SGD $10
Spine intact.
Like his novel, Snow Falling On Cedars, for which he received the PEN/Faulkner Award, Guterson's beautifully observed and emotionally piercing short stories are set largely in the Pacific Northwest. In these vast landscapes, hunting, fishing, and sports are the givens of men's lives. With prose that stings like the scent of gunpowder, this is a collection of power.
Amazon Reviews
Better than Snow
By John Regan on January 26, 2002
I'm aghast when I read the reviews of my fellow readers but then I take in account the common misperception that a short story is somehow easier to write or a lesser achievement than a novel. The truth is that short stories are more difficult to write, every sentence must punctuate, there is no breathing room. In the two novels I have read of Guterson, the endless pages of description are wonderful but can be top-heavy at times, whereas these stories are lean creations, leaving me wanting more. While it's no Pigeon Feathers, Guterson has been handed the wordsmithing baton from Updike, and the rich prose reminds me of Updike, satiating a yearn I have for quality short stories. I thoroughly enjoyed these, I liked them better than either of his novels, I hope he writes more.
When I was one and twenty...
By A Customer on November 9, 1997
My daughter said Guterson is a good writer. She is right. This collection of his short stories is interesting, thought-provoking, sometimes upsetting.
Guterson's stories are set, loosely, in the Northwest; Washington, I take it. They are the narratives of men who remember events or chains of events that had meaning to them, but who offer no interpretations. That is left to us. Though the specific events weren't all familiar to me, the situations and feelings were.
All of the stories in the collection deal with boys growing into men, of poor starts and poor transitions into manhood, of friends who drifted away, of love that was thrown away. Some of the pictures Guterson draws are sorrowful, as when he remembers the hunt on which his father began to show the first unmistakable signs of old age, and the romance that the author left behind to become a baseball star.
This road that we travel with Guterson, the one stretching behind and ahead, is a hard one. It's full of pain. But the journey's to a better place, and we have to make it. The stories affected me powerfully, especially as I read them in middle age.
Guterson is not shallow, and his prose is often difficult. In a few stories the syntax was so involved that I had to read passages several times. Sometimes I understood them. Other stories were written simply; they communicated easily to me. The fault is largely mine; I had been reading so many escape novels that I wasn't in shape to contend with stories full of real thought written in challenging style. But Guterson's writing isn't easy. When he wrote these stories he was younger. Was he under the close guidance of a mentor he wanted to impress, and so felt encouraged to exercise his prose?
I'll try the other Guterson book my daughter recommended when I can find it. This young Guterson is a good writer with a good early insight into something worth examining. He's older now. With a little age undoubtedly will have come more stability of expression.
a solid collection with some very strong stories
By M. H. Bayliss on October 13, 2000
I'm surprised how many really did NOT like his stories. It seems that after reading his novel, they wanted greater things from these early short stories. I found lots of promise in these short stories with much of the subtle style that he uses later in Snow Falling. The strongest stories in the collection involve young boys growing up in the Northwest. Although the action is lots of hunting and fishing, there is a major undercurrent of emotional tension and frustration. In some ways, these remind me of some of Hemingway's early stories, not so much in terms of style, but setting. The Hunters, for instance, brought back images of Hemingway's The Battler. If I could have given this collection 3 1/2 stars, I would have, but it's just short of 4. Still, I enjoyed almost every story in the collection. Guterson is a "show" not tell type of writer, so I suspect some readers weren't watching closely enough. There's beauty and depth in some of these stories.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Country-Ahead-Us-Behind/dp/0679767185
Spine intact.
Like his novel, Snow Falling On Cedars, for which he received the PEN/Faulkner Award, Guterson's beautifully observed and emotionally piercing short stories are set largely in the Pacific Northwest. In these vast landscapes, hunting, fishing, and sports are the givens of men's lives. With prose that stings like the scent of gunpowder, this is a collection of power.
Amazon Reviews
Better than Snow
By John Regan on January 26, 2002
I'm aghast when I read the reviews of my fellow readers but then I take in account the common misperception that a short story is somehow easier to write or a lesser achievement than a novel. The truth is that short stories are more difficult to write, every sentence must punctuate, there is no breathing room. In the two novels I have read of Guterson, the endless pages of description are wonderful but can be top-heavy at times, whereas these stories are lean creations, leaving me wanting more. While it's no Pigeon Feathers, Guterson has been handed the wordsmithing baton from Updike, and the rich prose reminds me of Updike, satiating a yearn I have for quality short stories. I thoroughly enjoyed these, I liked them better than either of his novels, I hope he writes more.
When I was one and twenty...
By A Customer on November 9, 1997
My daughter said Guterson is a good writer. She is right. This collection of his short stories is interesting, thought-provoking, sometimes upsetting.
Guterson's stories are set, loosely, in the Northwest; Washington, I take it. They are the narratives of men who remember events or chains of events that had meaning to them, but who offer no interpretations. That is left to us. Though the specific events weren't all familiar to me, the situations and feelings were.
All of the stories in the collection deal with boys growing into men, of poor starts and poor transitions into manhood, of friends who drifted away, of love that was thrown away. Some of the pictures Guterson draws are sorrowful, as when he remembers the hunt on which his father began to show the first unmistakable signs of old age, and the romance that the author left behind to become a baseball star.
This road that we travel with Guterson, the one stretching behind and ahead, is a hard one. It's full of pain. But the journey's to a better place, and we have to make it. The stories affected me powerfully, especially as I read them in middle age.
Guterson is not shallow, and his prose is often difficult. In a few stories the syntax was so involved that I had to read passages several times. Sometimes I understood them. Other stories were written simply; they communicated easily to me. The fault is largely mine; I had been reading so many escape novels that I wasn't in shape to contend with stories full of real thought written in challenging style. But Guterson's writing isn't easy. When he wrote these stories he was younger. Was he under the close guidance of a mentor he wanted to impress, and so felt encouraged to exercise his prose?
I'll try the other Guterson book my daughter recommended when I can find it. This young Guterson is a good writer with a good early insight into something worth examining. He's older now. With a little age undoubtedly will have come more stability of expression.
a solid collection with some very strong stories
By M. H. Bayliss on October 13, 2000
I'm surprised how many really did NOT like his stories. It seems that after reading his novel, they wanted greater things from these early short stories. I found lots of promise in these short stories with much of the subtle style that he uses later in Snow Falling. The strongest stories in the collection involve young boys growing up in the Northwest. Although the action is lots of hunting and fishing, there is a major undercurrent of emotional tension and frustration. In some ways, these remind me of some of Hemingway's early stories, not so much in terms of style, but setting. The Hunters, for instance, brought back images of Hemingway's The Battler. If I could have given this collection 3 1/2 stars, I would have, but it's just short of 4. Still, I enjoyed almost every story in the collection. Guterson is a "show" not tell type of writer, so I suspect some readers weren't watching closely enough. There's beauty and depth in some of these stories.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Country-Ahead-Us-Behind/dp/0679767185
Comments
Post a Comment