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Im Schatten der Ginflasche: Stories
Inhalt: Das grauenvolle Radio -- Der Schwimmer -- Der Einbrecher von Shady Hill -- Im Schatten der Ginflasche. Kleines Taschenbuch: 14,5 x 9 cm
- GenresShort Stories
123 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
About the author
John Cheever
298 books1,110 followersJohn Cheever was an American novelist and short story writer, sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs" or "the Ovid of Ossining." His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the suburbs of Westchester, New York, and old New England villages based on various South Shore towns around Quincy, Massachusetts, where he was born.
His main themes include the duality of human nature: sometimes dramatized as the disparity between a character's decorous social persona and inner corruption, and sometimes as a conflict between two characters (often brothers) who embody the salient aspects of both--light and dark, flesh and spirit. Many of his works also express a nostalgia for a vanishing way of life, characterized by abiding cultural traditions and a profound sense of community, as opposed to the alienating nomadism of modern suburbia.
His main themes include the duality of human nature: sometimes dramatized as the disparity between a character's decorous social persona and inner corruption, and sometimes as a conflict between two characters (often brothers) who embody the salient aspects of both--light and dark, flesh and spirit. Many of his works also express a nostalgia for a vanishing way of life, characterized by abiding cultural traditions and a profound sense of community, as opposed to the alienating nomadism of modern suburbia.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 8, 2025
"The Sorrow of Gin" is told from the point of view of nine-year-old Amy, the daughter of alcoholic parents. They neglect Amy, constantly sending her to spend time with the cook or a sitter, while they drink and party with their friends in their affluent suburban neighborhood.
The father has an opportunity to make a connection to his daughter and to see the world without the fog of alcohol at the end of the story. Sadly, there is a feeling that nothing will change.
The father has an opportunity to make a connection to his daughter and to see the world without the fog of alcohol at the end of the story. Sadly, there is a feeling that nothing will change.
March 28, 2018
The Demoralization and Destruction of Alcoholism
This audible short story is outstanding. Meryl Streep as narrator makes it even better.
John Cheever could write this from the heart. He was a lifelong alcoholic whose relationships were decimated by alcohol abuse. His story is told from the point of view of Amy, the daughter of a couple of society-type alcoholics.
Never have I read or seen anything that could so distill the negative effects of alcoholism on a family. I did not say alcohol, which most people can drink in moderation and from time to time. An alcoholic, for whatever reason, is incapable of so drinking. He or she is consumed by the drink.
In "The Sorrows of Gin," Amy's parents steal time and love and care from her. Their alcoholism diminishes Amy's respect for them and for herself and, in one way so excellently illustrated in the story, leads to the unexpected demoralization of the family as a unit.
This should probably be required reading for Al-Anon or alcoholics' children who suffer psychological problems.
For a short story of decent length by such a good writer as well as pitch-perfect narration, it's certainly worth $0.79. I highly recommend it if anyone close to you is an alcoholic, or a drug addict, or if you enjoy a poignant short story read to you by a world class actress.
This audible short story is outstanding. Meryl Streep as narrator makes it even better.
John Cheever could write this from the heart. He was a lifelong alcoholic whose relationships were decimated by alcohol abuse. His story is told from the point of view of Amy, the daughter of a couple of society-type alcoholics.
Never have I read or seen anything that could so distill the negative effects of alcoholism on a family. I did not say alcohol, which most people can drink in moderation and from time to time. An alcoholic, for whatever reason, is incapable of so drinking. He or she is consumed by the drink.
In "The Sorrows of Gin," Amy's parents steal time and love and care from her. Their alcoholism diminishes Amy's respect for them and for herself and, in one way so excellently illustrated in the story, leads to the unexpected demoralization of the family as a unit.
This should probably be required reading for Al-Anon or alcoholics' children who suffer psychological problems.
For a short story of decent length by such a good writer as well as pitch-perfect narration, it's certainly worth $0.79. I highly recommend it if anyone close to you is an alcoholic, or a drug addict, or if you enjoy a poignant short story read to you by a world class actress.
June 13, 2019
Uno de los mejores cuentos e Cheever: el alcoholismo de sus padres visto a través de los ojos de Amy, su hija, de como tener unos padres que beben sin parar en fiestas y en casa, puede afectar a la niña. Lo vemos todo a través de los ojos de ella y es impagable su lectura del comportamiento de sus padres. Imagino que muy autobiográfico también, imposible no ver a Cheever en el padre de Amy.
"Nunca resultaban indecorosos, parecían incluso más correctos y ceremoniosos cuanto más bebian, aunque en ocasiones su padre, al levantarse para llenar las copas de todos, caminaba suficientemene erguido, pero daba la impresión de que los zapatos se le quedaban pegados a la alfombra. En una ocasión, Amy lo había visto darse contra la pared con tanta fuerza que se derrumbó en el suelo...".
"Nunca resultaban indecorosos, parecían incluso más correctos y ceremoniosos cuanto más bebian, aunque en ocasiones su padre, al levantarse para llenar las copas de todos, caminaba suficientemene erguido, pero daba la impresión de que los zapatos se le quedaban pegados a la alfombra. En una ocasión, Amy lo había visto darse contra la pared con tanta fuerza que se derrumbó en el suelo...".
February 17, 2023
John Cheever + Meryl Streep = Perfection.
Cheever wrote a smart, melancholy story about the perils, evils and sorrows of gin. The author was himself an alcoholic and lost many relationships to the booze.
The Sorrows of Gin is told from the point of view of Amy, who is the daughter of two high-society alcoholics. They are so absorbed in drink that they deny their daughter love, care, aid and time. And as a result she loses love and respect for them. Unfortunately she also loses respect for herself.
The story is concise and spare, but perfectly illustrates the effects of alcoholism on a family. It is poignant, painful and pensive.
Cheever wrote a smart, melancholy story about the perils, evils and sorrows of gin. The author was himself an alcoholic and lost many relationships to the booze.
The Sorrows of Gin is told from the point of view of Amy, who is the daughter of two high-society alcoholics. They are so absorbed in drink that they deny their daughter love, care, aid and time. And as a result she loses love and respect for them. Unfortunately she also loses respect for herself.
The story is concise and spare, but perfectly illustrates the effects of alcoholism on a family. It is poignant, painful and pensive.
June 16, 2021
The ironic thing is that the author was an alcoholic and I'm sure that it affected his own daughter like it did in this story.
October 29, 2021
I read this from a collection of his works. Cheever's "The Sorrows of Gin" is how drinking can have and effect on adults and children.
Story in short- Young 4 grader Amy is a lonely little girl who sees how alcohol has effected her young life.
"The voices woke Amy, and, lying in her bed, she perceived vaguely the pitiful corruption of the adult world; how crude and frail it was, like a piece of worn burlap, patched with stupidities and mistakes, useless and ugly, and yet they never saw its worthlessness, and when you pointed it out to them, they were indignant."
“We paid that gardener three dollars an hour and all he did was sneak in here and drink up my Scotch. The sitter we had before we got Mrs. Henlein used to water my bourbon, and I don’t have to remind you about Rosemary. The cook before Rosemary not only drank everything in my liquor cabinet but she drank all the rum, kirsch, sherry, and wine that we had in the kitchen for cooking. Then, there’s that Polish woman we had last summer. Even that old laundress. And the painters. I think they must have put some kind of a mark on my door. I think the agency must have checked me off as an easy touch.”
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌Spoiler Alert❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌
Amy Lawton sees her parents give parties and attend them too. Mr. and Mrs. Lawton have little time to engage with their little girl but have many orders for her to be good. Rosemary, the cook seems to be a stable influence in a sense but also not very bright in telling Amy about her alcoholic sister. She tells Amy that her parents drink a lot and she should empty the liquor into the sink. Rosemary comes back after a trip drunk, Mr. Lawton and Amy meet her at the train station, she is soon fired. The Lawtons hire another cook but unknowingly to anyone, Amy drained the liquor and the cook is accused and fired. The Lawtons have to attend a party and have neighbor, Mrs. Heinlein watch Amy. Amy misses Rosemary and does not like Mrs. Henlein's inquisitive character but answers them. Before her father left for the party she knew he was drinking and might be drunk, she disposes the liquor again but this time after her father comes home and accuses Mrs. Heinlein, Amy sees she is at fault for the trouble, especially after Mrs. Heinlein calls the police on her father. She sees that he has been kind to her and she feels causing so much trouble she must runaway. Amy finds money for the train station and waits for the next train. The gentleman from the train station calls up the Lawtons and Mr. Lawton thinks what he could do to make his daughter realise home is a happy place to be.
"It was dark by the time Mr. Lawton got down to the station. He saw his daughter through the station window. The girl sitting on the bench, the rich names on her paper suitcase, touched him as it was in her power to touch him only when she seemed helpless or when she was very sick. Someone had walked over his grave! He shivered with longing, he felt his skin coarsen as when, driving home late and alone, a shower of leaves on the wind crossed the beam of his headlights, liberating him for a second at the most from the literal symbols of his life—the buttonless shirts, the vouchers and bank statements, the order blanks, and the empty glasses. He seemed to listen—God knows for what. Commands, drums, the crackle of signal fires, the music of the glockenspiel—how sweet it sounds on the Alpine air—singing from a tavern in the pass, the honking of wild swans; he seemed to smell the salt air in the churches of Venice. Then, as it was with the leaves, the power of her figure to trouble him was ended; his gooseflesh vanished. He was himself. Oh, why should she want to run away? Travel—and who knew better than a man who spent three days of every fortnight on the road—was a world of overheated plane cabins and repetitious magazines, where even the coffee, even the champagne, tasted of plastics. How could he teach her that home sweet home was the best place of all? "
SORROWS OF GIN
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 260
She fell into the chair he had left vacant. “Don’t sit in your father’s chair, Amy,” her mother said, not realizing that Amy’s legs were worn out from riding a bicycle, while her father had done nothing but sit down all day.
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 266
“We paid that gardener three dollars an hour and all he did was sneak in here and drink up my Scotch. The sitter we had before we got Mrs. Henlein used to water my bourbon, and I don’t have to remind you about Rosemary. The cook before Rosemary not only drank everything in my liquor cabinet but she drank all the rum, kirsch, sherry, and wine that we had in the kitchen for cooking. Then, there’s that Polish woman we had last summer. Even that old laundress. And the painters. I think they must have put some kind of a mark on my door. I think the agency must have checked me off as an easy touch.”
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 271
The voices woke Amy, and, lying in her bed, she perceived vaguely the pitiful corruption of the adult world; how crude and frail it was, like a piece of worn burlap, patched with stupidities and mistakes, useless and ugly, and yet they never saw its worthlessness, and when you pointed it out to them, they were indignant.
“She fell into the chair he had left vacant. “Don’t sit in your father’s chair, Amy,” her mother said, not realizing that Amy’s legs were worn out from riding a bicycle, while her father had done nothing but sit down all day.”
“We paid that gardener three dollars an hour and all he did was sneak in here and drink up my Scotch. The sitter we had before we got Mrs. Henlein used to water my bourbon, and I don’t have to remind you about Rosemary. The cook before Rosemary not only drank everything in my liquor cabinet but she drank all the rum, kirsch, sherry, and wine that we had in the kitchen for cooking. Then, there’s that Polish woman we had last summer. Even that old laundress. And the painters. I think they must have put some kind of a mark on my door. I think the agency must have checked me off as an easy touch.”
“The voices woke Amy, and, lying in her bed, she perceived vaguely the pitiful corruption of the adult world; how crude and frail it was, like a piece of worn burlap, patched with stupidities and mistakes, useless and ugly, and yet they never saw its worthlessness, and when you pointed it out to them, they were indignant.”
Story in short- Young 4 grader Amy is a lonely little girl who sees how alcohol has effected her young life.
"The voices woke Amy, and, lying in her bed, she perceived vaguely the pitiful corruption of the adult world; how crude and frail it was, like a piece of worn burlap, patched with stupidities and mistakes, useless and ugly, and yet they never saw its worthlessness, and when you pointed it out to them, they were indignant."
“We paid that gardener three dollars an hour and all he did was sneak in here and drink up my Scotch. The sitter we had before we got Mrs. Henlein used to water my bourbon, and I don’t have to remind you about Rosemary. The cook before Rosemary not only drank everything in my liquor cabinet but she drank all the rum, kirsch, sherry, and wine that we had in the kitchen for cooking. Then, there’s that Polish woman we had last summer. Even that old laundress. And the painters. I think they must have put some kind of a mark on my door. I think the agency must have checked me off as an easy touch.”
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌Spoiler Alert❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌
Amy Lawton sees her parents give parties and attend them too. Mr. and Mrs. Lawton have little time to engage with their little girl but have many orders for her to be good. Rosemary, the cook seems to be a stable influence in a sense but also not very bright in telling Amy about her alcoholic sister. She tells Amy that her parents drink a lot and she should empty the liquor into the sink. Rosemary comes back after a trip drunk, Mr. Lawton and Amy meet her at the train station, she is soon fired. The Lawtons hire another cook but unknowingly to anyone, Amy drained the liquor and the cook is accused and fired. The Lawtons have to attend a party and have neighbor, Mrs. Heinlein watch Amy. Amy misses Rosemary and does not like Mrs. Henlein's inquisitive character but answers them. Before her father left for the party she knew he was drinking and might be drunk, she disposes the liquor again but this time after her father comes home and accuses Mrs. Heinlein, Amy sees she is at fault for the trouble, especially after Mrs. Heinlein calls the police on her father. She sees that he has been kind to her and she feels causing so much trouble she must runaway. Amy finds money for the train station and waits for the next train. The gentleman from the train station calls up the Lawtons and Mr. Lawton thinks what he could do to make his daughter realise home is a happy place to be.
"It was dark by the time Mr. Lawton got down to the station. He saw his daughter through the station window. The girl sitting on the bench, the rich names on her paper suitcase, touched him as it was in her power to touch him only when she seemed helpless or when she was very sick. Someone had walked over his grave! He shivered with longing, he felt his skin coarsen as when, driving home late and alone, a shower of leaves on the wind crossed the beam of his headlights, liberating him for a second at the most from the literal symbols of his life—the buttonless shirts, the vouchers and bank statements, the order blanks, and the empty glasses. He seemed to listen—God knows for what. Commands, drums, the crackle of signal fires, the music of the glockenspiel—how sweet it sounds on the Alpine air—singing from a tavern in the pass, the honking of wild swans; he seemed to smell the salt air in the churches of Venice. Then, as it was with the leaves, the power of her figure to trouble him was ended; his gooseflesh vanished. He was himself. Oh, why should she want to run away? Travel—and who knew better than a man who spent three days of every fortnight on the road—was a world of overheated plane cabins and repetitious magazines, where even the coffee, even the champagne, tasted of plastics. How could he teach her that home sweet home was the best place of all? "
SORROWS OF GIN
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 260
She fell into the chair he had left vacant. “Don’t sit in your father’s chair, Amy,” her mother said, not realizing that Amy’s legs were worn out from riding a bicycle, while her father had done nothing but sit down all day.
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 266
“We paid that gardener three dollars an hour and all he did was sneak in here and drink up my Scotch. The sitter we had before we got Mrs. Henlein used to water my bourbon, and I don’t have to remind you about Rosemary. The cook before Rosemary not only drank everything in my liquor cabinet but she drank all the rum, kirsch, sherry, and wine that we had in the kitchen for cooking. Then, there’s that Polish woman we had last summer. Even that old laundress. And the painters. I think they must have put some kind of a mark on my door. I think the agency must have checked me off as an easy touch.”
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 271
The voices woke Amy, and, lying in her bed, she perceived vaguely the pitiful corruption of the adult world; how crude and frail it was, like a piece of worn burlap, patched with stupidities and mistakes, useless and ugly, and yet they never saw its worthlessness, and when you pointed it out to them, they were indignant.
“She fell into the chair he had left vacant. “Don’t sit in your father’s chair, Amy,” her mother said, not realizing that Amy’s legs were worn out from riding a bicycle, while her father had done nothing but sit down all day.”
“We paid that gardener three dollars an hour and all he did was sneak in here and drink up my Scotch. The sitter we had before we got Mrs. Henlein used to water my bourbon, and I don’t have to remind you about Rosemary. The cook before Rosemary not only drank everything in my liquor cabinet but she drank all the rum, kirsch, sherry, and wine that we had in the kitchen for cooking. Then, there’s that Polish woman we had last summer. Even that old laundress. And the painters. I think they must have put some kind of a mark on my door. I think the agency must have checked me off as an easy touch.”
“The voices woke Amy, and, lying in her bed, she perceived vaguely the pitiful corruption of the adult world; how crude and frail it was, like a piece of worn burlap, patched with stupidities and mistakes, useless and ugly, and yet they never saw its worthlessness, and when you pointed it out to them, they were indignant.”
February 25, 2026
Hits in the broken child heart of the 1940s and 1950s...and the sneaky destructive silent addiction of gin. Gin, high in alcohol content with the botanicals to make it seductive and deceivingly "natural," and the ease it allows man-as-provider to come home for a glass or two before dinner and the occasional nip that the help takes in between vacuuming or cooking.
...and all seen from the eyes of a child, often left at home with a cook/nanny as her parents dine out every night with the neighbors, a couple from work, or other parents.
Narrated by Meryl Streep, it's a narrative of domesticity's silent hurts.
...and all seen from the eyes of a child, often left at home with a cook/nanny as her parents dine out every night with the neighbors, a couple from work, or other parents.
Narrated by Meryl Streep, it's a narrative of domesticity's silent hurts.
December 15, 2020
„Im Schatten der Ginflasche“ ist das erste Buch, das ich von John Cheever gelesen habe und ich bin begeistert. Darin: Vier kurzen Geschichten: Das grauenvolle Radio, Der Schwimmer, Der Einbrecher von Shady Hill und Im Schatten der Ginflasche.
Alle vier Geschichten sind auf eine absurde Art komisch und humorvoll, gleichzeitig aber auch düster und traurig. In den Erzählungen, geht es um gescheiterte Existenzen, die Schwierigkeiten des Lebens und am Rande auch immer darum, seine Sorgen in Alkohol zu ertränken.
John Cheevers Sprache ist verhältnismäßig einfach gehalten, was aber auf keinen fall ein Kritikpunkt sein soll, auch Ernest Hemingway hat sich einer einfachen Sprache bedient und trotzdem großartige Bucher geschrieben.
„Im Schatten der Ginflasche“ ist ein kleines und sehr schönes Buch. Nach dem Lesen habe ich mir sofort gedacht, dass ich unbedingt mehr von John Cheever lesen muss.
Eine klare Leseempfehlung!
Alle vier Geschichten sind auf eine absurde Art komisch und humorvoll, gleichzeitig aber auch düster und traurig. In den Erzählungen, geht es um gescheiterte Existenzen, die Schwierigkeiten des Lebens und am Rande auch immer darum, seine Sorgen in Alkohol zu ertränken.
John Cheevers Sprache ist verhältnismäßig einfach gehalten, was aber auf keinen fall ein Kritikpunkt sein soll, auch Ernest Hemingway hat sich einer einfachen Sprache bedient und trotzdem großartige Bucher geschrieben.
„Im Schatten der Ginflasche“ ist ein kleines und sehr schönes Buch. Nach dem Lesen habe ich mir sofort gedacht, dass ich unbedingt mehr von John Cheever lesen muss.
Eine klare Leseempfehlung!
February 17, 2023
Quote to remember:
The voices woke Amy...she perceived vaguely the pitiful corruption of the adult world. How crude and frail it was like a piece of worn burlap patched with stupidities and mistakes.
Useless and ugly and yet they never saw it's worthlessness, and when you pointed it out to them they were indignant.
(uncertain of punctuation - transposed from audiobook).
The voices woke Amy...she perceived vaguely the pitiful corruption of the adult world. How crude and frail it was like a piece of worn burlap patched with stupidities and mistakes.
Useless and ugly and yet they never saw it's worthlessness, and when you pointed it out to them they were indignant.
(uncertain of punctuation - transposed from audiobook).
November 7, 2023
it's a big world and it's not my place to tell anyone what to do or how to live, but alcohol is really bad news for the most part and we'd all probably be much better off if no one ever touched the stuff.
November 8, 2017
Ein paar Geschichten. Mysteriös die Geschichte des Mannes, der durch die Swimmingpools der Gegend schwimmt und die über die unheimlichen Radios.
March 26, 2025
A story about alcoholism and the effect it has on a family.
(#17 - Stories of John Cheever)
(#17 - Stories of John Cheever)
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews