Now, I normally don't like it when people review books they haven't read all the way through, but I'm making an exception. I read about half of this short story collection and I would have finished it if I thought the rest of the stories would offer something different than the first half...but I have a pretty good idea of what the other stories hold.
I'm coming to realize that the more I read, the more and more I'm attracted to style and voice rather than content. Of course content is important to me as well but usually in a more abstract, cerebral way. Above all, I want, as a reader, to be entertained. And not in the 'dance monkey dance/passive viewer/don't make me work hard for my reward' way, but in a way that brings me simple pleasure, as in I Enjoy Reading This Book And I Gladly Devote Time And Brain Energy To These Pages. I usually derive the most pleasure from the books that make me work the hardest. And when I feel that the books aren't challenging me , well...I feel like I'm wasting my time or something. This all sounds very pretentious upon review but it's hard to talk about this stuff without coming off that way.
There is a flip side to this, always: that the narrative voices I am prone to reading are just as homogenous and unvarying, though in a different way and that reading them is just 'preaching to the choir' so to speak, not really a challenge at all. And I understand that completely. But I guess what I'm trying to say is that that particular arguement is a matter of content...not really style and voice. I believe that the writers that I have a tendency to read and enjoy share similar ideas about the world, yes, but they have unique voices in which they communicate these ideas/themes/feelings.
Anyway, in terms of short stories, I've been a little bored with some of the narrative techniques. Or not the technique, but their voice. Which is mostly a boring, safe voice. I want a writer who is doing something different with language. It doesn't have to be crazy experimental or anything but all too often, what is being held up as 'vibrant' or 'original' or 'sublime prose' or whatever it may be seems to be more of the same. These safe voices are necessary in order for other voices to set themselves apart from one another but it makes for a dull experience reading. So content is important, yes, but a compelling voice is what keeps me reading. And it's my fault for reading this stuff but I'm exploring, ya know? Seeing what's out there, reading what other people think is good fiction. And it's just as important to read stuff that you don't like, or might not like, as it is to read the stuff that you do like, just to better understand why you enjoy the stuff you enjoy. Right?
Oh, by the way: Jean Thompson is an okay storyteller but isn't doing anything that is out of the ordinary. This collection popped up on a lot of 'Best of 2009' lists for whatever reason, so I wanted to give it a go. No offense to Ms. Thompson. This review just kinda turned into a platform for some things that have been on my mind as of late. The opinions expressed in this review do not necesscarily reflect those of the Fox Broadcasting Company.
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