The Moon is Following Me

by Cecil Browne

A collection of short stories about life in the Caribbean in the seventies featuring a host of some ambitious, some hopelessly naive, all determined to make a name for themselves in the world.

Genres: Short Stories, The World, Travel, Ebooks, Fiction

164 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2010

Reviews

[Calzean · Rating 3 out of 5]

A set of six (mostly) happy stories about life in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. High school romance, emancipation, a murder, friendship and a laid back lifestyle are all covered. A snippet (just a small one) of life in this sovereign state.

[Dolf van der Haven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Around-the-world #190: St Vincent and the Grenadines 🇻🇨.
Six short stories from a Caribbean island. All are pretty good, although they always ended before I felt theybwere complete. The last, somewhat longer, story I found best. It is written in a sort of patois or pidgin English and ends in a funny way.

[Schwarzer_Elch · Rating 1 out of 5]

Los cuentos cortos que conforman este libro dan algunas luces sobre la vida en San Vicente y las Granadinas; sin embargo, la visión que ofrece no es del todo completa y, además, a nivel literario, tienen algunas carencias. Si bien el nivel “técnico” es el adecuado, en general, me quedé con la sensación de que les faltó mucho para emocionar y comprometer. El último cuento me resultó particularmente aburrido e innecesariamente largo, mientras que los otros pasaron sin mayor relevancia. Si tuviera que recomendar algunos títulos, estos serían “The Moon is Following me” y “Spanish Ladies”.

[Luna Mayura · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 ⭐️

volta ao mundo em livros: 1/199

[Dawn Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read Around the World: St. Vincent and the Grenadines

[Pedro · Rating 3 out of 5]

El libro incluye ocho cuentos ambientados en San Vicente y Granadinas, uno de los países más australes de la cadena de las Antillas Menores, lugar de nacimiento del autor.

Los cuentos narran pequeños episodios de la vida cotidiana de los pobladores de la isla; son cuentos con cierta inocencia, casi naive, aunque algunos de ellos tocan algunas cuestiones de amor, que aunque menores, son importantes en la vida humana. Cómo el redescubrimiento de un amor que se creía muerto, la perseverancia esperanzada en alcanzar la reciprocidad, o la primera experiencia de amar, aunque sin darse cuenta:

"La vio irse y se preguntó porqué la vida a veces no era justa, te arrebata lo que quieres sin darte tiempo para terminar de comprenderlo."

También del espanto ante el contacto con una muerte evitable y cercana:

"Quería huir de la habitación. Si no hubiera habido tal multitud atenta, hubiera salido corriendo sin detenerme hasta estar a kilómetros de distancia. Pero me sentía atrapado por toda la gente sentada en las sillas o en el suelo, y por mi sensación de complicidad y culpa me quedé de pie, inmóvil, incapaz de mirar directamente a mi amigo."

Aunque tiene algunos momentos edulcorados, con el triunfo de los héroes, los cuentos presentan una interesante constelación de personajes, y una buena construcción de diálogos.

Un libro agradable.

[Nat · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 2020 I decided I wanted to read at least one book from every country, and started a list. In the first year or two I did alright on this goal and then, having eliminated most of the easy countries already, stalled out. In the interest of actually making some progress on this thing, this year I made one of those wheels with all the countries on it, and will be spinning it and reading books from the countries that come up. The first was St Vincent and the Grenadines, which led me to this short story collection. These were all pretty short but I enjoyed them and thought they gave a pretty well-written glimpse into Caribbean life.

the moon is following me - boy resents the new girl in his class, 4/5

take for two - naive guy has an awkward failed romance, 4/5

spanish ladies - teenage boys eating coconuts, 3/5

first, second, first, third - woman starts a band, 3/5

action action - woman whose husband is away in London, 3/5

taste for freedom - guy leaves home to strike out on his own and sells fruit after the island is freed, 4/5

[Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cecil Browne's little book of short stories is sweet and charming. The people felt real and unique and I felt like I had a glimpse into life on St Vincent and the Grenadines. However the stories did not always feel complete. I don't mean that they had cliffhangers, but that they lacked some depth. I wanted more illustration of everyday life, more description of place, and more character development.

[Johan D'Haenen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zes genietbare kortverhalen over mensen die zich een plaatsje willen creëren ergens op een godvergeten eiland in de Caraïben, St Vincent en de Grenadines.
De verhalen geven een beeld van de gebruiken en van hoe het leven op zo'n eiland is, ze zijn soms een beetje triest zonder daarom in nodeloze sentimentaliteit te vervallen. Maar ik mis toch de "twist of the tail" die je van kortverhalen mag verwachten, met als gevolg dat je als geïnteresseerde lezer toch wel wat op je honger blijft.

[Dr. Stewart Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth hunting out.

These poignant stories have a kind of charm and artful simplicity in their telling that reminds me of early Michael Anthony. And like Anthony's stories there is more to them than there seems on a first glance.

[Virginie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading the world in books: St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

[Rosamund · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories set in St Vincent and the Grenadines imbued with the nostalgic passion of the expatriate.

[Bogdan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting short story collection! I liked mostly the language which preserves the way people are speaking in Caribbean (or at least what I think they are speaking).

[Helena Bento]

🇻🇨
Não aguentei ler inteiro, infelizmente nenhuma das historias me prendeu e achei a escrita bem fraca

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Country: St. Vincent

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely refreshing to open this and see "The stories are at times funny and unsettling but, apart from Spanish Ladies, never sad". What an absolutely great attitude.

Like some other short story collections/vignettes (e.g. Trout, Belly Up or And the Wind Sees All) I find the choice of which people are chosen/have their stories collected quite intruiging, though I like to think in this case it is for no particular reason apart from that they are just people with a story (together with the attitude reflected in the opening comment, I can very much get on board with this). I enjoyed all the stories, and to pretty much the same degree, though perhaps my favourite was take for two. As much as I felt Archie's pain believing in a romantic love that never existed, I think its ending saved the story from invalidating the opening statement referred to above, and I really like the triumph of friendship over everything.

Interesting point from the moon is following me that people, some from a young age, move around a lot between the islands - it makes sense given their size and geography though of course.