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zoes_human's review
emotional
3.0
Dinosaurs on Other Planets is a 11 story collection of literary, slice-of-life fiction. It has something of the wistful melancholy which I associate with Sherwood Anderson. At times it takes a turn for the grim and disturbing. In particular I enjoyed "Those That I Fight I Do Not Hate" and "The Art of Foot-Binding."
betweenbookends's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5 :)
When a collection is uniformly beautiful, reading it in one go is challenging. To give each story it's due credit, digest it's beauty, I'd recommend reading the stories individually, in between other novels as little treat. McLaughlin is an Irish author and all the stories in this collection are set in and around Ireland and other parts of Europe.
Her stories initially tug at you, and then you run along, completely immersed into the story, and then suddenly that string breaks culminating in an abrupt closure, like you've suddenly woken from a dream. Each story in this collection sticks and it's important to pause and savour that. I felt I read through it a little too quickly and they may have slightly inhibited my reading experience. These stories are wonderfully written, very quiet and yet are like soft hammers, exploring the havoc, angst and disappointments in our lives, that life go on after mishaps, that secrets are kept for a good reason, and that chaos is the constant in human existence.
When a collection is uniformly beautiful, reading it in one go is challenging. To give each story it's due credit, digest it's beauty, I'd recommend reading the stories individually, in between other novels as little treat. McLaughlin is an Irish author and all the stories in this collection are set in and around Ireland and other parts of Europe.
Her stories initially tug at you, and then you run along, completely immersed into the story, and then suddenly that string breaks culminating in an abrupt closure, like you've suddenly woken from a dream. Each story in this collection sticks and it's important to pause and savour that. I felt I read through it a little too quickly and they may have slightly inhibited my reading experience. These stories are wonderfully written, very quiet and yet are like soft hammers, exploring the havoc, angst and disappointments in our lives, that life go on after mishaps, that secrets are kept for a good reason, and that chaos is the constant in human existence.
kenzieinabox's review
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
sarahc3319's review
2.0
I have been stalled midway through for weeks. I just don't think this one is doing it for me.
keepreadingbooks's review
3.0
This collection is very well-written. Every story is interesting and gripping, and sometimes even gets the slight feel of a thriller, a foreboding feeling of something about to happen. Most of these stories are about the small and intense world that is a family; the feelings, the (mis-)communications, the navigations in between and around each other, the tiny disasters that can seem big in that small world. I was interested in every story – not one of them seemed boring, and I loved the premise for most.
Yet there is something about this collection that nags me. There are actually two things. One I have mentioned before in a review of Light Box, another short story collection; I am not good with the lack of a resolution or a hint at the meaning. This is a personal opinion, so it shouldn’t talk you out of reading this collection (unless you feel the same as I do about meaning and resolution). I felt many of these stories had rather poetic endings, but almost none gave me an idea that this was the point of the story. Another thing was the amount of sexual relationships and tensions. In several stories, one character is, without any build-up, suddenly attracted to another character. And this is between two almost strangers lodging at a woman’s house, an alcoholic husband and the daughter of his friends at a birthday party, and a mother and her brand-new son-in-law that she just met. Not only is the one character attracted to the other (which, granted, is a common theme and not that strange), but the other, VERY unlikely partner, is also miraculously as attracted to that character, and this without them having had any substantial conversations or time together. To me, most of these relationships seemed to have no point at all, and the stories could have been told very well without them. That the relationships were then poorly executed, in that they seemed very unbelievable to me, was my biggest issue.
But! As first mentioned, a very well-written collection that does merit reading. I enjoyed that most of the stories were set in Ireland, as I have not read much that is!
/NK
Yet there is something about this collection that nags me. There are actually two things. One I have mentioned before in a review of Light Box, another short story collection; I am not good with the lack of a resolution or a hint at the meaning. This is a personal opinion, so it shouldn’t talk you out of reading this collection (unless you feel the same as I do about meaning and resolution). I felt many of these stories had rather poetic endings, but almost none gave me an idea that this was the point of the story. Another thing was the amount of sexual relationships and tensions. In several stories, one character is, without any build-up, suddenly attracted to another character. And this is between two almost strangers lodging at a woman’s house, an alcoholic husband and the daughter of his friends at a birthday party, and a mother and her brand-new son-in-law that she just met. Not only is the one character attracted to the other (which, granted, is a common theme and not that strange), but the other, VERY unlikely partner, is also miraculously as attracted to that character, and this without them having had any substantial conversations or time together. To me, most of these relationships seemed to have no point at all, and the stories could have been told very well without them. That the relationships were then poorly executed, in that they seemed very unbelievable to me, was my biggest issue.
But! As first mentioned, a very well-written collection that does merit reading. I enjoyed that most of the stories were set in Ireland, as I have not read much that is!
/NK
unknownbooks23's review
4.0
Dinosaurs On Other Planets is a collection of short stories, and each story has a different style of writing, as well as a different series of conflicts. I love this collection, as we move steadily through each relatable family, and as we see the world through different sets of lenses.
cay's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Creates a great atmosphere that spreads over all the stories. Some stories are better than others- my personal favorite is A Different Country, as the mood is immaculate and the writing is incredibly strong. However, if you're a person that loves concrete endings, you won't find that here. A lot of them are open ended and allow for reader reflection more so than fully wrapping up the tale, which I don't mind, but some people might.
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