emilybh's review against another edition
4.0
I've enjoyed dipping in and out of this collection over roughly a year and a half. Pearlman is a gentle and kind writer who imagines characters at all stages of life. The story that gives this collection its title was my favourite, but all of them - though linked by different threads - are individually intriguing.
dewey_the_composer's review against another edition
5.0
Extremely beautiful writing with very specific situations. I sometimes felt I couldn't fully relate to a story, but they were so well told that, when I thought a story was just relaxing an eventless life (before the action happened) I was still enthralled.
rdoose's review against another edition
4.0
This collection is split into two section: "selected stories" and "new stories." I really loved the first section; the stories were quiet, but powerful and satisfying. I didn't connect as much with the second section, but I enjoyed the themes of independence/individuality/autonomy that ran through all of her stories. If you're going to read any one story by Pearlman, I would recommend "Tess."
Favorites: "Settlers," "Allog," "Tess," "Jan Term"
Favorites: "Settlers," "Allog," "Tess," "Jan Term"
valhecka's review against another edition
For a fiction writing class - there are five or six stories I haven't gotten to yet, but I love what I've seen so far. You can really dig down and settle in with Edith Pearlman; her stories are deep, comfortable, and subtly unsettling just enough to make your brain fizzle. She's gooooooood.
bjr2022's review against another edition
5.0
In today's Lithub there is an article (excerpted from a book) on the phenomenon of women reading male and female writers, but men reading largely only male writers. Mary Ann Sieghart writes, "The Irish novelist John Boyne remembers attending a literary festival where three established male novelists were referred to in the program as 'giants of world literature,' while a panel of female writers of equal stature were described as 'wonderful storytellers.'"
Ann Patchett writes in the introduction to this massive short story collection:
Perhaps the first paragraph of this review answers the question of the second.
Two stories into my reading, I leapt to the computer and ordered a copy of this book. No way can I read this in the span of a library loan. It will take me months, as one story is a full meal—remarkably as full-bodied as a good novel. (I may add to this review once I finish.)
When my copy arrives, I will pick up reading wherever I am, return the library edition, and when I'm done, my book will be shelved with The Stories of John Cheever, which required the identical slow reading.
There is no sane reason for Edith Pearlman's talent to be a surprise to any reading person.
P.S. And thank you, Paul Secor, a smart male reader, for letting me know about this book. I echo his comments of gratitude for my GR friends.
Ann Patchett writes in the introduction to this massive short story collection:
To that great list of human mysteries which includes the construction of the pyramids and the persistent use of Styrofoam as a packing material let me add this one: why isn't Edith Pearlman famous?She considers Pearlman one of the literary giants.
Perhaps the first paragraph of this review answers the question of the second.
Two stories into my reading, I leapt to the computer and ordered a copy of this book. No way can I read this in the span of a library loan. It will take me months, as one story is a full meal—remarkably as full-bodied as a good novel. (I may add to this review once I finish.)
When my copy arrives, I will pick up reading wherever I am, return the library edition, and when I'm done, my book will be shelved with The Stories of John Cheever, which required the identical slow reading.
There is no sane reason for Edith Pearlman's talent to be a surprise to any reading person.
P.S. And thank you, Paul Secor, a smart male reader, for letting me know about this book. I echo his comments of gratitude for my GR friends.
seebrandyread's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I've read Edith Pearlman short stories here and there, usually via Best American anthologies. This collection is introduced by Ann Patchett, a huge fan, which was also a selling point. I agree with Patchett and several other blurber-ers (blurb-ists?) that Pearlman is extremely underrated. She's basically the American Alice Munro--a master of the short story whose work explores the depth and vastness of humanity from one small corner of the globe.
Pearlman is a much more succinct writer than Munro. The stories collected here average about 12 pages, and Pearlman does the most with those pages, carefully choosing every detail and turn of phrase while still maintaining a richness to her prose. Though her stories take place all over, the last part of the book, the "New Stories," takes place almost exclusively in Godolphin, a suburb in Boston. Many, many of her characters are Jewish which is sometimes integral to the plot and sometimes a minor fleshing out of a character. While her characters often exist in specific communities, the only explicitly connected stories are 3 from the first half of the book about a woman who moves to Europe during WWII to assist with the war effort.
The titular story indicates what ties the collection together and defines Pearlman as a writer. In it, a young girl spies on her neighbors despite their mundanity until a tragedy teaches her that everything she thinks she knows about them may be wrong. Not only is it a moment of loss of innocence but also a valuable reminder that we often cloud our own vision.
These stories are often preoccupied with death. Characters endure illnesses or die suddenly or live in war-torn times and places. Sometimes they are bystanders, witnesses to the passing of friends or family. Perhaps the ultimate concern of the storyteller is witnessing (see title story). Time passes slowly and quickly in Pearlman's narratives, and her characters are testaments to its passage, no matter how reluctantly.
I enjoyed Pearlman's portrayal of older characters who deal with the predictable declines in health and struggle to adapt to social change but who are also sexually active or crave new experiences. I often wondered if they were later versions of some of her younger characters. There were times when the stories felt repetitive, especially if I read several in a day. This is the kind of collection that lends itself to more spaced out reading or to complement something fast-paced.
Pearlman is a much more succinct writer than Munro. The stories collected here average about 12 pages, and Pearlman does the most with those pages, carefully choosing every detail and turn of phrase while still maintaining a richness to her prose. Though her stories take place all over, the last part of the book, the "New Stories," takes place almost exclusively in Godolphin, a suburb in Boston. Many, many of her characters are Jewish which is sometimes integral to the plot and sometimes a minor fleshing out of a character. While her characters often exist in specific communities, the only explicitly connected stories are 3 from the first half of the book about a woman who moves to Europe during WWII to assist with the war effort.
The titular story indicates what ties the collection together and defines Pearlman as a writer. In it, a young girl spies on her neighbors despite their mundanity until a tragedy teaches her that everything she thinks she knows about them may be wrong. Not only is it a moment of loss of innocence but also a valuable reminder that we often cloud our own vision.
These stories are often preoccupied with death. Characters endure illnesses or die suddenly or live in war-torn times and places. Sometimes they are bystanders, witnesses to the passing of friends or family. Perhaps the ultimate concern of the storyteller is witnessing (see title story). Time passes slowly and quickly in Pearlman's narratives, and her characters are testaments to its passage, no matter how reluctantly.
I enjoyed Pearlman's portrayal of older characters who deal with the predictable declines in health and struggle to adapt to social change but who are also sexually active or crave new experiences. I often wondered if they were later versions of some of her younger characters. There were times when the stories felt repetitive, especially if I read several in a day. This is the kind of collection that lends itself to more spaced out reading or to complement something fast-paced.
kurikhar's review against another edition
4.0
Edith Pearlman's "Binocular Vision" came recommended to me through an essay in the book "Literary Publishing in the Twenty-First Century," concerning the origins of UNC Wilmington's Lookout Books imprint. Within that essay, Lookout co-founder Emily Louise Smith sang the praises of Pearlman as a talented and long-overlooked writer of short stories who became the natural choice to collect in the publisher's first release--that release being the book reviewed here.
In truth, I initially found it difficult to settle into the rhythm of Pearlman's work. This may be in part because I've lived almost two-thirds of my life on the West Coast. Pearlman and her work, meanwhile, are very much products of New England and all its obsessions with Old World life, middle class intelligentsia, pretention and navel-gazing neuroticism. Her dialogue presented a particularly difficult sticking point. To be blunt, if I heard someone say, earnestly, just about any of the quotations from this book in real life, I would think them insufferable, insane, and likely both.
The story "The Settlers" presented both a particularly egregious example of the early annoyances I harbored for this book and the turning point at which I began to look upon it favorably. After finishing the story in bed next to my girlfriend, I slammed the book down, turned to her and said, "Jesus Christ, this book. Someone seriously said 'You snuck up on me. You're as quiet as a tiger.' And you know how someone responded? 'Is that what a corporate takeover feels like?' Who talks like that outside of 'Frasier?' And the whole story is, like, about this guy who insinuates himself into a family and believes he and the other man's wife are falling in love. But, like, in his own head, and he congratulates himself for not acting on it. Then it turns out she's been having an affair with another man entirely and he has the nerve to be pissed about it!"
Then I stopped. I picked the book back up. Skimmed through the story again. And I realized that none of what I had just said was explicitly in the text. It was there, to be sure, but it wasn't spoken. She had communicated an entire hidden story, using subtext.
This is what I came to appreciate as Pearlman's strength and the cause for her assignation as the literary "it" woman of the past few years. She is able to tell stories of inner drama and deep emotion in the mundane with expert use of rich, poetic language and a jazz musician's understanding of the importance of the notes she's not playing.
While I don't see myself being able to overcome the cultural gap that alienates me from her (usually) Bostonian subject matter, I've come out the other side of this collection with an advanced appreciation of what fiction can strive to be.
In truth, I initially found it difficult to settle into the rhythm of Pearlman's work. This may be in part because I've lived almost two-thirds of my life on the West Coast. Pearlman and her work, meanwhile, are very much products of New England and all its obsessions with Old World life, middle class intelligentsia, pretention and navel-gazing neuroticism. Her dialogue presented a particularly difficult sticking point. To be blunt, if I heard someone say, earnestly, just about any of the quotations from this book in real life, I would think them insufferable, insane, and likely both.
The story "The Settlers" presented both a particularly egregious example of the early annoyances I harbored for this book and the turning point at which I began to look upon it favorably. After finishing the story in bed next to my girlfriend, I slammed the book down, turned to her and said, "Jesus Christ, this book. Someone seriously said 'You snuck up on me. You're as quiet as a tiger.' And you know how someone responded? 'Is that what a corporate takeover feels like?' Who talks like that outside of 'Frasier?' And the whole story is, like, about this guy who insinuates himself into a family and believes he and the other man's wife are falling in love. But, like, in his own head, and he congratulates himself for not acting on it. Then it turns out she's been having an affair with another man entirely and he has the nerve to be pissed about it!"
Then I stopped. I picked the book back up. Skimmed through the story again. And I realized that none of what I had just said was explicitly in the text. It was there, to be sure, but it wasn't spoken. She had communicated an entire hidden story, using subtext.
This is what I came to appreciate as Pearlman's strength and the cause for her assignation as the literary "it" woman of the past few years. She is able to tell stories of inner drama and deep emotion in the mundane with expert use of rich, poetic language and a jazz musician's understanding of the importance of the notes she's not playing.
While I don't see myself being able to overcome the cultural gap that alienates me from her (usually) Bostonian subject matter, I've come out the other side of this collection with an advanced appreciation of what fiction can strive to be.
slerner310's review against another edition
5.0
I have read slowly through this book, taking each story by itself, allowing each to resonate for a day or a week, before I pick up the book for the next. Each story is well worth savoring. Beautifully written with nuanced, vivid characters, well-sketched but not over-wrought. The stories are set in various places, although many take place in Godolphin, a suburb of Boston with more than a passing similarity to Brookline. Each is completely engrossing and stands on its own.
I had never heard of Edith Pearlman before I came across this book on the shelves of City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, NC. Something about the cover appealed to me and I bought it on impulse. I am grateful to City Lights for piquing my interest and introducing me to this most wonderful writer.
I had never heard of Edith Pearlman before I came across this book on the shelves of City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, NC. Something about the cover appealed to me and I bought it on impulse. I am grateful to City Lights for piquing my interest and introducing me to this most wonderful writer.
sidneyreads_'s review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Chronic illness and Cancer