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Pulse Points: Stories
‘With precise and beautiful prose, the short stories in Jennifer Down’s Pulse Points carry an emotional clarity and intensity that is truly impressive.’ Books+Publishing
The characters in Jennifer Down’s
Pulse Points live in small dusty towns, glittering exotic cities and slow droll suburbs; they are mourners, survivors and perpetrators.In the award-winning ‘Aokigahara’, a young woman travels to the sea of trees in Japan to say goodbye. In ‘Coarsegold’, a woman conducts an illicit affair while her recovering girlfriend works the overnight motel shift in the middle of nowhere. In ‘Dogs’, Foggo runs an unruly gang of bored, cruel boys with a scent for fresh meat. In ‘Pressure Okay’ a middle-aged man goes to the theatre, gets a massage, remembers his departed wife, navigates the long game of grief with his adult daughter.
Jennifer Down, whose first novel, Our Magic Hour, was commended in the 2017 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award, is a masterful stylist whose sharp eye has been compared to that of Helen Garner. Pulse Points is a gutting collection that showcases her singular voice, and reminds us once more that this is a writer of great talent.
Jennifer Down was born in 1990. Our Magic Hour was highly commended in the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award. Her writing has appeared in the Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday Paper, Australian Book Review, Kill Your Darlings, Lifted Brow, Best Australian Stories and Blue Mesa Review. She is one ofSydney Morning Herald’s Young Novelists of the Year, 2017.
www.jenniferdown.com
‘A haunting and evocative collection of stories about quietly courageous characters facing loss in its many forms.’ Abigail Ulman
‘Pulse Points exceeds all expectations…[it] has the precise, arresting prose and depth of feeling of Our Magic Hour, but the short story form magnifies Down’s skill…There are no weak moments here…A human pulse runs through this collection; these stories live and breathe, and as a result Pulse Points is powerful and deeply affecting.’ Readings
‘Down’s evocation of Audrey’s grief is astute, perceptive and always convincing…It’s compelling writing.’ Australian on Our Magic Hour
‘An emotionally sophisticated and impressive novel.’ Australian Book Review on Our Magic Hour
‘All the rapture and calamity of youth. Jennifer Down is a writer of rare insight and heart.’ Carrie Tiffany
188 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 31, 2017
27 people are currently reading
812 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Down
13 books193 followersJennifer Down is a writer and editor from Melbourne. Her work has appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, the Saturday Paper, the Lifted Brow and Overland. Her first novel, Our Magic Hour will be published in 2016. ‘Aokigahara’ won the 2014 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Award.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
February 11, 2022
4★
“‘She wanted it,’ and we all went, Yeah, and Fog said, ‘Fat c. . . and we all said the way we remembered it till we were sure it was right.
. . .
Foggo had some rough years. I think it f***ed him up when his dad died. But he came good. Last I heard he was a senior constable working at the Swan Hill station.”
Swan Hill is a Melbourne cop shop (without Foggo, I feel quite certain), but Down shows us how he and his mates obviously escaped any charges by making sure they “remembered right”.
Foggo is just one of many memorable characters in Down’s short stories. Some are good sorts, salt of the earth, many are anxious and troubled, and some you wouldn’t want to meet on a dark night. There are quite a few children, and she has a good eye and ear for them.
I particularly enjoyed ”We Got Used to Here Fast” about a couple of kids, the first half told by older brother Sam and the second half years later told by Lally. This is from the first half.
“Lally picks up twigs and holds them like cigarettes. Her breath comes out in clouds. I can tell she’s trying to be grown-up but she looks constipated.”
Overhearing a conversation between their grandparents:
“‘What’s custardy,’ I say, even though it’s not like Lally would know. But she puts a finger to her lips. ‘It’s who owns the kids,’ she whispers.
After a tragedy.
“Lally bursts into tears. They’re terrible sobs that come up out of her legs.”
The confusion of childhood, the depth of feeling, and the relationships between siblings show up in other stories, too. Locations vary from urban and rural Australia to Europe and the US.
There are many couples, some current, some exes, some about to split, some who should. All good stories. I didn’t count, but I’m sure most protagonists were women. This woman’s hair had just grown back and she’s visiting an old friend she hasn’t seen in a long time.
“‘It suits you,’ she said. ‘Even the grey suits you. You look like a middle-aged actress in a French film.’
‘Am I f***ing the swim instructor? Or am I on a train contemplating suicide because my husband is f***ing the swim instructor?’
‘God, you’re so difficult,’ Yoni said. It was very easy to make her laugh.”
Some people are sitting at deathbeds, some are avoiding coming to terms with inevitable changes, and some are just downright anxious and uncomfortable all the time. Here’s an example readers may recognise but which doesn’t give away any plot points.
“I like reading, but I get most of my books from other people or from the recently returned shelf at the library. When I have to choose my own, I feel overwhelmed. Suddenly I don’t trust my own taste and I buy something with a metallic sticker on the front. This is also how I choose wine when I need to spend more than ten dollars.”
I had trouble with so many stories told in the first person when I didn’t know who or what the person was until well into the story sometimes. The story about the children was extra confusing because the first-person point of view changed suddenly when the date changed.
A warning that there’s a fair bit of rough language and questionable activities and females squatting somewhere handy to take a p... and guys who don’t take no for an answer.
Reading the stories together made for some repetition of themes and characters for me, and I seldom got the feeling that the voice had changed. The narrators sounded much the same.
The last, Coarsegold, was the one of the longest and most complicated, with an interesting combination of relationships which I won’t spoil here, other than to say the main character is bi-sexual.
There is a very long blurb on Goodreads about the stories, so I'll say no more.
This Aussie author has won a slew of awards for her writing, and I’m not surprised. Thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted.
“‘She wanted it,’ and we all went, Yeah, and Fog said, ‘Fat c. . . and we all said the way we remembered it till we were sure it was right.
. . .
Foggo had some rough years. I think it f***ed him up when his dad died. But he came good. Last I heard he was a senior constable working at the Swan Hill station.”
Swan Hill is a Melbourne cop shop (without Foggo, I feel quite certain), but Down shows us how he and his mates obviously escaped any charges by making sure they “remembered right”.
Foggo is just one of many memorable characters in Down’s short stories. Some are good sorts, salt of the earth, many are anxious and troubled, and some you wouldn’t want to meet on a dark night. There are quite a few children, and she has a good eye and ear for them.
I particularly enjoyed ”We Got Used to Here Fast” about a couple of kids, the first half told by older brother Sam and the second half years later told by Lally. This is from the first half.
“Lally picks up twigs and holds them like cigarettes. Her breath comes out in clouds. I can tell she’s trying to be grown-up but she looks constipated.”
Overhearing a conversation between their grandparents:
“‘What’s custardy,’ I say, even though it’s not like Lally would know. But she puts a finger to her lips. ‘It’s who owns the kids,’ she whispers.
After a tragedy.
“Lally bursts into tears. They’re terrible sobs that come up out of her legs.”
The confusion of childhood, the depth of feeling, and the relationships between siblings show up in other stories, too. Locations vary from urban and rural Australia to Europe and the US.
There are many couples, some current, some exes, some about to split, some who should. All good stories. I didn’t count, but I’m sure most protagonists were women. This woman’s hair had just grown back and she’s visiting an old friend she hasn’t seen in a long time.
“‘It suits you,’ she said. ‘Even the grey suits you. You look like a middle-aged actress in a French film.’
‘Am I f***ing the swim instructor? Or am I on a train contemplating suicide because my husband is f***ing the swim instructor?’
‘God, you’re so difficult,’ Yoni said. It was very easy to make her laugh.”
Some people are sitting at deathbeds, some are avoiding coming to terms with inevitable changes, and some are just downright anxious and uncomfortable all the time. Here’s an example readers may recognise but which doesn’t give away any plot points.
“I like reading, but I get most of my books from other people or from the recently returned shelf at the library. When I have to choose my own, I feel overwhelmed. Suddenly I don’t trust my own taste and I buy something with a metallic sticker on the front. This is also how I choose wine when I need to spend more than ten dollars.”
I had trouble with so many stories told in the first person when I didn’t know who or what the person was until well into the story sometimes. The story about the children was extra confusing because the first-person point of view changed suddenly when the date changed.
A warning that there’s a fair bit of rough language and questionable activities and females squatting somewhere handy to take a p... and guys who don’t take no for an answer.
Reading the stories together made for some repetition of themes and characters for me, and I seldom got the feeling that the voice had changed. The narrators sounded much the same.
The last, Coarsegold, was the one of the longest and most complicated, with an interesting combination of relationships which I won’t spoil here, other than to say the main character is bi-sexual.
There is a very long blurb on Goodreads about the stories, so I'll say no more.
This Aussie author has won a slew of awards for her writing, and I’m not surprised. Thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted.
May 5, 2019
Jennifer Down’s stories are precise, bracing and observant of small details freighted with emotion. In places, Pulse Points reminded me of Sally Rooney’s work, another preternaturally wise young author. But the stories in Pulse Points are too varied for a direct comparison to hold.
Some of the stories are quiet & thoughtful, while others are more kinetic; a few can suck the air right out of the room. Some deal with confronting themes, like suicide or rape or grief or mental illness, but always with empathy & delicacy.
It’s impressive how well Down can conjure such realistic characters from different walks of life. You certainly don’t get the feeling, as can sometimes be the case, that the protagonists are just proxies for the author. These characters are male and female, young and old, gay and straight etc etc. Settings range from Australia, to Japan, England and the U.S. All of it rings so true. Down describes her own style perfectly in the Acknowledgements, when she thanks her parents for “tuning me in to the frequency of other people’s lives”. Good parenting there.
Pulse Points is a consistently masterful collection from an exceptional talent and I highly, highly recommend it.
Some of the stories are quiet & thoughtful, while others are more kinetic; a few can suck the air right out of the room. Some deal with confronting themes, like suicide or rape or grief or mental illness, but always with empathy & delicacy.
It’s impressive how well Down can conjure such realistic characters from different walks of life. You certainly don’t get the feeling, as can sometimes be the case, that the protagonists are just proxies for the author. These characters are male and female, young and old, gay and straight etc etc. Settings range from Australia, to Japan, England and the U.S. All of it rings so true. Down describes her own style perfectly in the Acknowledgements, when she thanks her parents for “tuning me in to the frequency of other people’s lives”. Good parenting there.
Pulse Points is a consistently masterful collection from an exceptional talent and I highly, highly recommend it.
September 8, 2022
Jennifer Down writes beautifully, mostly about awfulness. Short stories are not my favourite, it's just that so much energy is expended trying to figure out whom is who, what's happening and what the story is about. Most of these are about damaged people. I particularly found 'Dogs' the most offensive as having non-consensual sex with drunk people is not my favourite thing.
'Alpine Road' was powerful and full of angst, and for once not about awful people, just a family doing it tough. So a mixed, diverse collection, some in Oz, some the USA and some elsewhere, the settings are never particularly important. Lots of drug use, not usually in a good way. Lots of people not doing well.
Anyway, not a pleasant read, but the writing is brilliant, a percursor to her totally brilliant 'Bodies of Light', winner of this year's Miles Franklin. This one not particularly recommended.
'Alpine Road' was powerful and full of angst, and for once not about awful people, just a family doing it tough. So a mixed, diverse collection, some in Oz, some the USA and some elsewhere, the settings are never particularly important. Lots of drug use, not usually in a good way. Lots of people not doing well.
Anyway, not a pleasant read, but the writing is brilliant, a percursor to her totally brilliant 'Bodies of Light', winner of this year's Miles Franklin. This one not particularly recommended.
January 15, 2018
Pulse Points is a collection of short stories by a very talented young Australian author, each giving a unique window into a moment of time in an ordinary life. Except those lives are not ordinary, but reflect the full range of the human condition from love and joy to grief and loss. Each story is brief but complete and somehow each voice is individual and fully realised. Many of the characters are underdogs living on the edges of society but their fears and feelings are universal. My favourite story was the award winning 'Aokigahara', the story of a girl visiting Japan's 'suicide forest' to say goodbye to her brother but the writing was such that every story made a strong emotional message.
With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher Text for a copy to read and review
With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher Text for a copy to read and review
Read
August 11, 2017If Jennifer Down’s acclaimed 2016 debut novel Our Magic Hour was a love letter to Melbourne, her new collection Pulse Points is a letter to love itself.
Down covers a lot of ground in this collection: the titular opening story, in which a couple fail to save a man and maybe themselves; a sister’s pilgrimage to Aokigahara (Japan’s ‘suicide forest’); a father and a daughter trying to find their way back to one another. Fundamentally, they are studies of human experience more than they are plot-driven stories, of the way we are connected and disconnected. Down demonstrates self-awareness of this theme – in ‘Peaks’, one character asks of another, ‘What are you reading?’ and the reader responds, ‘It’s lots of short stories…mostly about sad men.’
As in Our Magic Hour, Down’s prose is precise, deliberate. Not a clause on any page of this book is anything less than resolute. It is almost businesslike even in its poetic phrasing, knowing exactly where it intends to take the story. And in that way, it is hugely successful.
The stories themselves reflect the title; they are heartbeats. Each one finishes before the end is expected, sometimes more character sketch than fully realised narrative. For the most part, it’s startling and discomforting – in a good way. The characters are always well developed and the paths they travel are both ordinary and interesting at once. There are so many different people in here, and it is a pleasure to meet them; Down has a wonderful knack for drawing a whole life in few words.
Read my full review at Kill Your Darlings
Down covers a lot of ground in this collection: the titular opening story, in which a couple fail to save a man and maybe themselves; a sister’s pilgrimage to Aokigahara (Japan’s ‘suicide forest’); a father and a daughter trying to find their way back to one another. Fundamentally, they are studies of human experience more than they are plot-driven stories, of the way we are connected and disconnected. Down demonstrates self-awareness of this theme – in ‘Peaks’, one character asks of another, ‘What are you reading?’ and the reader responds, ‘It’s lots of short stories…mostly about sad men.’
As in Our Magic Hour, Down’s prose is precise, deliberate. Not a clause on any page of this book is anything less than resolute. It is almost businesslike even in its poetic phrasing, knowing exactly where it intends to take the story. And in that way, it is hugely successful.
The stories themselves reflect the title; they are heartbeats. Each one finishes before the end is expected, sometimes more character sketch than fully realised narrative. For the most part, it’s startling and discomforting – in a good way. The characters are always well developed and the paths they travel are both ordinary and interesting at once. There are so many different people in here, and it is a pleasure to meet them; Down has a wonderful knack for drawing a whole life in few words.
Read my full review at Kill Your Darlings
August 24, 2018
‘Down writes about love and friendship with an emotionally resonant sparseness...Rather than offering answers to life's big questions, the stories offer glimpses into people tackling them...A collection pulsing with emotion; a writer crackling with potential.’
Kirkus Reviews
‘Jennifer Down is, simply put, one of the most exciting emerging writers in the country. Pulse Points, her recent collection of short stories, is full of a kind of gentle melancholy; that insistent sense of sadness that lurks about the edges of a lazy Sunday in the suburbs.’
Brag
‘The stories are both paradigms and gentle subversions of the short-story form…Down draws on the ordinary and everyday to deconstruct the myth of class mobility in this haunting and resonant collection.’
Judges’ comments, 2018 Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelists
‘After reading Jennifer Down’s first novel Our Magic Hour last year, I was keen to read her short story collection Pulse Points, which showcases her range and talent. Though Down’s stories travel from regional Victoria to Middle America and Japan, they are distinctly Australian and overwhelmingly about class.’
Gretchen Shirm, Australian, Books of the Year 2017
‘All the rapture and calamity of youth. Jennifer Down is a writer of rare insight and heart.’
Carrie Tiffany
‘Down’s evocation of Audrey’s grief is astute, perceptive and always convincing…It’s compelling writing.’
Australian
‘An emotionally sophisticated and impressive novel.’
Australian Book Review
‘With precise and beautiful prose, the short stories in Jennifer Down’s Pulse Points carry an emotional clarity and intensity that is truly impressive.’
Books+Publishing
‘A master of short fiction, this short story collection brings together works including her prize-winning ‘Aokigahara’…Down’s prose isn’t afraid of dark subject matter, and handles this with a sharpness and clarity that is a delight to read.’
Herald Sun
‘A haunting and evocative collection of stories about quietly courageous characters facing loss in its many forms.’
Abigail Ulman
‘Pulse Points exceeds all expectations…Pulse Points has the precise, arresting prose and depth of feeling of Our Magic Hour, but the short story form magnifies Down’s skill…There are no weak moments here…A human pulse runs through this collection; these stories live and breathe, and as a result Pulse Points is powerful and deeply affecting.’
Readings
‘Pulse Points isn’t just made up of technical proficiencies and clever motifs, it is a quick heartbeat.’
Writers Bloc
‘Jennifer Down is a subtly extraordinary writer, and Pulse Points is one of the best Australian literary offerings we’ll see this year.’
Good Reading
‘This is a finely crafted collection that reminds us how sad and beautiful it is simply to be alive. Down’s debut novel, Our Magic Hour, was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Award for New Writing and she was named a 2017 SMH Best Young Australian Novelist. It’s probably insulting to comment upon how young she is, but the emotional depth of her writing displays a gift that will no doubt continue to unfold as her body of work grows.’
Saturday Paper
‘Pulse Points is beautiful. It’s a bit like opening a sketchbook and brushing a hand against all the charcoal nudes inside…Down has insight into the human condition beyond her years and a talent for writing realism in unwaveringly sharp prose. In Pulse Points she uses these skills to make a statement about the many different hearts beating in the one universe, however unrelated they may seem. As with Our Magic Hour, readers will feel safe in the hands of such a skilful writer, one able to turn her awareness of the human condition into measured and universal storytelling.’
Anna Spargo-Ryan, Kill Your Darlings
‘I honestly couldn’t recommend Pulse Points more highly. These are snapshots of ordinary people grappling with the small joys and deeper heartaches of ordinary lives, and the result is a powerful and deeply affecting collection.’
Readings
‘Taking the reader from Melbourne to the USA, each beautifully crafted story is a fascinating escape into someone else’s life.’
Sunday Life
‘Down is exemplary at drawing whole characters and quickly giving them depth. Stories are heavy with atmosphere, and words are chosen with care…She has a knack of talking honestly about the nature of contemporary life, and I look forward to more.’
Sydney Morning Herald
‘One of the most heartbreakingly beautiful books I have ever read.’
Hot Chicks With Big Brains
‘Pulse Points is an impressively poised and even collection…Down’s stories are alive with psychological acuity and technical dexterity. They offer thoughtful, sometimes heartbreaking, insights into our anxieties and desires…Readers of her intelligent, subtle, and affecting prose clearly have much to look forward to.’
Australian Book Review
‘These stories are studies in concision and with their strong social justice message they function like shocks. Though they are often about the disempowered, they ripple out with a seismic intensity, hinting at just how far this dazzling young writer might go.’
Australian
‘Down’s ability to inhabit the minds of her characters is eerily good, and no two voices in this collection seem alike. Her prose is tight and original. This is the sort of book that bibliophiles will delight in underlining, collecting those sentences too good to leave on the page…It is a collection which will bring you to your knees.’
AU Review
‘Pulse Points is fluid, graceful and shocking. Down serves life up ruthlessly to us, in small, heart-wrenching packages, overturning expectations swiftly from story to story, but leaving us faintly uplifted in the end.’
Overland
‘In this astonishing collection of short stories, Jennifer Down weaves intricate and moving portraits of love and loss…A powerful new talent.’
Weekly Times
‘[Down’s] back with a collection of stories, cementing her status as one of Australia’s finest literary talents.’
Marie Claire
‘Jennifer Down is going to be a major part of the future of Australian literature. The quality of her writing, as well as her ability to tap into the loves, fears and anxieties many of us experience guarantee this.’
Readings
‘Pulse Points consolidates [Down’s] reputation as a remarkable young writer. Her stories are effortlessly global yet strongly anchored in place. They testify to Down’s remarkable powers of observation and her ability to create bleak but engaging worlds.’
Michelle de Kretser, Best Books of 2017, Australian Book Review
Kirkus Reviews
‘Jennifer Down is, simply put, one of the most exciting emerging writers in the country. Pulse Points, her recent collection of short stories, is full of a kind of gentle melancholy; that insistent sense of sadness that lurks about the edges of a lazy Sunday in the suburbs.’
Brag
‘The stories are both paradigms and gentle subversions of the short-story form…Down draws on the ordinary and everyday to deconstruct the myth of class mobility in this haunting and resonant collection.’
Judges’ comments, 2018 Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelists
‘After reading Jennifer Down’s first novel Our Magic Hour last year, I was keen to read her short story collection Pulse Points, which showcases her range and talent. Though Down’s stories travel from regional Victoria to Middle America and Japan, they are distinctly Australian and overwhelmingly about class.’
Gretchen Shirm, Australian, Books of the Year 2017
‘All the rapture and calamity of youth. Jennifer Down is a writer of rare insight and heart.’
Carrie Tiffany
‘Down’s evocation of Audrey’s grief is astute, perceptive and always convincing…It’s compelling writing.’
Australian
‘An emotionally sophisticated and impressive novel.’
Australian Book Review
‘With precise and beautiful prose, the short stories in Jennifer Down’s Pulse Points carry an emotional clarity and intensity that is truly impressive.’
Books+Publishing
‘A master of short fiction, this short story collection brings together works including her prize-winning ‘Aokigahara’…Down’s prose isn’t afraid of dark subject matter, and handles this with a sharpness and clarity that is a delight to read.’
Herald Sun
‘A haunting and evocative collection of stories about quietly courageous characters facing loss in its many forms.’
Abigail Ulman
‘Pulse Points exceeds all expectations…Pulse Points has the precise, arresting prose and depth of feeling of Our Magic Hour, but the short story form magnifies Down’s skill…There are no weak moments here…A human pulse runs through this collection; these stories live and breathe, and as a result Pulse Points is powerful and deeply affecting.’
Readings
‘Pulse Points isn’t just made up of technical proficiencies and clever motifs, it is a quick heartbeat.’
Writers Bloc
‘Jennifer Down is a subtly extraordinary writer, and Pulse Points is one of the best Australian literary offerings we’ll see this year.’
Good Reading
‘This is a finely crafted collection that reminds us how sad and beautiful it is simply to be alive. Down’s debut novel, Our Magic Hour, was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Award for New Writing and she was named a 2017 SMH Best Young Australian Novelist. It’s probably insulting to comment upon how young she is, but the emotional depth of her writing displays a gift that will no doubt continue to unfold as her body of work grows.’
Saturday Paper
‘Pulse Points is beautiful. It’s a bit like opening a sketchbook and brushing a hand against all the charcoal nudes inside…Down has insight into the human condition beyond her years and a talent for writing realism in unwaveringly sharp prose. In Pulse Points she uses these skills to make a statement about the many different hearts beating in the one universe, however unrelated they may seem. As with Our Magic Hour, readers will feel safe in the hands of such a skilful writer, one able to turn her awareness of the human condition into measured and universal storytelling.’
Anna Spargo-Ryan, Kill Your Darlings
‘I honestly couldn’t recommend Pulse Points more highly. These are snapshots of ordinary people grappling with the small joys and deeper heartaches of ordinary lives, and the result is a powerful and deeply affecting collection.’
Readings
‘Taking the reader from Melbourne to the USA, each beautifully crafted story is a fascinating escape into someone else’s life.’
Sunday Life
‘Down is exemplary at drawing whole characters and quickly giving them depth. Stories are heavy with atmosphere, and words are chosen with care…She has a knack of talking honestly about the nature of contemporary life, and I look forward to more.’
Sydney Morning Herald
‘One of the most heartbreakingly beautiful books I have ever read.’
Hot Chicks With Big Brains
‘Pulse Points is an impressively poised and even collection…Down’s stories are alive with psychological acuity and technical dexterity. They offer thoughtful, sometimes heartbreaking, insights into our anxieties and desires…Readers of her intelligent, subtle, and affecting prose clearly have much to look forward to.’
Australian Book Review
‘These stories are studies in concision and with their strong social justice message they function like shocks. Though they are often about the disempowered, they ripple out with a seismic intensity, hinting at just how far this dazzling young writer might go.’
Australian
‘Down’s ability to inhabit the minds of her characters is eerily good, and no two voices in this collection seem alike. Her prose is tight and original. This is the sort of book that bibliophiles will delight in underlining, collecting those sentences too good to leave on the page…It is a collection which will bring you to your knees.’
AU Review
‘Pulse Points is fluid, graceful and shocking. Down serves life up ruthlessly to us, in small, heart-wrenching packages, overturning expectations swiftly from story to story, but leaving us faintly uplifted in the end.’
Overland
‘In this astonishing collection of short stories, Jennifer Down weaves intricate and moving portraits of love and loss…A powerful new talent.’
Weekly Times
‘[Down’s] back with a collection of stories, cementing her status as one of Australia’s finest literary talents.’
Marie Claire
‘Jennifer Down is going to be a major part of the future of Australian literature. The quality of her writing, as well as her ability to tap into the loves, fears and anxieties many of us experience guarantee this.’
Readings
‘Pulse Points consolidates [Down’s] reputation as a remarkable young writer. Her stories are effortlessly global yet strongly anchored in place. They testify to Down’s remarkable powers of observation and her ability to create bleak but engaging worlds.’
Michelle de Kretser, Best Books of 2017, Australian Book Review
March 20, 2018
4+ stars
Pulse Points is a stunning collection of short stories, a weaving of powerful portraits about real people, real love and real loss. Stories of life are perfectly encapsulated by Jennifer Down and presented to us in neat little packages that are overflowing with emotion. The prose is concise but revealing, and overflowing with both heart-wrenching emotion and intelligence.
Each story is about an ordinary person - or ordinary people - all grappling with the complexities of human emotion: heartache, anxiety, joy, grief, helplessness. The standout story, and my favourite, is ‘Aokigahara’, in which a young woman travels to the sea of trees in Japan to say goodbye to her brother. It is searing with emotion and is delivered with an intensity yet a clarity that is truly mesmerising. 'Dogs' is dark and gripping; 'Pressure Okay' is a poignant story of grief and of loss.
In each of these stories, no word is spared. The prose is sharp and affecting, offering fully-fledged characters who jump off the page, yet each story is impressively concise. I was truly stunned by Down's ability to bring stories and people alive, giving them such depth and emotion, but doing it in a way that is so minimalist, with no two voices the same. Everything within the pages of this book is handled wit the utmost care, making Down a master of the short story.
I haven'd read Our Magic Hour but am eager to after this wonderful reading experience. Highly recommended; a magnificent collection.
Pulse Points is a stunning collection of short stories, a weaving of powerful portraits about real people, real love and real loss. Stories of life are perfectly encapsulated by Jennifer Down and presented to us in neat little packages that are overflowing with emotion. The prose is concise but revealing, and overflowing with both heart-wrenching emotion and intelligence.
Each story is about an ordinary person - or ordinary people - all grappling with the complexities of human emotion: heartache, anxiety, joy, grief, helplessness. The standout story, and my favourite, is ‘Aokigahara’, in which a young woman travels to the sea of trees in Japan to say goodbye to her brother. It is searing with emotion and is delivered with an intensity yet a clarity that is truly mesmerising. 'Dogs' is dark and gripping; 'Pressure Okay' is a poignant story of grief and of loss.
In each of these stories, no word is spared. The prose is sharp and affecting, offering fully-fledged characters who jump off the page, yet each story is impressively concise. I was truly stunned by Down's ability to bring stories and people alive, giving them such depth and emotion, but doing it in a way that is so minimalist, with no two voices the same. Everything within the pages of this book is handled wit the utmost care, making Down a master of the short story.
I haven'd read Our Magic Hour but am eager to after this wonderful reading experience. Highly recommended; a magnificent collection.
July 1, 2018
A very strong collection of intense, distinct and memorable stories. I love Down's writing and she doesn't disappoint here. I was hoping to read Melbourne in some of the stories after loving her depictions in Our Magic Hour but it wasn't to be. Every story hits its emotional mark and I'm still reeling from some of them.
July 20, 2017
This is a beautiful collection of stories, capturing precise moments of sadness, fear and loss. The title story and Aokigahara are probably my favourites, but there are moments in each of them that grab you by the heart.
November 17, 2018
Gritty, compelling and real.
May 12, 2017
Precise and beautiful prose, with an emotional clarity and intensity that is breathtaking. Each vignette is fully realised, a snapshot into the lives of different people, with a thread of melancholy running throughout. Some of the endings felt a little rushed or abrupt, but I can understand the intention to follow the unfinished nature of real life. All of them left me wanting more. Looking forward to reading more from such a talented writer.
September 7, 2017
Jennifer Down has a knack for capturing the lived experiences of such a large multitude of people, but never does the inclusion of varying ages, sexualities and backgrounds feel tokenistic or forced, such is the three-dimensionality Down accords to each character. Most of the stories are discomfiting in the best way possible and the characters sit with you for a long time afterward. Another stellar book from Down, who is fast cementing her place as one of my favourite Australian writers.
April 15, 2018
That was discomforting.
Jennifer Down writes fantastically well, in unflinching hard-biting prose and beautiful sentences. These are mainly the off-kilter, open-ended stories that I love the most, and for that reason alone, I adore this book. There's a lot of grief in the stories, particularly in "Aokigahara", about a sister visiting a suicide forest in Japan where her brother ended his life. Even the more outwardly light-hearted, such as "We Got Used to Here Fast", about a brother and sister sent to live with their grandparents, has grief and hard times as its underlay.
The story Dogs, though, was the one that made me pause and set the book aside for a while. It's a story about a rural Australian town, and the brutal macho culture of teenagers. This was very hard to read as it depicts gang rape (among other things), and as it's told from the POV of one of the teenage boys, it's unflinching and unapologetic.
I ran out of time to read the final two stories (library book, due back, others waiting etc) but I will reborrow this book at another time to finish.
Jennifer Down writes fantastically well, in unflinching hard-biting prose and beautiful sentences. These are mainly the off-kilter, open-ended stories that I love the most, and for that reason alone, I adore this book. There's a lot of grief in the stories, particularly in "Aokigahara", about a sister visiting a suicide forest in Japan where her brother ended his life. Even the more outwardly light-hearted, such as "We Got Used to Here Fast", about a brother and sister sent to live with their grandparents, has grief and hard times as its underlay.
The story Dogs, though, was the one that made me pause and set the book aside for a while. It's a story about a rural Australian town, and the brutal macho culture of teenagers. This was very hard to read as it depicts gang rape (among other things), and as it's told from the POV of one of the teenage boys, it's unflinching and unapologetic.
I ran out of time to read the final two stories (library book, due back, others waiting etc) but I will reborrow this book at another time to finish.
June 11, 2022
Writing brilliant, evocative & emotional short stories takes talent & I adore diving into a collection that immerses me in the lives of others.
I purchased Pulse Points after seeing recommendations. It’s the first time I’ve read Jennifer Down’s writing and it won’t be the last.
If you have a love and appreciation for short stories, you need to add this book to your list. Jennifer Down is a wonderful storyteller; the type that leaves me in awe of their talent & feeling woefully inadequate as far as my own writing goes.
These observant, thoughtful and varied stories left me wanting more.
In the Acknowledgements, Down thanks her parents for “tuning me to the frequency of other people’s lives” and I think that best captures what this book is about. Simply brilliant.
I purchased Pulse Points after seeing recommendations. It’s the first time I’ve read Jennifer Down’s writing and it won’t be the last.
If you have a love and appreciation for short stories, you need to add this book to your list. Jennifer Down is a wonderful storyteller; the type that leaves me in awe of their talent & feeling woefully inadequate as far as my own writing goes.
These observant, thoughtful and varied stories left me wanting more.
In the Acknowledgements, Down thanks her parents for “tuning me to the frequency of other people’s lives” and I think that best captures what this book is about. Simply brilliant.
December 7, 2021
Down’s short stories read as a range of empathetic, insightful vignettes of the lives of a diverse array of characters. Some of the narrators are children, some are women, some are men. While their perspectives might be different, their voices all sound the same. For this reason, I had to read one story in a sitting, and couldn’t continue for a second immediately after finishing one because the stories would blur together in a confusing way.
Other than the consistent ‘voice’, what unifies the stories are large gaping holes in the lives of characters - a place where someone or something should have been but is painfully absent. Absent children, siblings and parents. In most cases, this absence is destructive and the narrator comes across as one aimlessly floating in a vulnerable, unmoored kind of way. Throughout, there is a sad tone of resignation in almost all of the narrators; they aren’t crushed by tragedy or loss, but it’s almost as though they expected it for their lives and continue on in a kind of numbed inertia. For many, relationships are irreparably damaged.
I found these stories really sad. It doesn’t warn you about that on the book jacket. Being honest illustrations of grief and grieving, I believed almost every one of them, but that made this pretty gruelling work just before bed.
An incredible achievement for such a young author.
Other than the consistent ‘voice’, what unifies the stories are large gaping holes in the lives of characters - a place where someone or something should have been but is painfully absent. Absent children, siblings and parents. In most cases, this absence is destructive and the narrator comes across as one aimlessly floating in a vulnerable, unmoored kind of way. Throughout, there is a sad tone of resignation in almost all of the narrators; they aren’t crushed by tragedy or loss, but it’s almost as though they expected it for their lives and continue on in a kind of numbed inertia. For many, relationships are irreparably damaged.
I found these stories really sad. It doesn’t warn you about that on the book jacket. Being honest illustrations of grief and grieving, I believed almost every one of them, but that made this pretty gruelling work just before bed.
An incredible achievement for such a young author.
September 16, 2017
Jennifer Down has the ability to write from so many different perspectives. Each story in this collection is incredibly compelling in it's own, unique way - I couldn't put it down! Here's one of my favourite moments of the book:
"Wes didn't mind feminists so much. He believed in equal pay, he just didn't know why they needed to be so shrill about everything. Sometimes it seemed to him as if Kirsten saw everything as an attack. He didn't understand all the emancipation. Years ago he'd said to Miranda, I thought it was something she'd get out if her system while she was a teenager. His wife looked at him and laughed. She'd said -That is the system-. Maybe he'd answered with something thick, because he remembered Miranda looking at him with something like pity or patience and staying -Darling, that's the only way for women to survive-. He hadn't thought about it in years. Remembering it now made him ache in a new, hot way; that his wife and daughter had shared it, that he couldn't access it, that it wasn't his to understand."
"Wes didn't mind feminists so much. He believed in equal pay, he just didn't know why they needed to be so shrill about everything. Sometimes it seemed to him as if Kirsten saw everything as an attack. He didn't understand all the emancipation. Years ago he'd said to Miranda, I thought it was something she'd get out if her system while she was a teenager. His wife looked at him and laughed. She'd said -That is the system-. Maybe he'd answered with something thick, because he remembered Miranda looking at him with something like pity or patience and staying -Darling, that's the only way for women to survive-. He hadn't thought about it in years. Remembering it now made him ache in a new, hot way; that his wife and daughter had shared it, that he couldn't access it, that it wasn't his to understand."
March 31, 2018
'Pulse Points' is a collection of short stories that are filled with anonymous, difficult feelings, amd characters who don't have the words for them. I can't point out to you a favourite line, but I can tell you about my favourite exchange:
'Tom's a good bloke,' he said.
'He is.'
'Are you in love with him?'
'I think Mum would have loved him more,' Kirsten said. She made a sound like a cough or a sob, but her face was laughing.
'I don't know if Tom and I - if this is all there is. Is this it?'
Wes heard the car pull up, the handbrake, outside in the driveway.
'Dad,' Kirsten said. She sounded frightened.
Down's writing does not know the meaning of capture. She does not have the zeal of a writer who attempts to drill down into the essence of language. But she does know of the understatedness of emotion, the lack of ability, capacity of words to hold all the things that we expect them to. Her writing asks of me many things. They ask me to stop defining feelings. They say, the lack of ability to explain, resulting from the imposition of trauma are impossible beginnings, rather than resigned ends. That a distilled feeling is safe, and safe is not what we are made for, not what our stories are made out of.
Jennifer Downs' stories are sudden car headlights that blind. I squint, lifting a forearm to my face.
'Will you turn them off?' I ask. She pauses. She acquiesces.
'Tom's a good bloke,' he said.
'He is.'
'Are you in love with him?'
'I think Mum would have loved him more,' Kirsten said. She made a sound like a cough or a sob, but her face was laughing.
'I don't know if Tom and I - if this is all there is. Is this it?'
Wes heard the car pull up, the handbrake, outside in the driveway.
'Dad,' Kirsten said. She sounded frightened.
Down's writing does not know the meaning of capture. She does not have the zeal of a writer who attempts to drill down into the essence of language. But she does know of the understatedness of emotion, the lack of ability, capacity of words to hold all the things that we expect them to. Her writing asks of me many things. They ask me to stop defining feelings. They say, the lack of ability to explain, resulting from the imposition of trauma are impossible beginnings, rather than resigned ends. That a distilled feeling is safe, and safe is not what we are made for, not what our stories are made out of.
Jennifer Downs' stories are sudden car headlights that blind. I squint, lifting a forearm to my face.
'Will you turn them off?' I ask. She pauses. She acquiesces.
August 22, 2018
This was so good! A collection of short story triumphs, each taking a critical snapshot of someone's life and tipping you headfirst into the midst of it all. I'm only holding back from a 5 star rating because there were one or two that I didn't love. But: 'Aokigahara', 'Dogs', Alpine Road', 'Vox Clamantis', 'Pressure Okay' and 'Coarsegold' were all brilliant, often breathtaking. I'm in awe of writers who can move between people and places convincingly without ever sounding forced. It's tough to pick a favourite, but I think 'Vox Clamantis' would win for me: two exes taking a days-long road trip together to visit one of their mothers, who is dying in hospital and is never to know that they split up.
This collection is nominated for the Reading's Prize for New Australian Fiction, and deservedly so!
This collection is nominated for the Reading's Prize for New Australian Fiction, and deservedly so!
February 5, 2018
I was initially wooed by the sumptuous cover on Pulse Points (it reminds me of something I might find on a dress at Gorman), and the fact that Down’s novel, Our Magic Hour, was a 2017 favourite of mine. And while I enjoyed the titular story, it was the second story, Aokigahara, that reminded me that the term ‘velvet hammer’ should be applied to Down’s writing. Aokigahara tells of a young woman’s journey to the ‘suicide forest’ in Japan – all of the unsettling emotion, honesty and glorious sentences that distinguished Our Magic Hour are evident in 15-odd pages –
I phoned my father when I arrived. He said, You mum’s just around at Aunty El’s, in such a way that I knew she wasn’t: that she’d left the room with her hand to her mouth when he’d first said, Hullo, love, and I felt so sorry for us all.
Other stories were equally as good. The tenderness in We Got Used to Here Fast, a story about kids temporarily living with their grandparents, was notable, as it was in the story of two adult sisters, Peaks. Down creates a wonderful sense of place in each story and I got completely (happily) side-tracked by small, exquisite turns of phrase that were also hugely expressive –
Power-pedalling up the big hill at night, foreheads spangled with sweat. (Aokigahara)
I groped through my bag, whose contents shifted and slid over one another like things lost on the ocean floor. (Convalescence)
When she left the sky was paper-coloured. All the cows had started their journey home, their tender ears flattened. (Alpine Road)
4/5 Lots to love.
I received my copy of Pulse Points from the publisher, Text Publishing, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
I phoned my father when I arrived. He said, You mum’s just around at Aunty El’s, in such a way that I knew she wasn’t: that she’d left the room with her hand to her mouth when he’d first said, Hullo, love, and I felt so sorry for us all.
Other stories were equally as good. The tenderness in We Got Used to Here Fast, a story about kids temporarily living with their grandparents, was notable, as it was in the story of two adult sisters, Peaks. Down creates a wonderful sense of place in each story and I got completely (happily) side-tracked by small, exquisite turns of phrase that were also hugely expressive –
Power-pedalling up the big hill at night, foreheads spangled with sweat. (Aokigahara)
I groped through my bag, whose contents shifted and slid over one another like things lost on the ocean floor. (Convalescence)
When she left the sky was paper-coloured. All the cows had started their journey home, their tender ears flattened. (Alpine Road)
4/5 Lots to love.
I received my copy of Pulse Points from the publisher, Text Publishing, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
January 9, 2020
Most of the stories I loved and really stirred me emotionally. A lot of them are very tough on the heart and the way they are written gives you a snippet into all these people's lives. Their stories are incredibly different you hate some characters and love others. My favourite story has to be the last one, Coarsegold. I had to read it in one go because I just needed to know what was going to happen to the imtense lesbian coupole. There was so much tension, like a bomb about to explode.
August 6, 2017
These stories are, in a word, extraordinary. The writing is sparse but carries such emotional heft.
I adored Our Magic Hour and I'm so pleased that this follow up is just as wonderful. Down is truly an incredibly talented and perceptive storyteller.
I adored Our Magic Hour and I'm so pleased that this follow up is just as wonderful. Down is truly an incredibly talented and perceptive storyteller.
August 8, 2017
One of the best short story collections I've read in a good while. Each story a convincing universe I did not want to leave, but then there was another.
January 11, 2018
I love sad Australians and crying on the tram, thanks
January 13, 2019
4/5 Although I generally don’t love short stories the writing was great and mostly the stories were engaging and thought provoking.
September 20, 2020
Stories about the ugly side of life. Many felt unfinished and ended way to abruptly.
December 30, 2018
I had this on my reading list as it was recommended by various reviewers. To be honest I just didn't get into it that much. Sure it was about major life events of various characters however I only connected with one story. The writing was fine, the stories didn't grab me, I didn't find them that interesting. Sure they're about normal people, but after reading each story I just didn't care if finished the book. I did finish, and my reaction is 'meh'. I can't say that the emotional clarity 'left me floored' as it promises on the cover. It wasn't about not liking the characters either, I just didn't care about them. Some of them were a bit depressing - like the gang story - but they were insightful - the repercussions of the actions of the gang, yet the gang not understanding or 'getting it'. Or maybe I'm just a cynic and the reactions of the characters don't surprise me much!!
November 13, 2017
Wonderful collection of short stories that contain complete worlds. Down has a knack for evoking a lot of emotion in few words, and capturing realistic moments in people’s lives. These stories don’t always wrap up neatly, but nor does life itself. They showcase the loveliest and ugliest parts of humanity, and are sketched carefully and with utmost precision. Some of these stories worked better for me than others, but overall this is a mature, assured collection with a wisdom beyond the author’s twenty something years – she writes just as well about teenagers as she does about middle aged parents, and it all feels painfully real.
November 6, 2018
Really powerful collection, totally deserved to win the Readings Prize. Not every story was a hit but overall the tone and tenor of the collection was profound. Down spends a lot of time looking extremely closely at relationships, feelings, fears & does a great job. It gets pretty dark/triggering at times, so beware of that, although occasionally I didn’t feel as though the dark material carried the gravitas it needed (or at least I didn’t respond with the gravitas I felt I was meant to feel). But overall, a great realist collection.
August 13, 2017
Jennifer Down's new collection is fantastic. The stories drag you along many times waiting till the last line to sucker-punch you and leave you speechless. There were some clear stand outs such as Aokigahara and Pulse Points. Overall a highly accomplished work. A+
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