brookexwest's review against another edition
5.0
Lydia Davis is officially my favourite author and this is officially my bible. Her capacity to evoke such strong feelings in a matter of sentences is just mind blowing.
A collection of stories this big (god knows how many are actually in here, must be nearly a thousand??) is bound to have it’s peaks and troughs, but I think Davis’ troughs are probably the average writer’s peaks.
A collection of stories this big (god knows how many are actually in here, must be nearly a thousand??) is bound to have it’s peaks and troughs, but I think Davis’ troughs are probably the average writer’s peaks.
clarkness's review against another edition
5.0
Every once in a while a writer comes along and does everything differently and it's refreshing to read their work. I think people will one day view Lydia Davis in the same way that they view Raymond Carver. Every story here is a new experiment. They don't all work, of course, but what a pleasure to watch a restless experimentalist at the bench. The voice is unique at all times.
I was struck by how interior the characters were. Everyone was living deep in their own heads. I actually had the sense at many points that I was gaining a better understanding of a particular ex-girlfriend and the way that she seemed to inhabit her own mind. I'm not sure that I would want to read this work constantly because it can become a little claustrophobic, but I was fascinated nearly throughout. Moreover, I found the work to be extraordinarily emotionally generous.
I was struck by how interior the characters were. Everyone was living deep in their own heads. I actually had the sense at many points that I was gaining a better understanding of a particular ex-girlfriend and the way that she seemed to inhabit her own mind. I'm not sure that I would want to read this work constantly because it can become a little claustrophobic, but I was fascinated nearly throughout. Moreover, I found the work to be extraordinarily emotionally generous.
lifesaverscandyofficial's review against another edition
5.0
would that I could make my sentences like these ones
bettyvd's review against another edition
2.0
Davies schrijft goed, dat kan ik niet ontkennen. Maar ik ben geen liefhebber van het korte verhaal en deze verzamelbundel heeft me niet overstag doen gaan. Ik ben na ruim een derde gestopt... Ook al zijn de typeringen van de personages vaak bijzonder indringend en fascinerend, de algemene sfeer van narigheid begint snel te wegen...
Davies is a good writer, I can't deny. But I am not a fan of the short story an this book has not changed this. I stopped after a third of the book... Very catching and fascinating, but the overall atmosphere of dread becomes soon too heavy.
Davies is a good writer, I can't deny. But I am not a fan of the short story an this book has not changed this. I stopped after a third of the book... Very catching and fascinating, but the overall atmosphere of dread becomes soon too heavy.
adriarato's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kinbote4zembla's review against another edition
3.0
Thank Jesus, I am done this book.
What a slog. I mean, Lydia Davis is a very skilled stylist. But there is little more to most of these stories than wit. For instance, here is the story, "Mother's Reaction to My Travel Plans," in its entirety: "Gainesville! It's too bad your cousin is dead!" Okay. Great. Yeah.
Davis's stories are typically very short, sometimes consisting of a single sentence. This can be interesting. But, ultimately, I just don't think they work as stories. They aren't even memorable. Also, her style is so all-consuming that most of the stories seem redundant. So many of her linguistic tricks are repeated ad nauseam. The semantic games she plays, although effective occasionally, begin to seem less like a choice and more like a tic. How many times can a story just be a character puzzling over the exactness of a word? "If I am x and x is me, then to add a y, I am no longer x. And if I am no longer x, then what am I? Maybe x+y is z and z is something else," etc. Just kind of lame.
Davis is a smart writer and I respect her drive to condense, condense, condense. There were plenty of stories I really enjoyed. And even her playful stories gave me a chuckle every once in awhile. It just doesn't add up to much, for me. I come away from this book with not much more than I already had. She has a very specific literary sensibility that I think appeals to people who also like a New Yorker cartoon. I respect it. I get it. I just don't like it all that much.
3 Wind-Passing Dogs out of 5
What a slog. I mean, Lydia Davis is a very skilled stylist. But there is little more to most of these stories than wit. For instance, here is the story, "Mother's Reaction to My Travel Plans," in its entirety: "Gainesville! It's too bad your cousin is dead!" Okay. Great. Yeah.
Davis's stories are typically very short, sometimes consisting of a single sentence. This can be interesting. But, ultimately, I just don't think they work as stories. They aren't even memorable. Also, her style is so all-consuming that most of the stories seem redundant. So many of her linguistic tricks are repeated ad nauseam. The semantic games she plays, although effective occasionally, begin to seem less like a choice and more like a tic. How many times can a story just be a character puzzling over the exactness of a word? "If I am x and x is me, then to add a y, I am no longer x. And if I am no longer x, then what am I? Maybe x+y is z and z is something else," etc. Just kind of lame.
Davis is a smart writer and I respect her drive to condense, condense, condense. There were plenty of stories I really enjoyed. And even her playful stories gave me a chuckle every once in awhile. It just doesn't add up to much, for me. I come away from this book with not much more than I already had. She has a very specific literary sensibility that I think appeals to people who also like a New Yorker cartoon. I respect it. I get it. I just don't like it all that much.
3 Wind-Passing Dogs out of 5
ingrids's review against another edition
3.5
As with all short story collections, my opinions of the stories varied a lot. Some I loved, some I disliked, some I was neutral towards. The collection consists of 4 published collections and some quick maths gave me the following statistics regarding how many of the stories I liked in each collection:
Break it down (1986): 5/34, 14.7%
Almost no memory (1997): 20/51, 39,2%
Samuel Johnson is indignant (2001): 14/56, 25%
Varieties of disturbance (2007): 14/57, 24,6%
The story I liked the most was "What I Feel" from "Almost no Memory".
Overall, my impression of Lydia Davis is that she writes very cleverly, but sometime too cleverly. When she does it well it's SO good, but when it's not as well done it reads overly intellectual and over the top. However, I think Davis succeeds with her writing for the most part, and I am interested in the themes she writes about.
Break it down (1986): 5/34, 14.7%
Almost no memory (1997): 20/51, 39,2%
Samuel Johnson is indignant (2001): 14/56, 25%
Varieties of disturbance (2007): 14/57, 24,6%
The story I liked the most was "What I Feel" from "Almost no Memory".
Overall, my impression of Lydia Davis is that she writes very cleverly, but sometime too cleverly. When she does it well it's SO good, but when it's not as well done it reads overly intellectual and over the top. However, I think Davis succeeds with her writing for the most part, and I am interested in the themes she writes about.
shipssail's review against another edition
5.0
I love Lydia Davis. I want to write like her and maybe a little bit do.
spiderfelt's review against another edition
5.0
Lydia Davis is a writer's writer. She bends expectations while giving language to thoughts unspoken. I can't say I enjoyed every piece in this book, but there were some pieces that shattered me. Those that moved me left me breathless and aching to share with some other person. I wonder how much of my appreciation is formed by our shared experience as a mother and sometimes alienated woman. Regardless, I credit her for my renewed interest in writing and for putting to words exactly those ideas I have hesitated to express out loud.
kjboldon's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
I have been reading this 700+ page collection for years. I bought it as a gift for my spouse. It's such a beautiful object, with its salmon cover, sans serif font, and deckle-edged pages. He started it and gave up. I started, I stopped, I picked it up again, vowing to read a little at a time, and now, finally, I am done.
Lydia Davis is a genius. Some of these stories are so good they're otherworldly, especially some of the shorter ones. But over the course of years, of over 700 pages, I realized I did not like reading collected works. Davis's cool, detached style and precise sentences work better for me in a shorter form. I would have preferred the bite-sized snack format of the individual books that are collected here. In many of the longer stories, like the one with thank you notes or the one with health histories, I started with intrigue and finished with fatigue. Lydia Davis has a weird, wonderful mind but I didn't always delight to follow hers till the story ran its course.
I will take this insight about myself and try to remember: no more collected works. One book at a time, not four books in one, no matter how pretty the cover or well designed the book. I have been reading this book for years. I am so glad to be done.
Lydia Davis is a genius. Some of these stories are so good they're otherworldly, especially some of the shorter ones. But over the course of years, of over 700 pages, I realized I did not like reading collected works. Davis's cool, detached style and precise sentences work better for me in a shorter form. I would have preferred the bite-sized snack format of the individual books that are collected here. In many of the longer stories, like the one with thank you notes or the one with health histories, I started with intrigue and finished with fatigue. Lydia Davis has a weird, wonderful mind but I didn't always delight to follow hers till the story ran its course.
I will take this insight about myself and try to remember: no more collected works. One book at a time, not four books in one, no matter how pretty the cover or well designed the book. I have been reading this book for years. I am so glad to be done.