en-US Fri, 22 Dec 2023 17:19:17 -0800 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 128927359 Jim Weiss Jason 4 4.75
author: Jim Weiss
name: Jason
average rating: 4.75
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/22
date added: 2023/12/22
shelves: fiction, mythology, short-story
review:
Short collection of Celtic myth stories told in the form of a fireside tale. Includes well-known stuff like the one about Finn MacCooill and the salmon.
]]> 6172670 24 F. Scott Fitzgerald 1603551107 Jason 0 fiction, short-story, to-read 2.57 1921
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: Jason
average rating: 2.57
book published: 1921
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/31
shelves: fiction, short-story, to-read
review:

]]> 20230552 24 F. Scott Fitzgerald Jason 4 fiction, short-story really dives into the criminal world.]]> 3.28 1920
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: Jason
average rating: 3.28
book published: 1920
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/29
date added: 2023/08/29
shelves: fiction, short-story
review:
Average joe frustrated with the work-a-day doldrums tries his hand at crime, then really dives into the criminal world.
]]> 48464
"A Good Man Is Hard to Find"
"The River"
"The Life You Save May Be Your Own"
"A Stroke of Good Fortune"
"A Temple of the Holy Ghost"
"The Artificial Nigger"
"A Circle in the Fire"
"A Late Encounter with the Enemy"
"Good Country People"
"The Displaced Person"
©1955 Flannery O'Connor; 1954, 1953, 1948 by Flannery O'Connor; renewed 1983, 1981 by Regina O'Connor; renewed 1976 by Mrs. Edward F. O'Connor; (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.]]> 252 Flannery O'Connor 0151365040 Jason 5 fiction, short-story 4.19 1955
author: Flannery O'Connor
name: Jason
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1955
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/08
date added: 2023/08/08
shelves: fiction, short-story
review:

]]> 57421889
This book charts the rise of the short story from its original appearance in magazines and newspapers, largely in the United States and Great Britain. For much of the nineteenth century, tales were written for the press, and the form's history is marked by engagement with popular fiction. From the later nineteenth century, the short story earned a reputation for its skillful use of plot design and character study distinct from the novel. After the First World War it found outlets in high-brow publications, and single-author collections, as well as anthologies, were regularly published. Exploring the form's techniques and themes, Andrew Kahn considers the continuity and variation in key structures and techniques such as the beginning, the creation of voice, the ironic turn or plot twist, and how writers manage endings. Throughout he draws on examples from an international and flourishing corpus of work, with close analysis of classic and lesser-known stories by American, Canadian,
Irish, Australian, Russian, and French masters such as James Baldwin, Grace Paley, Alice Munro, Elizabeth Taylor, William Trevor, Helen Garner, Chekhov, and Guy de Maupassant.

Very Short Introductions : Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring

ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.]]> 192 Andrew Kahn 0198754639 Jason 4 3.07
author: Andrew Kahn
name: Jason
average rating: 3.07
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2022/10/05
date added: 2022/10/05
shelves: short-story, fiction, how-to, writing
review:
Mostly deals with the classics. Not much interest in or appreciation for genre fiction. Still, within its scope, this ain't bad for a short intro into short stories.
]]> 36387141 204 Rabindranath Tagore 9380816049 Jason 4 india, short-story, fiction 4.02
author: Rabindranath Tagore
name: Jason
average rating: 4.02
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2022/06/08
date added: 2022/06/08
shelves: india, short-story, fiction
review:
Quite enjoyable in tone, character development and conclusion.
]]> 38469 This is an older edition of ISBN 9780679761792.

"There's no way not to suffer. But you try all kinds of ways to keep from drowning in it." The men and women in these eight short fictions grasp this truth on an elemental level, and their stories, as told by James Baldwin, detail the ingenious and often desperate ways in which they try to keep their head above water. It may be the heroin that a down-and-out jazz pianist uses to face the terror of pouring his life into an inanimate instrument. It may be the brittle piety of a father who can never forgive his son for his illegitimacy. Or it may be the screen of bigotry that a redneck deputy has raised to blunt the awful childhood memory of the day his parents took him to watch a black man being murdered by a gleeful mob.

By turns haunting, heartbreaking, and horrifying--and informed throughout by Baldwin's uncanny knowledge of the wounds racism has left in both its victims and its perpetrators--Going to Meet the Man is a major work by one of our most important writers.]]> 249 James Baldwin Jason 4 Going to Meet the Man is a short story collection mostly about mid-century race relations in America. As an erudite gay Black preacher's son, Baldwin brings a different perspective to the topic. These mostly brilliantly rendered stories provide a bevy of POVs and angles from which to look at such issues. ]]> 4.38 1965
author: James Baldwin
name: Jason
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1965
rating: 4
read at: 2021/02/19
date added: 2021/02/19
shelves: fiction, short-story, literary
review:
Oh man, that titular story is stomach-churning, blood-boilingly tough to read. Going to Meet the Man is a short story collection mostly about mid-century race relations in America. As an erudite gay Black preacher's son, Baldwin brings a different perspective to the topic. These mostly brilliantly rendered stories provide a bevy of POVs and angles from which to look at such issues.
]]> 6823529 3 Geraint Wyn Davies 1602836418 Jason 4 3.62 2009
author: Geraint Wyn Davies
name: Jason
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2020/10/31
date added: 2020/10/31
shelves: classics, fiction, mystery, short-story
review:
I'm not exactly shaking in my boots, but this was a solid collection of old-time spooky stories by the heavy-hitters of a bygone era: Poe, Bierce, Irving, Stevenson, Saki, and more.
]]> 1823823 P.G. Wodehouse 0916124843 Jason 4
Once I got into it, I soon realized I'd read this before. Not specifically this book, but the stories within it. You see, Jeeves & the Song of Songs is also "Jeeves & the Song of Songs," which is to say it is the title of a book and the title of a story. It is also the first story in this collection, kicking off a bevy of solid stories in the Jeeves & Wooster line. Let's take a look at them!

"Jeeves & the Song of Songs" - Bertie Wooster is embroiled in an old chum's romance. Too much of the same song proves its undoing, perhaps for the best. This little number is a classic and was included in the Hugh Laurie/Stephen Fry tv version of Jeeves & Wooster.

"Indian Summer of an Uncle" - One of Bertie's uncles is about to make an ass of himself, matrimonially speaking, and Bertie's tasked with putting an end to it. This is one time where Wodehouse treads a bit rough on class distinction. It's not one of his best. Let's move on!

"Jeeves and the Kid Clementina" - Bertie has a thing for Bobbie Wickham and tries to do a good deed for her at a girls' prep school. Doing good deeds for others never does Bertie any good. Things fall apart like a papier-mâché umbrella in the rain. This is classic-form Wodehouse and a story that sets the parameters used in a number of his full-length books.

"The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy" - An old pal has no backbone, so Bertie hatches up a scheme to get him his just desserts. Bertie ought to know by now that it's best to let Jeeves come up with the schemes, but alas, all goes amiss and Jeeves must tidy it up in the end. I think this might be the only story in this collection which I hadn't read before. It's not bad!

"Jeeves and the Impending Doom" - One of Bertie's awful aunts covertly tries to hook him up with a job he doesn't want. A friend of Bertie's is trying to keep a job with Bertie's aunt that he doesn't like but needs to keep, and Bertie must help him keep it by keeping safe the unpleasant blighter who the aunt is trying to secure Bertie's job with. Make sense? No? Welcome to the world of Wodehouse!

"Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit" - Jeeves is looking forward to a trip to Monte Carlo. Bertie is thinking about marriage to that Wickham gal. Jeeves realizes how unsuitable the match would be well before Bertie figures it out, and goes to great lengths to make his master see the light. Jeeves inevitably saves the day in all these stories, but seldom does he long for any recompense for his extraneous efforts, aside perhaps for Bertie to dress more conservatively. It's nice to see a little personal desire out of the man.

All in all, Jeeves & the Song of Songs cobbles together a very solid set of shorts. I'm a big Jeeves & Wooster fan, so I didn't mind the reread and was happy to find at least one new tale herein. Short and sweet, this would make a good primer for the newcomer!]]> 4.16 1929
author: P.G. Wodehouse
name: Jason
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1929
rating: 4
read at: 2017/11/22
date added: 2020/05/13
shelves: wodehouses, short-story, humor, fiction, comedy
review:
It's deja vu all over again!

Once I got into it, I soon realized I'd read this before. Not specifically this book, but the stories within it. You see, Jeeves & the Song of Songs is also "Jeeves & the Song of Songs," which is to say it is the title of a book and the title of a story. It is also the first story in this collection, kicking off a bevy of solid stories in the Jeeves & Wooster line. Let's take a look at them!

"Jeeves & the Song of Songs" - Bertie Wooster is embroiled in an old chum's romance. Too much of the same song proves its undoing, perhaps for the best. This little number is a classic and was included in the Hugh Laurie/Stephen Fry tv version of Jeeves & Wooster.

"Indian Summer of an Uncle" - One of Bertie's uncles is about to make an ass of himself, matrimonially speaking, and Bertie's tasked with putting an end to it. This is one time where Wodehouse treads a bit rough on class distinction. It's not one of his best. Let's move on!

"Jeeves and the Kid Clementina" - Bertie has a thing for Bobbie Wickham and tries to do a good deed for her at a girls' prep school. Doing good deeds for others never does Bertie any good. Things fall apart like a papier-mâché umbrella in the rain. This is classic-form Wodehouse and a story that sets the parameters used in a number of his full-length books.

"The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy" - An old pal has no backbone, so Bertie hatches up a scheme to get him his just desserts. Bertie ought to know by now that it's best to let Jeeves come up with the schemes, but alas, all goes amiss and Jeeves must tidy it up in the end. I think this might be the only story in this collection which I hadn't read before. It's not bad!

"Jeeves and the Impending Doom" - One of Bertie's awful aunts covertly tries to hook him up with a job he doesn't want. A friend of Bertie's is trying to keep a job with Bertie's aunt that he doesn't like but needs to keep, and Bertie must help him keep it by keeping safe the unpleasant blighter who the aunt is trying to secure Bertie's job with. Make sense? No? Welcome to the world of Wodehouse!

"Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit" - Jeeves is looking forward to a trip to Monte Carlo. Bertie is thinking about marriage to that Wickham gal. Jeeves realizes how unsuitable the match would be well before Bertie figures it out, and goes to great lengths to make his master see the light. Jeeves inevitably saves the day in all these stories, but seldom does he long for any recompense for his extraneous efforts, aside perhaps for Bertie to dress more conservatively. It's nice to see a little personal desire out of the man.

All in all, Jeeves & the Song of Songs cobbles together a very solid set of shorts. I'm a big Jeeves & Wooster fan, so I didn't mind the reread and was happy to find at least one new tale herein. Short and sweet, this would make a good primer for the newcomer!
]]> 863736 27 Clark Ashton Smith 0809533677 Jason 4
The Double Shadow is my first foray into Smith’s wonderfully ghastly fiction. I’m reviewing a collection of short stories that fall under this title because I can’t find an entry for the specific book I read.

The titular story was fantastic! Smith busts out his arcane thesaurus, so it was a bit stiff and a challenging read. But it was also rewarding, especially if you’re into demons. And who doesn’t love a demon? While not action-packed, the detailed descriptions are top-notch. Creepiness abounds in the best ways!

Wizards appear through the various stories, but almost always they're nothing but damn dirty necromancers! Whatever they touch with their stinking paws goes awry, the dabbling m.f.ers. Always gotta dabble...

The collection includes the long short story The Voyage of King Euvoran. This gloriously gilded tale would have been more successful if the main character wasn’t a repugnant, self-righteous lover of torture. That kinda made me not care if he succeeded in his quest. Still, it's beautifully detailed and marvelous, fantastical creatures.]]> 3.73 1933
author: Clark Ashton Smith
name: Jason
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1933
rating: 4
read at: 2019/10/20
date added: 2019/10/23
shelves: fantasy, fiction, horror, short-story
review:
Another successful Halloweeny read!

The Double Shadow is my first foray into Smith’s wonderfully ghastly fiction. I’m reviewing a collection of short stories that fall under this title because I can’t find an entry for the specific book I read.

The titular story was fantastic! Smith busts out his arcane thesaurus, so it was a bit stiff and a challenging read. But it was also rewarding, especially if you’re into demons. And who doesn’t love a demon? While not action-packed, the detailed descriptions are top-notch. Creepiness abounds in the best ways!

Wizards appear through the various stories, but almost always they're nothing but damn dirty necromancers! Whatever they touch with their stinking paws goes awry, the dabbling m.f.ers. Always gotta dabble...

The collection includes the long short story The Voyage of King Euvoran. This gloriously gilded tale would have been more successful if the main character wasn’t a repugnant, self-righteous lover of torture. That kinda made me not care if he succeeded in his quest. Still, it's beautifully detailed and marvelous, fantastical creatures.
]]> 29064933 P.G. Wodehouse Jason 3 3.30 1915
author: P.G. Wodehouse
name: Jason
average rating: 3.30
book published: 1915
rating: 3
read at: 2019/07/31
date added: 2019/07/31
shelves: fiction, short-story, wodehouses
review:
I didn't think I'd read this, so I started reading it. Then I got halfway through and realized I'd mostly likely read this. Probably it got slipped into an anthology like a Canadian coin slips into the till. The story passed through my mind with the same import as that coin passing through your hands. You barely notice it and for all practical purposes, it's just as good as the other coins that end up jingling about in your pocket. If more closely examined and placed up against others, perhaps the value doesn't quite match up. But it's fine and hardly worth remarking upon.
]]> 16394236 20 Leo Tolstoy 5551061132 Jason 3 fiction, short-story 3.32 1909
author: Leo Tolstoy
name: Jason
average rating: 3.32
book published: 1909
rating: 3
read at: 2019/04/07
date added: 2019/04/07
shelves: fiction, short-story
review:

]]> 17934775 After supper I danced the promised quadrille with her, and though I had been infinitely happy before, I grew still happier every moment. We did not speak of love. I neither asked myself nor her whether she loved me. It was quite enough to know that I loved her. And I had only one fear - that something might come to interfere with my great joy.

After the Dance was written as a protest against human cruelty and tyranny. The short story was originally intended to be published in a book to help the Jews affected by the pogrom in Chisinau in 1903. But Tolstoy didn't finish it in time and so the story wasn't published until 1911, the year after his death.]]> 15 Leo Tolstoy Jason 3 fiction, short-story 3.66 1911
author: Leo Tolstoy
name: Jason
average rating: 3.66
book published: 1911
rating: 3
read at: 2019/04/06
date added: 2019/04/06
shelves: fiction, short-story
review:

]]> 2174683 9 Mark Bucci 087129513X Jason 3 short-story 3.92 1904
author: Mark Bucci
name: Jason
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1904
rating: 3
read at: 2017/08/27
date added: 2018/06/14
shelves: short-story
review:

]]> 963839 32 O. Henry 0194232158 Jason 3 fiction, humor, short-story 4.14 1907
author: O. Henry
name: Jason
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1907
rating: 3
read at: 2017/08/27
date added: 2018/06/14
shelves: fiction, humor, short-story
review:
Two men kidnap a kid, but before they can ransom him the men are driven crazy by the boy's antics and adhd level of energy, and end up paying the boy's father to take him back. Good solid humor in the Twain vein.
]]> 38735 260 James Herriot 0312085125 Jason 4
Treasury for Children: Warm and Joyful Tales by the Author of All Creatures Great and Small has all that and more to spare! How can it not? I mean, just look at that title!

Does this shout "Christmas" to you? Perhaps not, but at least one of the stories happens during Christmas and others have a winter-time setting. And besides, stories don't have to be about Christmas to feel like it.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to digress...

Is this real life?

I often find myself asking that whenever I read a James Herriot book.

James Alfred "Alf" Wight, aka James Herriot, wrote some lovely stories based upon his career as an animal vet in the Yorkshire Dales up there in northern England. Not all of his stories are true. Clearly in this collection of shorts at least one is a complete fabrication of his own design. However, it's also clear (to me anyhow) that most of what happens in these charming tales quite likely could have happened to a country vet and quite likely did happen to Herriot.

Why is this important? Search me, but I guess it maybe has something to do with my need to attach significance to the subjects, the animals. In all of his books there is life and death, and it's important to me that these things contain all the weight and importance they deserve.

Digression Over!

In summary, if you're looking for an uplifting read this holiday season, you can't go wrong with this one, or honestly any of Herriot's books! Don't let the "...for Children" part of the title throw you. This book is for young and old...hell, it's even for us grumpy middle-aged farts!
]]> 4.49 1992
author: James Herriot
name: Jason
average rating: 4.49
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at: 2016/12/09
date added: 2016/12/10
shelves: fiction, non-fiction, short-story, holidays
review:
I don't always read a Christmas story this time of year, but when I do, I like it to be gushingly heartwarming, perhaps naively innocent, and if you want to throw a moral in there for good measure, by all means!

Treasury for Children: Warm and Joyful Tales by the Author of All Creatures Great and Small has all that and more to spare! How can it not? I mean, just look at that title!

Does this shout "Christmas" to you? Perhaps not, but at least one of the stories happens during Christmas and others have a winter-time setting. And besides, stories don't have to be about Christmas to feel like it.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to digress...

Is this real life?

I often find myself asking that whenever I read a James Herriot book.

James Alfred "Alf" Wight, aka James Herriot, wrote some lovely stories based upon his career as an animal vet in the Yorkshire Dales up there in northern England. Not all of his stories are true. Clearly in this collection of shorts at least one is a complete fabrication of his own design. However, it's also clear (to me anyhow) that most of what happens in these charming tales quite likely could have happened to a country vet and quite likely did happen to Herriot.

Why is this important? Search me, but I guess it maybe has something to do with my need to attach significance to the subjects, the animals. In all of his books there is life and death, and it's important to me that these things contain all the weight and importance they deserve.

Digression Over!

In summary, if you're looking for an uplifting read this holiday season, you can't go wrong with this one, or honestly any of Herriot's books! Don't let the "...for Children" part of the title throw you. This book is for young and old...hell, it's even for us grumpy middle-aged farts!

]]> 186345 233 John Steinbeck 0141185511 Jason 4 short-story, fiction
Even this slim volume of four, lesser-known short stories is packed with some beautifully powerful writing. The scenes are spare in their breadth, but not in their ability to reach into your heart and imagination...

HOLD THE PRESSES!!!

I just discovered that my copy was truncated! The Long Valley originally came with more than twice the number of stories. I've been abridginated! I loath abridged books. Well, it's not the books' fault. It's the publisher who's to blame! Damn them to Hades!

Okay, looks like I have some more reading to do before I can do a proper review.]]> 3.92 1938
author: John Steinbeck
name: Jason
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1938
rating: 4
read at: 2016/08/19
date added: 2016/08/19
shelves: short-story, fiction
review:
I have to re-examine my own writing every time I read a Steinbeck novel. My trite phrasing and flat descriptions look like ugly stepchildren next to his princely prose.

Even this slim volume of four, lesser-known short stories is packed with some beautifully powerful writing. The scenes are spare in their breadth, but not in their ability to reach into your heart and imagination...

HOLD THE PRESSES!!!

I just discovered that my copy was truncated! The Long Valley originally came with more than twice the number of stories. I've been abridginated! I loath abridged books. Well, it's not the books' fault. It's the publisher who's to blame! Damn them to Hades!

Okay, looks like I have some more reading to do before I can do a proper review.
]]> 4772110
A once-popular singer, desperate to make a comeback, turning from the one certainty in his life . . . A man whose unerring taste in music is the only thing his closest friends value in him . . . A struggling singer-songwriter unwittingly involved in the failing marriage of a couple he’s only just met . . . A gifted, underappreciated jazz musician who lets himself believe that plastic surgery will help his career . . . A young cellist whose tutor promises to “unwrap�� his talent . . .

Passion or necessity—or the often uneasy combination of the two—determines the place of music in each of these lives. And, in one way or another, music delivers each of them to a moment of reckoning: sometimes comic, sometimes tragic, sometimes just eluding their grasp.

An exploration of love, need, and the ineluctable force of the past, Nocturnes reveals these individuals to us with extraordinary precision and subtlety, and with the arresting psychological and emotional detail that has marked all of Kazuo Ishiguro’s acclaimed works of fiction.]]> 221 Kazuo Ishiguro 0307397874 Jason 3 fiction, short-story
In case you're interested, here is Wikipedia's synopsis of each story:

"Crooner" - Set in Venice, a fading American singer co-opts a Polish cafe musician into accompanying him while he serenades his wife (whose relationship is disintegrating) from a gondola.

"Come Rain or Come Shine" - In London, an expatriate EFL teacher is invited to the home of a couple whom he knew whilst at university. However the couple's tensions affect the visitor, leading to a rather awkward situation.

"Malvern Hills" - A young guitarist flees London and lack of success in the rock world to the Malvern countryside cafe owned by his sister and brother-in-law. Whilst there he encounters Swiss tourists whose behavior causes him to reflect on his own situation.

"Nocturne" - A saxophonist recuperating after plastic surgery at a Beverly Hills hotel becomes involved with a wealthy American woman (the now ex-wife of the crooner in the first story) and ends up in a rather bizarre confrontation on stage of the hotel (involving an award statuette and a cooked turkey).

"Cellists" - A Hungarian cellist falls under the spell of a fellow cellist, an apparently virtuosic American older woman, who tutors him. He later realizes that she cannot play the cello as she was so convinced of her own musical genius, no teacher ever seemed equal to it, and so rather than tarnish her gift with imperfection, she chose never to realize it at all.


I LOVED "Crooner"! It was clear from the start that Ishiguro excels at setting a scene and quickly building fairly full-formed characters, at least as full as is needed for a short. He handles mood like it's putty in the hands of an accomplished sculptor.

Some reviewer for a UK paper, I think it was The Guardian or something, said "Nocturne" was the funniest story. What the heck was this person thinking? "Nocturne" had a brief moment of humor, but it was otherwise long and lame. "Come Rain or Come Shine" was the one I found funniest. Its main character is like someone Ricky Gervias would've created and is almost as put-upon as Bertie Wooster. In fact, this particular story is very Wodehousian and quintessentially British in its dry humor.

"Malvern Hills" and "Cellists" are pretty enough in their imagery and sadness, but they don't quite come up to the mark of "Crooner".

All in all, this wasn't the best introduction to a new writer for this particular reader, but its quantity of quality was enough for me to seek out another book by Kazuo Ishiguro for a second chance.

Starting out as great as it did, after the story story I was ready to give Nocturnes 5 stars. Reading a couple more, I felt like this was a solid 4 stars. Struggling through the forth story dropped the overall score down to 3. Finishing off the book with a story that struggled to keep my attention didn't improve my opinion enough to raise it up to 4, so I'll call it 3.5 stars.]]> 3.52 2009
author: Kazuo Ishiguro
name: Jason
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2016/03/22
date added: 2016/03/24
shelves: fiction, short-story
review:
Wow! That first short story was fantastic! Too bad the rest of this story-cycle collection of five didn't maintain that same high standard in my first foray in reading Kazuo Ishiguro's work.

In case you're interested, here is Wikipedia's synopsis of each story:

"Crooner" - Set in Venice, a fading American singer co-opts a Polish cafe musician into accompanying him while he serenades his wife (whose relationship is disintegrating) from a gondola.

"Come Rain or Come Shine" - In London, an expatriate EFL teacher is invited to the home of a couple whom he knew whilst at university. However the couple's tensions affect the visitor, leading to a rather awkward situation.

"Malvern Hills" - A young guitarist flees London and lack of success in the rock world to the Malvern countryside cafe owned by his sister and brother-in-law. Whilst there he encounters Swiss tourists whose behavior causes him to reflect on his own situation.

"Nocturne" - A saxophonist recuperating after plastic surgery at a Beverly Hills hotel becomes involved with a wealthy American woman (the now ex-wife of the crooner in the first story) and ends up in a rather bizarre confrontation on stage of the hotel (involving an award statuette and a cooked turkey).

"Cellists" - A Hungarian cellist falls under the spell of a fellow cellist, an apparently virtuosic American older woman, who tutors him. He later realizes that she cannot play the cello as she was so convinced of her own musical genius, no teacher ever seemed equal to it, and so rather than tarnish her gift with imperfection, she chose never to realize it at all.


I LOVED "Crooner"! It was clear from the start that Ishiguro excels at setting a scene and quickly building fairly full-formed characters, at least as full as is needed for a short. He handles mood like it's putty in the hands of an accomplished sculptor.

Some reviewer for a UK paper, I think it was The Guardian or something, said "Nocturne" was the funniest story. What the heck was this person thinking? "Nocturne" had a brief moment of humor, but it was otherwise long and lame. "Come Rain or Come Shine" was the one I found funniest. Its main character is like someone Ricky Gervias would've created and is almost as put-upon as Bertie Wooster. In fact, this particular story is very Wodehousian and quintessentially British in its dry humor.

"Malvern Hills" and "Cellists" are pretty enough in their imagery and sadness, but they don't quite come up to the mark of "Crooner".

All in all, this wasn't the best introduction to a new writer for this particular reader, but its quantity of quality was enough for me to seek out another book by Kazuo Ishiguro for a second chance.

Starting out as great as it did, after the story story I was ready to give Nocturnes 5 stars. Reading a couple more, I felt like this was a solid 4 stars. Struggling through the forth story dropped the overall score down to 3. Finishing off the book with a story that struggled to keep my attention didn't improve my opinion enough to raise it up to 4, so I'll call it 3.5 stars.
]]> 2026441 0 P.G. Wodehouse 0140016015 Jason 3
Wodehouse is my old fallback when I need a pick-me-up. His comical characters, daffy slapstick and witty turns of phrase threaten to induce knee slaps and a general feeling of being tickled in the best possible way.

The Man With Two Left Feet and Other Stories is a very precise title. There's the titular (tee-hee..."tit") short story, which wraps up this collection, along with quite a few other shorts. Perhaps my favorite, and definitely the most inventive stories herein, are the ones from the point of view of a dog. Those were not only humorous, but well-crafted as well.

Other stories revolve around relationship misunderstandings (a Wodehouse template), the inability to dance and forlorn love. I was surprised and a bit let down by the number of non-humorous, purely dramatic (often melodramatic) pieces here. I know that sort of will-(s)he-won't-(s)he love story was en vogue around the time this was published, but I didn't realize until this book that Wodehouse wrote such straightforward romances. They weren't bad, but meh and unexpected. But hey, at least there weren't any golf stories in this collection. I'm not a big fan of Wodehouse's foray on to the links in prose form.

My favorite of his books are the ones that include the Wooster and Jeeves characters, which appear in here once. The Man With Two Left Feet and Other Stories as a whole is an early work and the Wooster/Jeeves story happens to be the very first appearance of that dynamic duo. They and some of the other characters in the story, who also appear in later Wooster/Jeeves stories, are not quite fully incubated yet. I don't entirely recognize them. I actually found that interesting, to see where and who these beloved characters had once been.

Though it was not the best Wodehouse I've ever read, and I doubt I'll ever reread this, I'm not disappointed overall. It was good enough to clear the docket and get my trial temporarily dismissed.]]> 3.60 1917
author: P.G. Wodehouse
name: Jason
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1917
rating: 3
read at: 2016/02/29
date added: 2016/03/03
shelves: comedy, fiction, humor, short-story, wodehouses
review:
I'm on jury duty. A particularly nasty case. I needed something light, humorous and non-taxing to take my mind off of it this weekend. Enter P.G. Wodehouse!

Wodehouse is my old fallback when I need a pick-me-up. His comical characters, daffy slapstick and witty turns of phrase threaten to induce knee slaps and a general feeling of being tickled in the best possible way.

The Man With Two Left Feet and Other Stories is a very precise title. There's the titular (tee-hee..."tit") short story, which wraps up this collection, along with quite a few other shorts. Perhaps my favorite, and definitely the most inventive stories herein, are the ones from the point of view of a dog. Those were not only humorous, but well-crafted as well.

Other stories revolve around relationship misunderstandings (a Wodehouse template), the inability to dance and forlorn love. I was surprised and a bit let down by the number of non-humorous, purely dramatic (often melodramatic) pieces here. I know that sort of will-(s)he-won't-(s)he love story was en vogue around the time this was published, but I didn't realize until this book that Wodehouse wrote such straightforward romances. They weren't bad, but meh and unexpected. But hey, at least there weren't any golf stories in this collection. I'm not a big fan of Wodehouse's foray on to the links in prose form.

My favorite of his books are the ones that include the Wooster and Jeeves characters, which appear in here once. The Man With Two Left Feet and Other Stories as a whole is an early work and the Wooster/Jeeves story happens to be the very first appearance of that dynamic duo. They and some of the other characters in the story, who also appear in later Wooster/Jeeves stories, are not quite fully incubated yet. I don't entirely recognize them. I actually found that interesting, to see where and who these beloved characters had once been.

Though it was not the best Wodehouse I've ever read, and I doubt I'll ever reread this, I'm not disappointed overall. It was good enough to clear the docket and get my trial temporarily dismissed.
]]> 208623 48 Anton Chekhov 1419154192 Jason 3 fiction, short-story ]]> 3.99 1894
author: Anton Chekhov
name: Jason
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1894
rating: 3
read at: 2015/11/11
date added: 2015/11/11
shelves: fiction, short-story
review:
I don't need to read anymore about well-off, upper-middle class Russian intellectuals sitting about gardens going insane. This has filled my quota, thank you!

]]> 6403377 240 P.G. Wodehouse 0099777606 Jason 3 Jeeves Takes Charge and Other Stories and it felt very familiar. That happens almost every time I read a Wodehouse, so I didn't think much of it. But by the second or third stories I realized I actually had read most, if not all, of what this collection has to offer.

And what does this collection have to offer? Well, for starters it includes one of my favorite Wodehouse lines: "She fitted into my biggest armchair as if it had been built around her by someone who knew they were wearing armchairs tight about the hips that season." There are plenty such gems. Here are the contents in summary with my two cents:

"Jeeves Takes Charge" was first published magazines in the United States in 1916 and in the UK in 1923. Odd that. After all, Wodehouse was English. Its first book publication was in 1925 in Carry on, Jeeves, a good solid starter in the Jeeves/Wooster line. Anywhoodle, this particular story is the one that introduces us to the amazing Jeeves, who swoops in, revives Wooster with one of his restorative pick-me-ups and is immediately hired as Wooster's gentleman's personal gentleman. It's a great mini version of nearly all the best stories that were to come involving this dynamic duo.

"Without the Option" is the story of how Wooster and a friend get done for misdemeanors, and Wooster feels bad enough for the position he's put his friend in that he goes to great lengths and personal embarrassment to right the situation...sort of. This is an excellent example of Wodehouse's oft used masquerade plots in which a character poses as someone else with the innocent intention of doing some good. Little good ever comes of it for the character. However, it usually comes with plenty of laughs for us readers.

"The Artistic Career of Corky" is one of Wodehouse's New York-based stories in which Wooster's struggling artist friend is in love with a chorus girl and at odds with his uncle. Never a fan of the NY stories and having read and seen a tv version this one numerous times, I skipped it this time.

"The Aunt and the Sluggard" is similar to the above story, in which an artistic friend (poet this time) named Rocky, who wishes nothing more than to live a lazy life, is forced into an unpleasant labor (unpleasant to him) and Wooster takes the burden upon himself. Everything seems shipshape until.... Another NY based story I really didn't enjoy as much as Wodehouse's England-based stories.

"Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest" is about a blighted manchild being dropped into Wooster's life. It contains some excellent descriptives, especially at the start, which showcases the reason Wodehouse is much better read than seen. You don't want to miss out on Wooster's narration. This story makes me want to enter rooms with the greeting, "Hel-lo, allo-allo-allo-ALLO! What?"

"Jeeves and the Hard Boiled Egg" tells of the predicament one of Wooster's NY chums finds himself in and the clever scheme Jeeves cooks up to settle the matter. Knowing this one all too well, I skipped through it, but I can recommend it well enough. Short as it is, it packs some good punches, especially the jabs at Americans.

Once I figured out these were stories taken from another source I was ready to give it up. However, this was an audiobook (very well narrated by Alexander Spencer) and I was doing a longish drive, so why not speed down memory lane once more with some good old friends?

]]> 4.16
author: P.G. Wodehouse
name: Jason
average rating: 4.16
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2015/10/26
date added: 2015/10/26
shelves: comedy, fiction, humor, short-story, wodehouses
review:
There's deja vu and there are actual repeats. I started reading Jeeves Takes Charge and Other Stories and it felt very familiar. That happens almost every time I read a Wodehouse, so I didn't think much of it. But by the second or third stories I realized I actually had read most, if not all, of what this collection has to offer.

And what does this collection have to offer? Well, for starters it includes one of my favorite Wodehouse lines: "She fitted into my biggest armchair as if it had been built around her by someone who knew they were wearing armchairs tight about the hips that season." There are plenty such gems. Here are the contents in summary with my two cents:

"Jeeves Takes Charge" was first published magazines in the United States in 1916 and in the UK in 1923. Odd that. After all, Wodehouse was English. Its first book publication was in 1925 in Carry on, Jeeves, a good solid starter in the Jeeves/Wooster line. Anywhoodle, this particular story is the one that introduces us to the amazing Jeeves, who swoops in, revives Wooster with one of his restorative pick-me-ups and is immediately hired as Wooster's gentleman's personal gentleman. It's a great mini version of nearly all the best stories that were to come involving this dynamic duo.

"Without the Option" is the story of how Wooster and a friend get done for misdemeanors, and Wooster feels bad enough for the position he's put his friend in that he goes to great lengths and personal embarrassment to right the situation...sort of. This is an excellent example of Wodehouse's oft used masquerade plots in which a character poses as someone else with the innocent intention of doing some good. Little good ever comes of it for the character. However, it usually comes with plenty of laughs for us readers.

"The Artistic Career of Corky" is one of Wodehouse's New York-based stories in which Wooster's struggling artist friend is in love with a chorus girl and at odds with his uncle. Never a fan of the NY stories and having read and seen a tv version this one numerous times, I skipped it this time.

"The Aunt and the Sluggard" is similar to the above story, in which an artistic friend (poet this time) named Rocky, who wishes nothing more than to live a lazy life, is forced into an unpleasant labor (unpleasant to him) and Wooster takes the burden upon himself. Everything seems shipshape until.... Another NY based story I really didn't enjoy as much as Wodehouse's England-based stories.

"Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest" is about a blighted manchild being dropped into Wooster's life. It contains some excellent descriptives, especially at the start, which showcases the reason Wodehouse is much better read than seen. You don't want to miss out on Wooster's narration. This story makes me want to enter rooms with the greeting, "Hel-lo, allo-allo-allo-ALLO! What?"

"Jeeves and the Hard Boiled Egg" tells of the predicament one of Wooster's NY chums finds himself in and the clever scheme Jeeves cooks up to settle the matter. Knowing this one all too well, I skipped through it, but I can recommend it well enough. Short as it is, it packs some good punches, especially the jabs at Americans.

Once I figured out these were stories taken from another source I was ready to give it up. However, this was an audiobook (very well narrated by Alexander Spencer) and I was doing a longish drive, so why not speed down memory lane once more with some good old friends?


]]> 25677438 P.G. Wodehouse 1478962879 Jason 2
Apparently Providence and the Butler was rediscovered, posthumously perhaps, in a magazine, I believe. Yes, my information on this story is sketchy, but by opinion of it is clear. It is not one of Wodehouse's best. Rather straightforward, it tells of a lord who's lost his way and a butler who remembers which way the family's backbone once twisted. The lord goes off, the butler gets uppity and makes a speech, and everything ends sort of happily ever after. Very few twists and turns. Almost no hilarity. This is a story anyone could've written.

All the same, I'm glad I read it. Why wouldn't I want to? I mean, I've read everything else of Wodehouse's I could get my hands on, so of course I'd want to read an early, unearthed work. If for no other reason, it provided a nice glimpse into the first stages of his writing career, before he'd honed his plots, characters and humor. This story is a framework, like looking at a building that's just steel girders, and some people find that interesting.]]> 3.07 2015
author: P.G. Wodehouse
name: Jason
average rating: 3.07
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2015/10/25
date added: 2015/10/25
shelves: short-story, wodehouses, fiction
review:
One of P.G. Wodehouse's earliest short stories and not an overly exciting or hilarious one.

Apparently Providence and the Butler was rediscovered, posthumously perhaps, in a magazine, I believe. Yes, my information on this story is sketchy, but by opinion of it is clear. It is not one of Wodehouse's best. Rather straightforward, it tells of a lord who's lost his way and a butler who remembers which way the family's backbone once twisted. The lord goes off, the butler gets uppity and makes a speech, and everything ends sort of happily ever after. Very few twists and turns. Almost no hilarity. This is a story anyone could've written.

All the same, I'm glad I read it. Why wouldn't I want to? I mean, I've read everything else of Wodehouse's I could get my hands on, so of course I'd want to read an early, unearthed work. If for no other reason, it provided a nice glimpse into the first stages of his writing career, before he'd honed his plots, characters and humor. This story is a framework, like looking at a building that's just steel girders, and some people find that interesting.
]]> 23885 170 Gabriel García Márquez 0060751576 Jason 4 fiction, short-story No One Writes to the Colonel is a prototypical nothing-happens short story in which the reader is swept up in the gorgeous writing and is more than willing to overlook the nothingness.

It's the same kind of beautiful nothingness as the Grand Canyon. You walk up to the edge of this magnificent hole and marvel at the void and all its intricacies, the jagged edges, the visible layers of time, and the certainty that although all you see right now is inertia, you know that at one time something of great importance flowed through here. ]]> 3.88 1961
author: Gabriel García Márquez
name: Jason
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1961
rating: 4
read at: 2015/10/09
date added: 2015/10/09
shelves: fiction, short-story
review:
No One Writes to the Colonel is a prototypical nothing-happens short story in which the reader is swept up in the gorgeous writing and is more than willing to overlook the nothingness.

It's the same kind of beautiful nothingness as the Grand Canyon. You walk up to the edge of this magnificent hole and marvel at the void and all its intricacies, the jagged edges, the visible layers of time, and the certainty that although all you see right now is inertia, you know that at one time something of great importance flowed through here.
]]> 899492 A man confronts himself and an unknown listener with his desire to murder an old man.

In this classic psychological thriller, the reader will find many more questions than answers. Even though this is one of Poe's shortest stories, nevertheless it has become one of his most highest regarded works. It is a profound and, at times, ambiguous investigation of the paranoia that may lie within the depths of one man's mind...]]> 31 Edgar Allan Poe 0871917726 Jason 4 crime, fiction, short-story
Poe had excellent timing in the pace for The Tell-Tale Heart, setting it to the quickening beat of a increasingly nervous heart. (Don't you dare comment below about how "the heart" mentioned in the story is the victim's, not the narrator's!)

Countless future writers, especially tv writers needing to tie things up within a half hour, would use this story as a framework for how to wring a confession out of a perpetrator.

Unfortunately, this story might not capture the terrified hearts of readers as it once did, because today this sort of homicide is fairly common place. We've been there, done that and seen it a hundred times on the morning news. It's almost as if The Tell-Tale Heart has become a valuable suggested template on what to do if you're annoyed by your roommate.
]]> 4.27 1843
author: Edgar Allan Poe
name: Jason
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1843
rating: 4
read at: 2015/10/02
date added: 2015/10/02
shelves: crime, fiction, short-story
review:
A short story classic!

Poe had excellent timing in the pace for The Tell-Tale Heart, setting it to the quickening beat of a increasingly nervous heart. (Don't you dare comment below about how "the heart" mentioned in the story is the victim's, not the narrator's!)

Countless future writers, especially tv writers needing to tie things up within a half hour, would use this story as a framework for how to wring a confession out of a perpetrator.

Unfortunately, this story might not capture the terrified hearts of readers as it once did, because today this sort of homicide is fairly common place. We've been there, done that and seen it a hundred times on the morning news. It's almost as if The Tell-Tale Heart has become a valuable suggested template on what to do if you're annoyed by your roommate.

]]>