Reviews for The Exiles and Other Stories

The average rating for The Exiles and Other Stories based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-10-26 00:00:00 Rita Goodell Most things have disappointing explanations somewhere behind them, no matter how strange they seem at first. These are a series of short stories centering on the relationships (or non-relationships) of men and women who yearn for something they may already have. Pasts that cannot be repaired. Futures unknown. That sort of thing. Characters who may or may not involve the reader, but all surrounded by lovely writing. One of the stories, Charity, stood out for its relaxed ambling (in Maine) of a going-in-different-directions couple, who are looking at "life-by-forecast". I like that, as it is true for most people today. Life by forecast, as though we are all weather channels. Some stories are just simple adultery. ...our affair had taken place in the city of St. Louis, that largely overlookable red-brick abstraction that is neither West nor Middlewest, neither South nor North; the city lost in the middle, as I think of it. It's a place, I suppose, the world can't get away from fast enough. Ford nails it in several tales, especially the last one, Abyss. He writes with reflection, as though he takes down his daily thoughts and turns them into miracles of paragraphs. And you think you know how a narrative is going to end, but it doesn't happen that way. Who you really were, and what you believed, Rothman realized, were represented by what you maintained or were helpless to change. Very few people really got that; most people in his stratum thought everything was possible at all times, and so continued to try to become something else. As I stated, lovely writing, and although I couldn't get behind most of the characters, they still kept me interested throughout. Book Season = Year Round (sailboats at anchor)

Review # 2 was written on 2011-11-25 00:00:00 Sarah Roesler I finally just finished this one. It nested for the last few months in my backpack, only seeing the light of day when I was on a long bus ride, or when I knew had a good enough stretch of time to really sit back and soak in one of it's stories - to appreciate the subtle nuances of Ford's writing. Today, it seems, I had enough time to finish four... Out of the ten stories included in this collection, I would say maybe two were unspectacular, while the rest were outright masterpieces of the short story form. Nearly every story deals with the relationship between men and women, about the things that can and do go wrong, and the consequences of these wrongs. Ford's prose while he describes and dissects these relationships and their consequences are some of the best examinations of the modern American psyche out there. I can't pretend to sit here and know how I would convince you as to why this is the case - you just have to give Ford a try and see if you agree or not... If you liked Ford's story collection, Rock Springs, his best collection in my opinion, and you're looking for more of the same great writing, you can't go wrong with A Multitude of Sins... If, however, you've stumbled onto my humble review as a Richard Ford virgin, and wondering if you should pop your cherry with this one or not, I shall point you to the classic collection mentioned above, Rock Springs - that is the Richard Ford primer. In the end... Highly Recommended!