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msbyfield's review against another edition
4.0
The world is not a dichotomy of black and white -- and Johnson captures the grayness of it with everyday, morally complex characters from different walks of life, each facing a crisis of humanity that smacks of tragicomedy. Johnson writes themes of technology, politics, and societal upheaval with clarity and fearlessness. These stories are powerful, even devastating -- they will grab you and won't let you go. Yet in each of these tragedies, Johnson finds the kernel of hope: endurance. If you read any short story collection this year, make it this one.
Read my other book reviews on my staff reviews page at Grass Roots Books!
Read my other book reviews on my staff reviews page at Grass Roots Books!
buttercupita's review against another edition
4.0
Having enjoyed Orphan Master's Son so much, it was interesting to read Johnson's short stories, many of them set domestically. I particularly loved "Interesting Facts", and "Nirvana" is provocative and haunting....
kitkat962's review against another edition
3.0
A strangely humane collection of stories about life and death, memories and identity.
I struggle to grasp some of the stories, as they has no distinctive narrative and the character names are hard to remember.
"Nivarna" is set on the future, and at first, I am clueless about the president hologram (I mean, who would ever think that we rely on a hologram for solace?)
I thought of giving up the whole book together after "Hurricane Anonymous", as the questions "Who is who?" and "So is it true or not?" kept rising in my head. Maybe I'm not a native English speaker, so after two confusing stories, I found it frustrating to keep going.
I'm glad to continue with "Interesting Facts" as it is surprisingly personal and touching. The fear and the sarcasm blends exceptionally, and the character resonates deeply with my own psyche.
It gets darker with "George Orwell was a friend of mine" and "Dark Meadow", as the book touches on difficult subject of Nazi prison and child pornography.
The last story depicts a North/South Korean clash, of which I have not much impression. The background and its character don't seem very real to me, and again, I found it hard to follow its line of logic.
After reading others' review here, I think I will probably read it again in the future and perhaps see the first and last stories in the new light.
I struggle to grasp some of the stories, as they has no distinctive narrative and the character names are hard to remember.
"Nivarna" is set on the future, and at first, I am clueless about the president hologram (I mean, who would ever think that we rely on a hologram for solace?)
I thought of giving up the whole book together after "Hurricane Anonymous", as the questions "Who is who?" and "So is it true or not?" kept rising in my head. Maybe I'm not a native English speaker, so after two confusing stories, I found it frustrating to keep going.
I'm glad to continue with "Interesting Facts" as it is surprisingly personal and touching. The fear and the sarcasm blends exceptionally, and the character resonates deeply with my own psyche.
It gets darker with "George Orwell was a friend of mine" and "Dark Meadow", as the book touches on difficult subject of Nazi prison and child pornography.
The last story depicts a North/South Korean clash, of which I have not much impression. The background and its character don't seem very real to me, and again, I found it hard to follow its line of logic.
After reading others' review here, I think I will probably read it again in the future and perhaps see the first and last stories in the new light.
theirresponsiblereader's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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If that doctor’s right, Nonc’s dad is going to die for sure this time. But the truth is, it’s just an event. Life’s full of events—they occur and you adjust, you roll and move on. But at some point, like when your girlfriend Marnie tells you she’s pregnant, you realize that some events are actually developments. You realize there’s a big plan out there you know nothing about, and a development is a first step in that new direction.
What’s Fortune Smiles About?
This is a collection of short stories—longer than most short stories I end up talking about here, but not novella length by any means. I’m not remotely sure how to describe the book or the themes as a whole…I guess I could steal that line from Semisonic, “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” These stories occupy the overlap of the new beginning and the end of the other beginnings.
Nirvana
Loss. Personal Grief. Dealing with disease, AI, and national grief. It was funny and gut-wrenching at the same time. I didn’t expect effective and affecting speculative fiction to start this collection (I honestly didn’t know what to expect, but definitely not that), but it was a dynamite start and raised my expectations for the rest.
Hurricanes Anonymous
This is not your typical post-natural disaster story. I don’t know what to say beyond that. I mean, I guess you could say there are somethings that are worse than the devastation a hurricane leaves in its wake—and we see at least one example of it here.
Other than to note the above quotation, the only thing I wrote about this was “I really don’t know what to think of it, but I’m glad I read it.” That kind of applies to the collection as a whole, but it really describes my reaction to this story.
Interesting Facts
This was hard to read—the emotions are so raw. This story is about the collapse of a marriage and the damage cancer wreaks—on the lives of the person with it and those around them.
George Orwell was a Friend of Mine
Years after the fall of the Berlin Wall—and everything that went with that—we spend some time watching the former Warden of a Stasi prison. His wife has left him, his adult daughter is having questions about him, and he’s still trying to adjust to the world he finds himself in and what the world thinks of his former career.
This was powerful stuff. I don’t know what else to say—for the longest time, you find yourself pulling for a guy you’d typically think was a monster (thankfully, while never thinking he was a stand-up guy). And then…well, maybe your perspective shifts a bit.
Darkness Falls
I could not finish this one—I’m willing to believe that there’s a decent ending to this, and there was a compelling reason to deal with this amount of darkness. But, I just couldn’t finish it because of the subject matter.
Fortune Smiles
This story is about a couple of North Korean men who defected to the South (one willingly, the other possibly less-so). Culture shock isn’t the right way to describe what they’re going through. I hope this doesn’t come across as dismissive—but it’s almost like Brooks Hatlen’s time after being paroled in The Shawshank Redemption, that’s the quickest way I have to describe their adjustment.
This story is just stunningly good, and it makes sense that the collection is named for it.
So, what did I think about Fortune Smiles?
This wasn’t a collection I could sit down and read back-to-back stories in. Frequently I had to take a day or more off between them (and sometimes I ended up taking more for other reasons)—Allyson Johnson’s recent WWW Wednesday comments* indicate that I’m not the only one who reacts this way.
* I’m expecting her to tell me how wrong I am about “Darkness Falls,” incidentally.
The stories, the points of view, the characters, circumstances, etc., etc., etc. are so varied from story to story that it’s hard to consider them as a collection. But here’s a few takeaways:
- Adam Johnson can write. Seriously great stuff.
- Adam Johnson will make you think. Particularly about things you haven’t spent (much?) time on before or actively try to stay away from.
- Adam Johnson will make you feel all sorts of things that you didn’t expect.
- Adam Johnson will not take a story where you expect or necessarily want him to. Until it’s over and you’ll regret your earlier dissension.
- Did I mention that this man can write?
I don’t know what else to say beyond that I’m glad Allyson put this on my radar, and I’m definitely recommending 5/6 of this to you all.
missyjohnson's review against another edition
4.0
Each story was very different. I really like Adam Johnson's writing. All of his stories have a sadness to them. Dark Meadows was especially difficult.
erintowner's review against another edition
5.0
Oh boy, what to say about this one. I rarely love short story collections but this one made me think. Off-kilter settings/scenarios, flawed protagonists...and then human moments that had me empathizing with people I certainly did not want to be empathizing with. Adam Johnson has a unique writing style that I really enjoy. For me, Nirvana and Interesting Facts were the weakest stories in the collection because I'm burned out on neurotic female characters.
alisonhori's review against another edition
1.0
So, it made the short list for the National Book award so I read it without knowing much but honestly, I have no idea why anyone would want to read this book. I don't think the stories are so well written or so emotionally powerful or so interesting in any way that it makes up for how uncomfortable they are to read. The story about the breast cancer mother viewing her husband and children was excrutiating to read but turns out not to be the worst....more of a toss up with the Nazi prison guard and solidly not as bad as the pediphile. I found the Hurricane Katrina story quite touching but overall, not sure why anyone would want to read these stories.
nderiley's review against another edition
5.0
Trigger warning for those who have suffered abuse, I would skip this book. Fortune smiles contains haunting, beautifully written stories told by protagonists with very deep flaws.