Reviews

Intimations: Stories by Alexandra Kleeman

kfan's review

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3.0

Last story was my favorite

pandasekh's review against another edition

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3.0

Recensione pubblicata originariamente sul mio blog Arte della Lettura

Recensione Intuizioni (senza spoiler)


Intuizioni di Alexandra Kleeman è il primo libro dell'autrice americana che leggo, pubblicato dopo il successo di Il corpo che vorrei (che ho acquistato assieme). Prima di leggere qualcosa mi piace informarmi poco, lasciando molto al gusto della sorpresa. In questo caso sapevo solo che la Kleeman fosse un'autrice relativamente nuova e giovane ma dalle grandi potenzialità le cui opere sono caratterizzate da un elemento di surrealismo.

I racconti


Questa raccolta di storie brevi non fa eccezione, essendo composta solamente da opere surreali. I racconti presenti in questo libro sono facilmente divisibili in due categorie: quelli che leggi e non capisci nulla e quelli che leggi, capisci qualcosa, ma comunque non ha nessun senso.

Alcuni di questi sono efficaci, come nel caso del racconto quasi horror dell'infermiera al ristorante, dove il surrealismo gioca un ruolo importantissimo nella storia, confondendo il lettore e ampliando il senso di disagio provato anche dalla stessa protagonista.

Altre storie funzionano meno, alcune le ho trovate così noiose da costringermi a saltarle, come nel caso delle storie accumunate dal tema meteorologico.

A fine lettura mi sono comunque trovato soddisfatto. Pur non essendo un grande appassionato del surrealismo e delle storie irreali (vedasi la mia recensione de "La metamorfosi" di Franz Kafka), Intuizioni mi è piaciuto. Ho apprezzato lo stile di scrittura, scorrevole e veramente piacevole, e l'inventiva dell'autrice. Non vedo l'ora di leggere l'altra sua opera, Il corpo che vorrei.

Edizione


I libri della casa editrice Black Coffee sono sempre fantastici, partendo dal design della copertina fino alla qualità della carta. Leggere un loro libro è sempre un’esperienza estremamente piacevole.

Conclusioni


Pur non essendo un appassionato di narrativa surrealista, ho apprezzato questo libro. Le storie che mi sono davvero piaciute sono poche, ma lo stile di scrittura è sublime e rende la lettura un piacere.
Altre recensioni sul mio blog Arte della Lettura

etakloknok's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

spo0kyayden's review against another edition

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3.0

I'll update when I read through this again. DNF.....Yet!!

kaitlinmcnabb's review against another edition

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3.0

Reading Alexandra Kleeman is always a fantastic experience. She has such a clever and interesting mind and her writing style is phenomenal. The absurdity she writes with always reminds me of Etgar Keret (yay!), yet is still totally original.

I was really consumed by a few of these stories -- "I May Not Be the One you Want, But I am the One for You" "Fake Blood" and "Jellyfish" -- found some in the middle and found a few that I just outright skimmed. Not sure why, but just didn't jive with me, and that's cool.

I think I do prefer Kleeman in novel format though -- I love short stories, but hear me out: the world's and characters she creates -- no one can write such a compelling character -- are so intense and deep, and the stories tend to end so abruptly that I needed to get up and walk around a bit between each story. I guess that's not terrible, but it creates a disruptive reading experience. I prefer to get wrapped up than be constantly getting up. Guess that says more about me.

Anyways, always recommend Alexandra Kleeman. She's fantastic.

postalweight's review against another edition

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3.0

Solid start, solid end, bland middle. Like ham and cheese on a pretzel bun.

gloweyyyy's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

4.5

hazelambers's review

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challenging reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

jinujpeg's review against another edition

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3.0

This book resonated with me far less than Kleeman's other novel, but I still really enjoyed this read. I enjoyed how the stories were grouped together, and the way Kleeman wrote the stories, because I still think she is one of the most intelligent writers I have ever read something from. Some of the stories weren't as good as other ones, some weren't quite as fleshed out as they should've been, but some were amazing and really hard hitting. My favorite was the last story of the book, "you, disappearing". I thought it was the perfect length and had enough world and character building to be satisfying. Most of the stories were hits but there were a couple of misses in this book that kept me from rating it over three stars. But, honestly just reading Alexandra Kleeman's writing and hearing her narrative voice is enough for me, she is one of my favorite authors of all time.

danni_faith's review against another edition

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4.0

It goes without saying: Like all short story collections there are stories which are stronger than others. Alexandra Kleeman writes best when she writes a normal situation with a surrealist lense to reveal to us how strange and foreign the Normal is.

"Fairy Tale," "Lobster Dinner," "Intimation," "Fake Blood," and "You, Disappearing" are ones that stand out for their horror and strangeness and also for having a keen insight into what goes unexamined.