Sunday, March 17, 2013

Falling off my Kindle


Fall – A Collection of Short Stories (Almond Press Short Story Contest) [Kindle Edition]

Fiction
191 Pages / 394 KB
Footnotes / Endnotes: No
Illustrations: No
Suitable for eReaders: Yes
3 Stars

When I read fiction, I want to escape. If I'm not in the mood for escape, I read nonfiction. I started all of these stories, and finished most of them, and frankly, am sorry I did. As one reviewer stated, they felt "very real and true" – too real and true for my tastes. I felt more like I was reading an expanded version of the local newspaper in some cases, than a story.

I believe there are 16 stories in this collection, of which I finished 13 (I started all of them, and read for several pages before quitting the three). For me, they were all downers. Oh, the writing was good. Very good. It was the stories I disliked. And the characters. I could not connect with any of them, and believe me I tried. There wasn't a single character, with the possible exception of Mahalia Solages protagonist, I would have invited home for dinner, let alone out for a coffee.

This is literary fiction, and admittedly, I normally read genre fiction, so perhaps that is my problem, and not the collection's. 

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