Subscribe
Three works that speak with immediacy, across miles and decades.
A writer whose work frequently blurs the boundaries between fictional invention and an essayist's engagement with history, art, and philosophy, Julian Barnes has married the cerebral with matters of the heart in unclassifiable works such as Flaubert's Parrot and The History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters. His new book of short stories, Pulse, revisits themes that have pervaded his novels -- loss and love, friendship and fidelity. This week he points us to two collections of short fiction that demonstrate the form's limitless range, as well as an eminent novelist's unique life of her more famous colleague.
Long, Last, Happy: New and Collected Stories
By Barry Hannah
"This is both an anthology and a tribute to a great voice of the American South. Hannah died last year, much praised by fellow writers but not as widely read as he deserved to be. He had a perfect ear, an eye for scary detail, and a kind of literary bravado about him: if in doubt, go for it, was his rule. The ride often makes your stomach somersault and your ears pop."
By Helen Simpson
"As English and female as Hannah is American and male, Simpson is the best British short-story writer under 50. The two of them, taken together, show the extraordinary range of tone and content the form can include. A (male) English critic recently wrote, 'You wouldn't want to be a man in a Helen Simpson short story,' not even if you were Barry Hannah. Merciless, funny, and wise. Look out for her next collection, In-Flight Entertainment, coming out in 2012."
By Elizabeth Gaskell
"The first biography of a woman novelist by another woman novelist, Gaskell's book remains amazingly fresh after a century and a half, and as fascinating in its flaws as in its many strengths. Though deeply sympathetic in general, Gaskell was alarmed by (and sought to mitigate) what Gaskell and her fellow-Victorians thought of as the 'coarseness' of Brontë. Her 'branding' started off the Brontë industry, whose founding myths are still being unpicked to this day (see, for instance, The Brontë Myth by Lucasta Miller)."
Email
Print
Share
With dates announced for his upcoming Old Ideas concert tour, we celebrate the inimitable Leonard Cohen: bard, survivor, legend. His most recent album is a return to form for the balladeer, exploring signature themes of lust and longing, spirituality and struggle, all overlaid with a droll sense of humor as familiar as Cohen's prophetic voice.
When Jack Luxton hears that his estranged brother has been killed in combat, long-buried memories begin to well up like groundwater, and difficult choices Jack thought he reconciled himself to years ago turn out to be close at hand. Man Booker Prize-winner Graham Swift's novel plumbs timeless themes of regret, renewal, and the bonds of love.
The opening story in Matthew Battles's electric collection, "The Dogs in the Trees", documents the inexplicable appearance of arboreal canines. Further gorgeous fantastika follows, producing a volume sure to draw comparisons to Borges and George Saunders.
Please sign in to add a comment on this article.