The Awakening is considered by many to be an American classic and a forerunner of modern feminist literature. Yet when it was published in 1899, it received more negative criticism than positive, leading author Kate Chopin to dedicate her talents to writing short stories exclusively for the remainder of her life. Given that most journalists and literary critics in the late 19th century were men, the chilly reception shouldn’t be surprising. The Awakening is about a married woman named Edna Pontellier who, while spending her summer on Grand […]
Of course it would cost something, but he was an expert in cutting corners; and when there were no more corners left he would make circles rounder.
The Magic Barrel – 5/5 Stars This story collection came out in 1959 and contains the well known title story, but also has several other very good stories. It won the National Book Award as well. As I have previously stated in reviews, the age of the writer (here in a kind of debut effort) lends itself to an already mature and thoughtful work (this was also true for many of Raymond Chandler’s stories as well as the story collection A Lucky Man by Jamel […]
One wish
Damn, Liane, why you gotta do my girl Catriona like that? I love that Moriarty doesn’t spare any of her heroes or demonize her villains utterly, but this was as brutal to Catriona as any of Moriarty’s writing is capable. I won’t lie and say that it didn’t have a lot to do with seeing a lot of myself in Cat, the triplet (with flighty spacey Gemma and no-nonsense Lyn rounding out the trio) whose mundane happiness is made more interesting with a cynical streak, […]
Getting over the Rough Patch
The Rough Patch I figured was going to be a book about a garden that needed love and patience. Or maybe a bad garden that caused a rough patch between neighbors. While love and patience is needed, it is not what you think at first. Evan and his dog do everything together, that is until the unthinkable happens. Now Evan is alone, mad, sad and feeling prickly. He does not go out until the day he goes out to the garden and chops it all […]