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13 Ways: Illustrated Stories
What if, as you stared at a children’s climbing wall, you began to see and hear things that no one else perceived? What if a view of the coast you were enjoying was also being surveyed by an assassin through his rifle scope? What if the last thing you saw when you looked at the sky was the approach of an enormous cloud that looked like a ghost ship?
Ranging from brief vignettes to fully-developed narratives, this collection comprises sixteen evocative, photo-inspired stories from selected genres, including contemporary and magical realism, speculative fiction, suspense, and modern Gothic. The book opens with “Sunset at the Hyatt Regency,” in which two strangers at an airport hotel negotiate their way through the complexities of sex, grief, and cold hard cash. It closes with “Hotel Eternity,” in which a woman emerges from an underground train station into a bright spring day, to find a crumpled stranger gesturing to her from the footpath.
Ranging from brief vignettes to fully-developed narratives, this collection comprises sixteen evocative, photo-inspired stories from selected genres, including contemporary and magical realism, speculative fiction, suspense, and modern Gothic. The book opens with “Sunset at the Hyatt Regency,” in which two strangers at an airport hotel negotiate their way through the complexities of sex, grief, and cold hard cash. It closes with “Hotel Eternity,” in which a woman emerges from an underground train station into a bright spring day, to find a crumpled stranger gesturing to her from the footpath.
- GenresShort Stories
131 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
22 people want to read
About the author
T.D. Whittle
3 books211 followersReader of books, drinker of tea, happily married, one ginger cat. Victoria, Australia. (GMT +10) =^.^=
'If you can't understand it without an explanation, you can't understand it with an explanation.'—1Q84, Bk 3, Haruki Murakami (Knopf, 2010)
Profile photo taken by my husband, Robin, in our garden at home.
'If you can't understand it without an explanation, you can't understand it with an explanation.'—1Q84, Bk 3, Haruki Murakami (Knopf, 2010)
Profile photo taken by my husband, Robin, in our garden at home.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 9, 2015
I love short stories—good short stories, that is. And “13 Ways: Illustrated Stories” ARE good short stories.
I did not like them all equally. One rarely does when reading a collection of short stories. Yet there were several that I found truly outstanding. They not only left a lasting impression; they had an impact that I call mind-expanding. What more can you gain from a piece of literature?
Most of all, I was impressed and moved by the story “Sunset at the Hyatt Regency”. It is clearly one of the two best short stories I have ever read in my life. (The other one is by James Clavell. I read it decades ago. It was about a woman dying in the rubble of a bombed house in Berlin, and while this story is branded into my memory, I do not remember the title.)
There is so much more to say about “Sunset at the Hyatt Regency”. It is a remarkably nuanced story, psychological and philosophical on different levels. I consider it THE perfect short story. It would lend itself well for a book club discussion.
My other favorites were “Traveling Heart”, “Last Kiss”, “Someone Like You“, “The Offering”, and “Home”. I was particularly impressed by “Traveling Heart” and “Last Kiss”. The characters in these stories, their actions, and their way of (wishful) thinking are so true to life. (I have met people like these protagonists.)
I also liked the other stories, all of them finely chiseled and psychologically founded.
The only story I did not like is the one titled “Cake”. However, this is not at all the author’s fault. The reason I did not like this story is that it brought back very personal and hurtful memories.
The only negative I can say about this short story collection is that a few of the stories could have been a bit shorter, at least, for an impatient reader like me. This is why I only give the book 4 stars. If all the stories were like “Sunset at the Hyatt Regency”, “Traveling Heart”, and “Last Kiss”, I could not but rate the book 10 stars, regardless of whether or not Goodreads allowed it.
I would also like to mention the included photographs, taken by one of the authors. It were these photographs that initiated the authors to let their fantasy browse and come up with the stories of this book. These photographs are of high quality, and some of them are pieces of art.
For a more literary evaluation of this book, please read Ian Heidin-Seek’s review. He is more literate than I am, and he related to the literary aspects of these stories much better than I would be able to. Here is the link:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I did not like them all equally. One rarely does when reading a collection of short stories. Yet there were several that I found truly outstanding. They not only left a lasting impression; they had an impact that I call mind-expanding. What more can you gain from a piece of literature?
Most of all, I was impressed and moved by the story “Sunset at the Hyatt Regency”. It is clearly one of the two best short stories I have ever read in my life. (The other one is by James Clavell. I read it decades ago. It was about a woman dying in the rubble of a bombed house in Berlin, and while this story is branded into my memory, I do not remember the title.)
There is so much more to say about “Sunset at the Hyatt Regency”. It is a remarkably nuanced story, psychological and philosophical on different levels. I consider it THE perfect short story. It would lend itself well for a book club discussion.
My other favorites were “Traveling Heart”, “Last Kiss”, “Someone Like You“, “The Offering”, and “Home”. I was particularly impressed by “Traveling Heart” and “Last Kiss”. The characters in these stories, their actions, and their way of (wishful) thinking are so true to life. (I have met people like these protagonists.)
I also liked the other stories, all of them finely chiseled and psychologically founded.
The only story I did not like is the one titled “Cake”. However, this is not at all the author’s fault. The reason I did not like this story is that it brought back very personal and hurtful memories.
The only negative I can say about this short story collection is that a few of the stories could have been a bit shorter, at least, for an impatient reader like me. This is why I only give the book 4 stars. If all the stories were like “Sunset at the Hyatt Regency”, “Traveling Heart”, and “Last Kiss”, I could not but rate the book 10 stars, regardless of whether or not Goodreads allowed it.
I would also like to mention the included photographs, taken by one of the authors. It were these photographs that initiated the authors to let their fantasy browse and come up with the stories of this book. These photographs are of high quality, and some of them are pieces of art.
For a more literary evaluation of this book, please read Ian Heidin-Seek’s review. He is more literate than I am, and he related to the literary aspects of these stories much better than I would be able to. Here is the link:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
October 11, 2013
Disclosure
What a delight!
But first, a disclosure: one of the authors of this collection of short stories is a close and valued GoodReads friend who has transitioned to the same status in real life. The other is possibly her closest life-long friend, so I feel as if this is a book written by two close friends, even though I don’t know the second author.
I paid for my digital copy, but was also gifted a digital copy. Go figure. Anyway this is my disclosure.
Stranded on My Own
I entered this book with as few preconceptions as I could muster. I didn’t want to be disappointed. I sat down to read and review it as if I did not know either author.
There are sixteen stories in this collection (despite the title), shared between the two authors.
I don’t want to differentiate between the work of the two authors. What is important is that they have weaved their creativity together like a two-stranded rope. Each strand might have been strong, but the two together are stronger.
They are also highly compatible in both subject matter and style.
Grounded
The Introduction states that the tales "arose from photographs that sparked the authors’ imagination".
That might well be true, but in no way does it limit the ambition of the stories.
The initial impression of the collection is very realistic. Raymond Carver came to mind. So too in the Australian context, Peter Carey and Tim Winton.
The stories were all highly grounded, some in an Australian landscape, some in an American one.
However, bit by bit, you realise that the photos and the style are just the starting point of the adventure contained in each story.
They are the feet, and as you read on, as you survey the rest of the body, working upwards, you encounter the reactionary gut and then ultimately the rest of the mind, and in that mind lies expectation, ambition, hope, desire, love, disappointment, bewilderment.
Unsound
The less grounded, the more mindful we become, but the mind is not a simple organ, it can look, gaze, embrace, imagine, dream, aspire, desire, plan, cheat, fabricate, hallucinate, panic, fear and delude itself.
I’m not necessarily thinking of alcohol or drugs or unreliable narration.
It’s as simple as what human relationships do to each participant. A relationship is something intangible between two tangible organisms. A lot can go wrong in the ether between them. It doesn’t matter whether they’re family or friends or lovers. The same forces seem to be at work.
This collection is concerned about what happens in the ether above ground level, in and between the minds of people like us, who appear to be grounded, but who in fact might just be a little unsound, living as we do in a world that is ruled over by blackbirds, a world that seems to have become a little Kafkaesque (if you don't mind me mixing my animalian metaphors).
Noble Accents and Lucid Rhythms
In the words of Wallace Stevens (from whose poem the title is derived), the authors know and write about the "noble accents and lucid, inescapable rhythms" of real life.
Which author is better, who do I prefer? I can’t say and it doesn’t matter. It’s one strand of rope, and the rope holds tight.
Perhaps, I should resort to Wallace Stevens again:
"I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after."
What's important is that in these tales, you will find both. But ultimately, either way, what you will find is beauty.
SOUNDTRACK:
The Beatles – "Blackbird"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrxZhW...
Crosby, Stills & Nash - "Black Bird (Live)"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8CFlu...
Bettie Serveert – "Unsound"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQVACB...
Bettie Serveert – "Dreamaniacs"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnjELa...
Bettie Serveert – "You've Changed"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXIPlP...
What a delight!
But first, a disclosure: one of the authors of this collection of short stories is a close and valued GoodReads friend who has transitioned to the same status in real life. The other is possibly her closest life-long friend, so I feel as if this is a book written by two close friends, even though I don’t know the second author.
I paid for my digital copy, but was also gifted a digital copy. Go figure. Anyway this is my disclosure.
Stranded on My Own
I entered this book with as few preconceptions as I could muster. I didn’t want to be disappointed. I sat down to read and review it as if I did not know either author.
There are sixteen stories in this collection (despite the title), shared between the two authors.
I don’t want to differentiate between the work of the two authors. What is important is that they have weaved their creativity together like a two-stranded rope. Each strand might have been strong, but the two together are stronger.
They are also highly compatible in both subject matter and style.
Grounded
The Introduction states that the tales "arose from photographs that sparked the authors’ imagination".
That might well be true, but in no way does it limit the ambition of the stories.
The initial impression of the collection is very realistic. Raymond Carver came to mind. So too in the Australian context, Peter Carey and Tim Winton.
The stories were all highly grounded, some in an Australian landscape, some in an American one.
However, bit by bit, you realise that the photos and the style are just the starting point of the adventure contained in each story.
They are the feet, and as you read on, as you survey the rest of the body, working upwards, you encounter the reactionary gut and then ultimately the rest of the mind, and in that mind lies expectation, ambition, hope, desire, love, disappointment, bewilderment.
Unsound
The less grounded, the more mindful we become, but the mind is not a simple organ, it can look, gaze, embrace, imagine, dream, aspire, desire, plan, cheat, fabricate, hallucinate, panic, fear and delude itself.
I’m not necessarily thinking of alcohol or drugs or unreliable narration.
It’s as simple as what human relationships do to each participant. A relationship is something intangible between two tangible organisms. A lot can go wrong in the ether between them. It doesn’t matter whether they’re family or friends or lovers. The same forces seem to be at work.
This collection is concerned about what happens in the ether above ground level, in and between the minds of people like us, who appear to be grounded, but who in fact might just be a little unsound, living as we do in a world that is ruled over by blackbirds, a world that seems to have become a little Kafkaesque (if you don't mind me mixing my animalian metaphors).
Noble Accents and Lucid Rhythms
In the words of Wallace Stevens (from whose poem the title is derived), the authors know and write about the "noble accents and lucid, inescapable rhythms" of real life.
Which author is better, who do I prefer? I can’t say and it doesn’t matter. It’s one strand of rope, and the rope holds tight.
Perhaps, I should resort to Wallace Stevens again:
"I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after."
What's important is that in these tales, you will find both. But ultimately, either way, what you will find is beauty.
SOUNDTRACK:
The Beatles – "Blackbird"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrxZhW...
Crosby, Stills & Nash - "Black Bird (Live)"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8CFlu...
Bettie Serveert – "Unsound"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQVACB...
Bettie Serveert – "Dreamaniacs"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnjELa...
Bettie Serveert – "You've Changed"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXIPlP...
January 13, 2014
Caution, this review contains high praise.
Wonderful.
Two authors with two completely different styles collaborate to make one terrific and imaginative book. Beginning with a single photo, they explore every style from sci-fi to grit to comic; and while the stories are thoughtful and poignant in their right, what makes the whole collection so unique is that it's accomplished in a refreshingly (revolutionary?) "traditional" manner: through creativity and strong characters. There is no "experimenting" evident here as each of the authors arrives with a confident and experienced voice to tell you a great story.
A few of the stories had me laughing out loud and one of them had me wiping a tear from my cheek (of course, that may be because I'm such a sensitive guy...). And without hyperbole, I could have easily mistaken "Someone Like You" for a Vonnegut tale recently found tucked in the back of a desk somewhere (minus the cynicism).
This is how you write short stories. I am a better reader and a better writer for having read it.
Wonderful.
Two authors with two completely different styles collaborate to make one terrific and imaginative book. Beginning with a single photo, they explore every style from sci-fi to grit to comic; and while the stories are thoughtful and poignant in their right, what makes the whole collection so unique is that it's accomplished in a refreshingly (revolutionary?) "traditional" manner: through creativity and strong characters. There is no "experimenting" evident here as each of the authors arrives with a confident and experienced voice to tell you a great story.
A few of the stories had me laughing out loud and one of them had me wiping a tear from my cheek (of course, that may be because I'm such a sensitive guy...). And without hyperbole, I could have easily mistaken "Someone Like You" for a Vonnegut tale recently found tucked in the back of a desk somewhere (minus the cynicism).
This is how you write short stories. I am a better reader and a better writer for having read it.
August 28, 2013
Composing concise, meaningful, heart-touching short stories is a gift a few artists master to perfection. When a writer takes out her soul and shares it bit by bit, wrapping each in a different form, the pieces’ cumulative effect strikes different chords in our own soul, adding to its wealth and opening sides we maybe even haven’t known existed.
There are indeed multiple ways to perceiving reality and space beyond reality in the “13 ways”, which are bound together under the craft of their authors and the photographs adding multi-dimensional sense to the power of the written word.
Both authors have different views on life, with different attitudes and means to depicting it. Sandra Peterson Ramirez’s contributions to the collection are more playful, realistic, and vivid sketches, done with an artistic hand. Some will make you smile; others will fill you with compassion.
td Whittle’s stories take the reader into the realm of dreams, fantasies, disturbing and otherworldly experiences and new realities, which are piercingly acute in their fantastic realism. Some tales skillfully deal with unpleasant happenings, weaving the narrative into deeper feelings and fears. But none of them will leave you untouched by the charm of the style and imagination of the author whose art can truly be compared to that of Kathrine Mansfield.
I first read the majority of the stories on the authors’ website and loved every one of them. They were still lingering with me when I was reading the book, experiencing new waves of emotions. I thought I would only read the new ones, but ended up reading them all. It’s incredibly hard to choose from such a magnificent collection, but my favorites are “Taking Flight”, “Wolf Brand Chili”, “Side Effects”, and “Hotel Eternity”. Each story catches its own existential glimpses and envelopes us completely and eternally in them.
There are indeed multiple ways to perceiving reality and space beyond reality in the “13 ways”, which are bound together under the craft of their authors and the photographs adding multi-dimensional sense to the power of the written word.
Both authors have different views on life, with different attitudes and means to depicting it. Sandra Peterson Ramirez’s contributions to the collection are more playful, realistic, and vivid sketches, done with an artistic hand. Some will make you smile; others will fill you with compassion.
td Whittle’s stories take the reader into the realm of dreams, fantasies, disturbing and otherworldly experiences and new realities, which are piercingly acute in their fantastic realism. Some tales skillfully deal with unpleasant happenings, weaving the narrative into deeper feelings and fears. But none of them will leave you untouched by the charm of the style and imagination of the author whose art can truly be compared to that of Kathrine Mansfield.
I first read the majority of the stories on the authors’ website and loved every one of them. They were still lingering with me when I was reading the book, experiencing new waves of emotions. I thought I would only read the new ones, but ended up reading them all. It’s incredibly hard to choose from such a magnificent collection, but my favorites are “Taking Flight”, “Wolf Brand Chili”, “Side Effects”, and “Hotel Eternity”. Each story catches its own existential glimpses and envelopes us completely and eternally in them.
July 2, 2016
I love reading short stories. They're native to my world. This collection is compromised of both shorter and longer short stories, each with the different perspective of the two authors.
I really liked this collection. From the beginning I was thrown into a completely unexpected story, although confronting is also so simple and real in the world we live in.
The writing is simple and beautiful. My taste in reading is as in writing as in art. I have to feel it. I don't care about fancy words or interesting sentences or facetious metaphors. If it's there, it's there. And it is certainly there in 13 ways.
To relate to a story is something that connects the authors. I felt it's clear this is written for me as a reader to understand each story, and even though the two authors, td Whittle & Sandra Peterson Ramirez are from two parts of the world, they have managed to coexist with their own unique way of writing, at the same time being coherent in their selection of stories.
There are both dreams and confronting and disturbing stories here. There are also playfulness balancing the strong emotions and thoughts presented in this collection. I can only respect and admire the work the two authors have put into making this collection.
My two favourite stories from each author are Last Kiss by Sandra and Sunset by the Hyatt Regency by td Whittle.
I will read these stories again this week because there was so much insight and laughter and inspiration. I am grateful.
I will lastly say the stories captivated me so much that the pictures and illustrations didn't enhance them and didn't spoil them.
Highly recommended read!
Thank you.
Salaam
Morsi
I really liked this collection. From the beginning I was thrown into a completely unexpected story, although confronting is also so simple and real in the world we live in.
The writing is simple and beautiful. My taste in reading is as in writing as in art. I have to feel it. I don't care about fancy words or interesting sentences or facetious metaphors. If it's there, it's there. And it is certainly there in 13 ways.
To relate to a story is something that connects the authors. I felt it's clear this is written for me as a reader to understand each story, and even though the two authors, td Whittle & Sandra Peterson Ramirez are from two parts of the world, they have managed to coexist with their own unique way of writing, at the same time being coherent in their selection of stories.
There are both dreams and confronting and disturbing stories here. There are also playfulness balancing the strong emotions and thoughts presented in this collection. I can only respect and admire the work the two authors have put into making this collection.
My two favourite stories from each author are Last Kiss by Sandra and Sunset by the Hyatt Regency by td Whittle.
I will read these stories again this week because there was so much insight and laughter and inspiration. I am grateful.
I will lastly say the stories captivated me so much that the pictures and illustrations didn't enhance them and didn't spoil them.
Highly recommended read!
Thank you.
Salaam
Morsi
January 14, 2014
Even better on this re-read.
December 2, 2020
Brilliant is an understatement !! Thanks to Farhad for suggesting this one.
February 8, 2020
It was ok. I don't want to get into a debate here, but I just disagree with the overall ideas.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews