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michelle_ltc's review against another edition
3.0
3 different entertaining short stories from early 20th century. Very well-written and applicable to today.
wicked_sassy's review against another edition
4.0
A terrible, gorgeous little collection.
"No, Maria and Miranda found it impossible to sympathize with those young person, sitting rather stiffly before the camera, hopelessly out of fashion; but they were drawn and held by the mysterious love of the living, who remembered and cherished these dead. The visible remains were nothing; they were dust, perishable as the flesh; the features stamped on paper and metal were nothing, but their living memory enchanted the girls. They listened, all ears and eager minds, picking here and there among the floating ends of narrative, patching together as well as they could fragments of tales that were like bits of poetry or music, indeed, were associated with the poetry they had heard or read, with music, with the theater." p. 7
"I'm glad you are going to use your mind a little, child. Don't let yourself rust away. Your mind outwears all sorts of things you may set your heart upon; you can enjoy it when all other things are taken away." p. 54-55
"She resented, slowly and deeply and in profound silence, the presence of the aliens who lectured and admonished her, who loved her with bitterness and denied her the right to look at the world with her own eyes, yet demanded that she accept their version of life and yet could not tell her the truth, not in the smallest thing." p. 68
"What did I ever know about them? There must be a great many of them here who think as I do, and we dare not say a word to each other of our desperation, we are speechless animals letting ourselves be destroyed, and why? Does anybody here believe the things we say to each other?" p. 170
"No, I'll stay here, this is my business, but not in this room, I hope... I wish I were in the cold mountains in the snow, that's what I should like best; and all about her rose the measured ranges of the Rockies wearing their perpetual snow, their majestic blue laurels of cloud, chilling her to the bone with their sharp breath. Oh, no, I must have warmth--and her memory turned and roved after another place she had known first and loved best, that now she could see only in drifting fragments of palm and cedar, dark shadows and a sky that warmed without dazzling, as this strange sky had dazzled without warming her; there was the long slow wavering of gray moss in the drowsy oak shade, the spacious hovering of buzzards overhead, the smell of crushed water herbs along a bank, and without warning a broad tranquil river into which flowed all the rivers she had known." p. 179
"No more war, no more plague, only the dazed silence that follows the ceasing of the heavy guns; noiseless houses with the shades drawn, empty streets, the dead cold light of tomorrow. Now there would be time for everything." p. 205
"No, Maria and Miranda found it impossible to sympathize with those young person, sitting rather stiffly before the camera, hopelessly out of fashion; but they were drawn and held by the mysterious love of the living, who remembered and cherished these dead. The visible remains were nothing; they were dust, perishable as the flesh; the features stamped on paper and metal were nothing, but their living memory enchanted the girls. They listened, all ears and eager minds, picking here and there among the floating ends of narrative, patching together as well as they could fragments of tales that were like bits of poetry or music, indeed, were associated with the poetry they had heard or read, with music, with the theater." p. 7
"I'm glad you are going to use your mind a little, child. Don't let yourself rust away. Your mind outwears all sorts of things you may set your heart upon; you can enjoy it when all other things are taken away." p. 54-55
"She resented, slowly and deeply and in profound silence, the presence of the aliens who lectured and admonished her, who loved her with bitterness and denied her the right to look at the world with her own eyes, yet demanded that she accept their version of life and yet could not tell her the truth, not in the smallest thing." p. 68
"What did I ever know about them? There must be a great many of them here who think as I do, and we dare not say a word to each other of our desperation, we are speechless animals letting ourselves be destroyed, and why? Does anybody here believe the things we say to each other?" p. 170
"No, I'll stay here, this is my business, but not in this room, I hope... I wish I were in the cold mountains in the snow, that's what I should like best; and all about her rose the measured ranges of the Rockies wearing their perpetual snow, their majestic blue laurels of cloud, chilling her to the bone with their sharp breath. Oh, no, I must have warmth--and her memory turned and roved after another place she had known first and loved best, that now she could see only in drifting fragments of palm and cedar, dark shadows and a sky that warmed without dazzling, as this strange sky had dazzled without warming her; there was the long slow wavering of gray moss in the drowsy oak shade, the spacious hovering of buzzards overhead, the smell of crushed water herbs along a bank, and without warning a broad tranquil river into which flowed all the rivers she had known." p. 179
"No more war, no more plague, only the dazed silence that follows the ceasing of the heavy guns; noiseless houses with the shades drawn, empty streets, the dead cold light of tomorrow. Now there would be time for everything." p. 205
skucaj's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
mollyowens's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
amjammi's review against another edition
4.0
I read the final story, the titular Pale Horse, Pale Rider, for a book club. It combines two of my favorites -a compelling female narrator and pandemic influenza.
blueyorkie's review against another edition
5.0
Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter.
They say it is a book of short stories, but the author herself disagreed with this definition: what she wrote was a book of short novels. In the three stories, full of tension as if they announced tragedies (and sometimes they do), Porter's literary style imposes itself in an almost hypnotic way.
They say it is a book of short stories, but the author herself disagreed with this definition: what she wrote was a book of short novels. In the three stories, full of tension as if they announced tragedies (and sometimes they do), Porter's literary style imposes itself in an almost hypnotic way.
stephanie6504's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
kathlgpa's review against another edition
5.0
So good, such great writing and it leaves you WRECKED.
Be prepared it is not for the faint of heart.
Someone said this was the worst book to read during COVID as one of the stories was set during the influenza in 1918 but it didn't bother me. However you may choose to read it in the future for that reason if it's too close to home.
Be prepared it is not for the faint of heart.
Someone said this was the worst book to read during COVID as one of the stories was set during the influenza in 1918 but it didn't bother me. However you may choose to read it in the future for that reason if it's too close to home.