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Kuytu
İnsanın, ailenin ve toplumun kuytularında gezinen sürprizli öyküler...
Galli yazar Carys Davies, Frank O'Connor Öykü Ödülü'nü kazanan eseriyle ilk kez Türkçede!
Kahramanlarının karanlıkta kalmış yanlarını bütünüyle aydınlatmadan, söylenmemiş sözler bırakarak anlatan Davies'in öyküleri, karlar altındaki Sibirya'dan Avustralya kırsalına, Viktorya dönemi Britanya'sından günümüz ABD'sine dek, zaman ve mekân bakımından hayli geniş bir uzamda geçiyor.
Hayırsever bir kadın, idama mahkum bir hükümlüyü ziyaret ediyor. Dulların yaşadığı bir kıyı kasabasına bir balıkçı cesedi vuruyor. Haitili bir dadı, beyaz yakalı patronlarından tuhaf bir istekte bulunuyor. Ücra bir çiftlikte yaşayan bir kadın, sırrını umulmadık bir kişiyle paylaşıyor. Kendi halinde bir belediye meclisi üyesi, Kraliçe Victoria'ya kalbini açıyor. Birmingham'lı bir kadın, Sibirya'da hayatını değiştirecek bir olaya tanık oluyor.
Gücünü, olay akışının öngörülemezliğinden alan Davies'in öyküleri, çekildiğimiz ücralarda yaşamaya çalışırken başka hayatlar hakkında ne kadar az şey bildiğimizi ifşa ederek, bizi sadece mekânın değil, insanın, ailenin ve toplumun kuytularına da götürüyor.
"Tıpkı Çehov'un o muhteşem öyküleri gibi Davies'inkiler de şaşırtıcı bir basitliğe sahip. Çetrefilli anlam katmanlarını görebilmek için bir kez daha okunması gereken kitaplardan."
-Ladette Randolph
"Davies, edebi gücünü öykünün sonuna saklayarak kendi çapının ötesinde yansımaları olan bir mikro dünya kurmayı çok iyi biliyor."
-Sarah Hall
Galli yazar Carys Davies, Frank O'Connor Öykü Ödülü'nü kazanan eseriyle ilk kez Türkçede!
Kahramanlarının karanlıkta kalmış yanlarını bütünüyle aydınlatmadan, söylenmemiş sözler bırakarak anlatan Davies'in öyküleri, karlar altındaki Sibirya'dan Avustralya kırsalına, Viktorya dönemi Britanya'sından günümüz ABD'sine dek, zaman ve mekân bakımından hayli geniş bir uzamda geçiyor.
Hayırsever bir kadın, idama mahkum bir hükümlüyü ziyaret ediyor. Dulların yaşadığı bir kıyı kasabasına bir balıkçı cesedi vuruyor. Haitili bir dadı, beyaz yakalı patronlarından tuhaf bir istekte bulunuyor. Ücra bir çiftlikte yaşayan bir kadın, sırrını umulmadık bir kişiyle paylaşıyor. Kendi halinde bir belediye meclisi üyesi, Kraliçe Victoria'ya kalbini açıyor. Birmingham'lı bir kadın, Sibirya'da hayatını değiştirecek bir olaya tanık oluyor.
Gücünü, olay akışının öngörülemezliğinden alan Davies'in öyküleri, çekildiğimiz ücralarda yaşamaya çalışırken başka hayatlar hakkında ne kadar az şey bildiğimizi ifşa ederek, bizi sadece mekânın değil, insanın, ailenin ve toplumun kuytularına da götürüyor.
"Tıpkı Çehov'un o muhteşem öyküleri gibi Davies'inkiler de şaşırtıcı bir basitliğe sahip. Çetrefilli anlam katmanlarını görebilmek için bir kez daha okunması gereken kitaplardan."
-Ladette Randolph
"Davies, edebi gücünü öykünün sonuna saklayarak kendi çapının ötesinde yansımaları olan bir mikro dünya kurmayı çok iyi biliyor."
-Sarah Hall
136 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 2014
69 people are currently reading
2713 people want to read
About the author
Carys Davies
19 books781 followersCarys Davies's debut novel, West, was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize, runner-up for the McKitterick Prize, and winner of the Wales Book of the Year for Fiction. Her second novel, The Mission House, was first published in the UK in 2020 where it was The Sunday Times Novel of the Year.
She is also the author of two collections of short stories, Some New Ambush and The Redemption of Galen Pike, which won the 2015 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and the 2015 Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize. She is the recipient of the Royal Society of Literature's V.S. Pritchett Prize, the Society of Authors' Olive Cook Short Story Award, a Cullman Fellowship at the New York Public Library, and is a member of the Folio Academy. Her fiction has been translated into nine languages.
Born in Wales, she grew up there and in the Midlands, lived and worked for twelve years in New York and Chicago, and now lives in Edinburgh.
She is also the author of two collections of short stories, Some New Ambush and The Redemption of Galen Pike, which won the 2015 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award and the 2015 Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize. She is the recipient of the Royal Society of Literature's V.S. Pritchett Prize, the Society of Authors' Olive Cook Short Story Award, a Cullman Fellowship at the New York Public Library, and is a member of the Folio Academy. Her fiction has been translated into nine languages.
Born in Wales, she grew up there and in the Midlands, lived and worked for twelve years in New York and Chicago, and now lives in Edinburgh.
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June 10, 2024
Having wanted to read a Welsh author on my recent trip to Wales, I opened The Redemption of Galen Pike as my plane took off to a startling line about an airplane that ‘just broke in two like a bread roll, spilling crumbs from the sky.’ Which, whew, damn Carys Davies thanks for that airline anxiety, but this poetically devastating description is characteristic of how her stories cab hit like a jump scare. The Redemption of Galen Pike comes fast and furious across 17 crisp and emotionally chilling stories that each move like a perfectly played chess match to deliver a quick, killing blow with stunning succinctness. While it becomes a bit formulaic after a few it never feels stale as each story has such a heavy-hitter moment that fully immerses you in the feeling of someone for whom ‘it must have seemed to him, somehow, like the end of the world.’ Winner of the Frank O’Connor International Short Story award—Davies actually received the last one that was ever given out—this collection is as sharp as it is insightful with stories that rove around the world from remote locales to jail cells on the American frontier to capture moments in the lives of everyday people when one change can trigger a monumental shift.
‘If the preparation of the heart is taken seriously the right words will come’
Early 20th century short story writer O. Henry was so well known for his twist endings that the technique was often referred to as “an O. Henry.” With The Redemption of Galen Pike there is a similar feel, yet Davies doesn’t deliver a twist, per say, as much as a final addition of new information or activity makes all the carefully planned details slide into place for a startling revelation. Take the opening story, The Quiet (which you can read in its entirety HERE), for instance where a young woman who has settled in a remote, rural location with her husband is unsettled by the visitation of her only neighbor who lives six miles away. She’d ‘do almost anything to stop Henry Folwer looking at her,’ it begins when he arrives to disrupt her solitaire, ‘it felt like the worst thing in the world to her.’ Trepidation grows in the reader with every paragraph as one assumes the worst—in each story Davies keeps you feeling slightly out of the loop but still at a close enough proximity to where you think you might just grasp what is happening, like something you can brush with your fingertips but can’t grab but if you stretch just a liiiiiiittle further…—before in very few words a moment changes everything you know about what is going on. And it almost knocks the wind out of you.
While, sure, this formula occurs in many of these stories, Davies switches things up enough that it doesn’t become too similar or stale, especially as the final lines of a few of these stories just really catch you off-guard. But there is also a lot of honesty and heart to these stories, made even more compelling as by the raw vulnerability of the characters. It is often a transitional period for them, or a dramatic event makes them rethink past experiences. We often see how what might seem small from the outside can be a vast vulnerability or devastation on the inside.
A fight between a couple that leads to devastating consequences outside a woman’s remote hotel brings back memories of fights with her husband, a visit to a neighbor changes a life forever, a misreading of affection has deadly consequences and more. This collection really keeps you guessing.
This collection is worth investigating even if just for the title story, in which a Quaker woman forms a bond with prisoner sentenced to death on the American frontier. It is a moving piece, one that explores the idea of finding goodness in everyone and being there to help a person regardless of the terrible things they may have done. It reminds me of librarianship in a way and how “libraries are for everyone” is a belief that goes a lot deeper than just diversity initiatives and often involves close interactions with people you might not want to be interacting with. The story, which also delivers a very unexpected ending also really contrasts how small kindnesses can mean great things, especially in a world with people like their mayor who ‘has no interest in the unfortunate people of this world.’
The stories take place all around the world and often feel very timeless with little to no indication if it is set modern day or, say, the 1800s. Though there are some that draw from history, such as Myth which nudges a theory of Amazonian women removing a breast for battle, or Bonnet, one of the best in the collection, that captures an uncomfortable moment in the life of Charlotte Brontë. The author is believed to have been in love with her younger, very attractive publisher who drug his feet on finally informing her he had taken a bride, which led to a famous correspondence from her:
‘Mr Dear Sir,
In great happiness, as in great grief--words of sympathy should be few. Accept my meed of congratulation--and believe me
Sincerely yours
C. Brontë
Davies captures an awkward moment when she visits his office before she is aware of the marriage, and it is devastating in its simplicity:
The simplicity of many of these stories is what also helps drive them home in devastating ways. Davies excels with an economy of words and crafts really vibrant imagery that can craft dynamic characters with a single sentence:
Such a description can also be said of these stories that feel at all times to be teetering on a cliff’s edge. When the final sentence comes, we often topple off into oblivion with them.
The Redemption of Galen Pike is a strong collection of short stories, managing to create great effect out of such short spaces (the stories are often just under 10 pages long, several of the more powerful ones around 3 or 4). A quick read, but one that has some rather haunting moments. I will certainly be quick to read more of Davies after this.
4/5
‘If the preparation of the heart is taken seriously the right words will come’
Early 20th century short story writer O. Henry was so well known for his twist endings that the technique was often referred to as “an O. Henry.” With The Redemption of Galen Pike there is a similar feel, yet Davies doesn’t deliver a twist, per say, as much as a final addition of new information or activity makes all the carefully planned details slide into place for a startling revelation. Take the opening story, The Quiet (which you can read in its entirety HERE), for instance where a young woman who has settled in a remote, rural location with her husband is unsettled by the visitation of her only neighbor who lives six miles away. She’d ‘do almost anything to stop Henry Folwer looking at her,’ it begins when he arrives to disrupt her solitaire, ‘it felt like the worst thing in the world to her.’ Trepidation grows in the reader with every paragraph as one assumes the worst—in each story Davies keeps you feeling slightly out of the loop but still at a close enough proximity to where you think you might just grasp what is happening, like something you can brush with your fingertips but can’t grab but if you stretch just a liiiiiiittle further…—before in very few words a moment changes everything you know about what is going on. And it almost knocks the wind out of you.
While, sure, this formula occurs in many of these stories, Davies switches things up enough that it doesn’t become too similar or stale, especially as the final lines of a few of these stories just really catch you off-guard. But there is also a lot of honesty and heart to these stories, made even more compelling as by the raw vulnerability of the characters. It is often a transitional period for them, or a dramatic event makes them rethink past experiences. We often see how what might seem small from the outside can be a vast vulnerability or devastation on the inside.
A fight between a couple that leads to devastating consequences outside a woman’s remote hotel brings back memories of fights with her husband, a visit to a neighbor changes a life forever, a misreading of affection has deadly consequences and more. This collection really keeps you guessing.
This collection is worth investigating even if just for the title story, in which a Quaker woman forms a bond with prisoner sentenced to death on the American frontier. It is a moving piece, one that explores the idea of finding goodness in everyone and being there to help a person regardless of the terrible things they may have done. It reminds me of librarianship in a way and how “libraries are for everyone” is a belief that goes a lot deeper than just diversity initiatives and often involves close interactions with people you might not want to be interacting with. The story, which also delivers a very unexpected ending also really contrasts how small kindnesses can mean great things, especially in a world with people like their mayor who ‘has no interest in the unfortunate people of this world.’
The stories take place all around the world and often feel very timeless with little to no indication if it is set modern day or, say, the 1800s. Though there are some that draw from history, such as Myth which nudges a theory of Amazonian women removing a breast for battle, or Bonnet, one of the best in the collection, that captures an uncomfortable moment in the life of Charlotte Brontë. The author is believed to have been in love with her younger, very attractive publisher who drug his feet on finally informing her he had taken a bride, which led to a famous correspondence from her:
‘Mr Dear Sir,
In great happiness, as in great grief--words of sympathy should be few. Accept my meed of congratulation--and believe me
Sincerely yours
C. Brontë
Davies captures an awkward moment when she visits his office before she is aware of the marriage, and it is devastating in its simplicity:
‘Never in her whole life, has she been as conscious of her own appearance as she is at this moment&and she is always always acutely and painfull conscious of her own appearance when she is with him here, in London, here in his office’
The simplicity of many of these stories is what also helps drive them home in devastating ways. Davies excels with an economy of words and crafts really vibrant imagery that can craft dynamic characters with a single sentence:
‘Everything about her made Lenny think of a string pulled tight and about to be plucked, a figure balanced on the crumbling lip of a cliff and ready to jump a brief electric calm before a storm.’
Such a description can also be said of these stories that feel at all times to be teetering on a cliff’s edge. When the final sentence comes, we often topple off into oblivion with them.
The Redemption of Galen Pike is a strong collection of short stories, managing to create great effect out of such short spaces (the stories are often just under 10 pages long, several of the more powerful ones around 3 or 4). A quick read, but one that has some rather haunting moments. I will certainly be quick to read more of Davies after this.
4/5
November 24, 2023
Davies specializes in an economy of words, and there are glimpses here of the quality writing that brings her latest book, West, to life with engrossing immediacy. The crowning achievement of this short story collection is 'The Quiet,' an unsuspecting narrative with a chilling conclusion. The book's titular story, 'The Redemption of Galen Pike,' offers a satisfying payoff, and 'Sibyl' is good for a chuckle. Unfortunately, the remaining stories are too elusive or ineffectual to garner much enjoyment. Overall, a collection that glimmers with possibility but is too scant to satiate.
March 3, 2019
yüz kitap'ın pek çok öykü kitabı gibi bunu da çok beğendim. ama beğeni sıramda en tepelere yerleştiğini söylemeliyim.
davies hem minimal öyküler yaratıyor, kullanması gereken sözcükleri çok çok ekonomik kullanıyor ve bir biçimde okuru hep öykünün sonunda ters köşeye yatırıyor. iyi bir öykü için elbette ki ters köşe şart değil ama bunu öyle ustalıkla yapıyor ki sonlara gelirken her seferinde yaşadığınız şaşkınlık ve bu şaşkınlığın nasıl bir ustalıkla yaratıldığı carys davies'in kendi stilini çoktan oluşturduğunu gösteriyor.
"mavi tarlalardan yürü" kadar otantik değil öyküler, pek çok coğrafyaya pek çok zamana yayılmış ama galler'de geçen ve üvez ağacı sebebiyle "mavi tarlalardan yürü"de en sevdiğim öykülerden birini anımsattığı için, creed adlı öykü galiba en sevdiğim oldu.
kötü geçen bir günü "allahım iyi ki edebiyat ve yüz kitap var" diye bitirdiğim bir gece oldu.
* yasemin akbaş'ın da pek çok çevirisini okudum, kendini çok geliştirdiğini ve bu çevirinin çok iyi olduğunu ekleyeyim.
kitap hakkında agos'a yazdım.
http://tembelveyazar.blogspot.com/201...
davies hem minimal öyküler yaratıyor, kullanması gereken sözcükleri çok çok ekonomik kullanıyor ve bir biçimde okuru hep öykünün sonunda ters köşeye yatırıyor. iyi bir öykü için elbette ki ters köşe şart değil ama bunu öyle ustalıkla yapıyor ki sonlara gelirken her seferinde yaşadığınız şaşkınlık ve bu şaşkınlığın nasıl bir ustalıkla yaratıldığı carys davies'in kendi stilini çoktan oluşturduğunu gösteriyor.
"mavi tarlalardan yürü" kadar otantik değil öyküler, pek çok coğrafyaya pek çok zamana yayılmış ama galler'de geçen ve üvez ağacı sebebiyle "mavi tarlalardan yürü"de en sevdiğim öykülerden birini anımsattığı için, creed adlı öykü galiba en sevdiğim oldu.
kötü geçen bir günü "allahım iyi ki edebiyat ve yüz kitap var" diye bitirdiğim bir gece oldu.
* yasemin akbaş'ın da pek çok çevirisini okudum, kendini çok geliştirdiğini ve bu çevirinin çok iyi olduğunu ekleyeyim.
kitap hakkında agos'a yazdım.
http://tembelveyazar.blogspot.com/201...
October 17, 2024
4 stars
short review for busy readers:
A collection of 17 flash and short stories that all have a 19th century feel to them, even if they are set in the modern day. Heavy on description/characterisation/atmosphere, low on plot, slowish, a lot of interior thought/feeling. Delightful sentence structure and breadth of characters/situations. Much better than her longer work.
in detail:
After having read Davies' West: A Novel (awful) and Clear (better, but still problematic), I had come to the conclusion that she is a talented writer of descriptive, historical prose who has no talent - or perhaps no interest - in plots*.
After reading "The Redemption of Galen Pike," I haven't changed that opinion, but now believe that her forte very much lies in the short short form where her style and strengths shine, and not in the far more commercially popular longer forms.
Unfortunately, the novel is the gold standard today and all shorts writers are constantly encouraged to "write something longer," even if their style, punchy in the short, becomes threadbare, empty and overly burdened in the long (as it does with Davies' work).
Davies' style can be described thus: a long intro with detailed, static description of either a setting or of a character's situation. Sometimes this intro lasts most of the story, with the narrative voice describing something, then doubling back to describe more of it, and sometimes even coming back again for a third pass, before much of anything happens.
Plot - as much as there is any - is mostly achieved through a POV switch or an interior paradigm switch. That is, in the last paragraphs, we hop heads and see the situation through another character's eyes, or the initial POV character changes their mind/ realises something.
Again, the "action" is interior and much of it emotional or desire based. At most, the characters carry out one singular exterior action - such as throwing a pie in "Wicked Fairy"- or busy themselves with a series of routine actions, as in "Creed" and "Precious".
Davies stories also display an odd coyness about socially non-conforming matters, especially relating to non-hetero sexuality. It's as if the narrative sees it, then lowers its eyes and decorously looks away. This was also a critique I had of Clear.
For example, in "The Coat" we have a transwoman in the days before gender resignment surgery who would have been considered merely a cross-dresser or homosexual.
As soon as we catch sight of her, Davies immediately jerks our attention away and delves into detailed descriptions of the mistaken, confused or disgusted reactions of other characters.
The transgender character remains vague, a shadow, on the periphery of the story, never really stepping into the narrative, never really being fully seen. (Even within the confines of the narrator POV this would have been possible, but the trans character is kept well away from the actual story, even though she is at the very heart of it.)
On one point I have to give Davies a standing ovation: the writing is exemplary and Davies' use of sentence structures could be taught in Creative Writing classes. This woman knows how to wield a semi-colon!
My faves of the collection were:
First Journeyman
Miracle at Hawk's Bay
The Redemption of Galen Pike
Wicked Fairy
Sibyl
and
The Quiet... which you can find a free copy of here:
https://lithub.com/the-redemption-of-...
*I'm also bad at plots, so I notice immediately when a fellow sufferer is compensating by over-focusing on their strengths. It's the writer equivalent of the balding man's comb-over.
short review for busy readers:
A collection of 17 flash and short stories that all have a 19th century feel to them, even if they are set in the modern day. Heavy on description/characterisation/atmosphere, low on plot, slowish, a lot of interior thought/feeling. Delightful sentence structure and breadth of characters/situations. Much better than her longer work.
in detail:
After having read Davies' West: A Novel (awful) and Clear (better, but still problematic), I had come to the conclusion that she is a talented writer of descriptive, historical prose who has no talent - or perhaps no interest - in plots*.
After reading "The Redemption of Galen Pike," I haven't changed that opinion, but now believe that her forte very much lies in the short short form where her style and strengths shine, and not in the far more commercially popular longer forms.
Unfortunately, the novel is the gold standard today and all shorts writers are constantly encouraged to "write something longer," even if their style, punchy in the short, becomes threadbare, empty and overly burdened in the long (as it does with Davies' work).
Davies' style can be described thus: a long intro with detailed, static description of either a setting or of a character's situation. Sometimes this intro lasts most of the story, with the narrative voice describing something, then doubling back to describe more of it, and sometimes even coming back again for a third pass, before much of anything happens.
Plot - as much as there is any - is mostly achieved through a POV switch or an interior paradigm switch. That is, in the last paragraphs, we hop heads and see the situation through another character's eyes, or the initial POV character changes their mind/ realises something.
Again, the "action" is interior and much of it emotional or desire based. At most, the characters carry out one singular exterior action - such as throwing a pie in "Wicked Fairy"- or busy themselves with a series of routine actions, as in "Creed" and "Precious".
Davies stories also display an odd coyness about socially non-conforming matters, especially relating to non-hetero sexuality. It's as if the narrative sees it, then lowers its eyes and decorously looks away. This was also a critique I had of Clear.
For example, in "The Coat" we have a transwoman in the days before gender resignment surgery who would have been considered merely a cross-dresser or homosexual.
As soon as we catch sight of her, Davies immediately jerks our attention away and delves into detailed descriptions of the mistaken, confused or disgusted reactions of other characters.
The transgender character remains vague, a shadow, on the periphery of the story, never really stepping into the narrative, never really being fully seen. (Even within the confines of the narrator POV this would have been possible, but the trans character is kept well away from the actual story, even though she is at the very heart of it.)
On one point I have to give Davies a standing ovation: the writing is exemplary and Davies' use of sentence structures could be taught in Creative Writing classes. This woman knows how to wield a semi-colon!
My faves of the collection were:
First Journeyman
Miracle at Hawk's Bay
The Redemption of Galen Pike
Wicked Fairy
Sibyl
and
The Quiet... which you can find a free copy of here:
https://lithub.com/the-redemption-of-...
*I'm also bad at plots, so I notice immediately when a fellow sufferer is compensating by over-focusing on their strengths. It's the writer equivalent of the balding man's comb-over.
November 10, 2016
"She's buried under the beets."
That was the moment, that line in the first story, where I knew I would love this book. Every story memorable for a different reason, in a slim volume. I am so grateful for whoever in my book swap first picked this book to send! (Now that we're at the end of our cycle, I'm allowed to post about it.)
That was the moment, that line in the first story, where I knew I would love this book. Every story memorable for a different reason, in a slim volume. I am so grateful for whoever in my book swap first picked this book to send! (Now that we're at the end of our cycle, I'm allowed to post about it.)
May 26, 2024
I enjoyed Carys Davies' debut novel West, and I heard that her short stories were even better, so I decided to give The Redemption of Galen Pike a try. And I'm pleased to report that it is a marvellous collection.
There are 17 tales in all, taking place in multiple continents and time periods. Characters might seem ordinary on the surface but they often conceal a hidden trauma or end up acting in a shocking manner. I like to think I am good at predicting the way a story will play out, but many of these yarns tripped me up with unexpected twists. And when it comes to fiction, I love being surprised.
It's hard to pick a favourite but some certainly stood out. The Quiet kicks things off strongly - it's about a lonely wife living on a remote farm who dreads the visits of her annoying neighbour. What she doesn't know is that they share a dark secret. Creed follows a similar theme, a tale of a young woman living on the side of a mountain and a reclusive farmer whom she hasn't spoken to in years. One day she plucks up the courage to visit him and let me tell you, the ending to this one floored me. And Bonnet is a heartbreaking account of a writer dressing up to meet the editor she is in love with, before receiving some crushing news.
Loneliness is a common subject in the anthology and I admired the sensitive manner in which Davies examined it. Most of all, I enjoyed the way she confounded the reader's expectations again and again. I can't wait to check out Some New Ambush, her other short story collection. If it's half as good as this one, I'll be delighted.
There are 17 tales in all, taking place in multiple continents and time periods. Characters might seem ordinary on the surface but they often conceal a hidden trauma or end up acting in a shocking manner. I like to think I am good at predicting the way a story will play out, but many of these yarns tripped me up with unexpected twists. And when it comes to fiction, I love being surprised.
It's hard to pick a favourite but some certainly stood out. The Quiet kicks things off strongly - it's about a lonely wife living on a remote farm who dreads the visits of her annoying neighbour. What she doesn't know is that they share a dark secret. Creed follows a similar theme, a tale of a young woman living on the side of a mountain and a reclusive farmer whom she hasn't spoken to in years. One day she plucks up the courage to visit him and let me tell you, the ending to this one floored me. And Bonnet is a heartbreaking account of a writer dressing up to meet the editor she is in love with, before receiving some crushing news.
Loneliness is a common subject in the anthology and I admired the sensitive manner in which Davies examined it. Most of all, I enjoyed the way she confounded the reader's expectations again and again. I can't wait to check out Some New Ambush, her other short story collection. If it's half as good as this one, I'll be delighted.
July 29, 2018
Wow! That's the most appropriate comment for this book of short stories. Whether a story is a just a page or two in length, or longer, in one instance just two paragraphs, no matter; it packs a wallop. Each story straddles the fine line between fairy tale and reality, each one surprises us, every one hits you between the eyes with something you never saw coming. The common thread is loneliness, and the beauty and heartbreak of people trying to endure, then reaching out for .....something. Or someone.
I read the author's new novel "West", and liked it enough to go looking for her short stories. Davies has a unique style that makes her writing stand out. Don't try to read more than one at a time though. They take some time to digest.
I read the author's new novel "West", and liked it enough to go looking for her short stories. Davies has a unique style that makes her writing stand out. Don't try to read more than one at a time though. They take some time to digest.
March 5, 2019
kuzeye doğru gidildikçe öykücü hanımefendilerde sanki biraz daha atmosfer yoğunluğu artıyor gibi. Belki bu biraz coğrafyadan gelen bir etkidir. Bilemiyorum. Ancak hepsinde biraz daha sisli biraz daha bulanık bir hava yaratılırken, öyküler toplamına bakınca netleşen bir durum var gibi.
Ben kitabı genel olarak başarılı buldum. Çünkü bittikten sonra bile zaman zaman bana kendini hatırlattı. Hatırlatıyor da. (bitireli 2 gün oluyor) Yazarın genel olarak bir derdi anlatmak istediği bir konusu var. Bu böyle çok da elle tutulur gözle görülür bir şey olmasa da bu uçucu şeyi anlatmayı gayet iyi başardığını düşünüyorum.
Bir de anlatımında tam da vurucu yerlerde es vermesi, orayı es geçmesi sonradan olanları anlatarak bir önceki kısmı hayal ettirmesi bence çok başarılıydı. Dikkate değer bir derleme, dikkate değer bir yazar.
Ben kitabı genel olarak başarılı buldum. Çünkü bittikten sonra bile zaman zaman bana kendini hatırlattı. Hatırlatıyor da. (bitireli 2 gün oluyor) Yazarın genel olarak bir derdi anlatmak istediği bir konusu var. Bu böyle çok da elle tutulur gözle görülür bir şey olmasa da bu uçucu şeyi anlatmayı gayet iyi başardığını düşünüyorum.
Bir de anlatımında tam da vurucu yerlerde es vermesi, orayı es geçmesi sonradan olanları anlatarak bir önceki kısmı hayal ettirmesi bence çok başarılıydı. Dikkate değer bir derleme, dikkate değer bir yazar.
August 28, 2019
4-
More than half of the stories were perfect examples of why the genre of short stories exist: in this case, not as 'shrunken to their essence novels' , but as small, perfectly finished tales that wouldn't work in bigger stories. Lot's of surprises, twists, hard knocking endings.
If it weren't for a minority of stories that grabbed me less, it would've received a cum laude score.
More than half of the stories were perfect examples of why the genre of short stories exist: in this case, not as 'shrunken to their essence novels' , but as small, perfectly finished tales that wouldn't work in bigger stories. Lot's of surprises, twists, hard knocking endings.
If it weren't for a minority of stories that grabbed me less, it would've received a cum laude score.
October 21, 2015
“The Redemption of Galen Pike” is a 148-page collection of 17 short stories, each of which packs a punch. It is the 2015 Winner of the Frank O' Connor International Short Story Award and winner of the 2011 V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize.
A short story is an exceedingly difficult literary undertaking and it is remarkable that Carys Davies succeeded in making each story memorable. I am amazed at how unfailingly each story builds up to an unexpected ending. Davies' prose is spare but lovely.
The stories take place in diverse settings, such as a remote farm in Australia, a city in the UK or US, including Siberia and a jail cell. The characters are ordinary people with their idiosyncratic vulnerabilities. Yet people really are not all that different no matter where they live. In many of these stories, strangers find a connection in a shared secret (e.g., “The Quiet”) or experience (e.g., “Jubilee”).
Below are a few of my favorite stories. I shall refrain from revealing the ending to each story as that is the real treat.
The Quiet
Nothing is what it seems in this story. A newly married woman reluctantly lets into her house a seedy-looking neighbor when her husband is away and I read with bated breath the consequences she and I anticipate. However, her feelings of vulnerability commute to a shell-shocked but not unwelcome connection.
Jubilee
Arthur Pritt, an alderman, meets the Queen. She is stone-faced and bored by all the celebratory activities the town is putting up for her. Arthur is apologetic that she is not treated to a more imaginative welcome. But he recognizes in her a loss he has also experienced, albeit different. So he offers her a personal gift, which becomes, I believe, the highlight of her visit. As in “The Quiet”, strangers are more connected to each other than they will ever know.
The Travellers
A lady from Birmingham leaves her husband in a fit of anger and sets up an inn in Siberia. She meets a couple who arrives in the dead of a very frosty winter's night, sullen and furious at each other. The fight? It is over something many of us can relate to in an instant. But the consequences are way out of proportion to the aggravation and shake me to the core of my being. It is a moving story. It is a good reminder of how love can be snuffed out by fury: "I thought of how every single time it happened, my heart shrivelled up into a tiny dry peanut without the tiniest drop of love left inside it...” Familiar? Be very afraid of the fallout when one is “speechless with incandescent fury”.
Bonnet
This tops my list of favorite stories in this collection. It tells a poignant story of an obscure middle-aged female writer (supposedly Charlotte Bronte) off to London to meet her young handsome publisher. The step she takes in a bid to make an impression is so tenderly told I live her awkwardness and squirm in pain at the embarrassment that ensues. The last line is epic!
The Taking of Bunny Clay
This is a story about a Haitian babysitter and her relationship with her American employers. It has elements of tenderness: a mother's anxiety about her baby with corn-colored hair; a babysitter's deepening affection for another's child. Again, the story has an unexpected ending - not the one I fear but far worse.
The Redemption of Galen Pike
The titular story is a moving one about a Quaker woman who visits a felon on death roll. Even though she is repulsed by his crime, she brings biscuits and cordial and sits companionably with him in the short week leading to his execution. Here again, we have strangers reaching out to each other and forging a human connection. How is Galen Pike redeemed? After his death, the reason for her revulsion of his crime is revealed.
In this review I have kept to only the few stories I particularly like but all the stories are good reads in their own right.
Read
June 27, 2017This is a slim collection of stories but oh it be mighty! Each story is a gem, a wildly imaginative look at the hardships and beauty of life. Davies infuses each interesting tale with raw emotion and observations as her characters grapple with the unpredictability of the world. A man shares a story with Queen Victoria; a teenage girl runs away from home; a woman has a visit from her new neighbor; a famous writer gets a new bonnet. No matter what the tale, this collection is filled with unique visions of loss and pain, but also filled with surprises and humor. My favorite story is the title story, about a kindly Quaker woman who visits a doomed prisoner in a Colorado jail. I cheered at the end of that story, but I sighed at the end of the book, for it was over much too soon. Can’t wait to see what Davies does next.
— Liberty Hardy
from The Best Books We Read In March 2017: http://bookriot.com/2017/04/04/riot-r...
— Liberty Hardy
from The Best Books We Read In March 2017: http://bookriot.com/2017/04/04/riot-r...
December 25, 2023
Yılın son haftasında güzel bir sürpriz oldu bana bu öykü kitabı. Juan Rulfo'nun Ova Alev Alev'i gibi neymiş bir bakayım diye başladığım kitabı yazara hayran kalarak tamamladım. Benim için sadece 2023'ün değil tüm zamanların en iyilerinden artık. Kitapta 17 kısa öykü var. Kadın erkek ilişkilerine, aile olmaya, ölüme, yalnızlığa, yas tutmaya dair içe işleyen, çoğu sizi şaşırtan sonlara sahip metinler. Yazar toplumsal arka planı ihmal etmemiş. En sevdiğim öyküler "Bone" ve "Yoldakiler" oldu. Bone, Charlotte Bronte ile ilgili. Bu öykü hakkında son sayfalarda minik de bir açıklama var.
Yazarın hayranlık uyandıran üslubunu dilimize başarıyla aktaran çevirmen Yasemin Akbaş'ın emeklerine sağlık. Kitapta emeği geçen editör Onur Oztürk'e, düzeltiyi yapan Serra Çifkun'a, kapak tasarımını ve illüstrasyonu yapan Burak Akbay'a da teşekkürler.
Kısa öykü yazmak büyük bir ustalık istiyor. Ve ben böyle yetenekli yazarları çok seviyorum. Carys Davies takip edeceğim edebiyatçılardan olacak.
Yazarın hayranlık uyandıran üslubunu dilimize başarıyla aktaran çevirmen Yasemin Akbaş'ın emeklerine sağlık. Kitapta emeği geçen editör Onur Oztürk'e, düzeltiyi yapan Serra Çifkun'a, kapak tasarımını ve illüstrasyonu yapan Burak Akbay'a da teşekkürler.
Kısa öykü yazmak büyük bir ustalık istiyor. Ve ben böyle yetenekli yazarları çok seviyorum. Carys Davies takip edeceğim edebiyatçılardan olacak.
January 16, 2019
Carys Davies, on yedi öykü anlatıyor Kuytu’da. İlk hikayeden son hikayeye dek ise tahmin edilemez sonlar ile örüyor cümleleri. Tek sayfalık öykü de dahil buna..
.
Frank O’Connor öykü ödülünü de kazanan bu eser,huzursuzluk yaratan ama onlarla yaşamaya alıştığınız fay hatları ile dolu. Karakterlerin gizli tutkuları, yaşanmış ve yaşanacak olanların beraberinde getirdiği iniş çıkışlar..Nasıl başlayıp bitirdiğinizi anlamıyorsunuz. Ters köşeler, büyük acılar ve bir o kadar da büyük umutlar görüyorsunuz.
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Eserin orijinal ismi öykülerin birinin de ismi olan The Redemption of Galen Pike, ancak çevirmen Yasemin Akbaş kitabın ruhuna başka bir adı uygun bulmuş,Kuytu..Ki çok da iyi bir tercih olduğunu düşünüyorum. Her bir karakterin açıktan değil kuytularında kalan kırıntılarını okuduğumuz düşünülürse..
.
Ve Burak Akbay’ın bu kapak tasarımı da dağınık çizgilerle oluşturulmuş bir kesiğe odaklanıyor, dokunulduğunda acıyacak biliyorsunuz ama dokunulması için de dualar mırıldanıyorsunuz. Tıpkı kitabın içinde okunmayı bekleyen karakterler gibi.
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Frank O’Connor öykü ödülünü de kazanan bu eser,huzursuzluk yaratan ama onlarla yaşamaya alıştığınız fay hatları ile dolu. Karakterlerin gizli tutkuları, yaşanmış ve yaşanacak olanların beraberinde getirdiği iniş çıkışlar..Nasıl başlayıp bitirdiğinizi anlamıyorsunuz. Ters köşeler, büyük acılar ve bir o kadar da büyük umutlar görüyorsunuz.
.
Eserin orijinal ismi öykülerin birinin de ismi olan The Redemption of Galen Pike, ancak çevirmen Yasemin Akbaş kitabın ruhuna başka bir adı uygun bulmuş,Kuytu..Ki çok da iyi bir tercih olduğunu düşünüyorum. Her bir karakterin açıktan değil kuytularında kalan kırıntılarını okuduğumuz düşünülürse..
.
Ve Burak Akbay’ın bu kapak tasarımı da dağınık çizgilerle oluşturulmuş bir kesiğe odaklanıyor, dokunulduğunda acıyacak biliyorsunuz ama dokunulması için de dualar mırıldanıyorsunuz. Tıpkı kitabın içinde okunmayı bekleyen karakterler gibi.
March 24, 2019
Arka kapak tanıtımının kitapla bu denli örtüştüğü nadirdir.
Davies’in kimi zaman tekinsiz hissedilen öyküleri, şaşırtıcı sonları dalında bir tada sahip.
Son derece basit, sade, gündelik hayatın içinden öykülerin akışının tahmin edilemez olması, farklı hayatlar hakkında önyargılarımıza, bilmediklerimizle bizi karşılaştırması, yazarın yarattığı dünyayı, öykülemeyi farklı kılıyor.
Çok güzel bir çeviriyle dilimize kazandırılmış Kuytu, edebiyat severlerin ilgisini hak ediyor.
Yüz kitap, Davies’in romanını da geç olmadan dilimize kazandıracaktır diye umuyorum...
Davies’in kimi zaman tekinsiz hissedilen öyküleri, şaşırtıcı sonları dalında bir tada sahip.
Son derece basit, sade, gündelik hayatın içinden öykülerin akışının tahmin edilemez olması, farklı hayatlar hakkında önyargılarımıza, bilmediklerimizle bizi karşılaştırması, yazarın yarattığı dünyayı, öykülemeyi farklı kılıyor.
Çok güzel bir çeviriyle dilimize kazandırılmış Kuytu, edebiyat severlerin ilgisini hak ediyor.
Yüz kitap, Davies’in romanını da geç olmadan dilimize kazandıracaktır diye umuyorum...
April 28, 2024
Maybe the best short story collection I've ever read. The stories (shortest 1 page, longest 19 pages) are modestly plain, quietly assured and in the end, take you to a place you didn't expect. At the close of each story, my mouth was a surprised 'O'. Not only is this a collection you can read front to back without a break, I think it works best that way. Plus, you won't want to stop after each story. I also loved West, and plan to read everything she has written and will write.
May 26, 2017
... And BOOM.
Davies goes for the big twists and reveals at the end.
Some in this collection were brilliant and well done, others lost my interest pretty fast, but overall, this was a great collection.
Many of the stories are only a few pages; in that short time, Davies manages to create a solid mood and scene.
Highlights:
"The Quiet"
"The Travellers"
"Redemption of Galen Pike"
"Nothing Like My Nightmare"
Davies goes for the big twists and reveals at the end.
Some in this collection were brilliant and well done, others lost my interest pretty fast, but overall, this was a great collection.
Many of the stories are only a few pages; in that short time, Davies manages to create a solid mood and scene.
Highlights:
"The Quiet"
"The Travellers"
"Redemption of Galen Pike"
"Nothing Like My Nightmare"
January 3, 2021
"Kuytu" insanı beklenmedik finallerle karşılaştıran çok değişik bir öykü kitabı. "Sybıl", "Creed", "Galen Pike'nin Kefareti", "Ceket", "Bunny Clay'ın Götürülüşü", "Precious", "Commercial Yokuşu"-neredeyse tüm öyküleri yazacağım-en sevdiklerim oldu. Ağız tadıyla düzgün bir öykü okumak isterseniz tavsiyemdir...
December 14, 2019
Ağdalı bir dil kullanmadan nasıl çarpıcı ve sonu tahmin edilemeyen, lezzetli öyküler yazılır? Carys Davies, Kuytu’da bu sorunun cevabını açıklıyor. Çeviri de şahane.
April 8, 2024
Her face was still, without expression, and Henry Fowler thought to himself, I have made a mistake. I am wrong about it all. He had been so sure before but now that he was standing in front of her with his waistcoat over the back of the chair and his neck-cloth lying on the seat and his shirtsleeves hanging down like a skipping rope between his knees, Henry Fowler said to himself: I have watched her in this house, moving about in her shawl and her plain high-necked gown, passing behind his chair and pouring his tea, and I have caught the scent of something that isn’t here, and when he returns tonight she will tell him what I have told her and he will fetch a few of the men from town and they will come with their shovels and dig under the beets and they will look at the marks on me and I will tell them how I got them and they will look at each other and remind themselves that Henry Fowler is nothing but a seedy old convict with a bit of land to his name and they will shake their heads and they will hang me.Some of these are not so much short stories as vignettes, slices of real, painful life, tending to horror and the unexpected, and I loved almost each one, even the ones that upset me. I guess that’s the very definition of art. "The Quiet" from which the quote above comes, and "Nothing Like My Nightmare" knocked me quite backwards; the title story was wonderful and the characters real, breathing people. There is misery and blood and suffering and joy and also a bit of sideshow humour. I had enjoyed previous books by this author and will continue to keep an eye out for more of her work.
March 11, 2019
Nefret edilen birinin, mutlak yalnızlıkta bir ortağa dönüşebilmesini; kaplumbağa ağzı gibi dudak kenarları sarkık kraliçeye hikaye anlatabilmenin güzelliğini; eski sevdanın şimşek hızıyla hayata girebilmesini; hurafeye başkaldıranın taşlanabileceğini, sürpriz kurgular içinde anlatıyor Carys Davis.
Günümüzden iyi bir öykü yazarı tanıdım.
"HASET günahların en kötüsüdür; yüreğinde kalan ne varsa YİYİP BİTİRİR, içini kapkara, kötücül düşüncelerle doldurur ve tüm hayatını HİÇE çevirir. Üstelik, hasedin fevkalade çirkin bir günah olduğunu sırf sana öyle SÖYLENDİĞİ için değil, bu günahın seni içten içe KEMİRDİĞİNİ, ömrünü yiyip, bitirdiğini bizzat HİSSETTİĞİN için bilirsin.
Diğer günahlar için de bir sürü olumsuz şey söylenir ama insan hasedin kötülüğünü bizzat HİSSEDER."
Günümüzden iyi bir öykü yazarı tanıdım.
"HASET günahların en kötüsüdür; yüreğinde kalan ne varsa YİYİP BİTİRİR, içini kapkara, kötücül düşüncelerle doldurur ve tüm hayatını HİÇE çevirir. Üstelik, hasedin fevkalade çirkin bir günah olduğunu sırf sana öyle SÖYLENDİĞİ için değil, bu günahın seni içten içe KEMİRDİĞİNİ, ömrünü yiyip, bitirdiğini bizzat HİSSETTİĞİN için bilirsin.
Diğer günahlar için de bir sürü olumsuz şey söylenir ama insan hasedin kötülüğünü bizzat HİSSEDER."
July 14, 2017
I have been reading these short stories on the train in the mornings and find that they follow me around for the rest of the day.Each story is so different but still manages to build suspense and leave you hanging to see how it ends. There are some real gems in here! My favourites are the title story, The Quiet, Creed and The Travellers.
May 4, 2021
Öykülerin çoğu bende 1900’lerin başında yazılmış izlenimi uyandırdı ; günümüz öykülerinde teknolojinin bu kadar az yer tutması ilginç geldi. Sessizlik, Yoldakiler , Sybil ve Creed öykülerinden çok etkilendim ama bunlar dışındakiler de akıcı ve keyifle okunuyorlar .
February 2, 2016
Holy. Shit. And I typically don't like short stories. I had to order this from the UK and oh man was it worth the wait...
December 18, 2018
♡ Sessizlik
♡ Jübile
♡ Yoldakiler
♡ Precious
♡ Bone
♡ Bunny Clay`in Götürülüşü
♡Hawk Koyu'ndaki Mucize
♡ Ormandaki Kulübede
♡ Ceket
♡ Galen Pike'ın Kefareti
♡ Kuytu
♡ Jübile
♡ Yoldakiler
♡ Precious
♡ Bone
♡ Bunny Clay`in Götürülüşü
♡Hawk Koyu'ndaki Mucize
♡ Ormandaki Kulübede
♡ Ceket
♡ Galen Pike'ın Kefareti
♡ Kuytu
December 4, 2018
Each story in this short story collection is tightly written & tightly wound with Gone Girlesque-like twists and endings that the reader will grow to anticipate yet will continue to be surprised by as they're revealed.
I desperately want all of my friends to read this book so that we may discuss the impressiveness of how much is said & conveyed in so few words.
I desperately want all of my friends to read this book so that we may discuss the impressiveness of how much is said & conveyed in so few words.
January 12, 2025
I don’t think I’ve ever given a short story collection 5 stars but this little book deserves it. No abrupt endings that make the story feel unfinished and full of "didn’t see that coming” moments. Very clever little twists.
May 13, 2019
Kuytu son yıllarda okuduğum en iyi öykü kitabı. Her öyküsünde o kadar az kelimeyle o kadar ilgi çekici dünyalar yaratıyor ki soluksuz bir şekilde kendini okutuyor. O kadar kısa öykülerde okurun beklentilerini yerle yeksan edebilmesine hayran kaldım. Bir yerden sonra bu sefer ters köşe ne olacak diye okuduğum öykülerin hepsinde beni şaşırtmayı başardı. Okuyucunun bir şeyleri keşfetmesine olanak bırakan öyküleri, son paragrafta söylediği cümleyle öykünün zihnimde yarattığını tamamen tersine çeviren kurgusuyla son sayfalarını dönüp tekrar tekrar okuduğum bir kitap oldu. Bu yılın benim için en büyük sürprizlerinden.
February 7, 2017
Most of these stories were delightfully twisted. Carys Davies loves to pull the rug out from under your narrative expectations. If jaw-dropping embarrasses you, my advice would be not to read these stories in public. A few of them that included historical personages - Queen Victoria, etc. - or were set amid real life events - 9-11 - fell flat for me, as if reality constrained Davies' zany imagination. But wow, the bulk of these are just stunning!
January 7, 2020
Sıradan bir öyküyü, sona sakladıkları bir cümle ile sıradışı yapan yazarlara selam olsun.
March 2, 2021
Pek çok önerisine güvendiğim insandan tavsiye olarak aldığım, çok hevesle okumayı bekleğim bir kitap okudum. Gerçekten mest oldum. Çok güzel bir okuma yaptım.
Kısacık her öykünün tam en güzel en mest eden yerinde, hoop diye neticeye ermesi ve bunun apar topar olmaması, ustaca finalize olması muazzamdı.
Duygusunu tarihi mekanı tam olarak belirtmeden geçirebilmek bence ustalık emaresi, mesela hiç New York demeden, 11/9 demeden, tüm kurguyu oraya bağlamak, duygusunu tam geçirmek başarı bence.
Öykü severleri mest edecek şahane bir öykü kitabı olduğu için öncelikle öykü tutkunlarına sonra tüm okurlara tavsiye ediyorum.
Keyifli okumalar 🌼
#readingismycardio #aslihanneokudu #okudumbitti #2021okumalarım #okuryorumu #kitaptavsiyesi #kuytu #carydavies #yüzkitap #öyküokurları
Kısacık her öykünün tam en güzel en mest eden yerinde, hoop diye neticeye ermesi ve bunun apar topar olmaması, ustaca finalize olması muazzamdı.
Duygusunu tarihi mekanı tam olarak belirtmeden geçirebilmek bence ustalık emaresi, mesela hiç New York demeden, 11/9 demeden, tüm kurguyu oraya bağlamak, duygusunu tam geçirmek başarı bence.
Öykü severleri mest edecek şahane bir öykü kitabı olduğu için öncelikle öykü tutkunlarına sonra tüm okurlara tavsiye ediyorum.
Keyifli okumalar 🌼
#readingismycardio #aslihanneokudu #okudumbitti #2021okumalarım #okuryorumu #kitaptavsiyesi #kuytu #carydavies #yüzkitap #öyküokurları
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