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Read my full thoughts on this and other books over at Read.Write.Repeat.Tallent's collection reminded me of the beauty of writing and the skill needed to capture characters without the benefit of hundreds of pages of dialogue and decisions. Her writing is absolutely beautiful, if a bit mired down at times by the theoretical. There isn't a lot of action, but this isn't that type of book. To truly enjoy Tallent's writing, you have to be willing to devote some of yourself to it. This is one of thos...
I think this collection puts her in a league of short story writers with Grace Paley and Alice Munro. The sentences, the images, the characters -- so full despite the economy of language -- are really masterful. I'm so glad this was suggested to me.
I'd give this a 3.5. Complicated lives and relationships are the focus of these stories; an estranged daughter rushing home in a snowstorm to see her father before he dies; a child raised in uncertain circumstances who becomes an environmental activist; a couple whose new marriage falters because of a rug and a surprise announcement, a brief love affair between two writers.
too hard a read for me at this time; took too much work to get through a story.
rec the first (the wrong son) and last (briar switch) stories in particular
These are beautiful and complex stories. I listened to them while taking long walks and my plan is to go buy the book to read them again. The last story, particularly the last line of the last story....will stay with you.
I was very excited to read this book because I grew up in the Mendocino area, and because took a class from Tallent in college and loved it. But I was sadly disappointed by this book. The prose was gorgeous but the stories themselves didn’t draw me in, nor did the characters.
These are beautifully crafted stories, each one a perfect slice of experience, each character carefully wrought, each setting almost photographically depicted. The last story, about the death of an estranged parent, was haunting. A remarkable collection.
I want to give this book 3.5 stars. Intense, beautiful writing.
Mendocino Fire by Elizabeth Tallent is a very highly recommended collection of ten short stories.The stories capture relationships and lives during times of transformation with clarity and insight into the complicated emotional landscape of all relationships. Tallent explores relationships between genders, with an emphasis on female relationships, as well as broken marriages. Many of the stories deal with creative people, writers, artists, or ecological/environmental activists. Several are set o...
I would have given this book of stories 3 1/2 stars if I'd been able. Some of the stories are great. However, this was a difficult book to get through because the prose kept getting in the way of the story. The writing was generally beautiful, but I felt like the sentences were drawn up to make the reader think "wow, what a sentence" rather than move the story forward.
The language in this book is so rich, and Elizabeth Tallent's mastery of words is stunning: clauses spill into another; we sink into the scenes. I wish my words could hold as much as Tallent's do; at the same time, the lavishness of the prose means that the book has to be taken in slowly. I think I would benefit from reading this again.
Just finished a reread of this collection and it maintains its standing as one of the best collections of stories I know. Each and every one of them is perfectly unimprovable. I'd give anything to be able to write a story half as good as one of the stories in here, or in any of Elizabeth Tallent's collections. I'd list my favorites here, but that would just be a reproduction of the table of contents.A marvel, this book. Go procure a copy for yourself.
Ten stories exploring the labyrinth and intricacies of relationships. Examining an array of issues plaguing relationships, Tallent left no stone unturned. Tallent demonstrates her understanding of diversity and imagination in each story. Her writing style is distinctive, a mix of intimacy and distance as you enter her protagonists mind, along with a subdued stream of consciousness with part heart ramblings. This patchwork style permits the reader to empathize with characters stirring evocative m...
Elizabeth Tallent is an incredible storyteller. This long-awaited collection, like her earlier work, is vividly imagined and wonderfully nuanced.