry Hannah digs to the bone and then works at the marrow. These stories are fine, necessary explorataions in the contemporary Southern gothic. If you've not read it yet, you must.
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