
Or, maybe, the fact that it was only about 200 pages long and had rather thick margins also contributed to the fact that it only took me a few sittings to finish this book.
Anyway, this is not a novel. This is a collection of short stories. Now, I have shied away from short stories for one reason: I want a bigger picture, not just a snapshot. When was the last time I read a short story collection? Maybe it was back in high school, when I read James Joyce's Dubliners? Sadly, I hadn't been categorizing my book review posts until recently, so I can't go back and scan my previous reads.
Anyway, back to the current book. As can be gleaned from the title, this is a collection of short stories that deal with international relationships. The pairs come from all over Europe and the Americas. It can be an Israeli woman and a British man, a Russian woman and a German man, et cetera. The stories are captivating, and could sustain interest of the reader for the 15-20 pages that each story occupies. Each has its own mini-conclusion, and aside from the first and last story, no two stories are related to each other. It is like an adult version of a bedtime story, each story is worth one night of reading.
However, given my taste for novels, I find it hard to interact with the book. I suppose I wanted a bigger picture, and the only big picture I can see with this one is that everyone rode a plane to be with their mates. Nothing significantly bigger. The moment I could picture a story happening, it would end abruptly with a sometimes smart kick in the end. It takes a few pages to appreciate a story, but once those few pages are read and the story is appreciated, it suddenly ends and the next story begins. Maybe this is the reason why I do not pick up short stories to read more often.
But still, this collection is a cute one, if I would pick an adjective to describe it. It is very appropriate for the times we live in, given that the world we live in goes smaller and smaller. I would recommend this one if you are interested.
See my other book reviews here.
No comments:
Post a Comment