Matt
Variable, like most collections of short stories, especially when most of them traverse much the same territory (key themes: masculinity, and the costs thereof; Wyoming, bad weather capital of the world; ranching, not a good business model; the importance of work health and safety compliance etc). Brokeback Mountain is the obvious standout, but don't sleep on A Lonely Coast as an excellent example of how a well crafted short story can pack more of a punch than most full length novels can manage. Those names though, there's only so many deranged cowboy names you can read before it starts to feel like a literary affectation that's only serving to take you out of the story...
Variable, like most collections of short stories, especially when most of them traverse much the same territory (key themes: masculinity, and the costs thereof; Wyoming, bad weather capital of the world; ranching, not a good business model; the importance of work health and safety compliance etc). Brokeback Mountain is the obvious standout, but don't sleep on A Lonely Coast as an excellent example of how a well crafted short story can pack more of a punch than most full length novels can manage. Those names though, there's only so many deranged cowboy names you can read before it starts to feel like a literary affectation that's only serving to take you out of the story...
Answered a promptWhat are your favorite books by black authors?
Answered a promptHow did you become a bookworm?
Answered a promptWhat book has your favorite opening line?
Answered a promptWhat books have changed you as a person?
Absolutely unmissable if you're a fan of Margaret Atwood, right from the start her authorial voice comes through so strongly that it feels like catching up with an long-time friend who you don't see as much as you used to, but are delighted every time you bump into each other - especially since she's clearly not afraid to spill some messy gossip. The connections between her life and her work come through strongly and while her fiction never seems to be fully autobiographical, I'm looking forward to re-reading her work to see how different they feel with all this new knowledge. The sections focusing on Graeme Gibson's life are probably the least interesting if you're just here to get your Atwood fix, but the central role he played in her life eventually makes these diversions from her main story feel necessary to understanding her as a person. Ultimately left me feeling a bit melancholic as aging and death start to move from the periphery to the centre of the story - Margaret Atwood feels like a load bearing presence, and I'd much rather not be made to think of a world without her in it...
Absolutely unmissable if you're a fan of Margaret Atwood, right from the start her authorial voice comes through so strongly that it feels like catching up with an long-time friend who you don't see as much as you used to, but are delighted every time you bump into each other - especially since she's clearly not afraid to spill some messy gossip. The connections between her life and her work come through strongly and while her fiction never seems to be fully autobiographical, I'm looking forward to re-reading her work to see how different they feel with all this new knowledge. The sections focusing on Graeme Gibson's life are probably the least interesting if you're just here to get your Atwood fix, but the central role he played in her life eventually makes these diversions from her main story feel necessary to understanding her as a person. Ultimately left me feeling a bit melancholic as aging and death start to move from the periphery to the centre of the story - Margaret Atwood feels like a load bearing presence, and I'd much rather not be made to think of a world without her in it...
Added to listThe Year(s?) of Atwoodwith 2 books.
Variable, like most collections of short stories, especially when most of them traverse much the same territory (key themes: masculinity, and the costs thereof; Wyoming, bad weather capital of the world; ranching, not a good business model; the importance of work health and safety compliance etc). Brokeback Mountain is the obvious standout, but don't sleep on A Lonely Coast as an excellent example of how a well crafted short story can tell stories that pack more of a punch than most full length novels can manage. Those names though, there's only so many deranged cowboy names you can read before it starts to feel like a literary affectation that's only serving to take you out of the story...
Variable, like most collections of short stories, especially when most of them traverse much the same territory (key themes: masculinity, and the costs thereof; Wyoming, bad weather capital of the world; ranching, not a good business model; the importance of work health and safety compliance etc). Brokeback Mountain is the obvious standout, but don't sleep on A Lonely Coast as an excellent example of how a well crafted short story can tell stories that pack more of a punch than most full length novels can manage. Those names though, there's only so many deranged cowboy names you can read before it starts to feel like a literary affectation that's only serving to take you out of the story...