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Jacob

(page 529 of 592)
— Mar 27, 2009 04:45AM

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Feb 01, 2008

Jacob rated it:

bookshelves: 2009, favorites, i-own, nyrb, short-stories

Read in March, 2009

J. F. Powers is severely under-read. I have no real proof of that, although the fact that New York Review of Books chose to publish his work probably says something. Now, I’m not one to gush about specific books, and I don’t want to blather on about how wonderful these stories are, but I suppose someone has to. Because the thing is, The Stories of J. F. Powers is simply a marvelous collection.

The stories here may not seem like much; Powers mostly wrote about priests in the Mid...more J. F. Powers is severely under-read. I have no real proof of that, although the fact that New York Review of Books chose to publish his work probably says something. Now, I’m not one to gush about specific books, and I don’t want to blather on about how wonderful these stories are, but I suppose someone has to. Because the thing is, The Stories of J. F. Powers is simply a marvelous collection.

The stories here may not seem like much; Powers mostly wrote about priests in the Midwest, with some stories about race relations, baseball, jazz, and various other subjects. But these stories are just so good. Powers' craft feels near-perfect: his prose is subtle, charming, clever, and very witty. Even in parts where the story seems lacking, it’s the language that pulls you in. Powers is solid, crisp, and incredibly precise with his writing. I suppose I should offer a sample, so here, from “One of Them” and the introduction, is Father Simpson’s battle for the spare key:

“Father,” said Simpson, coming to dessert, and remembering how he’d phrased the sentence before (“Father, how long will you be gone?”) rephrased it, “will you be gone long?”
“Not long," said the pastor, as before.
“Father,” said Simpson when he’d eaten his peaches, “while you're away, if I have to go out at night--hospital or something--and the church is locked, I can knock or ring, I know, but I'd hate to disturb Ms Burke, if you know what I mean, Father?"
The pastor nodded, as if he did know, but bowed his head in silent grace.
So did Simpson then, and, when they rose from the table, did not forget the pamphlet by his plate. "So I should knock or ring, Father?"
"Ring," said the pastor.

Denis Donoghue in the introduction jokes that Powers “spent the morning putting in a comma and the afternoon wondering whether or not he should replace it with a semicolon,” and it shows. It also seems to explain why Powers, in his decades-long career, produced only two novels and three collections of stories, all thirty of which are organized here. I need to keep these stories close at hand so I can read them again, and find Powers' two novels (Morte D'Urban and Wheat That Springeth Green), because he may not have written much, but Powers is simply too good to pass up.

(I should also mention that the book itself feels perfect: NYRB's distinct editions are always aesthetically pleasing, but I especially like this edition of Powers' work. Although I am slightly superstitious about yellow books, I never would have found this at the bookstore if the brightly-colored spine hadn't caught my eye. Also, this is just the right size; NYRB books usually feel a bit too slim or too large, but this book is the perfect weight and thickness. It fits my hand, and I keep carrying it around simply because it's comfortable. Wait, am I still gushing about this? I'm gushing. I can't help it--this book is just so darn beautiful!)
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Mar 03, 2009

Alan marked it as to-read

bookshelves: short-stories, to-read

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