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A review by shanacorrin
In the Gloaming: Stories by Alice Elliott Dark
5.0
Disclaimer: I know the author of this book personally, and I adore her. She was my creative writing teacher in graduate school, so even though I feel like I am going to provide a review based on the book, my feelings can't help but seep in.
The book cover sets a high bar since it touts the fact that the title story, "In the Gloaming," was chosen as one of the best American short stories of century, and the title story is amazing. It is a quiet, gentle story. There is nothing overwrought about it, and given the topic, that was a real possibility. Dark really captures the tenuousness of human connections in a way that makes it easy to see the miraculousness of those connections even being made or holding up at all. Coming away from the story, I felt a deep sense of how precious each little moment can be. And yes, I realize that for some this would be a good reason not to read the story, but my futile attempts to capture what makes the story fantastic should not dissuade you.
Many reviewers on goodreads seemed to dismiss the rest of the collection, feeling that it didn't live up to the first, but much as I loved the first story and fantastic as it was, I found the later stories to be even better. Basically from "The Secret Spot," the sixth out of ten stories, to the end of the collection, the stories are all strong. I particularly like "Close" and "Maniacs."
The only story I was less than thrilled about was "The Tower." It contains a lot to like. A lot. However, there is a plot twist that I really felt didn't serve the story. It was too shocking, felt like something too much from a soap opera. Even with the distracting twist, though, Dark manages to make something of the story by the end.
Endings, in fact, are one of the collections many strengths. If you are the kind of person who likes a tidy resolution where everything falls into place and nothing is unaccounted for, you probably won't like these stories. Dark lets them just be without feeling the need to answer all the reader's questions. She provides readers with a snapshot of the characters' lives and allows the reader to picture what is outside of the frame. I, for one, really enjoy that. This is a great short story collection.
The book cover sets a high bar since it touts the fact that the title story, "In the Gloaming," was chosen as one of the best American short stories of century, and the title story is amazing. It is a quiet, gentle story. There is nothing overwrought about it, and given the topic, that was a real possibility. Dark really captures the tenuousness of human connections in a way that makes it easy to see the miraculousness of those connections even being made or holding up at all. Coming away from the story, I felt a deep sense of how precious each little moment can be. And yes, I realize that for some this would be a good reason not to read the story, but my futile attempts to capture what makes the story fantastic should not dissuade you.
Many reviewers on goodreads seemed to dismiss the rest of the collection, feeling that it didn't live up to the first, but much as I loved the first story and fantastic as it was, I found the later stories to be even better. Basically from "The Secret Spot," the sixth out of ten stories, to the end of the collection, the stories are all strong. I particularly like "Close" and "Maniacs."
The only story I was less than thrilled about was "The Tower." It contains a lot to like. A lot. However, there is a plot twist that I really felt didn't serve the story. It was too shocking, felt like something too much from a soap opera. Even with the distracting twist, though, Dark manages to make something of the story by the end.
Endings, in fact, are one of the collections many strengths. If you are the kind of person who likes a tidy resolution where everything falls into place and nothing is unaccounted for, you probably won't like these stories. Dark lets them just be without feeling the need to answer all the reader's questions. She provides readers with a snapshot of the characters' lives and allows the reader to picture what is outside of the frame. I, for one, really enjoy that. This is a great short story collection.