A review by rouge_red
A Fairly Good Time and Green Water, Green Sky by Mavis Gallant

funny reflective slow-paced

3.75

From these two stories I can see Mavis Gallant likes to write about relationships, family, displacement/ex-pat life, and about how people misunderstand/think they know what is best for another person. The first story, A Fairly Good Time, was pretty funny throughout with "Ha!" moments and all of these strained relations. You get a sense that, like the second story Green Water, Green Sky, these people are barely tolerating one another and are just getting by in life. There is this feeling of drifting, of impermanence to both these stories and the way people's lives have been. If you think about it, there is a deep vein of sadness in both stories and the result can be from looking for love in the wrong place or wrong person. 

I was a little worried starting off the first story that we were going to have a School of Fools situation of rambling/stream of consciousness; however even though our MC wanders in her thoughts, they aren't so extensive and long winded that we lose the plot. Thankfully. I do like Gallant's humor and writing and am interested in that sequel short story to A Fairly Good Time.