A review by doulicia
Farewell, I'm Bound to Leave You: Stories by Fred Chappell
3.0
Hm. Fred Chappell is a good storyteller. I liked some of the stories. I think they could have stood alone in a short story collection. I'm not sure that much was gained by bookending them with a death scene meant to link them all. That part felt contrived, ever though I also liked the more lyrical writing it used.
I didn't hear a difference between the characters' voices as they narrated. A mother told half the stories and her daughter the rest. But they all were one voice. And odd that a man would write a whole book purporting to tell women's ways. I guess that's why he used the construction of having women tell these stories to their son.
Lastly, some of the stories were a TOO folksy. I didn't like the one about how the narrator's mother supposedly won the heart of her husband. It was too cliched.
Still, overall this was a fast and easy read. Many of the stories were gentle page-turners that made for the perfect book to read on the bus.
I didn't hear a difference between the characters' voices as they narrated. A mother told half the stories and her daughter the rest. But they all were one voice. And odd that a man would write a whole book purporting to tell women's ways. I guess that's why he used the construction of having women tell these stories to their son.
Lastly, some of the stories were a TOO folksy. I didn't like the one about how the narrator's mother supposedly won the heart of her husband. It was too cliched.
Still, overall this was a fast and easy read. Many of the stories were gentle page-turners that made for the perfect book to read on the bus.