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The Fahrenheit Twins
One of the most original and daring writers in English letters, Michel Faber shows his incredible mastery of wildly diverse literary forms with this, his long-awaited second collection of stories. Faber’ s characters in these 17 fictions are often dislocated— fragile beings confronting moments of fracture— in worlds that are both real and surreal. From the achingly sad lives of “ The Safehouse” to the moments of exquisite happiness in “ Vanilla-right Like Eminem” to the futuristic savagery of “ The Fahrenheit Twins,” these are fearless stories that crack our humanity wide open. With his brilliant characterization and pitch-perfect prose, Michel Faber has produced a short story collection that will seal his reputation as one of our most arresting and gifted writers.
276 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
43 people are currently reading
1010 people want to read
About the author
Michel Faber
74 books2,102 followersMichel Faber (born 13 April 1960) is a Dutch writer of English-language fiction.
Faber was born in The Hague, The Netherlands. He and his parents emigrated to Australia in 1967. He attended primary and secondary school in the Melbourne suburbs of Boronia and Bayswater, then attended the University of Melbourne, studying Dutch, philosophy, rhetoric, English language (a course involving translation and criticism of Anglo-Saxon and Middle English texts) and English literature. He graduated in 1980. He worked as a cleaner and at various other casual jobs, before training as a nurse at Marrickville and Western Suburbs hospitals in Sydney. He nursed until the mid-1990s. In 1993 he, his second wife and family emigrated to Scotland, where they still reside.
Faber was born in The Hague, The Netherlands. He and his parents emigrated to Australia in 1967. He attended primary and secondary school in the Melbourne suburbs of Boronia and Bayswater, then attended the University of Melbourne, studying Dutch, philosophy, rhetoric, English language (a course involving translation and criticism of Anglo-Saxon and Middle English texts) and English literature. He graduated in 1980. He worked as a cleaner and at various other casual jobs, before training as a nurse at Marrickville and Western Suburbs hospitals in Sydney. He nursed until the mid-1990s. In 1993 he, his second wife and family emigrated to Scotland, where they still reside.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 127 reviews
August 26, 2014
A rather readable batch of stories written in an edgy yet extremely cosy style, i.e. a shoo-in for Canongate. The writer is an Aussie of Dutch origin living in the Highlands who writes largely about Scottish characters, so my shelving him in the general European section is mostly biological pedantry. If you want a masterclass in how to win literary awards in this country look no further than these pieces, among them the weirdly spooky ‘All Black’ and ‘The Eyes of the Soul,’ the contemporary slices ‘The Smallness of the Action’ and ‘The Safehouse’ and darker digressions ‘Someone to Kiss it Better’ and ‘Finesse.’ The collection is consistently strong and never falls into a repetitive voice, partly due to the concision and warmth of each story. His ability to utilise the same voice and style without becoming dull is a rare commodity nowadays so Faber easily knocks most literary collections into a cocked hat. The title piece is the longest and least interesting story in the collection, though ‘Explaining Coconuts’ also pushes the dullness levels at times despite the coco-perversion. OK. I liked the collection. There are some beautous pearls in here.
August 31, 2016
As you know Michel Faber is a rocking novelist who wrote the great, the mighty, the stumunguous The Crimson Petal and the White and also wrote the masterpiece of creep Under the Skin. So here I am scooping up the back catalogue and this collection appeared between skin and petal and is deeply readable but wouldn’t have had me throwing street parties if it had been the first Faber I read. File next to Graham Swift’s Learning to Swim and Ian McEwan’s First Love, Last Rites.
There are two stories of horrible violence here (Someone to Kiss It Better and The Smallness of the Action) which would have slotted neatly into The Eleventh Pan Book of Horror Stories, praise indeed. There are two stories about happiness which are lovely (Serious Swimmers and Vanilla-Bright like Eminem). The first story induces vertigo with its total weirdness (The Safehouse).
3.25 stars.
January 9, 2012
The sum total of these weird and wonderful stories is a firework packed with explosive which never actually ignites: potential which never culminates but rather fizzles out.
The story about the eponymous twins, for example, sees these two nine year olds living somewhere: in a tundra, barren and isolated, with just their parents for company: parents who disappear for long stretches to study the indigenous Guhiynui leaving the twosome to tend to themselves. One day mum dies from food poisoning (?) and dad sets them off on an epic journey to bury her corpse far off into the tundra. They travel for days, along the way realising dad may have wanted to get rid of them as he has not packed any food for them to eat. Returning back home, they find him surprised to see them as he has settled down with a new woman (implication: he may have done away with mum as well). The twins decide they are going to run away but toy with the idea of killing dad before they run off. The end. Well, OK: is it me or does this lack the proverbial punchline? Toying with does not necessarily mean DOING. If I had to count the times I hear people telling each other ‘I’m going to kill you’ during the course of the day, the population of England would be decimated if it all came to fruition. The story is atmospheric and the twins seem to posses uncanny abilities for nine year olds: fodder for a wallop of a tale, but the whole thing just falls flat on its face in the end: close, but no cigar.
This is the fate of most of the stories. Two small exceptions come to mind though. The most powerful of the lot, ‘the smallness of the action’, is harrowing beyond belief without recourse to any ‘weird and wonderful’ props: an old fashioned tale of descent into madness and murder most, most horrific: a blow by blow foretelling of the Baby P account. Uurgh. ‘Someone to kiss it better’ is similar in style: no gimmicks, just a powerful impression produced through the careful orchestration of patterns of Estate behaviour.
The story about the eponymous twins, for example, sees these two nine year olds living somewhere: in a tundra, barren and isolated, with just their parents for company: parents who disappear for long stretches to study the indigenous Guhiynui leaving the twosome to tend to themselves. One day mum dies from food poisoning (?) and dad sets them off on an epic journey to bury her corpse far off into the tundra. They travel for days, along the way realising dad may have wanted to get rid of them as he has not packed any food for them to eat. Returning back home, they find him surprised to see them as he has settled down with a new woman (implication: he may have done away with mum as well). The twins decide they are going to run away but toy with the idea of killing dad before they run off. The end. Well, OK: is it me or does this lack the proverbial punchline? Toying with does not necessarily mean DOING. If I had to count the times I hear people telling each other ‘I’m going to kill you’ during the course of the day, the population of England would be decimated if it all came to fruition. The story is atmospheric and the twins seem to posses uncanny abilities for nine year olds: fodder for a wallop of a tale, but the whole thing just falls flat on its face in the end: close, but no cigar.
This is the fate of most of the stories. Two small exceptions come to mind though. The most powerful of the lot, ‘the smallness of the action’, is harrowing beyond belief without recourse to any ‘weird and wonderful’ props: an old fashioned tale of descent into madness and murder most, most horrific: a blow by blow foretelling of the Baby P account. Uurgh. ‘Someone to kiss it better’ is similar in style: no gimmicks, just a powerful impression produced through the careful orchestration of patterns of Estate behaviour.
September 19, 2017
Michel Faber má námětů a fantazie na rozdávání. Leckterý autor v krizi by určitě byl sáhl po kterékoliv z těch sedmnácti povídek a natáhl je (jako těsto na tažený závin) na větší formát. Kam se chodí na takové nápady, třeba že existuje dům, ve kterém najdou útočiště ztracenci se svým nelehkým životním osudem sepsaným na zádech trička, nebo jaké to je probrat se po pěti letech z vegetativního stavu a vrátit se k manželce a dětem, nebo jak vzácným artiklem se může stát světlo a jak na jeho ubývání lidé reagují? Autor umí citlivě sledovat sbližování matky na odvykací kúře s malým synem stejně dobře jako syrově líčit muže, který v hádce zabil přítelkyni a snaží se vyrobit si alibi.
I když se mi tato sbírka nelíbila tolik jako Někdy prostě prší, své hodnocení si zaslouží. Je jiná, je svá a je dobrá. Michel Faber má navíc velkou kliku, že jeho dílo do češtiny převádí Viktor Janiš. To se pak kniha čte, jako by nikdy nebyla napsána v cizím jazyce, ale rovnou v češtině. To hned tak někdo neumí! Pan Janiš ano!
I když se mi tato sbírka nelíbila tolik jako Někdy prostě prší, své hodnocení si zaslouží. Je jiná, je svá a je dobrá. Michel Faber má navíc velkou kliku, že jeho dílo do češtiny převádí Viktor Janiš. To se pak kniha čte, jako by nikdy nebyla napsána v cizím jazyce, ale rovnou v češtině. To hned tak někdo neumí! Pan Janiš ano!
August 6, 2011
Michel Faber's a brilliant writer and I've loved his other two short story collections "Some Rain Might Fall" and "The Apple" as well as two novels "The Fire Gospel" and the brilliant "Under the Skin, but "The Fahrenheit Twins" is his weakest book yet. It contains some cracking scenarios and his usual high standard of writing but the majority of tales here have the spark but not extra something that makes the stories complete.
"The Safehouse" is about a homeless man wearing a T-shirt containing his life story. He can't read it and wanders the streets until he finds a basement leading into a mysterious building where everyone there also has T-shirts with their life stories printed on it. He settles into the group and then... nothing. The story ends. "All Black" starts out mundanely with a divorced father taking his daughter back to her mum when suddenly an all enveloping darkness engulfs them. Some people go mad and drive off leaving the father and daughter stranded. Then they are picked up by a truck driver whose curious cargo is never explained, nor is the strange darkness and then... nothing. The story ends. Are you frustrated yet? I was.
Faber has the uncanny ability to lassoo a reader's attention to a certain storyline and character within 10 pages but he doesn't do anything with it. What could become quite interesting novellas fizzle out into ordinary stories. Endings seem to be Faber's weakness in his career. "Under the Skin" was a brilliant novel whose ending was limp and forgettable. Ditto "The Fire Gospel". And unfortunately most of the stories here simply end when they were beginning to be interesting.
Also disappointing with this book, Faber tries to be Literary. In "Vanilla Bright Like Eminem" the story ends with the father saying the best moment of his life was seeing his daughter comb his son's bleached hair on a train to Edinburgh. Ergh. In "Beyond Pain" the entire story is a rock drummer getting a headache then recovering from it. Eh? "Explaining Coconuts" is just that - explaining coconuts. Yawn.
The best stories here were "The Safehouse" (before the ending), "Tabitha Warren" about a popular writer's strange demise, and the title story "The Fahrenheit Twins" which has a biblical/Brothers Grimm feel to it. I'll leave it up to you, the reader, to see what you make of these stories but for me they contained the Michel Faber magic that continues to see his fanbase grow. The other stories here are average to crap. Shame because usually his books are brilliant throughout (until the end). Here's hoping he stops being Literary and starts being Great again.
"The Safehouse" is about a homeless man wearing a T-shirt containing his life story. He can't read it and wanders the streets until he finds a basement leading into a mysterious building where everyone there also has T-shirts with their life stories printed on it. He settles into the group and then... nothing. The story ends. "All Black" starts out mundanely with a divorced father taking his daughter back to her mum when suddenly an all enveloping darkness engulfs them. Some people go mad and drive off leaving the father and daughter stranded. Then they are picked up by a truck driver whose curious cargo is never explained, nor is the strange darkness and then... nothing. The story ends. Are you frustrated yet? I was.
Faber has the uncanny ability to lassoo a reader's attention to a certain storyline and character within 10 pages but he doesn't do anything with it. What could become quite interesting novellas fizzle out into ordinary stories. Endings seem to be Faber's weakness in his career. "Under the Skin" was a brilliant novel whose ending was limp and forgettable. Ditto "The Fire Gospel". And unfortunately most of the stories here simply end when they were beginning to be interesting.
Also disappointing with this book, Faber tries to be Literary. In "Vanilla Bright Like Eminem" the story ends with the father saying the best moment of his life was seeing his daughter comb his son's bleached hair on a train to Edinburgh. Ergh. In "Beyond Pain" the entire story is a rock drummer getting a headache then recovering from it. Eh? "Explaining Coconuts" is just that - explaining coconuts. Yawn.
The best stories here were "The Safehouse" (before the ending), "Tabitha Warren" about a popular writer's strange demise, and the title story "The Fahrenheit Twins" which has a biblical/Brothers Grimm feel to it. I'll leave it up to you, the reader, to see what you make of these stories but for me they contained the Michel Faber magic that continues to see his fanbase grow. The other stories here are average to crap. Shame because usually his books are brilliant throughout (until the end). Here's hoping he stops being Literary and starts being Great again.
May 5, 2019
Faber vás vždycky překvapí, a když už dá do knihy 17 povídek, překvapí vás holt sedmnáctkrát za sebou. Je tu ještě víc nápadů než v "Někdy prostě prší", nejrůznější styly, žánry, situace i prostředí, prostě moc dobrá sbírka, u které se nudit nebudete.
August 20, 2018
Вообще терпеть не могу сейчас читать рассказы и ужасно зла, я думала, что у меня ещё роман Фейбера оставался нечитанный.
Но несмотря на мою горячую предубежденность против этой книги, очень понравилось почти всё.
Но несмотря на мою горячую предубежденность против этой книги, очень понравилось почти всё.
August 11, 2009
The good bits about this:
The writing is brilliant, the characters all fascinating - even the ones who are strange or sick and the imagination is beyond description.'The Eyes of the Soul,'Serious Swimmers' and 'Explaining Coconuts'are only a few examples - you get to the end and know that that is where the story should stop, even if it could have gone on further.
The bad bits:
It's advertised as a collection of short stories, but many of them start off, pull you along for a number of pages and then simply stop, like vivid dreams interupted by an alarm clock.
I was left with a feeling that some of them were sketches from longer works that he hadn't bothered to finish, or exercises in mood setting. Around half of the stories ae like this. You are lead to identify with the characters, get involved with the action that is happening to them and then find yourself turning the page to read the title of the next one.
The writing is brilliant, the characters all fascinating - even the ones who are strange or sick and the imagination is beyond description.'The Eyes of the Soul,'Serious Swimmers' and 'Explaining Coconuts'are only a few examples - you get to the end and know that that is where the story should stop, even if it could have gone on further.
The bad bits:
It's advertised as a collection of short stories, but many of them start off, pull you along for a number of pages and then simply stop, like vivid dreams interupted by an alarm clock.
I was left with a feeling that some of them were sketches from longer works that he hadn't bothered to finish, or exercises in mood setting. Around half of the stories ae like this. You are lead to identify with the characters, get involved with the action that is happening to them and then find yourself turning the page to read the title of the next one.
January 21, 2019
Faber, jak ho známe. Naléhavý, rozmanitý, neotřelý, znepokojivý. S příběhy utnutými naráz a velice ostrým řezem, což mi sice nevadí, ale kolikrát si tak povzdechnu, že tady bych ráda věděla, co bude s postavami dál. Na druhé straně to ve mně probouzí vlastní dokončení, jak bych to asi udělala já, kam bych je nakonec vedla. Jako u většiny povídkových knížek, i zde byly některé povídky slabší, nezaryly se, jiné se zahákly ovšem velice silně. Nejvíce pak Tabitha Warren a Finesa.
January 21, 2020
The Safehouse - 4.5
Andy Comes Back - 3.7
The eyes of the soul - 3
Serious Swimmers - 4
Explaining Coconuts - 1 (I get it, it's just not my thing)
Finesse - 4.5
Flesh Remains Flesh - 3.5
Less than Perfect - 3.5
A Hole with Two Ends - 2
The Smallness of the Action - 4.2
All Black - 3
Mouse - 2.5
Someone to Kiss it Better - 3.2
Beyond Pain - 3
Tabitha Warren - 2.7
Vanilla-bright like Eminem - 4
The Fahrenheit Twins - 3
Andy Comes Back - 3.7
The eyes of the soul - 3
Serious Swimmers - 4
Explaining Coconuts - 1 (I get it, it's just not my thing)
Finesse - 4.5
Flesh Remains Flesh - 3.5
Less than Perfect - 3.5
A Hole with Two Ends - 2
The Smallness of the Action - 4.2
All Black - 3
Mouse - 2.5
Someone to Kiss it Better - 3.2
Beyond Pain - 3
Tabitha Warren - 2.7
Vanilla-bright like Eminem - 4
The Fahrenheit Twins - 3
July 12, 2018
K tomuhle jsem se dostala náhodou - pravda, ta šílená slevu na e-knihu by sama nestačila, zafungoval autor, od kterého jsem už pár věcí přečetla - ale i tak jsem upřímně netušila co vlastně čekat. Jistě, sbírky povídek, ale od Fabera jsem četla neuvěřitelný román z viktoriánské Anglie i povedené filozofické sci-fi, tak co by mohlo být tohle?
Něco úžasného jako vždy - ve zkratce. V trochu delších slovech - zajímavé povídky, povětšinou lehce děsivé a znepokojující. Různé postavy, různá místa, různé motivy. A tolik šílených konců, kdy dočtete a chce se vám jen řvát, protože prostě potřebujete vědět, co bylo dál. Nebo proč. Jenže autor vám jen zamává před nosem názvem další povídky. Jo, měla bych si na tohle u Fabera už zatraceně zvyknout, ale ono to nejde. Stejně vám pokaždé vyrazí dech.
Pokud jste od Fabera ještě nic nečetli, napravte to. Pokud jste četli, tak věřím, že tušíte, proč tohle stojí za přečtení.
Něco úžasného jako vždy - ve zkratce. V trochu delších slovech - zajímavé povídky, povětšinou lehce děsivé a znepokojující. Různé postavy, různá místa, různé motivy. A tolik šílených konců, kdy dočtete a chce se vám jen řvát, protože prostě potřebujete vědět, co bylo dál. Nebo proč. Jenže autor vám jen zamává před nosem názvem další povídky. Jo, měla bych si na tohle u Fabera už zatraceně zvyknout, ale ono to nejde. Stejně vám pokaždé vyrazí dech.
Pokud jste od Fabera ještě nic nečetli, napravte to. Pokud jste četli, tak věřím, že tušíte, proč tohle stojí za přečtení.
February 24, 2016
Prvé stretnutie s Faberom dopadlo dobre. Ba čo viac veľmi dobre. Všehochuť. V každom súste je cítiť niekto iný. Niekde Dahl, niekde Kafka, niekde McEwan. Okraj spoločnosti, pocity, hranice, ktoré niektorí ustoja, iní nie. Ale život je taký. Niekto sa poláme, niekto ostane celý, no každý nejako dopadne. Krok tento rok správnym smerom.
December 13, 2015
As is usual with a book of short stories this is a mixed bag of great, so-so and what the. Prefer Faber's longer works as he's good with characters, liked the Crimson petal and the white.
May 2, 2016
Michel Faber je jedním z těch požehnaných spisovatelů, kteří i na malém prostoru dokážou jít až na dřeň.
February 3, 2017
Mám rád Faberovy povídky, mám rád Janišovy překlady. Faber umí i pěkně tlusté romány, ale jeho povídky jsou malé svítivé drahokamy.
January 16, 2020
I když většina povídek se mi až tak nelíbí, ty, které se mi líbí, jsou o to lepší. Nejvíc mě oslovily tyto: Finesa, Plavání pro pokročilé, Jak málo stačí ... a titulní povídka je asi nejlepší.
May 6, 2018
Novellide meistriklass.
February 13, 2019
This is an enchanting collection of short stories. A kind of fabel-esque vibe sometimes, then gritty, then allegoric, then just quirky and surreal. The endings are always unexpected, sometimes even feeling like Faber was unsure how to finish them and they just kind of peter out, but then again the surreal style ushers no guarantee of narrative linearity. The variety is immense - in subject matter, in tone, in character, in setting, in theme. It's ambitious, yet humble. Gigantic yet full of minutiae. It's abundant. I'm happy my friend gave me this collection for a birthday present. An unexpected gift!
June 1, 2018
The writing is good but the stories are pretty pointless and I much prefer Faber’s novels and poetry. I took a star off for the ridiculousness of two of the stories - Explaining Coconuts and The Smallness of the Action, which some other reviewers seem to think is a highlight of the collection but probably wasn’t meant to make me laugh...
October 16, 2020
Povídky mě většinou moc nebaví. Vadí mi, že příběh není moc rozvinutý. Tahle knížka je ale výjimka. Většina povídek mě bavilo, byly něčím zajímavé a něco mě nutilo číst pořád dál. Některé povídky byly opravdu jen na pár stránek, ale výstižné a zanechaly dojem. Rozhodně doporučuju... i pokud nejste fanoušci povídek.
April 11, 2020
It is so nice to read stories that I can both enjoy and fully comprehend from start to finish. Michel Faber has a talent for evoking a weird scenario without making the way that it is told too convoluted. Through his plain statements he even creates some effortlessly memorable sentences (e.g. 'Ashton Allan Clark was the richest man in Altchester; he had money on his breath and a sticky ooze of luxury clogging up his ears').
The stories collected in The Fahrenheit Twins are a healthy mix of 'realistic' character pieces and speculative fiction that sometimes verges on the absurd. Among the fiction that is firmly grounded in reality, Faber reveals an interest in parent-child relationships from the sheer work that goes into brief tender moments to the struggle to simply get home again. These are just as remarkable as more fanciful tales about children crossing a snowy tundra alone to deal with a corpse or men flying to Indonesia to observe a sexually-arousing lecture about coconuts. Suffice to say Faber has range.
If I had one complaint about these stories it is that a few end much too early in proceedings. While I agree it's often better to leave off as soon as some kind of catharsis is reached, a sentence or two could have been added to clarify a new equilibrium. Casting my mind back to Faber's other collection, Some Rain Must Fall, I can recall similar issues.
Nevertheless I found The Fahrenheit Twins a solid short story collection for someone who enjoys speculative fiction explored through subtle unambiguous prose. If you like your oddities delivered 'straight up' too then this is a worthwhile read.
Notable Stories
• The Eyes of the Soul – featuring a special window into a far happier place, this proved a very uplifting story.
• Explaining Coconuts – while the details of this lecture are lost on me, the perverted audience surely isn't...
• Finesse – the interplay between the dictator and Ms Sampras is sharp-witted and, at times, nerve-wracking.
The stories collected in The Fahrenheit Twins are a healthy mix of 'realistic' character pieces and speculative fiction that sometimes verges on the absurd. Among the fiction that is firmly grounded in reality, Faber reveals an interest in parent-child relationships from the sheer work that goes into brief tender moments to the struggle to simply get home again. These are just as remarkable as more fanciful tales about children crossing a snowy tundra alone to deal with a corpse or men flying to Indonesia to observe a sexually-arousing lecture about coconuts. Suffice to say Faber has range.
If I had one complaint about these stories it is that a few end much too early in proceedings. While I agree it's often better to leave off as soon as some kind of catharsis is reached, a sentence or two could have been added to clarify a new equilibrium. Casting my mind back to Faber's other collection, Some Rain Must Fall, I can recall similar issues.
Nevertheless I found The Fahrenheit Twins a solid short story collection for someone who enjoys speculative fiction explored through subtle unambiguous prose. If you like your oddities delivered 'straight up' too then this is a worthwhile read.
Notable Stories
• The Eyes of the Soul – featuring a special window into a far happier place, this proved a very uplifting story.
• Explaining Coconuts – while the details of this lecture are lost on me, the perverted audience surely isn't...
• Finesse – the interplay between the dictator and Ms Sampras is sharp-witted and, at times, nerve-wracking.
July 22, 2017
Il suo principale pregio e' quello di essere scritto da una mente evidentemente geniale e camaleontica , capace di entrare nei panni di vagabondi affamati e di madri poco affidabili , di adulti mai davvero cresciuti e di giovanissimi con fin troppe responsabilita' sulle spalle - anche ambientazioni storico/geografiche sono molto varie , senza che mai la capacita' immedesimativa dell autore cali. Questo pero' e' anche il suo difetto : questi racconti cosi differenti si amalgamano poco in una raccolta , perdendo di vista il filo conduttore e diventanto a sestanti . Inolte alcune storie sono molto forti , d'impatto e permanenti nel lettore ( nuotatori veri , un gesto di poco conto , un bacio e passa tutto ) altri invece completamente dimenticabili e con finali che piu' che aperti definirei troppo inconsistenti ( il topo , vaniglia sgargiante come eminem ) , anche se la scrittura dell autore rimane ottima.
May 20, 2024
2,5. Veel probeersels lijkt het, verschillende schrijfstijlen, een paar eerste aanzetten, een paar goede verhalen.
June 18, 2022
Kolmas loetud raamat Michel Faberilt, seekord lühijutukogu. Mõnusalt irriteerivad, aga liigse ärevusfoonita lood. Nihestatud nägemused inimeste tavaveidrast olemusest sobivad kõigile, kes oma normaalsuses ja normikohasuses päris veendunud pole. Sul tekib neid lugedes äratundmishetki, aga ka võõristust. Kuni saabub kergendav lõpplahendus. Nojah, nimilugu on ehk teistest veidram.
May 26, 2018
La prima cosa che colpisce di questo libro è la facilità con cui si legge. I racconti sono scritti benissimo e le pagine si sfogliano con leggerezza.
La valutazione negativa è data dal fatto che, sebbene siano appunto stese bene, le storie non mi sono piaciute, per varie ragioni.
Alcune mi sono sembrate troppo brevi, non ho fatto in tempo ad affezionarmi ai personaggi, che rimanevano semplici sagome animate, dai fili del narratore.
Di altre non ho capito il senso e mi sembrava di leggere a vuoto.
Quasi tutte, però, le ho trovate quasi macabre o con temi oscuri. Faccio un esempio, che segnalerò come spoiler: In questa storia non ci ho trovato minimamente senso, né ci ho trovato un messaggio quanto meno fittizio. È ardua e macabra.
Il libro è scritto bene, ma questo tipo di storie devono piacere; a me non ha intrattenuto.
La valutazione negativa è data dal fatto che, sebbene siano appunto stese bene, le storie non mi sono piaciute, per varie ragioni.
Alcune mi sono sembrate troppo brevi, non ho fatto in tempo ad affezionarmi ai personaggi, che rimanevano semplici sagome animate, dai fili del narratore.
Di altre non ho capito il senso e mi sembrava di leggere a vuoto.
Quasi tutte, però, le ho trovate quasi macabre o con temi oscuri. Faccio un esempio, che segnalerò come spoiler: In questa storia non ci ho trovato minimamente senso, né ci ho trovato un messaggio quanto meno fittizio. È ardua e macabra.
Il libro è scritto bene, ma questo tipo di storie devono piacere; a me non ha intrattenuto.
December 26, 2012
The first short story really got my imagination going, it was about a homeless man, hinting at a past but not revealing it to you, later the homeless man finds out he and others are wearing t-shirts that contain information about their lives, yet this is told using symbols and he is unable to decipher them, the ending indicates him feeling a sense of belonging. Overall this story is frustrating as it leaves the reader with so many unanswered questions!
I found that most of the short stories were frustrating, leaving me with so many unanswered questions. Some of the stories were very harsh for my liking, containing unlikeable characters, some seemed rather abrupt but overall I had to remind myself that it would be highly unlikely for me to love all 17 of the short stories. I really enjoyed the final short story about the Fahrenheit twins, there innocence and how their own personal reality had come about, giving them a unique outlook overall. There were some stories that I enjoyed reading, some that simply frustrated me and one or two that I didn't fully understand which left me confused!
A fabulous mix up of shorts! I will be keeping my eyes pealed for more books by Faber in the future...he never fails to disappoint and I find it simply amazing how diverse his stories are, they seem to vary a great deal unlike so many other authors out there that seem to write essentially the same books over and over with differing details!!
I found that most of the short stories were frustrating, leaving me with so many unanswered questions. Some of the stories were very harsh for my liking, containing unlikeable characters, some seemed rather abrupt but overall I had to remind myself that it would be highly unlikely for me to love all 17 of the short stories. I really enjoyed the final short story about the Fahrenheit twins, there innocence and how their own personal reality had come about, giving them a unique outlook overall. There were some stories that I enjoyed reading, some that simply frustrated me and one or two that I didn't fully understand which left me confused!
A fabulous mix up of shorts! I will be keeping my eyes pealed for more books by Faber in the future...he never fails to disappoint and I find it simply amazing how diverse his stories are, they seem to vary a great deal unlike so many other authors out there that seem to write essentially the same books over and over with differing details!!
August 23, 2016
This isn't going to be a very in-depth review because I read this book weeks ago and all I really remember was that it paled in comparison with the Some Rain Must Fall: And Other Stories collection, in that most of the stories were rather bland or the ending fell flat. Struggling to think of any that I even remember from the collection is hard, yet there were three I liked quite a bit. The first being the one with Eminem in the title - that was a short, sweet, interesting piece. I also really enjoyed the story about the woman meeting her son at a pool - that was well done. Probably the best story was the one that named the title of the collection - a quirky and very intriguing reworking of Hansel and Gretel. I also recall the first story about the homeless man, but the ending left much to be desired. Almost as if Faber were trying too hard to be cryptic and ended up just being confusing. All the other stories completely slip my mind.
April 23, 2018
Difficult to review this one. Loved it on the whole. Michle Faber is one of my favourite writers, always highly original stories and this collection of short stories is definitely that.
I felt one or two could have been a bit longer, there was one I didn't really "get" but I think it was meant to be deliberately ambiguous to provoke thought. (Or else senility REALLY has crept upon me before I'm 60!!)
The very last story (Fahrenheit Twins of the title) was many things - clever - original - funny - touching - startling in parts - and absolutely brilliant.
I think I've read almost everything by him now and I'm sad that he has given up writing.
I felt one or two could have been a bit longer, there was one I didn't really "get" but I think it was meant to be deliberately ambiguous to provoke thought. (Or else senility REALLY has crept upon me before I'm 60!!)
The very last story (Fahrenheit Twins of the title) was many things - clever - original - funny - touching - startling in parts - and absolutely brilliant.
I think I've read almost everything by him now and I'm sad that he has given up writing.
August 3, 2013
I can't dispute that Michel Faber is a wonderful writer, each and every story within this collection created a unique and vivid world that had me hooked.
It's just a shame that I felt so frustrated because on most occasions the story ended abruptly, without conclusion - I'm a fan of ambiguous endings and forming my own opinions but this was another level!
Perhaps, it's just that I would have liked to read more, know more about the character or what the hell has just happened, this could be a backhanded compliment.
It's just a shame that I felt so frustrated because on most occasions the story ended abruptly, without conclusion - I'm a fan of ambiguous endings and forming my own opinions but this was another level!
Perhaps, it's just that I would have liked to read more, know more about the character or what the hell has just happened, this could be a backhanded compliment.
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