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jessa_sage1996's review against another edition
3.0
There are probably spoilers for each short story below, but I said what they were about to me and I said how I felt about some of them. Overall, this book was not my favorite. The writing was good but this little book of short stories took me almost a year to finish. Every now and then, a story captured me but, on the whole, I found the book boring. If you read for academic purposes, I recommend this book. For personal enjoyment, this wasn’t it for me. The tone of the book is nostalgic and lonely. Each story feels empty and sad, devoid of something which I think is the point but I’m not certain.
***Spoilers***
“Sitting with the Dead” is about a woman’s dissatisfaction with her marriage and telling the story of that dissatisfaction to two strangers. The story read well, though I will have to get used to William Trevor’s style of writing a bit. Still, despite that melancholy mood of the short, it showcased some of the struggles people may deal with in marriage and why they may have stayed.
“Traditions'' was an interesting read, though I’m unsure I understood the story. It starts with a crime. Who did it? Well, that is the question. Olivier is sure he knows who did it. But he holds his tongue and instead thinks about the dining hall maid naked. I didn’t finish the story feeling all that much about it. It didn’t strike me in any sort of way.
“Justina’s Priest” was interesting. Father Clohessy and Justine’s story was a good read. In my opinion, the story was about change which was emphasized by the reference to the Bob Dylan song. Father Clohessy was uncomfortable with the change and didn’t know how to adapt himself to it. Justine, in her simple purity, represented the times he idolized and as a result, he fixated on her.
“An Evening Out” is about a date between two middle-aged people. A woman who wants only a companion and a man who wants someone to drive him to his photography locations. Both are registered with a company that matches people together but haven’t found much luck with it. This meeting of two people is no different, but maybe it is? Is it love? Absolutely not. But love isn’t necessary for a successful evening out. “–that doubt played tricks in love’s confusion” is my favorite line that I read from the book and is in this story. It reads like a line from a sonnet and is lovely.
“Graillis’s Legacy” was short. A whisper of a romanticized almost, I think. It was pretty, but I don't think I understood it. It seemed lonely. It felt that way, at least. The narrator is older but recounting a time when he was younger. Thinking about a woman who he could've loved but was unable to. She was very much older than him and died, leaving him nearly the sole name of her estate. I'm unsure though.
"Solitude" is about a little girl with two imaginary companions for friends. She often gets overlooked by the adults in her life, which is how she learns about her mother's affair while the father is away in Egypt for work. The girl pushes the other man down the stairs during the party that is held for the father's return from Egypt and the family leaves the country. Fleeing the repercussions the daughter, who was seen pushing the other man, might face. This story also is lonely. The story told of a child to an older woman.
"Sacred Statues" is about a man trying to guilt an older woman into giving him and his wife money, and his wife trying to find someone to buy the baby she is pregnant with. Both are trying not to settle into making decisions for the baby.
“Rose Wept” is about an uncomfortable dinner between a family and the tutor of the daughter of the family. The daughter is aware and thinking about the affair her tutor’s wife is having.
“Big Bucks” is about two people - a couple - dream of leaving their childhood home. They have a plan to capture the ‘American Dream.’ Love fades with time and distance, and realizations hit a young woman about what is love and what is romanticized.
“On the Streets” is an alarming story and starts as such. The waitress experienced anxiety and so did I. This story is about a serial… stalker, kleptomaniac, killer? Definitely something. And about an ex-wife who can’t quit him. This story… it was my favorite and the hardest to read.
“The Dancing-Master’s Music” is about a young girl being hired in a well-to-do household and is working there when an Italian dancing master is brought in and finding peace in the music’s memory.
“A Bit on the Side” is about the affair two people are having, and how love can stop but never end.
***Spoilers***
“Sitting with the Dead” is about a woman’s dissatisfaction with her marriage and telling the story of that dissatisfaction to two strangers. The story read well, though I will have to get used to William Trevor’s style of writing a bit. Still, despite that melancholy mood of the short, it showcased some of the struggles people may deal with in marriage and why they may have stayed.
“Traditions'' was an interesting read, though I’m unsure I understood the story. It starts with a crime. Who did it? Well, that is the question. Olivier is sure he knows who did it. But he holds his tongue and instead thinks about the dining hall maid naked. I didn’t finish the story feeling all that much about it. It didn’t strike me in any sort of way.
“Justina’s Priest” was interesting. Father Clohessy and Justine’s story was a good read. In my opinion, the story was about change which was emphasized by the reference to the Bob Dylan song. Father Clohessy was uncomfortable with the change and didn’t know how to adapt himself to it. Justine, in her simple purity, represented the times he idolized and as a result, he fixated on her.
“An Evening Out” is about a date between two middle-aged people. A woman who wants only a companion and a man who wants someone to drive him to his photography locations. Both are registered with a company that matches people together but haven’t found much luck with it. This meeting of two people is no different, but maybe it is? Is it love? Absolutely not. But love isn’t necessary for a successful evening out. “–that doubt played tricks in love’s confusion” is my favorite line that I read from the book and is in this story. It reads like a line from a sonnet and is lovely.
“Graillis’s Legacy” was short. A whisper of a romanticized almost, I think. It was pretty, but I don't think I understood it. It seemed lonely. It felt that way, at least. The narrator is older but recounting a time when he was younger. Thinking about a woman who he could've loved but was unable to. She was very much older than him and died, leaving him nearly the sole name of her estate. I'm unsure though.
"Solitude" is about a little girl with two imaginary companions for friends. She often gets overlooked by the adults in her life, which is how she learns about her mother's affair while the father is away in Egypt for work. The girl pushes the other man down the stairs during the party that is held for the father's return from Egypt and the family leaves the country. Fleeing the repercussions the daughter, who was seen pushing the other man, might face. This story also is lonely. The story told of a child to an older woman.
"Sacred Statues" is about a man trying to guilt an older woman into giving him and his wife money, and his wife trying to find someone to buy the baby she is pregnant with. Both are trying not to settle into making decisions for the baby.
“Rose Wept” is about an uncomfortable dinner between a family and the tutor of the daughter of the family. The daughter is aware and thinking about the affair her tutor’s wife is having.
“Big Bucks” is about two people - a couple - dream of leaving their childhood home. They have a plan to capture the ‘American Dream.’ Love fades with time and distance, and realizations hit a young woman about what is love and what is romanticized.
“On the Streets” is an alarming story and starts as such. The waitress experienced anxiety and so did I. This story is about a serial… stalker, kleptomaniac, killer? Definitely something. And about an ex-wife who can’t quit him. This story… it was my favorite and the hardest to read.
“The Dancing-Master’s Music” is about a young girl being hired in a well-to-do household and is working there when an Italian dancing master is brought in and finding peace in the music’s memory.
“A Bit on the Side” is about the affair two people are having, and how love can stop but never end.
booksafterten's review against another edition
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
not_mike's review against another edition
3.0
Paperback.
Sitting with the dead, justina's priest, and an evening out were great.
Sitting with the dead, justina's priest, and an evening out were great.
alyshalea's review against another edition
2.0
This book took me a bit to get through as I attempted to quit reading it several times and forced myself to pick it back up. 12 short stories and only a few caught my attention. I would like to give this author another shot though and will try and find another of his books that might peak my interest.
jannie_mtl's review against another edition
4.0
Trevor's stories never disappoint, and this collection is no exception.
deea_bks's review
5.0
How some authors can express so much in just a few words I will never cease wondering. How they have that ability to make the story on the page speak to you about your own, without it really having any similarities with it, will never cease making me stand in awe of those authors! I just love William Trevor’s style because his glimpses of people’s lives always manage to do this, “to speak to me”.
A man refusing an inheritance from an ex-lover because of being afraid of what the world would say reminisces about how the lover was the only person he felt he could connect with. Two people having a blind date realize that their expectations are ill-matched, but they deal with the date honorably while they face their past regrets quietly. A girl feels guilty for having gossiped about the cuckolded man who had tutored her. An accountant tells his lover his reasons for ending their love affair in spite of the fact that he loves her. A girl realizes that she had been in love with the future she imagined with her lover, not with the man himself. Trevor’s vignettes are sometimes really unexpected, but they still leave a print on you no matter how bizarre the stories seem.
A feeling of regret permeates the whole volume, but also one of quiet acceptance. And also, every single story has a conclusion that really touched me one way or another and even though some of them might have been weaker than others (like in any volume of short stories), I choose to rate this book with a five for the overall feeling that kept lingering over me after having finished the majority of them.
***
A man refusing an inheritance from an ex-lover because of being afraid of what the world would say reminisces about how the lover was the only person he felt he could connect with. Two people having a blind date realize that their expectations are ill-matched, but they deal with the date honorably while they face their past regrets quietly. A girl feels guilty for having gossiped about the cuckolded man who had tutored her. An accountant tells his lover his reasons for ending their love affair in spite of the fact that he loves her. A girl realizes that she had been in love with the future she imagined with her lover, not with the man himself. Trevor’s vignettes are sometimes really unexpected, but they still leave a print on you no matter how bizarre the stories seem.
A feeling of regret permeates the whole volume, but also one of quiet acceptance. And also, every single story has a conclusion that really touched me one way or another and even though some of them might have been weaker than others (like in any volume of short stories), I choose to rate this book with a five for the overall feeling that kept lingering over me after having finished the majority of them.
***
*“She wondered if in his life, too, there had been a mistake that threw a shadow, if that was why he was looking around for someone to fill a gap he had never become used to.”
*“It would not have seemed unusual to speak about his marriage, about love’s transformation within it, about his grief when it was no longer there, about the moments and occasions it had since become.”
*“The silence was different when the music stopped, as if the music had changed it.”
sabinereads's review against another edition
3.0
Incredibly (and depressingly) Irish - the first story is gorgeous, the last uninteresting.
e_ramirez_ortega's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoy Trevor's work, his great handle of nuance and emotion in such a short length of work. Rose Wept was the first I read in this collection and it was a good introduction back into Trevor's work after a while. Grailles's Journey for me required a second pass, since it was a bit convoluted and after reading a review about that particular story, cleared up some questions I had.
laurenbdavis's review
4.0
Trevor is a lovely writer, and these stories are full of heart, sorrow and shining talent. Lovers of Chekhov will feel right at home here.
maccymacd's review against another edition
2.0
I apologise to anyone who is a William Trevor fan profusely! But maybe I wasn't in the right mood for his short stories. I know he is very popular and many people rave about how beautiful and thought-provoking his stories are, but I just found my mind wandering by the time I got just over half way. I just found them too slow. This isn't in any way a criticism on William Trevor - I can see why his writing is so revered, I think it was more that I wasn't in the right frame of mind to read the stories, and instead of stopping, I ploughed on ahead which then gave the impression of being forced to continue reading and was therefore not as enjoyable. I am not put off his writing however, and might decide to pick up one of his novels at a later date - maybe the short stories weren't for me.