Ty (Tyunglebo) - Brunswick, MD (105 books)

Ty rated a book 2 of 5 stars

Dear Life: Stories
by Alice Munro

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I'm a writer myself, and within the last two years or so have began to concentrate a bit more on writing short fiction.

To write is to read, as they say, and I have made an effort to read more short fiction. Many people, from members of my writing gro...more I'm a writer myself, and within the last two years or so have began to concentrate a bit more on writing short fiction.

To write is to read, as they say, and I have made an effort to read more short fiction. Many people, from members of my writing group, to lecturers I've listened to, to writers of articles on the subject I have read have advised the same thing; read Alice Munro.

"Perfect. Masterful. Genius. Epitome of what a short story should be today." All of these are accolades heaped upon Munro and her work. So when I was at the library two weeks ago I figured it was time to sample her work. It almost seemed like my duty as a writer to partake in some of her fiction.

Perhaps it was a mistake to start with her latest collection, published just last year, but My conclusion about her thus far is that she has been oversold to me.

The writing in this collection is solid, intelligent writing, I will say. That is actually part of the problem. I got the impression it was written by an author that has a reputation, and was trying to uphold it. A reputation that, as I said, I am not sure is deserved based on these stories.

Any writer who has been flummoxed by constant advice to "show and not tell" should take comfort; 90% of what Munro does in these stories is tell. In flashback, in digression, in speculation. Pages upon pages of, "The character went through this and this and when younger saw this, and met X and did why. It was discussed at some point that she should do thus and so, and though she desired so and thus, thus and so won out. And this made her depressed. So depressed that she had taken uyp the habit of drinking..."

Eventually, in some cases, that sort of telling led to something relevant in the "present" of the story. (Though tense and time frame were fluid to a distracting degree sometimes.) Her brand is simplicity, and perhaps she does write in a simple way...but one can take forever to get somewhere, even if the forever is written in simple language, and I found myself saying, "what is the point?"

Naturally, literature is more about language than about character or plot, many will say. Let's stipulate that. That being the case, the language itself needs to either inspire sweeping visuals or move the reader in some transcendent way. The prose here does neither.

Perhaps one reason it doesn't do so is the depressing nature of the stories. I figured when I started there was one or two in every collection. But too many of the stories are about depressing things happening to unsatisfied and unlikable people in nondescript settings. (Most of which were very much Canadian...so much so it almost seems one needs to have grown up in Canada to catch on to any of the nuance presented.) I understand it isn't the job of a writer to always make people happy, but the writing is so distance, the characters so cold, I just didn't care what happened to them at all.

That lack of vibrancy in either plot or language, made these shorter length stories a bit of a slog at times. I finished most in one sitting, as one is expected to do with short fiction, but by the time I got through about half of them (I didn't read them in order), it became clear that "Dear Life:Stores" would have been more appropriately titles "Downer: Stories."

I won't give up on Munro totally. not yet. That almost seems like treason in the writing world. But I have given up on this collection.(less)

Ty rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Iscariot
by Tosca Lee (Goodreads Author)

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Ty rated a book 3 of 5 stars

A House-Boat On the Styx
by John Kendrick Bangs

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Ty rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Jack 1939
by Francine Mathews (Goodreads Author)

read in March, 2013

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Ty rated a book 4 of 5 stars

10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You by Oliver Thomas

10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You: (But Can't, Because He Needs the Job)
by Oliver Thomas

read in February, 2013

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Every follow of Christ should have to read this book. As should anyone of any religion who is fed up with what Christianity has allowed itself to be defined as.

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The Library Paradox (Vanessa Duncan)
by Catherine Shaw

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Ty rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History
by Theodore C. Sorensen

read in December, 2012

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Ty rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Make Gentle the Life of This World by Maxwell Taylor Kennedy

Make Gentle the Life of This World: The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy
by Maxwell Taylor Kennedy

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Ty rated a book 2 of 5 stars

Empire Builders (Privateers, #2)
by Ben Bova

read in November, 2012

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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Reading this book was a bit like going to a picnic to find that you two best friends won't be there, and they are only serving your third favorite beer. Yeah, it's free food, free beer, and better than sitting at home, probably, but had you had to mi...more Reading this book was a bit like going to a picnic to find that you two best friends won't be there, and they are only serving your third favorite beer. Yeah, it's free food, free beer, and better than sitting at home, probably, but had you had to miss the occasion, you wouldn't have been upset about it for long.

To begin with, I found this book at the library audio section. A cover which did not in any way indicate it was a sequel to anything. I didn't realize this until I was almost done, having happened to check out this Goodreads page for it. t works as a stand alone piece, but not a very interesting one. I don't know if having read "Privateers" would have made this book more interesting, but I tend to doubt it.

Other than the fact that it takes place in the future, where there are a whole lot of gadgets and such, this isn't very science-fictionesque. It's really a rather dull political thriller that is rather short on thrills. Mafia. Political institutions. Mega corporations. Corruption and the few good guys to straighten it all out. Throw in a para-military firefight in a dark castle at the end, (which fizzles quickly) and you are left with an anti-climax that while not atrocious, is nonetheless not worth the investment you've made in the book.

The intervals with one-off characters drag out the proceedings. The scientific elaborations-cum-action are boring. The posturing on the issue of global warming (something I firmly believe is real) are overdone. We get it, Bova, you are warning us about global climate change. Where's the novel here?

Having been published in 1993, it has one unintentionally eerie componant...a prediction of a large wave of water coming over the levies of New Orleans as a result of a tidal wave. Thankfully Katrina was nowhere near as deadly as the fictitious event presented here, but it gave me pause nonetheless when I read it.

Yet that's all that gave me pause, or made me think, or evoked any kind of emotion, really. This accidental quasi-prediction of water wiping out a good portion of NOLA. If that is all the book has going for it, then as a sci-fi novel, it had nothing going for it.(less)

Ty rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Wisdom of the 90's
by George Burns

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Ty rated a book 2 of 5 stars Dear Life: Stories by Alice Munro	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I'm a writer myself, and within the last two years or so have began to concentrate a bit more on writing short fiction. To write is to read, as they say, and I have made an effort to read more short fiction. Many people, from members of my writing gro...more
Apr 14, 2013 10:43pm · see review
Ty rated a book 4 of 5 stars Iscariot by Tosca Lee (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 03, 2013 10:22pm
Ty rated a book 3 of 5 stars A House-Boat On the Styx by John Kendrick Bangs	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 12, 2013 02:03pm
Ty rated a book 4 of 5 stars Jack 1939 by Francine Mathews (Goodreads Author) read in March, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 08, 2013 11:39am
Ty rated a book 4 of 5 stars 10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You: (But Can't, Because He Needs the Job) by Oliver Thomas read in February, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Every follow of Christ should have to read this book. As should anyone of any religion who is fed up with what Christianity has allowed itself to be defined as.
Feb 16, 2013 11:39pm · see review
Ty added The Library Paradox (Vanessa Duncan) by Catherine Shaw	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 08, 2013 07:31pm
Ty rated a book 4 of 5 stars Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History by Theodore C. Sorensen read in December, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 22, 2012 10:11pm
Ty rated a book 4 of 5 stars Make Gentle the Life of This World: The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy by Maxwell Taylor Kennedy	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 26, 2012 08:07pm
Ty rated a book 2 of 5 stars Empire Builders (Privateers, #2) by Ben Bova read in November, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Nov 17, 2012 10:08pm · see review
Ty rated a book 3 of 5 stars Wisdom of the 90's by George Burns	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 20, 2012 11:28am

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