leftylauren's review against another edition
4.0
Specifically reviewed "My Dear You" by Rachel Khong as read on Levar Burton Reads
leftylauren's review
3.0
Specifically reviewed for "Sea Girls" by Daniel Wallace as read on Levar Burton Reads.
zamyatins_fears's review
4.0
Another short read from the Levar Burton Reads podcast. A story told from the afterlife, it's an emotional look into the memories and romance of our dearly departed protagonist/narrator. Very impactful in the moment, but I found that this is one of those short stories that really hasn't stuck with me long term. The details have faded from my mind, but it was certainly worth listening to and I may do so again at some point in the future.
laura_trap's review against another edition
4.0
Not my favorite by far but unique and gave me a chill as she tried to drag him to sea. I wasn’t as captivated as I wanted but a strong story nonetheless.
robconner88's review
4.0
Full disclosure, this is a short story I listened to on the podcast "Levar Burton reads". I normally wouldn't include it in my challenge, however it is listed as a stand-alone short story and not part of a collection so here it is.
This story is the emotional retelling of a young woman's experience in the afterlife after her untimely death the day after her wedding. Amazingly profound and sad, I really appreciate Ms. Khong's ability to frame this story in the idea of memory and eternity, and what happens to us when there is no end to things but things keep going forever.
I thought it was beautiful how the main character in the novel goes through the cycle of loss, grief, obsession and ultimately letting go. I also loved the ending (which I won't spoil) that sort of turns on this idea of memory and the concept that memory is often the meta-cognition of the memory itself. It's hard to elaborate without spoiling, however, given what happens at the end I think it is interesting how life (or death in this case I suppose) plays out when given an additional chance. It made me feel sad and happy at the same time. Perhaps that is spoiling too much, but I really enjoyed this story. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Khong's work in the future!
Really anyone should give this story a read (or listen to if you follow Mr. Burton's podcast) it is only a 40ish minute listen and honestly who can't afford to devote an hour to something with the potential to be this good.
This story is the emotional retelling of a young woman's experience in the afterlife after her untimely death the day after her wedding. Amazingly profound and sad, I really appreciate Ms. Khong's ability to frame this story in the idea of memory and eternity, and what happens to us when there is no end to things but things keep going forever.
I thought it was beautiful how the main character in the novel goes through the cycle of loss, grief, obsession and ultimately letting go. I also loved the ending (which I won't spoil) that sort of turns on this idea of memory and the concept that memory is often the meta-cognition of the memory itself. It's hard to elaborate without spoiling, however, given what happens at the end I think it is interesting how life (or death in this case I suppose) plays out when given an additional chance. It made me feel sad and happy at the same time. Perhaps that is spoiling too much, but I really enjoyed this story. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Khong's work in the future!
Really anyone should give this story a read (or listen to if you follow Mr. Burton's podcast) it is only a 40ish minute listen and honestly who can't afford to devote an hour to something with the potential to be this good.
jennereads's review
5.0
I loved this short story. It's one I wish I could immediately talk about with others.
karwolfkill's review
3.0
I liked Levar Burton reading it, but I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it as much if I had just read it myself.
bashbashbashbash's review against another edition
4.0
Some really amazing things in this. Ann Glaviano's story "Come On, Silver" – a borderline-occult pubescent girl's diary – and Paul Yoon's wonderful quiet story "Milner Field" were standouts. The other was the slow, eerie, atmospheric and beautiful kind of piece I always yearn to read. Both were wonderful.
Kapka Kassabova's essay in readable feast – "The Chicken Shack" – was a portrait at refugees in Bulgaria that cuts through the pathos surrounding the refugee crisis by bringing real people and the granular details of their everyday lives into focus. I hope this will get a wide readership.
I liked the novel excerpts (Camille Bordas's "How to Behave in a Crowd" and Jonathan Dee's "Zero") – one a family story full of dark humor, the other a psychopathic take on what it was like to be in New York on 9/11.
Favorite poems: Donika Kelly's myth-infused trio, Kyle Dargan's poem, and some of the others too.
Everything in Lost and Found was good. I'm very keen to read Mo Yan's "The Garlic Ballads" now, and I loved Mira Ptacin's presentation of survival at sea (secretly a pet topic of mine) and Elisa Albert's unusual presentation of Alexandros Papadiamantis's "The Murderess."
Kapka Kassabova's essay in readable feast – "The Chicken Shack" – was a portrait at refugees in Bulgaria that cuts through the pathos surrounding the refugee crisis by bringing real people and the granular details of their everyday lives into focus. I hope this will get a wide readership.
I liked the novel excerpts (Camille Bordas's "How to Behave in a Crowd" and Jonathan Dee's "Zero") – one a family story full of dark humor, the other a psychopathic take on what it was like to be in New York on 9/11.
Favorite poems: Donika Kelly's myth-infused trio, Kyle Dargan's poem, and some of the others too.
Everything in Lost and Found was good. I'm very keen to read Mo Yan's "The Garlic Ballads" now, and I loved Mira Ptacin's presentation of survival at sea (secretly a pet topic of mine) and Elisa Albert's unusual presentation of Alexandros Papadiamantis's "The Murderess."