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Storm Glass
Book by Urquhart, Jane
184 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
6 people are currently reading
135 people want to read
About the author
Jane Urquhart
41 books378 followersShe is the author of seven internationally acclaimed novels entitled, The Whirlpool, Changing Heaven, Away, The Underpainter, The Stone Carvers, A Map of Glass, and Sanctuary Line.
The Whirlpool received the French Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger (Best Foreign Book Award). Away was winner of the Trillium Book Award and a finalist for the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. The Underpainter won the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction and was a finalist for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.
The Stone Carvers was a finalist for the Giller Prize and the Governor General's Award, and was longlisted for the Booker Prize. A Map of Glass was a finalist for a regional Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book.
She is also the author of a collection of short fiction, Storm Glass, and four books of poetry, I Am Walking in the Garden of His Imaginary Palace, False Shuffles, The Little Flowers of Madame de Montespan, and Some Other Garden. Her work has been translated into numerous foreign languages.
Urquhart has received the Marian Engel Award, Calgary's Bob Edwards Award and the Harbourfront Festival Prize, and is a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France. In 2005 she was named an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Recently, she was named the 2007 Banff Distinguished Writer.
Urquhart has received numerous honorary doctorates from Canadian universities and has been writer-in-residence at the University of Ottawa and at Memorial University of Newfoundland, the University of Toronto, and the University of Guelph.
She has also given readings and lectures in Canada, Britain, Europe, the U.S.A., and Australia.
In 2007 she edited and published The Penguin Book of Canadian Short Stories, and in 2009 she published a biography of
Lucy Maud Montgomery as part of Penguin’s “Extraordinary Canadians” series.
Urquhart lives in Northumberland County, Ontario, Canada, and occasionally in Ireland.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Urq...
The Whirlpool received the French Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger (Best Foreign Book Award). Away was winner of the Trillium Book Award and a finalist for the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. The Underpainter won the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction and was a finalist for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.
The Stone Carvers was a finalist for the Giller Prize and the Governor General's Award, and was longlisted for the Booker Prize. A Map of Glass was a finalist for a regional Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book.
She is also the author of a collection of short fiction, Storm Glass, and four books of poetry, I Am Walking in the Garden of His Imaginary Palace, False Shuffles, The Little Flowers of Madame de Montespan, and Some Other Garden. Her work has been translated into numerous foreign languages.
Urquhart has received the Marian Engel Award, Calgary's Bob Edwards Award and the Harbourfront Festival Prize, and is a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France. In 2005 she was named an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Recently, she was named the 2007 Banff Distinguished Writer.
Urquhart has received numerous honorary doctorates from Canadian universities and has been writer-in-residence at the University of Ottawa and at Memorial University of Newfoundland, the University of Toronto, and the University of Guelph.
She has also given readings and lectures in Canada, Britain, Europe, the U.S.A., and Australia.
In 2007 she edited and published The Penguin Book of Canadian Short Stories, and in 2009 she published a biography of
Lucy Maud Montgomery as part of Penguin’s “Extraordinary Canadians” series.
Urquhart lives in Northumberland County, Ontario, Canada, and occasionally in Ireland.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Urq...
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 17, 2013
In the Canada Reads competition this year, Urquhart's Away was quickly cast out as many on the committee didn't like her descriptive style. I was surprised at this, as I remember quite enjoying Away and The Underpainter. Here, however, I think I get it. Which is not to say that I dislike Urquhart's style, but more that, laid bare, with little in the way of plot development or characterization, it can feel a bit unwieldy at times.
Generally, I didn't particularly enjoy these short stories much. I think that is because, despite the differences in setting, time, and focalizer, they all have the same sparseness. Narrators/focalizers rarely have names or the kind of development that creates a connection. This is fine in one or two stories, but this is pretty much the case for every story in the collection save "The Death of Robert Browning" -- coincidentally my favourite story, followed by "Forbidden Dances" and "Her Golden Curls." More variety and less detachment would have generally made this a more engaging read.
Generally, I didn't particularly enjoy these short stories much. I think that is because, despite the differences in setting, time, and focalizer, they all have the same sparseness. Narrators/focalizers rarely have names or the kind of development that creates a connection. This is fine in one or two stories, but this is pretty much the case for every story in the collection save "The Death of Robert Browning" -- coincidentally my favourite story, followed by "Forbidden Dances" and "Her Golden Curls." More variety and less detachment would have generally made this a more engaging read.
November 23, 2021
The anthology begins with a very strong piece entitled "The death of Robert Browning" that brings to mind two other tales about famous cultural figures dying in Venice, i.e. Thomas Mann's "Death and Venice" (Mahler) and Gabriele d'Annunzio' " The Flame" (Wagner) . While there is nothing new in the concept, Urquhart's rendering is stellar. During his dying days, Browning concludes that he is a spent force as a poet and that there is no compelling reason for him to continue living. He then reflects on how his life driven by routine, differed so greatly from that of the flamboyant Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley's ghost manifests itself and his spirit seems ready to enter Browning's body. Browning however resists the temptation to allow Shelley to take control of his life and he dies in his own discreet manner rather than with Shelley's panache.
The theme of maintaining one's unique and separate identity dominates the collection. The conflict works out in a variety of ways. In the final tale "Storm Glass", an elderly woman decides of her own free will to merge with her domineering and not terribly bright husband. in "John's Cottage" a young woman visiting England finds herself drawn into an imaginary relationship with the previous owner of a cottage she has rented while simultaneously freeing herself from the "shadow" of her former lover who had been a married man. In "Italian Postcards" , the protagonist a tourist in Assisi briefly falls into a mental relationship with a local priest that parallels that between St. Francis and St. Clare.
Extending the theme of the choice between mental freedom and mental bondage is a group of five stories featuring protagonists who choose to make their wheelchairs psychological prisons.
Another group, "Seven Confessions", is somewhat different in tone. Here there are seven stories each with a protagonist committing one of the seven deadly sins. Again, however, the author makes it clear that the individuals are making active choices.
All in all, I greatly enjoyed "Storm Glass". I think that it would be a good choice for any GR member who has already read "The Underpainter" and "The Stone Carvers".
The theme of maintaining one's unique and separate identity dominates the collection. The conflict works out in a variety of ways. In the final tale "Storm Glass", an elderly woman decides of her own free will to merge with her domineering and not terribly bright husband. in "John's Cottage" a young woman visiting England finds herself drawn into an imaginary relationship with the previous owner of a cottage she has rented while simultaneously freeing herself from the "shadow" of her former lover who had been a married man. In "Italian Postcards" , the protagonist a tourist in Assisi briefly falls into a mental relationship with a local priest that parallels that between St. Francis and St. Clare.
Extending the theme of the choice between mental freedom and mental bondage is a group of five stories featuring protagonists who choose to make their wheelchairs psychological prisons.
Another group, "Seven Confessions", is somewhat different in tone. Here there are seven stories each with a protagonist committing one of the seven deadly sins. Again, however, the author makes it clear that the individuals are making active choices.
All in all, I greatly enjoyed "Storm Glass". I think that it would be a good choice for any GR member who has already read "The Underpainter" and "The Stone Carvers".
December 25, 2018
I only got into the first couple of chapters and then abandoned. Her writing just isn't my cup of tea
August 29, 2010
This is so embarrassing! I can't remember this book, although I know I read it. After all, U authors aren't easy to come by (since I'm not a big fan of Umberto Eco.)
The back cover says:
"With stunning virtuosity, the stories in Jane Urquhart's dazzling first book of fiction unearth universal truths as the reach across countries and eras. A woman runs away to a cottage in the English moors to escape a love affair; shards of glass reconcile a middle-aged wife to her husband's estrangement; a grandmother makes a startling confession from her youth; a young woman discovers herself through the life of an Italian saint; and, in a spellbinding story of artistic jealousy, we enter the mind of Robert Browning at the end of his life. In these beautifully crafted stories, ordinary objects brim with meaning and memories radiate with significance as Jane Urquhart illuminates the things that lie just beneath the surface of our lives."
I'm not much of a one to be enthralled with illuminating the things that lie just beneath the surface of our lives, as generally I find those things don't seem to have much relationship to the live I'm leading. So I suppose I liked the book well enough, but not well enough to remember it.
The back cover says:
"With stunning virtuosity, the stories in Jane Urquhart's dazzling first book of fiction unearth universal truths as the reach across countries and eras. A woman runs away to a cottage in the English moors to escape a love affair; shards of glass reconcile a middle-aged wife to her husband's estrangement; a grandmother makes a startling confession from her youth; a young woman discovers herself through the life of an Italian saint; and, in a spellbinding story of artistic jealousy, we enter the mind of Robert Browning at the end of his life. In these beautifully crafted stories, ordinary objects brim with meaning and memories radiate with significance as Jane Urquhart illuminates the things that lie just beneath the surface of our lives."
I'm not much of a one to be enthralled with illuminating the things that lie just beneath the surface of our lives, as generally I find those things don't seem to have much relationship to the live I'm leading. So I suppose I liked the book well enough, but not well enough to remember it.
March 3, 2011
While I can admire some of the attempts Urquhart made in the short stories (my favorite was about the old man in France), this book reminded me why short stories are a perplexingly difficult genre.
Urquhart pushes too hard to have a "unifying" theme throughout the book and instead of letting each story speak for itself, it became the classic example of overwraught writing. This feels very much like a first attempt (it was her first published book) and reminded me more of the fiction from a college writing class than that of a professional. I have not read any of her other books, but I hope she was able to fine tune her writing skills to create a more successful and interesting book!
The most successful element of the book was the series of drawings done by her husband, Tony Urquhart.
Urquhart pushes too hard to have a "unifying" theme throughout the book and instead of letting each story speak for itself, it became the classic example of overwraught writing. This feels very much like a first attempt (it was her first published book) and reminded me more of the fiction from a college writing class than that of a professional. I have not read any of her other books, but I hope she was able to fine tune her writing skills to create a more successful and interesting book!
The most successful element of the book was the series of drawings done by her husband, Tony Urquhart.
November 24, 2018
A most confusing read. Each story just seemed to miss the mark with me and having finished the book I cannot recall what any of the stories were actually about.
March 10, 2009
I gave it 2 stars because I'm sure there was something good about it.I just can't remember what that was or anything about this book.It must not have been that good because I only read it about 6 months ago.
October 7, 2011
A collection of short stories -- Europe, wheelchairs, Lake Erie. Each of the stories is a gem, and the collection has great variety. These are early works of JU, and she writes a nice intro to the collection.
January 16, 2017
There were parts of some of the longer stories that left me scratching my head (particularly the exploration of the seven deadly sins)...but the rest of the collection is a wonderful exploration of dreamy melancholy. The entire book makes for a soothing & contemplative read.
September 28, 2010
I guess the every story wasn't a five star-er but there a handful in here that are breathtaking.
February 12, 2011
Beautifully written short stories but bordering more on poetry than a story though. I found some of them a little boring but the phrasing was beautiful.
October 14, 2012
Short stories. Didn't quite finish it, because it was a library ILL and I had to return it, but what I did read was very good.
Read
November 18, 2018Read "The Death of Robert Browning" for class.
July 19, 2022
A good but uneven collection by a very good author. As she explains in the forward, these stories are among the first fruits of her movement from poet to storyteller as her interest expanded from the musicality of language into the possibilities of narrative. Urquhart's sense of rhythm and cadence is very strong, as one might expect, but in the two thematic story sequences ("Five Wheelchairs" and "Seven Confessions") it seems her reach exceeds her artistic grasp at times. The stories that worked the best for me are the ones where the sense of place is most pronounced and important to the story line, such as in the eponymous concluding story, the story "Venetian Glass", and the wonderful, albeit painful story "John's Cottage".
March 30, 2020
I am not really a short story fan.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews