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edgeworthstan2000's review against another edition
4.0
We’re at it again. Showing off how good we Canadians are at writing short stories. It’s because short stories have no place for long, dull character or landscape descriptions and lots of place for sharp dialogue.
And sharp dialogue is one of the strengths of Nicole Dixon’s collection of 10 stories in High-Water Mark. Sharp dialogue and sharp phrases, such as the opening line of “You Wouldn’t Recognize Me”: the phrase “I woke up upside down” introduces to the car crash that just happened and opens the story. The dialogue is so sharp, in fact, that in one story, “Saudade,” it becomes somewhat hard to follow in places. Still, these instances are rare.
Besides “sharp,” another adjective that you could pin to these stories is “sexy.” I’ll admit it, I stole the phrase “sexy debut” from the publisher. But only because it’s apt. The sexiness may not be evident from the cover, but it’s evident enough once you get a couple of stories in: almost every story has sex in it. This is the book’s strength and also its weakness — it makes the stories a bit repetitive, but it also makes them exciting.
Despite the repetition, though, the stories move along fast enough, driven by that sharp, confident, piercingly accurate prose.
The strongest stories here are the first, “High-Water Mark,” and the last, “You Wouldn’t Recognize Me,” followed closely by “Sick Days.” All three of these stories share one important commonality: they don’t shy away from a little bit of sentiment. Mostly, Dixon exhibits a terse intelligence, but that she does so only makes the rarer moments of well-handled emotion all the more moving.
*This review was originally published on Laura's Book Reviews at www.stuffimreading.wordpress.com*
And sharp dialogue is one of the strengths of Nicole Dixon’s collection of 10 stories in High-Water Mark. Sharp dialogue and sharp phrases, such as the opening line of “You Wouldn’t Recognize Me”: the phrase “I woke up upside down” introduces to the car crash that just happened and opens the story. The dialogue is so sharp, in fact, that in one story, “Saudade,” it becomes somewhat hard to follow in places. Still, these instances are rare.
Besides “sharp,” another adjective that you could pin to these stories is “sexy.” I’ll admit it, I stole the phrase “sexy debut” from the publisher. But only because it’s apt. The sexiness may not be evident from the cover, but it’s evident enough once you get a couple of stories in: almost every story has sex in it. This is the book’s strength and also its weakness — it makes the stories a bit repetitive, but it also makes them exciting.
Despite the repetition, though, the stories move along fast enough, driven by that sharp, confident, piercingly accurate prose.
The strongest stories here are the first, “High-Water Mark,” and the last, “You Wouldn’t Recognize Me,” followed closely by “Sick Days.” All three of these stories share one important commonality: they don’t shy away from a little bit of sentiment. Mostly, Dixon exhibits a terse intelligence, but that she does so only makes the rarer moments of well-handled emotion all the more moving.
*This review was originally published on Laura's Book Reviews at www.stuffimreading.wordpress.com*
jennp28's review against another edition
4.0
Actual rating 4.5 stars.
I won a copy of this book from CBC radio's Mainstreet program in Halifax. I did say I would review the book here if I won it, as extra incentive for them to pick me in the contest, so I guess it worked! ;)
After saying in my last review that I don't think I "get" short fiction, I actually loved this collection. I think the fact that the stories are loosely connected and all together in one novel-length read really helped. But this one had me from the first, intense paragraph.
The writing style is very readable, full of emotion but far from melodramatic which seems like a hard feat to achieve (or maybe I just read to much YA melodrama lit?).
I also loved how there were identifiable Nova Scotian and other Canadian places in the stories but it was just a natural part of the narrative, not a giant plot point or big flashing sign saying "look, I'm writing about Canada!"
The stories being almost exclusively from a female point of view was also interesting. I think it tied the stories together that much more.
Really, really liked this one. Buy it from an indie bookstore. :)
I won a copy of this book from CBC radio's Mainstreet program in Halifax. I did say I would review the book here if I won it, as extra incentive for them to pick me in the contest, so I guess it worked! ;)
After saying in my last review that I don't think I "get" short fiction, I actually loved this collection. I think the fact that the stories are loosely connected and all together in one novel-length read really helped. But this one had me from the first, intense paragraph.
The writing style is very readable, full of emotion but far from melodramatic which seems like a hard feat to achieve (or maybe I just read to much YA melodrama lit?).
I also loved how there were identifiable Nova Scotian and other Canadian places in the stories but it was just a natural part of the narrative, not a giant plot point or big flashing sign saying "look, I'm writing about Canada!"
The stories being almost exclusively from a female point of view was also interesting. I think it tied the stories together that much more.
Really, really liked this one. Buy it from an indie bookstore. :)
emmkayt's review against another edition
2.0
Not my cup of tea. A series of stories about women's lives. I found them a bit repetitive. I suspect I might have found more in them in my early 20s.
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