bbshams's review against another edition
4.0
gets a tad bit repetitive, but there are some very subtle and deceptively profound reflections in these little stories. my favorite story was the third to last, "examples of confusion" :)
everydayfrog's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
h1914's review against another edition
4.0
“If we were to go to Pastor Elaine herself for spiritual assistance, she might point to another passage, one we had seen by chance in Galatians, ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.’ How we would like to have in us this thing, the fruit of the Spirit. We read the list again and this time read it against the list of what is sometimes in us: love, joy, peace, gentleness, and goodness. We do not seem to have faith. As for long-suffering, we do not know if it is something one can have in small amounts. And now we see that it may be in the absence of long-suffering that no good thing comes into our flesh and we become vicious, as though possessed, and in the same moment lose, for a time, all love, joy, peace, gentleness, and goodness. Yet we do not know how to gain more long-suffering. It is not enough to want it, or to will it, or to will it from such a shallow place, anyway, as we do.”
kewlpinguino's review against another edition
3.0
Didn't wow me as much as Davis's previous [b: Break It Down|113860|Break It Down|Lydia Davis|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387720811s/113860.jpg|1056320]. I actually skipped one or two of the longer ones. Davis does better in five pages or less than she does in greater, I've found. [a: Miranda July|65678|Miranda July|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1211471153p2/65678.jpg] kind of does what Davis tries to in her longer ones, but better. This collection wasn't bad, though, I just wouldn't recommend it over Break it Down.
nesetzengin's review against another edition
3.0
Belki kendi dilinde okumak daha güzel olabilir , çeviri de güzel ama öyküleri sevemedim. fazla ekonomik, ayrıntı yok, kurgu yok.
hannahgadbois's review against another edition
4.0
“If we were to go to Pastor Elaine herself for spiritual assistance, she might point to another passage, one we had seen by chance in Galatians, ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.’ How we would like to have in us this thing, the fruit of the Spirit. We read the list again and this time read it against the list of what is sometimes in us: love, joy, peace, gentleness, and goodness. We do not seem to have faith. As for long-suffering, we do not know if it is something one can have in small amounts. And now we see that it may be in the absence of long-suffering that no good thing comes into our flesh and we become vicious, as though possessed, and in the same moment lose, for a time, all love, joy, peace, gentleness, and goodness. Yet we do not know how to gain more long-suffering. It is not enough to want it, or to will it, or to will it from such a shallow place, anyway, as we do.”
acityofbooks's review against another edition
Did Not Read Whole Book- Read the short stories "Almost no memory" and "No meat husband"
For my short fiction module. IT COUNTS in my Goodreads challenge.
For my short fiction module. IT COUNTS in my Goodreads challenge.
hotpotatohothot's review against another edition
4.0
This was a pleasant reading experience. Pivoting back and forth beneath my comforter to lean on my right or left elbow depending on whether I was reading the right or left side of the page felt very Lydia Davis-esque. I think I might even make my class read the last piece while I go over verb tenses.
ominousevent's review against another edition
2.0
In this second volume of Davis' collected stories, there are several which are more outward-looking and anchored in the actual concrete details of the world. The stories in which other characters appear and have an effect on what happens, or the setting is treated as interesting, are the best to read, although there is still a deadness and a repetitiveness to most of them which makes the overall task of reading feel like a chore.
And we still have plenty of the circular, obsessive, repetitive ruminations of narrators who are struck nearly blind by their inability to find anything outside their own thoughts, and thoughts about their thoughts, and thoughts about their thoughts about their thoughts, and endless run-on-sentences without a contraction or two-syllable word to be seen, interesting. Such myopia leaves the reader without anything interesting to look at at all.
And we still have plenty of the circular, obsessive, repetitive ruminations of narrators who are struck nearly blind by their inability to find anything outside their own thoughts, and thoughts about their thoughts, and thoughts about their thoughts about their thoughts, and endless run-on-sentences without a contraction or two-syllable word to be seen, interesting. Such myopia leaves the reader without anything interesting to look at at all.
daylark's review against another edition
3.0
Purposeful, thoughtful, beautiful, but missing the oomph for me.
I felt the shorter stories more than the longer, especially the objectively-phrased stories about relationships. I found myself skipping over some of the longers, waiting for their purpose or some kind of feeling. I love short stories because of the opportunity to jump into many puddles of an author's ideas, but I felt detached from many of these.
I felt the shorter stories more than the longer, especially the objectively-phrased stories about relationships. I found myself skipping over some of the longers, waiting for their purpose or some kind of feeling. I love short stories because of the opportunity to jump into many puddles of an author's ideas, but I felt detached from many of these.