jkwriting24's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
radioactve_piano's review against another edition
1.0
I should have known better.
After taking a class on Welty, Woolf, and O'Connor in college, I knew Welty was my least favorite author of the three. I had bought this book for the class, though, and having only had to read a handful of the stories in it, determined that I would finish it someday.
I never understood the appeal, though. Her writing voice is annoying, her characters are all maimed (either physically or mentally), and her plots are mostly boring. Maybe I'm just too Yankee to appreciate her (or maybe I'm just not as easily amused by cripples or albinos).
After taking a class on Welty, Woolf, and O'Connor in college, I knew Welty was my least favorite author of the three. I had bought this book for the class, though, and having only had to read a handful of the stories in it, determined that I would finish it someday.
I never understood the appeal, though. Her writing voice is annoying, her characters are all maimed (either physically or mentally), and her plots are mostly boring. Maybe I'm just too Yankee to appreciate her (or maybe I'm just not as easily amused by cripples or albinos).
missjazzage's review against another edition
Enjoyed her short stories, but I didn’t feel compelled to finish it or pick it back up because it’s a number of short stories. Will absolutely seek out her novels, and likely return to the short stories from time to time.
drexedit's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
I only read The Death of a Traveling Salesman, her first published story.
haramis's review against another edition
4.0
I feel like weeping tears of relief that I am I finally on the other side of this. I don't think this is the intended reaction to this tome. I don't think that Eudora Welty should ever be jammed in a single book, suggesting that it's a single serving. Each book should be taken on its own with years between. As it is, I've spent seven months listening to it in bits and pieces.
I do still think that [b:The Green Curtain|12599|Selected Stories of Eudora Welty A Curtain of Green And Other Stories / The Wide Net and Other Stories|Eudora Welty|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1166505053s/12599.jpg|14884] benefits wonderfully from being read aloud. The humor shines with the performance. [b:The Wide Net and Other Stories|12593|The Wide Net and Other Stories|Eudora Welty|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348459411s/12593.jpg|14878] is about half and half. Basically, Welty sometimes gets into these long wandering passages, and they are clearly not meant to be heard. I so often found myself buried in what I thought was the middle of the story only to tumble into the last lines without warning. I have to think this would work better on the page, which is why I'm willing to argue that The Golden Apples should never be listened to. Someday, when I can stuff back down my gorge at the thought of going through it again, I truly intend to read rather than listen to it, and you know, maybe chart out all those families and relations. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy "The Wanderers," which brings everything in together, but that I think I would have appreciated it more if I didn't feel that I'd spent the entire book in some kind of half-hazed, drone-induced dream state.
[b:The Bride of Innisfallen] swings back into being mostly being listenable, and I think both "Bride of Innisfallen" and "Circe" shine in the audiobook format.
How do I rate this book? An average of its parts? By the best bits? Do I measure it in pain? I'll go with this--3.5 rounded up to 4, assuming that one skips The Golden Apples. DO NOT LISTEN TO THE GOLDEN APPLES.
---
It occurred to me recently while I was debating whether or not to renew my 4-year-old daughter's subscription to High Five that my love of short stories probably began with my childhood copies of Highlights for Children. I can remember longing for the new issue to arrive and then skipping the other features to read the stories first. My love of being read short stories happened much more recently and has everything to do with Selected Shorts. While I had dutifully read the Eudora Welty I was assigned in class, it was Selected Shorts that taught me to enjoy her as an adult, particularly performance of Marian Seldes reading "Lily Daw and The Three Ladies," which has a delicious comic tension.
This was my first time hearing "Why I Live at the P.O" read aloud, and it was utterly delightful. I'm afraid that I have to admit that perhaps I'm shallow, but I really do prefer the lighter stories to the darker ones. I have every intention of finishing the collection, but now them I'm into some of the longer, heavier stories, I'm enjoying it much less.
I do still think that [b:The Green Curtain|12599|Selected Stories of Eudora Welty A Curtain of Green And Other Stories / The Wide Net and Other Stories|Eudora Welty|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1166505053s/12599.jpg|14884] benefits wonderfully from being read aloud. The humor shines with the performance. [b:The Wide Net and Other Stories|12593|The Wide Net and Other Stories|Eudora Welty|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348459411s/12593.jpg|14878] is about half and half. Basically, Welty sometimes gets into these long wandering passages, and they are clearly not meant to be heard. I so often found myself buried in what I thought was the middle of the story only to tumble into the last lines without warning. I have to think this would work better on the page, which is why I'm willing to argue that The Golden Apples should never be listened to. Someday, when I can stuff back down my gorge at the thought of going through it again, I truly intend to read rather than listen to it, and you know, maybe chart out all those families and relations. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy "The Wanderers," which brings everything in together, but that I think I would have appreciated it more if I didn't feel that I'd spent the entire book in some kind of half-hazed, drone-induced dream state.
[b:The Bride of Innisfallen] swings back into being mostly being listenable, and I think both "Bride of Innisfallen" and "Circe" shine in the audiobook format.
How do I rate this book? An average of its parts? By the best bits? Do I measure it in pain? I'll go with this--3.5 rounded up to 4, assuming that one skips The Golden Apples. DO NOT LISTEN TO THE GOLDEN APPLES.
---
It occurred to me recently while I was debating whether or not to renew my 4-year-old daughter's subscription to High Five that my love of short stories probably began with my childhood copies of Highlights for Children. I can remember longing for the new issue to arrive and then skipping the other features to read the stories first. My love of being read short stories happened much more recently and has everything to do with Selected Shorts. While I had dutifully read the Eudora Welty I was assigned in class, it was Selected Shorts that taught me to enjoy her as an adult, particularly performance of Marian Seldes reading "Lily Daw and The Three Ladies," which has a delicious comic tension.
This was my first time hearing "Why I Live at the P.O" read aloud, and it was utterly delightful. I'm afraid that I have to admit that perhaps I'm shallow, but I really do prefer the lighter stories to the darker ones. I have every intention of finishing the collection, but now them I'm into some of the longer, heavier stories, I'm enjoying it much less.
clfounta's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book on and off for like 5 months, so I feel like I should say some things. Welty is an undeniably great writer. Place and setting are emphasized so much in her writing that you really do feel like you’re breathing the same air as her characters. Most of the time though, this means that not a whole lot happens. And what does happen is usually buried far beneath the subtext. Definitely do not read this if you’re looking for an exciting page-turner or anything like that. That being said there are a select few that I would describe as somewhat exciting, but those are sort of exceptions. As far as my personal enjoyment goes, I REALLY loved some of the stories, but quite a few were absolute slogs. Though, even when her stories are boring (they usually are) they’re still pretty enjoyable most of the time. It’s one of those cases where even if I’m not into the story, it’s more due to me and my preferences than her lacking skill as a writer.
steviec's review against another edition
5.0
Eudora Welty sees everything. I'd be a little afraid of what she'd see if she saw me.