RobAroundBooks» Short Story Reviews

Short Story Review – Young Blood by Jordan Taylor

Rob — Sat, 19 May 2012 12:07:26 +0000

Story Title: ‘Young Blood’ by Jordan Taylor.
Collection/Anthology?: Available as a stand-alone story. Details from the author’s website.
Briefly: It’s the eve before a historic battle, and a young soldier writes a letter in the fading light of a candle.
Afterthoughts: Young Blood is a stand-alone short story published by emerging writer Jordan Taylor, which tells the tale of an underage boy and two friends, who manage to blag their way into the trenches of the Somme during World War One.

Overall, Taylor has produced a readable little story. It’s clearly written for a younger audience – typically under-15s I’d say – and it’s very well suited to this age group. The author has not only managed to capture something of the brutality of the First World War – which should be remembered by all, of course – but also the changing mood that occurs during the course of a long and brutal conflict, where the ‘shininess’ of war wears off and becomes tarnished.

I would say in all honesty that the prose could do with a little polishing up (the odd sentence reworked, some punctuation tightened etc.), but as a short story it’s almost there. That said, I would have liked to have seen something a little more unique in Young Blood. Taylor has clearly worked historical fact into fiction, and she’s effective in doing so, but she’s ended up with something that feels quite generic; a story that’s more or less been told a thousand times. Better if she had researched more widely, and uncovered something a little more unusual but as equally affecting, to turn into fiction.

Do I think that Young Blood is worth the price of its cheap download? Well, if you’re looking to keep your young teen happy on a short car trip, then absolutely. I’d also say that the story is ideal for the high school student who has yet to be introduced to horrors of the First World War. I think it’s the kind of story that would serve well as a dramatic yet sobering opening introduction.

You can find out more about Jordan Taylor and the fiction she writes at her website. From there you can also find the links to purchase and download her stories.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Short Story Review: The Klinefelter’s Adventures: Chromosome of Havoc by Rachael Withers

Rob — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:00:34 +0000

Story Title: ‘The Klinefelter’s Adventures: Chromosome of Havoc’ by Rachael Withers.
Collection/Anthology?: Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology 4 (Bristol Review of Books)
Briefly: A day in the life and loves of a college student, who suffers from Klinefelter’s Syndrome.
Afterthoughts: Well this is a first for me. Aside from it having an impossibly long title (I may be exaggerating a little), this is the first short story I’ve ever read that’s been presented as a kind of ‘choice your own’ tale. It’s reminiscent of the single-player adventure gamebooks – such as the Fighting Fantasy series – which were popular in the 1980s.

I won’t lie to you, given that this story is presented in such a non-linear fashion makes it difficult to read, and one really has to go through it 3 or 4 times in order to get it. I would say that the effort is worth it though because what emerges is a fairly good tale. My only worry is that London-based Withers may have been a little too clever for her own good, because just like those adventure gamebooks of the 80s it takes a certain level of patience to get through this story, and this may be off-putting for some.

Talking of patience, this author must have it in abundance because God only knows how long it must have took her to write this story. So bravo to her, both for her ingenuity and her fortitude.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

This story was read as part of a review of the Bristol Review of Books Anthology 4. If you want to find out more about this collection then I invite you to pop along to my forethoughts post for this title. I also encourage you to make a trip over to the publisher page for this title.

Short Story Review: National Gallery by Peter Winder

Rob — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:00:16 +0000

Story Title: ‘National Gallery’ by Peter Winder.
Collection/Anthology?: Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology 4 (Bristol Review of Books)
Briefly: The narrator is a regimented sort of chap. He eats his sandwiches in the restroom at work at lunchtime, at exactly the same time every day, before heading off to gaze at the Van Gogh’s in the National Gallery, before leaving at precisely 13:46 to get back to his desk for 14:00. One day however, his routine becomes upset, when he remembers seeing a young woman with blonde curly hair in the gallery, on a number of particular days.
Afterthoughts: This is a great story from London-born Peter Winder, mainly because he captures the ‘voice’ of the protagonist – the narrator of the story – so well. Aside from his actions, it’s clear from his ‘voice’ that the narrator has some kind of condition (Asperger’s?). It adds to the authenticity, and in making National Gallery the well-rounded and engaging story that it is. In his bio it says that Peter Wender has been writing short stories for pleasure for many years, and reading this story one can see that this was clearly time well spent.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This story was read as part of a review of the Bristol Review of Books Anthology 4. If you want to find out more about this collection then I invite you to pop along to my forethoughts post for this title. I also encourage you to make a trip over to the publisher page for this title.

Short Story Review: Baking Blind by Melanie Whipman

Rob — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:00:07 +0000

Story Title: ‘Baking Blind’ by Melanie Whipman.
Collection/Anthology?: Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology 4 (Bristol Review of Books)
Briefly: Naive and somewhat blinded by a romantic notion of Britain (a love fostered by her father, an English-language teacher), sixteen-year-old Laima leaves Lithuania to take up a job in England. It soon becomes clear however – to the reader at least – that she isn’t in the UK to work in the job that she thought she was.
Afterthoughts: This is exactly what a short story should be – clear, precise and affecting. There are fleeting moments of tenderness in Baking Blind but the overall tone is one of sadness and despair; a feeling that becomes all the more apparent when one sits and reflects on the story afterwards. An excellent example of powerful storytelling, but one that is delivered in a subtle kind of way.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This story was read as part of a review of the Bristol Review of Books Anthology 4. If you want to find out more about this collection then I invite you to pop along to my forethoughts post for this title. I also encourage you to make a trip over to the publisher page for this title.

Short Story Review: Brown Bag by Safia Shah

Rob — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:00:02 +0000

Story Title: ‘Brown Bag’ by Safia Shah.
Collection/Anthology?: Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology 4 (Bristol Review of Books)
Briefly: With her Mum dead and her ashes lying in an urn, Jennifer reflects on her mother’s passing and on incidental memories from the past.
Afterthoughts: A short and sharp and very English story from Casablanca-based Safia Shah, that captures something of the zeitgeist of our modern, Internet-focused age. The storytelling is adequate throughout, but the real triumph comes right at the end, where it’s sudden and completely unexpected.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

This story was read as part of a review of the Bristol Review of Books Anthology 4. If you want to find out more about this collection then I invite you to pop along to my forethoughts post for this title. I also encourage you to make a trip over to the publisher page for this title.

Short story review: Berlin Arkonaplatz – My Lesbian Summer by Kevin Barry

Rob — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:00:01 +0000

Story Title: Berlin Arkonaplatz – My Lesbian Summer by Kevin Barry
Collection/Anthology?: Dark Lies the Island (Jonathan Cape)
Briefly: Young Irish writer Patrick arrives in Berlin one summer, and shares an apartment with a lesbian Slavic fashion photographer called Silvija.
Afterthoughts: This story is full of sexually depraved characters – Bohemian deviants who seek to shock – but despite being crammed with so many strong personalities, Berlin Arkonaplatz – My Lesbian Summer didn’t really appeal to me all that much.

However, the story does have a redeeming quality, in the rather odd relationship between the protagonist Patrick and the photographer, Silvija. It’s a strength and supreme confidence of an older lesbian woman vs the young, heterosexual wet-behind-the-ears male writer kind of relationship, and in its depraved way it’s kind of endearing. One would consider this to be a difficult match for Barry to put together, yet he succeeds making the story much more readable than it is shocking.

All in all a story worth reading – if one is not easily offended – but I question whether it really has a place in this collection.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

This story was read as part of a review of Kevin Barry’s latest short story collection, Dark Lies the Island. If you want to find out more about the book, or you want to read other reviews from this collection, then I invite you to pop along to my forethoughts post for this title. I also invite you to take a trip over to the publisher page for this title.

Short Story Review: The Last Fare by Philip St John

Rob — Sun, 13 May 2012 17:00:41 +0000

Story Title: ‘The Last Fare’ by Philip St John.
Collection/Anthology?: Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology 4 (Bristol Review of Books)
Briefly: Dudley knows, along with the rest of the taxi drivers, that travelling the road to Chapeltown at night-time isn’t a good idea. However, the couple who have just landed from Miami put forward an irresistible offer.
Afterthoughts: Standard storytelling fare from Irish author St. John. Nothing extraordinary perhaps, but a good story well told, and one that’s tense and engaging.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

This story was read as part of a review of the Bristol Review of Books Anthology 4. If you want to find out more about this collection then I invite you to pop along to my forethoughts post for this title. I also encourage you to make a trip over to the publisher page for this title.

Short Story Review: Dark Lies the Island by Kevin Barry

Rob — Sun, 13 May 2012 11:00:02 +0000

Story Title: Dark Lies the Island by Kevin Barry
Collection/Anthology?: Dark Lies the Island (Jonathan Cape)
Briefly: As Sara stays alone at her father’s summer house, she fights the demons inside. She’s a self harmer, and despite having much to be positive about, she’s feeling lower on this night than she has for months.
Afterthoughts: And so we come to the titular story in Kevin Barry’s latest collection, and this is the saddest tale of the lot. There are no laughs to be had in Dark Lies the Island, only gloom and desperation. But then again how could any writer sew a seam of humour into a story with a theme that’s so sad and despairing?

Barry paints a sense of loneliness and vulnerability in the story’s self-harming main character to such an extraordinary depth (he amplifies the mood magnificently through the surroundings and the weather), that he shows in the space of one short story, just how deftly he can turn his pen to the darker and more affecting side of fiction writing.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This story was read as part of a review of Kevin Barry’s latest short story collection, Dark Lies the Island. If you want to find out more about the book, or you want to read other reviews from this collection, then I invite you to pop along to my forethoughts post for this title. I also invite you to take a trip over to the publisher page for this title.

Short Story Review: Open Mike Night by Robert Perry

Rob — Sat, 12 May 2012 17:00:56 +0000

Story Title: ‘Open Mike Night’ by Robert Perry.
Collection/Anthology?: Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology 4 (Bristol Review of Books)
Briefly: It’s open mike night and Mike gets the opportunity to openly declare his love for the beautiful Amander.
Afterthoughts: Weighing in at a lowly two pages this is undoubtedly the shortest story in the anthology, but as short as it is, it’s playfully entertaining. Norfolk-born Perry clearly has a vibrant sense of humour and a unique zing to his prose, which makes Open Mike Night original and enjoyably frolicsome.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

This story was read as part of a review of the Bristol Review of Books Anthology 4. If you want to find out more about this collection then I invite you to pop along to my forethoughts post for this title. I also encourage you to make a trip over to the publisher page for this title.

Short Story Review: White Hitachi by Kevin Barry

Rob — Sat, 12 May 2012 11:00:02 +0000

Story Title: White Hitachi by Kevin Barry
Collection/Anthology?: Dark Lies the Island (Jonathan Cape)
Briefly: The Mullaney brothers may be perpetually involved in crime but then they really only have each other, and a beat up white Hitachi van that they like to call home.
Afterthoughts: This is an hilarious tale about two brothers who have little choice but to live on the wrong side of the law. It’s got brilliant characters, there are plenty of laughs (especially when a fellow called Doggie Mannion comes on the scene), and it’s all held together with razor-sharp dialogue. This is classic Kevin Barry. Nuff said!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

This story was read as part of a review of Kevin Barry’s latest short story collection, Dark Lies the Island. If you want to find out more about the book, or you want to read other reviews from this collection, then I invite you to pop along to my forethoughts post for this title. I also invite you to take a trip over to the publisher page for this title.