Hazy Shade of Winter

by Chris Roberts

Winter, in its duality, can be a picture postcard field of lovely white, or oppositely, a raging wall of snow, a destroyer. The protagonist of this story is fueled by these conflicting states of nature and she devours them in her writings, she is a mercurial poet. Hers is a mind of contemplative thoughts and quicksilver reactions. Family, friends and professors are all caught up into the whirlwind that is Blaine. There is an authentic sense of place captured in this work, Wellesley College is laid out comprehensively, here is Lake Waban on the campus, “The trees would sometimes catch the lake’s reflecting light and little diamond beams would wind their way around its branches.” The descriptions in this work bring out elements of the inanimate and animate that one wouldn't normally see. This is a story that is equally matched with its heroine. She will stay with the reader and remind them that living and writing poetry is impossibly connected and do so forget about plays, poetry is the thing.

28 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 12, 2011

About the author

Short story writer, Pushcart Prize Nominee and God of the Amazon One-Star Book Review. I one-starred The Pope and I will crucify you.


Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[mark monday]

sometimes his prose can be quite lovely

"But this time it is different. The awakening from the episode, the restoration of clarity and consciousness are swept outward, away from the tangible familiarities of the sitting room. Her desk and the beloved star-patterned floor rug are given flight, along with the fine drapes that clutch at the broken window, hesitantly, then finally let loose to succumb to winter's wind."

quite charming!

but sometimes his prose can be a bit less than lovely

"Mark - Sounds like you have a thing for boys dressed up like trolls, you need to see someone for that you creepy boy hunter. They'll trick you out in prison and oh yeah, SNAP your garbage neck. Twist on the end of that dildo breath."

and a bit less than charming

from Chris Roberts
to Miracle Jones
subject Re: The Editor as a Goodbye

Nobody takes you seriously - I know, you're a pig twat. Fiction Circus - you got that right. Ah, the lowly zine that is your destiny tampon breath.

Chris Roberts

oh, Chris Roberts.

Chris! listen, please! that Pushcart nomination happened almost a decade ago! "Hazy Shade of Winter" is just a short story! (although no doubt an interesting one.) constant internet trolling does not count as a literary endeavor! get off of Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, FailedWriter, Manscape, and the dozens of other internet sites that addict you... and get back to work! seriously, your public deserves it! both of them!

♥

before i sign off, here's a little gif that can help you with the problems you appear to be having with your Twitter account:

[Autumn Walker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hazy shade of winter , I gave it a go,
But this book, my friend, is a puzzling show.
Perhaps in German, it’d ring more clear,
In English, though, it’s a muddled veneer.

The lead? Oh, dear, a wandering muse,
Lost in ramblings she couldn’t refuse.
Her words spun round like a smoky haze,
High on something, or trapped in a daze.
The plot, a ghost, elusive and faint,
No story to follow, no picture to paint.

One star I give, and here’s my plea:
Is the author high—or is it just me?
Every word feels pulled from a lexicon vast,
Like they swallowed the dictionary and made it a task.

An attempt at grandeur, too clever by half,
Left me confused—and honestly, I laughed.

Dedicated to the countless one-star poems
Chris Roberts penned with literary loam.
For every critique, he spared no sting—
While his own work proved a hollow thing.

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lol

What?

[Meemsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I liked it. In accordance with the 4 star rating, I really liked it.
So much so I gave it four stars based on its literary worth sans my reading pleasure, as I was forced against my will to read A DIGITAL COPY. And I find nothing, nothing, nothing more infuriating than to have my leisure ruined by my own unsatisfactory so-called opportunities of leisure.
Feel me: a book is a book. Still, what a book. Amiright?

[Maxi Shelton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a is a very moving and touching story. You want to reach out and bundle her up in your arms, to make everything better. It's a delicate story, beautifully and carefully written. You can really imagine being right there with her. Well worth the read even if to only open your eyes to a different world!

[Katherine Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The brilliance that is Hazy Shade of Winter, January 9, 2012
By Katherine C. Owen

Chris Roberts' mastery of language reads like music on a page. Some people can read musical notes, some can only listen, most all can be moved by such lyricality. This is five-star quality literature at its finest with the use of language that is indeed lyrical and seemingly forms a wistful stanza. The character of Blaine is drawn deeply and we feel her pain in the very first sentence:

"When by the frost of the windowpane and all that descends from the sky are dying snowflakes, it is a canto."

Roberts does a brilliant job of foreshadowing for readers what will transpire by the end of this short story. I'm not sure that all of us catch it in reading it the first time through, but it's there. Blaine must battle the downside of fame and her manic-depression and she still attempts to cope with the death of her father and abide the sins of her mother. All of this has left Blaine assailable and, perhaps, inevitably unable to co-exist with her poetic talent.

Roberts' prose sums her up so nicely with this:
"It is all of it a curse and a blessing and it is verse and it is all of it so entirely, so utterly hers."

My favorite lines from this work:
"But this time it is different. The awakening from the episode, the restoration of clarity and consciousness are swept outward, away from the tangible familiarities of the sitting room. Her desk and the beloved star-patterned floor rug are given flight, along with the fine drapes that clutch at the broken window, hesitantly, then finally let loose to succumb to winter's wind."

This is an intriguing short story. It is brilliant, evocative, and beautiful. It leaves this reader (and writer) wanting more of Chris Roberts' work and envying him for his discernible literary talent.

[Marcia Carrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

HAZY SHADE OF WINTER is an excellent character study of an eloquent young woman, Blaine, who suffers from mental illess, and the story follows her difficult journey to find meaning in her life. The central character is portrayed with great sympathy by the author, and this is a full-blooded literary work which is not for those who are seeking a light read. It is reminiscent of those books, and films, which explore humanity in great depth, and how life does not always present opportunities for the easy way out. Written with feeling and great style, HAZY SHADE OF WINTER is a haunting work, and will remain with you for its understated style and compelling storyline.

[Christoph Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

It can feel very "meta" and "post-modern" to give Chris Roberts a review, but I will keep Chris Roberts the critic aside and focus on Chris Roberts the author and say I really loved this short story. I am an avid reader who is burnt out by too many literary readings in NYC, and usually want to run to the hills when I am encountering something 'literary', but Roberts has the language and story telling to remind me why we hold the literary genre in such high esteem. His writing is musical but he has a character and story to go with it and would be a good example for other literary writers. Great character study and story!

[Anmol Pandey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

The story is about a person named Blaine who loves to write poems. She sees winter in two ways: beautiful and calm, but also harsh and destructive.

Blaine's writing reflects this contrast.
She is a college going girl. Blaine's relationships with her family, friends, and professors are shown deeply .

She's portrayed as a deep thinker with quick reactions.

Writing poetry is a big part of Blaine's life and helps her understand the world.

Its a tale about the power of poetry and how it connects with life.

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Priceless but Dark

I find great value in learning: things that broaden my insight, things that touch me inside where I've not been touched before in this exact way. This book did those things for me and I value it.
Definitely not an easy book because of the subject matter, but an important book in my opinion. Many people have personal demons and any light of understanding into those demons is important. Thank You Chris Roberts for sharing this story.

[Windy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author packs a lot into this short story either my opinion of the of the main character moving from admiration to dislike and finally pity.

[Cj_the1 · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was awful

[Lauren B · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not a good book. Don’t waste your time.

[Jason Kirk]

Amazon.com Review: "When by the frost of the windowpane and all that descends from the sky are dying snowflakes, it is a canto"--or, alternately, a "soulful winter song." Between these musically descriptive lines, which bookend Chris Roberts's Hazy Shade of Winter , lives Blaine. She is a young New England poet, and in telling her story, Roberts deploys an interesting narrative move. Blaine herself is mentally unbalanced--"Maniac-Depressive," according to her analyst--and though the story is told in the third person, its omniscient narrator seems to suffer, if that's the word, from the very lack of balance attributed to Blaine herself. At times, its voice could be called "stream of consciousness," but that well-worn phrase doesn't fully capture the lyrical spirit of this story, in the middle of which Roberts throws readers a bone with a surprisingly plain-spoken flashback that depicts Blaine's rise as a poet of no small accomplishment. In the end, the pervasive cold of winter--the story's second major character--contrasts with the lingering suggestion of warmth evinced by Roberts's language, creating a counterweight to the polar nature of Blaine's own state of mind as she hurtles toward the story's quietly dramatic conclusion. --Jason Kirk

[Dianne Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hazy Shade of Winter is a slice of life short story about a young woman suffering from Manic Depressive disorder. It is switches between past and present tense, wherein Blaine looks back on her life struggling with her psychiatric problems and troubled personal life. Blaine is a curious protagonist that I connected with easily.
The language has a poetic quality in line with Blaine's love of writing poetry, and never ceases to draw the reader in with its strong narrative and descriptive. Though beautifully written, the story covers themes and subject matter that may depress some readers. The plot progression and ending is logical in spite of how tragic the life of this protagonist is. In conclusion, this short story is beautifully written, but is not for a reader looking for a light read.