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The Weight of a Human Heart
"You will be astounded by the hugeness of his heart, and by the breadth and depth of his vision. O'Neill is a writer of limitless imagination." —Hector Tobar, author of The Barbarian Nurseries
Ranging from Australia and Africa to Europe and Asia and back again, The Weight of a Human Heart heralds a fresh and important new voice in fiction. Ryan O'Neill takes us on a journey that is sometimes comic, sometimes tragic, and wholly original.
A young Tutsi girl flees her village on the brink of the Rwandan genocide. A literary duel—and an affair—play out in the book review section of a national newspaper. A young girl learns her mother’s disturbing secrets through the broken key on a typewriter.
With imagination, wit, and a keen eye, Ryan O'Neill draws the essence of the human experience with a cast of characters who stick with you long after you turn the last page of this brilliant short story collection.
Ranging from Australia and Africa to Europe and Asia and back again, The Weight of a Human Heart heralds a fresh and important new voice in fiction. Ryan O'Neill takes us on a journey that is sometimes comic, sometimes tragic, and wholly original.
A young Tutsi girl flees her village on the brink of the Rwandan genocide. A literary duel—and an affair—play out in the book review section of a national newspaper. A young girl learns her mother’s disturbing secrets through the broken key on a typewriter.
With imagination, wit, and a keen eye, Ryan O'Neill draws the essence of the human experience with a cast of characters who stick with you long after you turn the last page of this brilliant short story collection.
238 pages, Paperback
First published April 26, 2012
33 people are currently reading
889 people want to read
About the author
Ryan O'Neill
23 books51 followersRyan O'Neill was born in Scotland, and lived and worked in Lithuania, Rwanda and China before settling in NSW, Australia.
His short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies and journals including Meanjin, Westerly, New Australian Stories, Sleepers Almanac and Best Australian Stories. He is also a fiction editor for Etchings.
Ryan's short story collection, The Weight of a Human Heart, is published in Australia by Black Inc, in the UK by Old Street Publishing, in Israel by Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir and in the US by St Martin's Press.
His short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies and journals including Meanjin, Westerly, New Australian Stories, Sleepers Almanac and Best Australian Stories. He is also a fiction editor for Etchings.
Ryan's short story collection, The Weight of a Human Heart, is published in Australia by Black Inc, in the UK by Old Street Publishing, in Israel by Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir and in the US by St Martin's Press.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
March 13, 2019
4,5
325 ratings? Now that's undeserved!
Of course it's impossible to give a perfect score to a story collection: especially if it contains 21 stories.
But I want readers to notice: this is a very versatile, funny, brilliant, humane, playful collection.
I find this very underrated. I guess you can fault it by sometimes trying too hard to be inventive (especially in form and typography) and in being a 'creative writer course'-book, but at least he tries to come up with something unique.
For lovers of Kevin Wilson, Steve Toltz and BJ Novak
325 ratings? Now that's undeserved!
Of course it's impossible to give a perfect score to a story collection: especially if it contains 21 stories.
But I want readers to notice: this is a very versatile, funny, brilliant, humane, playful collection.
I find this very underrated. I guess you can fault it by sometimes trying too hard to be inventive (especially in form and typography) and in being a 'creative writer course'-book, but at least he tries to come up with something unique.
For lovers of Kevin Wilson, Steve Toltz and BJ Novak
August 18, 2013
I should start of by saying I am pretty picky about my short story authors. It is a rare author that really constructs the short story in a manner that I can really get into for an entire book, not just one or two stories. O'Niell is a real master. This is a compilation that had me doing the reading while walking version of a driveway moment (getting to my destination and not going into the store until I had finished the story I was working on).
His stories are varied and playful in voice and style. He takes on a broad assortment of personas and tackles them all with a natural voice that is both impressive and inspiring.
His stories are colorful, playful, humorous,heartbreaking; and often all of those simultaneously.
I can't recommend this collection enough for anyone that is in search of the perfect literary punch or a long pull of plain good writing.
I look forward to seeing what O'Neill will come out with next.
In compliance with FTC guidelines, I am obligated to disclose in my review that I have received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads. This in no way effected the views expressed or influenced the nature of the review of the book received.
His stories are varied and playful in voice and style. He takes on a broad assortment of personas and tackles them all with a natural voice that is both impressive and inspiring.
His stories are colorful, playful, humorous,heartbreaking; and often all of those simultaneously.
I can't recommend this collection enough for anyone that is in search of the perfect literary punch or a long pull of plain good writing.
I look forward to seeing what O'Neill will come out with next.
In compliance with FTC guidelines, I am obligated to disclose in my review that I have received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads. This in no way effected the views expressed or influenced the nature of the review of the book received.
June 19, 2017
This is a generous collection of perfect gems. It’s the first I’ve read of Ryan O’Neill’s writing, and I am now a fan. These stories are vibrant, fresh, and poignant. I laughed out loud, even in the midst of sad tales, where laughter was the last response I had expected from myself. What I love most about this collection is that, while O’Neill has a deft and clever touch with traditional narrative, post-modern send-ups, and meta perspective points-of-view — making it look easy to bounce between these quite different ways of thinking — he has tremendous heart too. He is a substantial writer, not merely a clever one.
O’Neill’s writing is never sentimental or mawkish, but powerfully evocative and tender. I appreciate, too, that it is often in his more serious moments that he is at his funniest — simultaneously, not paradoxically or ironically. He does not do what so many writers do in post modern (or post-post-modern) fiction, which is to stand over their characters as if they were mocking them — well, except for those who clearly deserve a bit of mockery. While O’Neill does not go lightly on his characters, he seems to be right there with them, along for the ride on whatever trip they are taking.
Besides the stories about writing, the highlights for me were these six: Collected Stories, a line from which the collection’s title is derived, "Africa Was Children Crying", "The Cockroach", "English as a Foreign Language", "The Speeding Bullet", and "Tyypographyy". But, honestly, there’s not a dud story in the whole bunch. I enjoyed every one of them. As reflections, both hilarious and educational, on the art of writing the short story, I loved "Seventeen Rules for Writing a Short Story", "A Story in Writing", and "A Short Story". I dare anyone to read section C of A Short Story and not laugh out loud — even though it’s only one sentence long.
O’Neill’s writing is never sentimental or mawkish, but powerfully evocative and tender. I appreciate, too, that it is often in his more serious moments that he is at his funniest — simultaneously, not paradoxically or ironically. He does not do what so many writers do in post modern (or post-post-modern) fiction, which is to stand over their characters as if they were mocking them — well, except for those who clearly deserve a bit of mockery. While O’Neill does not go lightly on his characters, he seems to be right there with them, along for the ride on whatever trip they are taking.
Besides the stories about writing, the highlights for me were these six: Collected Stories, a line from which the collection’s title is derived, "Africa Was Children Crying", "The Cockroach", "English as a Foreign Language", "The Speeding Bullet", and "Tyypographyy". But, honestly, there’s not a dud story in the whole bunch. I enjoyed every one of them. As reflections, both hilarious and educational, on the art of writing the short story, I loved "Seventeen Rules for Writing a Short Story", "A Story in Writing", and "A Short Story". I dare anyone to read section C of A Short Story and not laugh out loud — even though it’s only one sentence long.
January 31, 2013
Like a pack of cards consisting almost entirely of jokers but shuffled with a brace of barbed wire, O'Neill's collection is funny, adventurous, carelessly genre-hopping and occasionally deeply effecting.
The best stories marry the author's natural inventiveness to a heart and are a precise marriage of form and content.
'The Weight of a Human Heart' announces to a broader readership a very considerable talent.
'Collected Stories'
'The Cockroach'
'Four Letter Words'
'Last Words'
'Understand, Understood, Understood'
The best stories marry the author's natural inventiveness to a heart and are a precise marriage of form and content.
'The Weight of a Human Heart' announces to a broader readership a very considerable talent.
'Collected Stories'
'The Cockroach'
'Four Letter Words'
'Last Words'
'Understand, Understood, Understood'
August 11, 2019
All of these stories represent the brilliant, chameleonlike writing abilities of a master craftsman. It takes skill and ingenuity to vacillate between wringing alternate emotions from a reader which is what he did here. From complicated family relationships to explorations of the words we casually use, ignoring their essential meaning to the horror of genocide, all of human life is captured here in these pages. Life, death, birth, love , all are put under the microscope of Ryan O'Neill's keen gaze and laid bare for the reader to revel in.
The title refers to the very first tale,'Collected Stories' which is the narrative of a girl growing up with a writer as a mother,Charlene, who records everything that she observes, including her child, as material for her books. Her insistance on veracity in 'research' leaves her daughter Barbara basically raising herself and becoming a doctor dealing with solid facts rather than abstract feelings. Charlene weighs every book that she writes, refusing to read,or write, anything that weighs over half a kilo (perhaps a commentary over bloated popular fiction?)Even to the very end of her life, she refuses to acknowledge any wrongdoing in her life-and she has done plenty-quoting her own works so they could be immortalised as a great writer's last words.
As a mother, she wrote out the story of her daughter's life, stealing things that happened in Barbara's life,giving away her moments, even killing her over and over. It's such a tense and well structured story that fits an incredible amount of life within such a short space of time-the deft strokes which paint each character are enot lingered over, these people simply are. And the title-surely all of us are a collection of stories, as human beings, it just remains to be seen whether proofs of our lives are ever read after we depart and what impact we may have is negligible.
'Cockroach' focuses on the fate of a little girl growing up in Rwanda, through her we see a child's perspective on the Hutu/Tutsi genocide which is heartbreaking in its simplicity and depiction of one side, from the other as 'cockroaches' which need stamping out and putting down. The problem, as the reader is well aware, is that using this phrase actually confers survival potential on the Tutsi people rather than seeing them as pests and this is reaffirmed in the haunting last line.
'English As A Foreign Language' I found really sharply humorous in its' depiction of an English teacher whose focus on the correct use and pronounciation of words is so consuming that he forgets the meaning of them and the weight that they carry-to the extent that he marks, and corrects, his Hungarian wife's love letters. The denouement of this tale is particularly satisfying and perfect!
In 'Speeding Bullet', a tale from the perspective of a boy who rationalises his life by comparing it to comic books, he writes-
''My mother wore huge flowery dresses and had long brown hair and a round face with sad eyes.Old photographs showed a different woman, thin and smiling so that I began to think all her fat was a disguise,like Superman's glasses. She was very gentle,but she always had an exhausted and agonised air,as if she had just been taken down from a cross.''
His command of the English language is obvious in how he revels in words and their meanings.In 'Seventeen Rules For Writing A Short Story' a story is formed using 'rules' from famous writers-an ingenious way of making something entirely unique from held ,literary, thoughts. It is a great forerunner for 'The Drovers Wives', a prologue for how the same thing can be said in so many ways that each time shakes the concept, yet adds something to, the central story being told.
Each tale is entirely different from the rest, the only thread of commonality is the love of words from an author who masters so many styles and ways of saying the same thing about the human condition. As much as words can define, illustrate and explain, it is the form that you arrange them in that really exposes the feelings and notions behind them. Each is a miniature masterpiece, perfectly formed like a clutch of eggs,each of which contains an entirely different inhabitant,only visible when the smooth,intact exterior is cracked by the reader.And then, the contents are swallowed whole.
The title refers to the very first tale,'Collected Stories' which is the narrative of a girl growing up with a writer as a mother,Charlene, who records everything that she observes, including her child, as material for her books. Her insistance on veracity in 'research' leaves her daughter Barbara basically raising herself and becoming a doctor dealing with solid facts rather than abstract feelings. Charlene weighs every book that she writes, refusing to read,or write, anything that weighs over half a kilo (perhaps a commentary over bloated popular fiction?)Even to the very end of her life, she refuses to acknowledge any wrongdoing in her life-and she has done plenty-quoting her own works so they could be immortalised as a great writer's last words.
As a mother, she wrote out the story of her daughter's life, stealing things that happened in Barbara's life,giving away her moments, even killing her over and over. It's such a tense and well structured story that fits an incredible amount of life within such a short space of time-the deft strokes which paint each character are enot lingered over, these people simply are. And the title-surely all of us are a collection of stories, as human beings, it just remains to be seen whether proofs of our lives are ever read after we depart and what impact we may have is negligible.
'Cockroach' focuses on the fate of a little girl growing up in Rwanda, through her we see a child's perspective on the Hutu/Tutsi genocide which is heartbreaking in its simplicity and depiction of one side, from the other as 'cockroaches' which need stamping out and putting down. The problem, as the reader is well aware, is that using this phrase actually confers survival potential on the Tutsi people rather than seeing them as pests and this is reaffirmed in the haunting last line.
'English As A Foreign Language' I found really sharply humorous in its' depiction of an English teacher whose focus on the correct use and pronounciation of words is so consuming that he forgets the meaning of them and the weight that they carry-to the extent that he marks, and corrects, his Hungarian wife's love letters. The denouement of this tale is particularly satisfying and perfect!
In 'Speeding Bullet', a tale from the perspective of a boy who rationalises his life by comparing it to comic books, he writes-
''My mother wore huge flowery dresses and had long brown hair and a round face with sad eyes.Old photographs showed a different woman, thin and smiling so that I began to think all her fat was a disguise,like Superman's glasses. She was very gentle,but she always had an exhausted and agonised air,as if she had just been taken down from a cross.''
His command of the English language is obvious in how he revels in words and their meanings.In 'Seventeen Rules For Writing A Short Story' a story is formed using 'rules' from famous writers-an ingenious way of making something entirely unique from held ,literary, thoughts. It is a great forerunner for 'The Drovers Wives', a prologue for how the same thing can be said in so many ways that each time shakes the concept, yet adds something to, the central story being told.
Each tale is entirely different from the rest, the only thread of commonality is the love of words from an author who masters so many styles and ways of saying the same thing about the human condition. As much as words can define, illustrate and explain, it is the form that you arrange them in that really exposes the feelings and notions behind them. Each is a miniature masterpiece, perfectly formed like a clutch of eggs,each of which contains an entirely different inhabitant,only visible when the smooth,intact exterior is cracked by the reader.And then, the contents are swallowed whole.
September 5, 2019
Considering I am not a native English reader, it's a fluent and enjoyable read. The most important facet is the form. Themes although are sad. Definitely above 3.
June 29, 2018
So almost 5 stars! Some (arguably most) of the stories in this collection are brilliant, often devastating, and sharply written. My favourite has to be 'The Cockroach', a horrifying story told from the protective innocence of a child, followed closely by 'Collected Stories' which is the first one I read (but kept going back to).
Books and/or language are the main themes across all stories, which I mostly really liked, although there is an occasional feeling of superiority in the writing - an undertone of 'if you don't recognise this literary reference, you're not clever enough to read it'. O'Neill often pushes the boundaries of style and structure, which in general I found original and funny, but sometimes it was just a bit tiring when it hit extremes: 'A Story in Writing' made me laugh out loud, but 'Figures in a Marriage' just felt like a series of stereotypes in a frankly annoying format.
I'd definitely recommend this - to anyone, but especially to those who love reading/writing short stories, as the variety of style and depth of content is so interesting. 4.5 stars.
Books and/or language are the main themes across all stories, which I mostly really liked, although there is an occasional feeling of superiority in the writing - an undertone of 'if you don't recognise this literary reference, you're not clever enough to read it'. O'Neill often pushes the boundaries of style and structure, which in general I found original and funny, but sometimes it was just a bit tiring when it hit extremes: 'A Story in Writing' made me laugh out loud, but 'Figures in a Marriage' just felt like a series of stereotypes in a frankly annoying format.
I'd definitely recommend this - to anyone, but especially to those who love reading/writing short stories, as the variety of style and depth of content is so interesting. 4.5 stars.
July 25, 2013
Across the board this is a pretty strong short story collection. Two things I liked in particular were that his stories had satisfying endings that didn't leave you hanging and some of the stories were tremendously creative - one in the form of an school examination and another driven entirely by footnotes. My only complaint is that the author seems to have an overt focus on genocide, in particular the Hutus and the Tutsis in in Rwanda. An author gets to choose what they write about but I would have loved to have more of the non traditional creative stories and less focusing on death.
January 22, 2015
After the first two stories I was totally knocked out by the, but the longer the collection went on, the more I tired of the tricksiness of O'Neill's stories (a story told in figures, one in book reviews, one via footnotes, one with typographical quirks and so on and so on). O'Neill is clearly smart, funny and a hugely capable writer, but I found myself wanting more heart to the stories and less novelty.
April 27, 2017
Experimental Short Stories
I don't often read short story collections but this one grabbed my attention, as in the blurb it mentioned both China and Rwanda - so well - I sort of had to.
I loved the stories at first - original and carefully crafted, using all types of techniques, which I would never have thought possible. I laughed out loud at places, opened my mouth in shock and simply couldn't put it down. However, by the end I felt that they all kept meeting the same overall themes and it became repetitive, even though each one was very different (hard to explain exactly why - but I knew the marriage would break up or one of them would die).
Overall, a great collection of stories, although I am not sure I would search out more of his writing.
I don't often read short story collections but this one grabbed my attention, as in the blurb it mentioned both China and Rwanda - so well - I sort of had to.
I loved the stories at first - original and carefully crafted, using all types of techniques, which I would never have thought possible. I laughed out loud at places, opened my mouth in shock and simply couldn't put it down. However, by the end I felt that they all kept meeting the same overall themes and it became repetitive, even though each one was very different (hard to explain exactly why - but I knew the marriage would break up or one of them would die).
Overall, a great collection of stories, although I am not sure I would search out more of his writing.
April 16, 2023
It’s incredible! A great collection!
May 21, 2017
I still wouldn't say that I like short story collections, but this one at least has a few treasures.
August 2, 2013
I received a free copy of this book from GoodReads for early review.
Each story in this collection had a unique style, and although some other reviewers found this gimmicky, I thought it was clever and playful. So many of these stories looked at heavy, difficult subjects such as: the crumbling of a marriage communicated via graphs and charts ("Figures in a Marriage"); a child recalling the death of his whole family during the Rwandan genocide, shared through a written school exam ("The Examination"); the relationship of a father and son organized in snapshots of events in their family lives based upon four letter words ("Four Letter Words"); and a child dealing with the death of her mother and the discovery of her affair ("Tyypography"). The well-planned and executed stylistic choices for each story allowed the reader to digest sad and difficult subjects. I mention these as they were probably among my favorite stories for the blending of style, content and character.
The first story, "Collected Stories," was one of the most moving for me. The story follows the relationship of an obsessive writer mother and her only daughter, seen through the daughter's eyes. At first glance the relationship seems very toxic, the mother completely self-centered and absent as a parent. Yet O'Neill skillfully drops small clues of the mother's love for her child, although she seems incapable of openly expressing it. This story builds so successfully to the last line, from which this collection gets its name (The Weight of a Human Heart), that I saw the mother's last literary publication to be a declaration of her love for her daughter. Whether this was intended or not, I was hooked on O'Neill's writing from that first story.
Each story in this collection had a unique style, and although some other reviewers found this gimmicky, I thought it was clever and playful. So many of these stories looked at heavy, difficult subjects such as: the crumbling of a marriage communicated via graphs and charts ("Figures in a Marriage"); a child recalling the death of his whole family during the Rwandan genocide, shared through a written school exam ("The Examination"); the relationship of a father and son organized in snapshots of events in their family lives based upon four letter words ("Four Letter Words"); and a child dealing with the death of her mother and the discovery of her affair ("Tyypography"). The well-planned and executed stylistic choices for each story allowed the reader to digest sad and difficult subjects. I mention these as they were probably among my favorite stories for the blending of style, content and character.
The first story, "Collected Stories," was one of the most moving for me. The story follows the relationship of an obsessive writer mother and her only daughter, seen through the daughter's eyes. At first glance the relationship seems very toxic, the mother completely self-centered and absent as a parent. Yet O'Neill skillfully drops small clues of the mother's love for her child, although she seems incapable of openly expressing it. This story builds so successfully to the last line, from which this collection gets its name (The Weight of a Human Heart), that I saw the mother's last literary publication to be a declaration of her love for her daughter. Whether this was intended or not, I was hooked on O'Neill's writing from that first story.
October 18, 2012
The most amazing collection of short stories i have read in a long time. Every story is perfectly formed with some great exercises in style. If you read short stories you must read this book, if you don't then you must!
June 15, 2012
Short stories are one of my favourite reading experiences. This by far is one of the most unique, obscure and utterly surprising collections I have read in a long time.
February 2, 2013
Explorations in form and style and some really intriguing plots. This is an excellent collection of original short stories, thoroughly enjoyed.
Want to read
July 14, 2015I think this will be a terrific book! I'm looking forward to getting it and reading it.
July 21, 2013
First, a confession: I’m not a huge fan of experimental literary forms. Nine times out of ten, as I see it, they come off cheap and gimmicky. Maybe that’s an unfair assessment, but many writers seem to play with form just so their work will stand out. To me, it seems like these writers are unsure of themselves. Maybe they feel their work isn’t capable of grabbing readers’ attentions on its own merits so they dress their stories up in clever framing devices. I know that sounds harsh; I’m sure there are writers out there whose only interests are in having fun and pushing boundaries, but these seem to be in the minority.
It’s not that I’m too conservative for experimental forms – I hope that isn’t how it comes across. Rather, I’m distrustful of gimmicks because I’m not interested in shallow writing. See, I’ve found that clever gimmicks often come at the expense of good character development. And since strong characters and narratives are the whole reason I like to read, the trade-off hardly seems worth it. I admit I could have fleeting intellectual appreciation for experimental forms, but I doubted I could ever become emotionally invested in a story that is presented in an obtuse way.
The point of this precursor? Ryan O’Neill is a writer who has developed a reputation for openly experimenting with literary forms. I thought it best to reveal the mindset I was in when I approached The Weight of a Human Heart, Ryan’s debut collection. Admittedly, I had read some of Ryan’s fiction before (in [untitled] and Best Australian Stories 2010), so I had some idea of what to expect. It was in his story ‘The Eunuch in the Harem’ that I first evidenced Ryan’s refreshingly original wit. In fact, ‘The Eunuch in the Harem’ (reproduced in this collection) stands as one of the best epistolary stories I’ve ever read. It’s what drew me to this collection – that, and Ryan’s developing reputation as one of the country’s seminal short story writers. I guess what I’m saying is that I sought The Weight of a Human Heart out despite Ryan’s widely documented experimental leanings. And I’m very glad I did.
Ryan O’Neill has a penchant for trickery, but there’s no hint of affectation in it. If there was, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to stomach it. Ryan, who I’ve never met, strikes me as less of a show-off and more someone wholeheartedly in love with language and literature. Case in point: The Weight of a Human Heart is overflowing with allusions to classic literature and knowing winks towards what some might consider arbitrary fictional conventions. It’s a love letter to literature in all its forms, and it’s not afraid to poke fun at the very thing it’s honouring.
‘Seventeen Rules for Writing a Short Story’, for instance, is a wild, rambunctious ride in which famous author quotes dictate the direction of the unfolding narrative. Similarly, ‘A Short Story’ delights precisely because the turns it takes are so unexpected. ‘A Marriage in Figures’ is what it sounds like: an analysis of the ideological differences between men and women, one made all the more interesting by its use of graphs, charts and other tactile examples. ‘Typography’ is another effortless visual affair, one that turns its namesake into a plaything. I expect Ryan and the design staff at Black Inc. had a lot of fun laying these stories out.
For a sudden change in direction, I'd like to air a minor grievance I had with a particular story. ‘The Examination’, I felt, though gloriously sub-textual, never really broke free from the shackles of its device. In this story, a disadvantaged African youth confesses his hopes and hardships within the response sections of a written examination. While far from a bad story, it’s a perfect example of everything I don’t like about experimental fiction: the form is limiting and the story too disconnected to offer any emotional resonance. The fact that it tries to be affecting, and succeeds in getting some of the way there, makes it all the more frustrating.
Of course, ‘The Examination’ is the exception, rather than the rule. For the most part, the experiments in The Weight of a Human Heart perfectly complement the stories they’re attached to. In some cases, they even enhance them.
Writers, publishers, or those aspiring to be either, will get an extra kick out of The Weight of a Human Heart. It’s a fun and stirring read, and has an accessible prose-style, but it does demand things from the reader: namely, a similar appreciation for language, literature and everything else it celebrates. It’s a bit like Ryan wrote this book for a secret, undefined sub-culture of literature nerds. While it isn’t completely inaccessible to others (i.e. people without an interest in publishing or with knowledge of literary tropes; people who just want an easy, ripping yarn), I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it to them. In short, the very thing that makes this book unique – its unrelenting cleverness – is also what will turn some away. A few of these stories – perhaps a quarter – are like little puzzles; the reader must read very closely to discern hidden meanings and gain a fuller appreciation. It’s never more work than it needs to be, but I feel it may deter those after a quick, simple read. (Different strokes n’ all, but gosh, the thought of someone turning this book away because it’s too challenging is very disheartening!)
I fear I’ve portrayed this book as some sort of self-aware comedy. It is, in parts, but it’s also much more. Ryan O’Neill shows great versatility in this collection. Juxtaposing his aforementioned experimental stories are some incredibly poignant reflections on loss, hardship and the infallibility of the human spirit. Ryan has spent time in Europe, Africa and Asia, and it’s clear that these places have influenced his work. Rwanda, for instance, is beautifully rendered in several stories – most notably in the sublime ‘Africa Was Crying Children’ and ‘The Cockroach’. Ryan’s keen observational eye brings these exotic locales to life. The Rwandan stories are powerful, affecting and, crucially, unsentimental. The child protagonist in superhero story ‘The Speeding Bullet’ (my personal standout) is as endearing as you could ever hope to find.
For a collection that prides itself on its willingness to experiment, it’s funny that the more traditional narratives seem to pack the most punch. Neither style would work as well without the other, though; a whole collection of lighter, experimental pieces could feel frivolous, while one with nothing but deep, stirring pieces might seem overwrought.
Excepting ‘The Examination’, the slight accessibility barrier and an over-reliance on the theme of adultery (seriously, at least seven of the stories feature it), I can not recommend this highly enough. Short story collections usually take me a good while to get through, but this I devoured. It’s thrilling being able to surrender to a writer, knowing full well that where they’re taking you is somewhere new and unexpected. The Weight of a Human Heart is full of such surprises. Its commitment to defying my expectations left me constantly smiling.
I genuinely can’t wait to see what Ryan O’Neill comes out with next.
It’s not that I’m too conservative for experimental forms – I hope that isn’t how it comes across. Rather, I’m distrustful of gimmicks because I’m not interested in shallow writing. See, I’ve found that clever gimmicks often come at the expense of good character development. And since strong characters and narratives are the whole reason I like to read, the trade-off hardly seems worth it. I admit I could have fleeting intellectual appreciation for experimental forms, but I doubted I could ever become emotionally invested in a story that is presented in an obtuse way.
The point of this precursor? Ryan O’Neill is a writer who has developed a reputation for openly experimenting with literary forms. I thought it best to reveal the mindset I was in when I approached The Weight of a Human Heart, Ryan’s debut collection. Admittedly, I had read some of Ryan’s fiction before (in [untitled] and Best Australian Stories 2010), so I had some idea of what to expect. It was in his story ‘The Eunuch in the Harem’ that I first evidenced Ryan’s refreshingly original wit. In fact, ‘The Eunuch in the Harem’ (reproduced in this collection) stands as one of the best epistolary stories I’ve ever read. It’s what drew me to this collection – that, and Ryan’s developing reputation as one of the country’s seminal short story writers. I guess what I’m saying is that I sought The Weight of a Human Heart out despite Ryan’s widely documented experimental leanings. And I’m very glad I did.
Ryan O’Neill has a penchant for trickery, but there’s no hint of affectation in it. If there was, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to stomach it. Ryan, who I’ve never met, strikes me as less of a show-off and more someone wholeheartedly in love with language and literature. Case in point: The Weight of a Human Heart is overflowing with allusions to classic literature and knowing winks towards what some might consider arbitrary fictional conventions. It’s a love letter to literature in all its forms, and it’s not afraid to poke fun at the very thing it’s honouring.
‘Seventeen Rules for Writing a Short Story’, for instance, is a wild, rambunctious ride in which famous author quotes dictate the direction of the unfolding narrative. Similarly, ‘A Short Story’ delights precisely because the turns it takes are so unexpected. ‘A Marriage in Figures’ is what it sounds like: an analysis of the ideological differences between men and women, one made all the more interesting by its use of graphs, charts and other tactile examples. ‘Typography’ is another effortless visual affair, one that turns its namesake into a plaything. I expect Ryan and the design staff at Black Inc. had a lot of fun laying these stories out.
For a sudden change in direction, I'd like to air a minor grievance I had with a particular story. ‘The Examination’, I felt, though gloriously sub-textual, never really broke free from the shackles of its device. In this story, a disadvantaged African youth confesses his hopes and hardships within the response sections of a written examination. While far from a bad story, it’s a perfect example of everything I don’t like about experimental fiction: the form is limiting and the story too disconnected to offer any emotional resonance. The fact that it tries to be affecting, and succeeds in getting some of the way there, makes it all the more frustrating.
Of course, ‘The Examination’ is the exception, rather than the rule. For the most part, the experiments in The Weight of a Human Heart perfectly complement the stories they’re attached to. In some cases, they even enhance them.
Writers, publishers, or those aspiring to be either, will get an extra kick out of The Weight of a Human Heart. It’s a fun and stirring read, and has an accessible prose-style, but it does demand things from the reader: namely, a similar appreciation for language, literature and everything else it celebrates. It’s a bit like Ryan wrote this book for a secret, undefined sub-culture of literature nerds. While it isn’t completely inaccessible to others (i.e. people without an interest in publishing or with knowledge of literary tropes; people who just want an easy, ripping yarn), I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it to them. In short, the very thing that makes this book unique – its unrelenting cleverness – is also what will turn some away. A few of these stories – perhaps a quarter – are like little puzzles; the reader must read very closely to discern hidden meanings and gain a fuller appreciation. It’s never more work than it needs to be, but I feel it may deter those after a quick, simple read. (Different strokes n’ all, but gosh, the thought of someone turning this book away because it’s too challenging is very disheartening!)
I fear I’ve portrayed this book as some sort of self-aware comedy. It is, in parts, but it’s also much more. Ryan O’Neill shows great versatility in this collection. Juxtaposing his aforementioned experimental stories are some incredibly poignant reflections on loss, hardship and the infallibility of the human spirit. Ryan has spent time in Europe, Africa and Asia, and it’s clear that these places have influenced his work. Rwanda, for instance, is beautifully rendered in several stories – most notably in the sublime ‘Africa Was Crying Children’ and ‘The Cockroach’. Ryan’s keen observational eye brings these exotic locales to life. The Rwandan stories are powerful, affecting and, crucially, unsentimental. The child protagonist in superhero story ‘The Speeding Bullet’ (my personal standout) is as endearing as you could ever hope to find.
For a collection that prides itself on its willingness to experiment, it’s funny that the more traditional narratives seem to pack the most punch. Neither style would work as well without the other, though; a whole collection of lighter, experimental pieces could feel frivolous, while one with nothing but deep, stirring pieces might seem overwrought.
Excepting ‘The Examination’, the slight accessibility barrier and an over-reliance on the theme of adultery (seriously, at least seven of the stories feature it), I can not recommend this highly enough. Short story collections usually take me a good while to get through, but this I devoured. It’s thrilling being able to surrender to a writer, knowing full well that where they’re taking you is somewhere new and unexpected. The Weight of a Human Heart is full of such surprises. Its commitment to defying my expectations left me constantly smiling.
I genuinely can’t wait to see what Ryan O’Neill comes out with next.
January 18, 2023
I’ll preface this review by saying this is a book I wouldn’t usually go for. If it hadn’t been assigned to me by uni, I would have likely never picked this up. Literary fiction isn’t really my shtick, and often I find that I’m not usually engaged by short stories.
However, there was a humour to O’Neill’s writing that just kept pulling me through. His tone of writing was playful, funny, and unique. I liked how he experimented with the English language, despite the subject manner being incredibly boring. His characters were well-written and often cruel too, which made for interesting interactions and a dark but amusing tone. His prose was *chefs kiss*, just delightful and rich. I’m slowly finding that I do liked to be challenged with reading stories like these, which are outside of my comfort zone because occasionally I am rewarded with some stellar writing talent.
My only complaint was that I felt that many of the stories felt the same. There either was someone cheating or being cheated on, someone’s parent died or they were just assholes to their kids, or it was just about a character being a total dick. I mean, I can’t fault the author for sticking to his themes and messaging, because mans was loyal. But some stories seemed to blend into the other, and I became a little bored towards the end. And yet, there were also some of these stories that really hit. The opening one, named after the title of the book, The Weight of A Human Heart, was fire. I really enjoyed it, and it will be the one story of this collection that sticks with me if I’m to remember anything about this book. 3/5 stars.
However, there was a humour to O’Neill’s writing that just kept pulling me through. His tone of writing was playful, funny, and unique. I liked how he experimented with the English language, despite the subject manner being incredibly boring. His characters were well-written and often cruel too, which made for interesting interactions and a dark but amusing tone. His prose was *chefs kiss*, just delightful and rich. I’m slowly finding that I do liked to be challenged with reading stories like these, which are outside of my comfort zone because occasionally I am rewarded with some stellar writing talent.
My only complaint was that I felt that many of the stories felt the same. There either was someone cheating or being cheated on, someone’s parent died or they were just assholes to their kids, or it was just about a character being a total dick. I mean, I can’t fault the author for sticking to his themes and messaging, because mans was loyal. But some stories seemed to blend into the other, and I became a little bored towards the end. And yet, there were also some of these stories that really hit. The opening one, named after the title of the book, The Weight of A Human Heart, was fire. I really enjoyed it, and it will be the one story of this collection that sticks with me if I’m to remember anything about this book. 3/5 stars.
August 30, 2025
This collection of short stories was a delight to one's linguistic senses. From the motifs of literature and communication coherently permeating the entire book, to the playful experiments with language in some of the individual stories, this work was extremely fun to experience.
What I liked the most, was that essentially every sentence had a purpose, and many of them had a unique flavour, or even packed a punch that made you stop and think about it for a minute.
The diversity of themes explored is also great - from the absurd complexity of familial relationships, to the cruel tragedy of the Rwandan genocide. Although, the only reason I give this 4, and not 5 stars, is that too many of the stories cantered around infidelity between boring, middle-class, straight couples - a tired theme that too many male authors are, unfortunately, obsessed with.
Still, even in these few thematically uninspired stories with their seemingly bland and cliché characters, the clever prose and the fun the author has with the language made them stand out from other works of a similar nature. There's just something humorous and self-aware about it all, that saves these stories as well.
To put in more simply - I will not remember any of the characters' names from this book, but many of its vivid scenes, clever lines, and evocative storytelling will stay with me for a long time.
What I liked the most, was that essentially every sentence had a purpose, and many of them had a unique flavour, or even packed a punch that made you stop and think about it for a minute.
The diversity of themes explored is also great - from the absurd complexity of familial relationships, to the cruel tragedy of the Rwandan genocide. Although, the only reason I give this 4, and not 5 stars, is that too many of the stories cantered around infidelity between boring, middle-class, straight couples - a tired theme that too many male authors are, unfortunately, obsessed with.
Still, even in these few thematically uninspired stories with their seemingly bland and cliché characters, the clever prose and the fun the author has with the language made them stand out from other works of a similar nature. There's just something humorous and self-aware about it all, that saves these stories as well.
To put in more simply - I will not remember any of the characters' names from this book, but many of its vivid scenes, clever lines, and evocative storytelling will stay with me for a long time.
June 12, 2017
I've never been much of a short story reader but The Weight of a Human Heart has changed that for me. I picked this up on a whim at Newcastle Writer's Festival a few months ago and sped through it soon after. I've picked up a few short story collections in the past few months and I'm looking forward to reading them. Not every story was a 5 star read for me, but some most definitely were, and the excitement the collection gave me for short stories certainly is.
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July 6, 2018
3 1/2 stars. The title story packs a real wallop; and several others are very clever and amusing. There are some fairly dark stories as well. As a collection I enjoyed it, and will definitely read other titles by this writer
January 9, 2023
It’s always difficult reviewing collections of short stories; there are definitely stories here that I’d give 1- or 2-stars. There are, however, stories here that I thought brilliant and thoroughly enjoyed.
April 8, 2023
It's very difficult to find a collection of short stories where you enjoy every one, but this one is the closest yet. Some funny, some powerful, some quirky but almost all excellent.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
March 21, 2024
shittt. i really liked a lotta these but the first one came out of the left field and hit me like a truck. i liked the cyclical structure of july the first, and the humorous prose of four letter words. good stuff did it for school
December 27, 2025
Set reading for a Uni subject in experimental fiction. I found the variety of forms readable enough, from exam papers, to grammar plays and footnotes. The Rwandan stories were vivid. The stories about bad and broken mothers perhaps were lived experiences? Now to write an essay about O'Neill.
June 11, 2017
Very enjoyable, delightfully creative. Started to get a bit repetitive at the 70% mark.
November 7, 2020
I enjoyed some of these stories more than others. He is a very clever writer with imaginative ideas or "alternatives" to the regular short story form. Overall, a good read.
January 6, 2022
Some of these stories packed a punch while others were lacklustre. I definitely thought that as the starting story was so strong that the end would be the same but unfortunately I was let down.
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