A review by misspalah
Heart Songs and Other Stories by Annie Proulx

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Godawful place to live, thought Snipe, panting and grinning. He could smell cow manure and hot green growth. Pale dust sprayed up at every step. He felt it in his teeth, and when his fingers picked at his face, fine motes whirled in the thick orange light of the setting sun. A hard, glinting line of metal roof showed beyond the cornfield, and far away a wood thrush hurled cold glissandos into the stillness.

The house was old and broken, the splintery grey clapboards hanging loosely on the post-and-beam frame, the wavery glass in the windows mended with tape and cardboard. A hand-painted sign over the door said GOD FORGIVES. He could see a child's face in the window, see fleering mouth and squinting eyes before it turned away. Arook, arook, came a ferocious baying and barking from the dogs chained to narrow lean-tos beside the house. They stood straining at the edges of their dirt circles and clamored at his strangeness. Snipe stood on the broken millstone that served as a doorstep. Threads of corn silk lay on the granite. He was let into the stifling kitchen by the child whose uncontrolled face he had seen.

• Heart Songs by E. Annie Proulx

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This is the first book I've read by this author. She's really good at describing places and characters in just a few pages. Her writing style changes a lot - sometimes the perspective shifts, there are flashbacks, or she adds numbered sub-stories. She likes to try new things in her writing to keep it interesting, both for herself and for readers like us. Just like the title suggests, these stories are like songs from the heart, songs that show the struggles of life. The descriptions of the people who are just trying to survive, like the natives of the area, and the tension between them and the rich, summer visitors who come from the city, really bring out the loss the natives feel. This loss could be a secret hunting spot or their family history, their land, or their homes. Annie Proulx tells stories about the darkness, greed, and dispossession in rural areas. She captured despite being a woman author, to write what is like to do hunting, farming, and how both tough men and women survives, all in a desolate and forgotten landscape. She really gets to the heart of the message, and the characters feel very relatable and interesting. This book has eleven stories, and they're a bit uneven - some are good, but others are not as strong. They're very different from my everyday life, so I didn't connect with them as much. I can't really explain why I didn't like them much, it's just that I didn't feel connected to the settings. But I'm still interested in reading more of her books as I think more people should read her books not just for the story, but for her great writing.