Reviews for Points of View: Revised Edition

The average rating for Points of View: Revised Edition based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-05-27 00:00:00 Brenda Olsen 1. Who the f!#& wrote this book? Points of View is an anthology, so, um, lots of people wrote it. It features some of the greatest, sharpest gems of short fiction from the first six decades of the 20th century, and some older stuff as well. As far as I know, these are the people who made short fiction what it is. I mean these folks are the serious heavyweights. The dudes and ladies who invented the kinds of endings that leave you gasping. The people who figured out how to make ten pages pack a punch. As with many collections published back in the day, it doesn't feature much in the way of writers who weren't white. The revised edition goes some way to correcting that - adding Langston Hughes, for example, who totally shoulda been in the original edition. Same with James Baldwin. That being said, while the revised edition contains more diverse contemporary writers, it doesn't add much beyond the two noted above to the list of non-white authors writing important short fiction in the same time periods as the authors in the original edition were writing. That seems to me to be a shortfall. Whine whine, I know, but really? Not even Zora Neale Hurston? Geez. One of the tougher things for me about doing the happy-skip-jump about this anthology is that it's not an American anthology (it's got Chekhov, as I said, and Maupassant, and Henry James and Dostoevsky and whatnot) and therefore really doesn't have much of an excuse not to have more globally diverse writing in either edition. So that's kind of a bummer. Just think of it as a sampling, I guess, and bear in mind that Western white folks did not, in fact, have a monopoly on the short story form - just a monopoly on publishing in the West. The writers who are included, though, do amazing things with short stories, and you should read them. Although, fair warning? You will want to throw the New Yorker across the room when you're done for giving us such sad and whiny excuses for good short fiction. (Talk about white dudes...) 2. What the f!#& is it about? Well, the cool thing about the collection (other than having dozens of amazing stories in it, geez) is the format. As the title implies makes glaringly obvious, it's all about points of view - so the stories are separated into groups based on the perspective that's being used to tell the story. Interior monologue, anonymous narration, epistolary communication - it's got a whole bunch of them lined up for you, and what's really neat is the way the stories in each grouping really fit together despite the total differences among them. Some are funny, some are serious, some are romantic, some are tragic, some are shocking - the collection includes Shirley Jackson's fanf!#&ingtabulous story "The Lottery," and if you don't know what that is for the love of god don't google it just read it please - and the grouping by narrative style provides a really intuitive and fluid connection between the pieces. It also keeps things fresh - as a reader, one short story after another can be a little exhausting, what with the constant switches in tone, style, content, and character. The manner of grouping gives you a kind of aha! moment each time you come to the next group, so that you have a new way to look at the stories you're reading every few dozen pages. It keeps them from running together - and, well, it's an excellent teaching tool, if you like that kind of thing. As for what each individual story is about, well, lots of different things, genius. (I know, I know, I asked the question, not you.) What holds them together is the shining awesomeness of the writing. These stories are masterworks. You might not like all of them, and that's fine and probably even good. But each one glows. They are tight, sharp, gleaming examples of what can be done with a few words and a fine mind. Reading them is like eating from a tray of tiny little cakes, all of them different and every one of them intrinsically, heartbreakingly delicious. 3. Where the f!#& should I read this book? This book is delightfully fat and full of stories - the original edition has 41, the revised 44 - and the variety makes it perfect for reading almost anywhere. Take it on a plane or a long journey to somewhere, or your morning commute. Read it on your lunch break, or on the porch swing with a lemonade and the sun going down, or a park bench somewhere. Read the best ones aloud to friends and family. 4. When the f!#& is it set? The stories take place all over. Something for everyone, really. (Although the newer edition has fewer stories that take place prior to the turn of the century, presumably because that's not hip or something?) 5. Why the f!#& should I read it? This is like a a small paper box full of the awesomeness of storytelling. That's why you should read it. The end. Oh, well, and also the majority of the featured writers wrote lots of other stuff, including epically good novels and essays and whatnot, so reading it can be a wonderful way to find some new classic writers to check out without having to figure out in the bookstore whether you'll hate them or not. (Because you still go to the bookstore, right? Your awesome local bookstore? You'd just better, mister.) And because it will remind you of the total spellbinding beauty of words and the thousands of different ways there are to deploy them in such a way as to move the human heart. The stories in Points of View are, of course, exactly that - assorted, elegant, forthright, funny, touching, quiet, brash perspectives on how to tell a story and what a story can be. Drawing together these beautifully-crafted stories is a reminder that there's not one way to do it right, not one voice to have, not one topic that's important. I'd say that a pretty f!#&ing good thing to remember.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-07-24 00:00:00 Arthur Barda my mate found this in his attic, left by previous residents, and gave it me, knowing I love (and write) stories. His (now mine!) copy is an earlier 1966 paperback edition with small print. It's small but chunky, 500 pages. It feels great in your hand. I've read a lot of the pieces (eg Flowers for Algernon) and know most of the classic authors (from Chekhov to Updike) but many stories are new to me. It's organised in sections from - as the title implies - different points of view. Ideal for the forthcoming plane trip to NY and back - should last at least 16 hours... I hate to get all religious on you but for the short story reader this is the book of books. It is wonderful, perfect, lovely, superb. There's some bollocks about point of view at the beginning, and the stories are grouped in categories, ranging from interior monologue to anonymous narration single character and multiple character to no character (the weird and beautiful Eudora Welty's 'Powerhouse'). (Actually it is quite interesting, and I left the book with my daughter who's studying English and American Literature in Maryland Uni). The main thing is though the quality of the stories, and every one I read was a zinger. It starts with Dorothy Parker's amusing dinner party anecdote 'But the One on the Right' and ends with Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery' - which I'd heard so much about but not actually read until this point. The highlights in between are too numerous to mention but Berriault's (new name to me) 'Stone Boy' about a 9 year old boy who accidentally kills his older brother is stunning. Also great were Malamud's 'The Prison', Steinbeck's 'Johhny Bear', Chekov's 'Enemies' (of course), Irwin Shaw's 'Act of Faith' about persecution of Jews in the USA during WW2 (almost blaming them for dragging the country to war), and to praise British writers for a moment Dylan Thomas's and Alan Sillitoe's childhood ones, oh God the whole lot (I think though I did miss a few out, eg the editor's own contribution, as I had to leave the book).