Archives by Tag 'Short Stories'
Review: ‘Country of the Pointed Firs’ by Sarah Orne Jewett
Back in January I wrote a bit about Sarah Orne Jewett, author of . She was such an interesting woman that I almost feel a bit guilty for not liking this book more than I did; Jewett’s critics complained that her stories lacked plot, something of which she herself was well aware, and (while I [...]
Review: ‘The Pigeon’ by Patrick Suskind
Patrick Suskind is an author better known for his book (one which I have on my shelves but have not yet managed to read). Although I’m trying not to buy books by authors I already have on the TBR pile unless it’s for the cause of completing a series, I found myself unable to resist [...]
‘The Salzburg Tales’ by Christina Stead
Well, it’s finally happened: the honeymoon period is over. I suppose the day had to come when I encountered a Virago Modern Classic for which I didn’t particularly care, and it seems that that day is today. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that I actively disliked The Salzburg Tales by Christina [...]
‘American Ghosts and Old World Wonders’ by Angela Carter
Sometimes reading books can be a bit like following the clues to a treasure hunt, one book leading you on to find the next, and that’s exactly what happened to me with this book. Reading Bill Willingham’s Fables: Legends in Exile made me think about other fairy tale adaptations that I’ve enjoyed, which instantly put [...]
Penguin Mini Modern Classics: Saki
Although I may have no resolve at all when faced with a second hand bookshop, usually I have a will of iron in the face of one selling new books which are far beyond my comfortable price range at the rate at which I consume them. However, all the reviews which popped up recently of [...]
‘More English Fairy Tales’ by Joseph Jacobs
I’ve spoken before on this blog about how much I love folk tales and fairy stories and I think that what the Victorian collectors such as Andrew Lang, Jeremiah Curtin and Joseph Jacobs did is amazing. Every time I visit Cecil Sharp House in Camden I silently give thanks for all the work that Sharp [...]
Review: ‘The Quiet Little Woman’ by Louisa May Alcott
Title: The Quiet Little Woman: A Christmas Story Author: Louisa May Alcott Published: Honor Books, 1999, pp. 122. Originally published 1870s Genre: Children’s short stories Blurb: “If someone would only come and take me away! I’m so tired of living here I don’t think I can bear it much longer,” Patty cries. Patty’s life in [...]
Review: ‘The Christmas Fox I: Ghost Writer’ by Tim Mackintosh-Smith
Title: The Christmas Fox I: Ghost Writer Author: Tim Mackintosh-Smith Published: Slightly Foxed, 2005, pp. 31. First edition Genre: Short story Blurb: Speaking via its ghost-writer, Tim Mackintosh-Smith, the Arabic manuscript of Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi tells its own true, if admittedly incredible, story. Set in medieval Cairo and Aleppo, seventeenth-century Oxford and 1960s London, it [...]
Review: ‘Fireworks’ by Angela Carter
Title: Author: Angela Carter Published: Penguin, 1987, pp. 133. Originally published 1974 Genre: Short stories Blurb: In each of these mesmerising tales is a search for heightened sensitivity. Reality is left behind. Filtering ordinary experience through her hallucinatory imagination, Angela Carter exposes the subterranean desires and obsessive fears lurking in the unconscious. Her characters are [...]
Review: ‘Oops!’ by Darrell Bain
Title: Oops! Darrell Bain’s Latest Collection of Short Stories Author: Darrell Bain Published: LL-Publications, 2010, pp. 207 Genre: Short stories Blurb: Oops! is the third collection of stories by Darrell Bain. When Cupid and a Gremlin bump heads, the sparks fly in a rare fantasy story by the author. Other stories in the collection include [...]