Touching, involving short fiction from a writer who eschews bold imagery and stylistic fireworks—and slowly, doggedly gets...
A first collection of seven patiently detailed, emotionally complex tales from the German author of the surprise critical success (an Oprah selection) The Reader (1997).
As did that quietly engrossing debut novel, Schlink’s stories excavate the sources of his characters’ singularity and uncertainty in their past histories, and also thrust forward to display the lasting consequences of the choices they’ve made. For example, a young West German’s complicated friendship with an East German couple (in “A Little Fling”) tests his tendency toward withdrawal and plunges him into an irreconcilable tangle of political and marital conflicts and betrayals. In the compelling title story, an introverted young man’s fixation on an eye-catching painting unsettles both his family’s harmony and his own ability to sustain relationships; and in “The Other Man” a widower’s slowly developing revenge against his late wife’s secret lover reveals to him his own compromises and failings. Schlink’s bleak realism sometimes misfires, producing slices of life (“The Son,” “The Circumcision”) that remain shapeless and inconclusive. But at his best—as in the mordant “Sugar Peas,” about a married architect’s inability to “juggle’ relationships with the several women who make him happy and fulfilled—he’s a sober, meticulous craftsman whose plainspoken analyses of the often extraordinary inner dimensions of outwardly ordinary lives recalls the generally underestimated fiction of his countrymen Heinrich Böll and Martin Walser. And, at times, he works with a concision and suggestiveness that vibrate with thematic possibility: notably in “The Woman at the Gas Station,” whose middle-aged protagonist discovers, during a hopeful “second honeymoon” trip with the wife from whom he has grown estranged, that a recurring romantic dream may have taken possession of him in a way his “reality” no longer can.
Touching, involving short fiction from a writer who eschews bold imagery and stylistic fireworks—and slowly, doggedly gets into your head and under your skin.Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2001
ISBN: 0-375-42090-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
