Scan barcode
poppyfitzclark's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best books I’ve read this year! Every single story is charming and moving in its own way. The characters are real and interesting and it feels like peeping into a day in the life of a stranger you just passed on the street. The writing is beautiful but down to earth. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable read.
scorwin's review against another edition
3.0
I don't know if "pleasant surprised" could rightfully describe my reaction to this book, but I certainly have no regrets about picking it up. I've been casually eyeing out Trick of the Light for months now and happened across it serendipitously while searching through the E's in my local Used Bookseller.
There was a familiarity I sensed while reading these stories, and it wasn't until roughly halfway that the comparison hit me. Elvery is a striking analogue to Saunders, albeit with slightly less patience. She shares his conceptual cruelty and minimalist approach but delivers her pieces more efficiently, averaging five to ten pages per story. These futureless dystopias are evoked sparsely, plunging the reader into a moment of dark speculation. The short of it: I would absolutely pair these two authors (if you're thinking of merging your book club with wine-and-cheese nights).
Given the bite-sized, hors d'oeuvres nature of this collection, Trick of the Light is a perfect companion to one's morning commute. Although I could've devoured it in a day - enthusiastically I might add - I felt compelled to chip away at the book slowly, one to two stories per day. This was in part to prevent a sort of... diffusion or blurring of the content from one story to the next, while also to maintain a baseline serotonin level (ha-ha). I suppose I could draw a criticism out of that - there was a level of same-sameness to her voice from story to story. In the interest of impact, I'd recommend breaking your readings up, rather than bingeing it all in one go.
There are no two ways around it, these stories are heavy. Elvery writes with a vagueness, an ambiguity. One that may not hit you immediately but will bubble up in your mind hours or days later. The plot details have a short half-life but the impression it leaves is distinct. "Haunting" might be a convenient buzzword to attach here. She's clearly drawing on personal experience, and yet there's still a sense of distance between her intentions and my interpretation. Like she's telling a joke that I missed a few lines of the setup. Can't quite say... maybe it's just over my head?
It stuck with me regardless, and I always give credit to those who make me think. I'd recommend this to anyone who's looking for an atmospheric experience more than a plot-driven read.
There was a familiarity I sensed while reading these stories, and it wasn't until roughly halfway that the comparison hit me. Elvery is a striking analogue to Saunders, albeit with slightly less patience. She shares his conceptual cruelty and minimalist approach but delivers her pieces more efficiently, averaging five to ten pages per story. These futureless dystopias are evoked sparsely, plunging the reader into a moment of dark speculation. The short of it: I would absolutely pair these two authors (if you're thinking of merging your book club with wine-and-cheese nights).
Given the bite-sized, hors d'oeuvres nature of this collection, Trick of the Light is a perfect companion to one's morning commute. Although I could've devoured it in a day - enthusiastically I might add - I felt compelled to chip away at the book slowly, one to two stories per day. This was in part to prevent a sort of... diffusion or blurring of the content from one story to the next, while also to maintain a baseline serotonin level (ha-ha). I suppose I could draw a criticism out of that - there was a level of same-sameness to her voice from story to story. In the interest of impact, I'd recommend breaking your readings up, rather than bingeing it all in one go.
There are no two ways around it, these stories are heavy. Elvery writes with a vagueness, an ambiguity. One that may not hit you immediately but will bubble up in your mind hours or days later. The plot details have a short half-life but the impression it leaves is distinct. "Haunting" might be a convenient buzzword to attach here. She's clearly drawing on personal experience, and yet there's still a sense of distance between her intentions and my interpretation. Like she's telling a joke that I missed a few lines of the setup. Can't quite say... maybe it's just over my head?
It stuck with me regardless, and I always give credit to those who make me think. I'd recommend this to anyone who's looking for an atmospheric experience more than a plot-driven read.
maree_k's review against another edition
5.0
There are some beautiful, "small moments of life" short stories in this collection by Brisbane author Laura Elvery.
Elvery's accomplished approach takes those small moments, those slivers of a life, and takes the reader deep inside them. Her lyrical, poetic style enriches each story, giving it weight and depth. This is a short story collection that goes beyond the surface of things, and imbues daily life and ordinary experiences with the extraordinary. Stories set a hundred years ago, others in a not too distant dystopian future, and in the eras in between, each one breathes life into its characters so the reader can rejoice, mourn or commiserate with them.
A great collection of short stories, beautifully written with a sharp eye for detail and the human secrets we all hold.
Elvery's accomplished approach takes those small moments, those slivers of a life, and takes the reader deep inside them. Her lyrical, poetic style enriches each story, giving it weight and depth. This is a short story collection that goes beyond the surface of things, and imbues daily life and ordinary experiences with the extraordinary. Stories set a hundred years ago, others in a not too distant dystopian future, and in the eras in between, each one breathes life into its characters so the reader can rejoice, mourn or commiserate with them.
A great collection of short stories, beautifully written with a sharp eye for detail and the human secrets we all hold.
keepreadingbooks's review against another edition
3.0
I’m slightly torn about this one. The writing is just excellent – simple, straight-forward, no-nonsense, just how I like it. Yet I was invested in very few of the stories. Objectively, I could tell they were good, and of course they were well-written, but for some reason I wasn’t really swept up in them. And that’s usually what I love about short stories; how quickly I get sucked into the story. How easy it is to keep reading, because as soon as I read the first page of the next story, I already want to know what happens. I didn’t really get that feeling much with Trick of the Light.
By far the story that spoke to me most was the title story, which, unusually enough, was the very first story in the collection. I also absolutely loved Pudding. A handful of others got close to sucking me in, too, but an odd thing was that many would start out promising and then turn in a direction I was not that interested in. But I think this is very much a question of personal taste and the themes and topics I like to read about; this collection is certainly so well-written that I’d recommend it to anyone who likes the sound of it. You just might find that the stories match your taste, even if they didn't match mine.
/NK
By far the story that spoke to me most was the title story, which, unusually enough, was the very first story in the collection. I also absolutely loved Pudding. A handful of others got close to sucking me in, too, but an odd thing was that many would start out promising and then turn in a direction I was not that interested in. But I think this is very much a question of personal taste and the themes and topics I like to read about; this collection is certainly so well-written that I’d recommend it to anyone who likes the sound of it. You just might find that the stories match your taste, even if they didn't match mine.
/NK
wtb_michael's review against another edition
4.0
A beautiful collection - lots of powerful, memorable moments with real depth of feeling and so many rich, real characters.
kali's review
4.0
I don't read short stories often, and short story collections more rarely. I was about one-third my way through Trick of the Light before I realised I had to change my reading habits. I'd been reading each story as a 'book chapter', each life dipped into merging with the lives of the characters in the next. The moment I broke this up, interleaving a single short story with my normal fiction reading, starting the day with a story, ending the evening with a story, my satisfaction and fulfilment increased exponentially. There are some stunning stories -- 'Fledermaus' is incandescent. Here are the intimacies of people's lives, specificity of detail and unspoken desires.
randomreader405a3's review
4.0
A wonderful collection of stories that know just how much to reveal and how much to keep to themselves.
babblingbooks's review
5.0
A brilliant collection of powerful, fully realised short stories. Each story is utterly self contained, with a mixture of settings, genres of story, and a full cast of multi-dimensional characters from various backgrounds. Reading Trick of the Light is everything I love about short stories, and I can't wait to read more of Elvery's writing.
More...