servemethesky's review
4.0
Ooooooof. William Trevor. This. Was. Bleak. Bleak and Irish AF.
This was the kind of writing that made me go, "Wait a minute, am I smart enough to be reading this right now?" Some of the moments in the stories were so subtle, I had to pause and text my friend who recommended it to me to make sure I was really getting it.
The writing is dark, languid, melancholy. Things happen slowly and sadly. We can be cruel to each other daily, in small ways, and those traumas endure.
I need something happy to read now.
This was the kind of writing that made me go, "Wait a minute, am I smart enough to be reading this right now?" Some of the moments in the stories were so subtle, I had to pause and text my friend who recommended it to me to make sure I was really getting it.
The writing is dark, languid, melancholy. Things happen slowly and sadly. We can be cruel to each other daily, in small ways, and those traumas endure.
I need something happy to read now.
thebristolreader's review
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
milesjmoran's review
4.0
Tomorrow, when the sun is again in charge at its time of year, a few midday minutes will wipe away what lingers of this softness. New dust will settle, marble will be warm to touch. Weeks it may be, months perhaps,before rain coaxes our these fragrances that are tender now.
Astute, sincere, and, in parts, delicately beautiful, this collection examines people at their most vulnerable, be they grieving for a lost one, committing a crime, or confronting deeply buried fears. Trevor is hailed as a true craftsman of the short story, and After Rain was a perfect introduction to that. Only two stories in, he had me in tears (A Friendship) and he continually surprised and moved me with the quiet fragments he was showing me. Each story felt like a snapshot or a single piece to a whole picture, but, rather than losing this moment in the larger plot, he chose instead to zoom in until you could identify every minute grain and fissure, so you could really breathe with those characters and see everything you needed to in those few moments.
My favourites in this collection were The Piano Tuner's Wives, A Friendship, Child's Play, Widows, and A Day, though saying that I really enjoyed every single one.
Astute, sincere, and, in parts, delicately beautiful, this collection examines people at their most vulnerable, be they grieving for a lost one, committing a crime, or confronting deeply buried fears. Trevor is hailed as a true craftsman of the short story, and After Rain was a perfect introduction to that. Only two stories in, he had me in tears (A Friendship) and he continually surprised and moved me with the quiet fragments he was showing me. Each story felt like a snapshot or a single piece to a whole picture, but, rather than losing this moment in the larger plot, he chose instead to zoom in until you could identify every minute grain and fissure, so you could really breathe with those characters and see everything you needed to in those few moments.
My favourites in this collection were The Piano Tuner's Wives, A Friendship, Child's Play, Widows, and A Day, though saying that I really enjoyed every single one.
jaymoran's review
4.0
Tomorrow, when the sun is again in charge at its time of year, a few midday minutes will wipe away what lingers of this softness. New dust will settle, marble will be warm to touch. Weeks it may be, months perhaps,before rain coaxes our these fragrances that are tender now.
Astute, sincere, and, in parts, delicately beautiful, this collection examines people at their most vulnerable, be they grieving for a lost one, committing a crime, or confronting deeply buried fears. Trevor is hailed as a true craftsman of the short story, and After Rain was a perfect introduction to that. Only two stories in, he had me in tears (A Friendship) and he continually surprised and moved me with the quiet fragments he was showing me. Each story felt like a snapshot or a single piece to a whole picture, but, rather than losing this moment in the larger plot, he chose instead to zoom in until you could identify every minute grain and fissure, so you could really breathe with those characters and see everything you needed to in those few moments.
My favourites in this collection were The Piano Tuner's Wives, A Friendship, Child's Play, Widows, and A Day, though saying that I really enjoyed every single one.
Astute, sincere, and, in parts, delicately beautiful, this collection examines people at their most vulnerable, be they grieving for a lost one, committing a crime, or confronting deeply buried fears. Trevor is hailed as a true craftsman of the short story, and After Rain was a perfect introduction to that. Only two stories in, he had me in tears (A Friendship) and he continually surprised and moved me with the quiet fragments he was showing me. Each story felt like a snapshot or a single piece to a whole picture, but, rather than losing this moment in the larger plot, he chose instead to zoom in until you could identify every minute grain and fissure, so you could really breathe with those characters and see everything you needed to in those few moments.
My favourites in this collection were The Piano Tuner's Wives, A Friendship, Child's Play, Widows, and A Day, though saying that I really enjoyed every single one.
booksandquilts's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
bucket's review
5.0
My favorite story is Child's Play, about two children who become step siblings living together with their two parents who had an adulterous affair. They come to terms and have fun together acting out the steps that led to this momentous change in their lives.
I also thoroughly enjoyed After Rain, about a woman who spends time in a childhood vacation spot when her love affair ends, The Piano Tuner's Wives, about the two women who marry the same man decades apart, and A Day, about a woman who drinks to numb the sorrow she feels about her cheating husband and inability to bear children.
Each of the stories in this collection is beautiful, in its own quiet and melancholy way. For the most part, tragedies are small and everyday and relationships stay together despite jealousies, affairs, desperations, and love lost. The people in these stories mostly suffer quietly in order to keep their lives from falling apart and the few who speak out and take risks are punished by their own families. As a whole, the stories are a lesson about complacency and how hiding your feelings keeps things from falling apart, but it doesn't bring happiness.
Themes: love, marriage, jealousy, family relationships, melancholy, indifference, silence, fate and its unchangeabililty
I also thoroughly enjoyed After Rain, about a woman who spends time in a childhood vacation spot when her love affair ends, The Piano Tuner's Wives, about the two women who marry the same man decades apart, and A Day, about a woman who drinks to numb the sorrow she feels about her cheating husband and inability to bear children.
Each of the stories in this collection is beautiful, in its own quiet and melancholy way. For the most part, tragedies are small and everyday and relationships stay together despite jealousies, affairs, desperations, and love lost. The people in these stories mostly suffer quietly in order to keep their lives from falling apart and the few who speak out and take risks are punished by their own families. As a whole, the stories are a lesson about complacency and how hiding your feelings keeps things from falling apart, but it doesn't bring happiness.
Themes: love, marriage, jealousy, family relationships, melancholy, indifference, silence, fate and its unchangeabililty
cameliarose's review
5.0
Slow-paced, simply plotted stories with intricate characters. Beautiful prose. Life is somewhat disappointing but still worth living. William Trevor is a master craftsman of short stories.
dickh's review
4.0
Excellent stories, I will add him to my list of authors to read more that he has written.