Fifth Sunday

by Rita Dove

Short Stories by the Pulitzer Prize winning poet.

Genres: Short Stories, African American Literature, Fiction

71 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1985

About the author

Rita Dove, former U.S. Poet Laureate, Pulitzer Prize winner, and musician, lives in Charlottesville, where she is Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia.

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms. Dove I'll confess to never having read any of your award winning poetry, but I'd like to offer my unqualified opinion that the world could use a hefty dose of your fiction writing. I was completely unprepared for the beauty of these stories and how they emotionally impacted me. Your poetic talents shine through in your sentences, but it is your ability to bring a person to life on the page that got me.

You can do more in 72 pages - 8 short stories - than many authors attempt in tomes ten times that page number. Your depiction of African-American culture in the mid-20th century is heart breaking and beautiful in equal measure. But you can also make the reader smile: "Bourbon and Texas heat go devilishly well together, a gentle pair passing practically unnoticed, leaving one languid and curious."

One of your characters asks, "Do you know how twilight makes the air look like it's full of feathers?" I do now, thanks to you. Your fiction makes this world a better place. I can only imagine the impact your poetry has.

[norie moto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories with changing POVs

[Sinyon · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a poetic compilation of stories based on the lives of black characters.

𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: literary fiction

Their experiences are not presented to us as well packaged tropes. They’re complicated intersections pushing against defined social lines that creates a tone of frustration, heartbreak, and beauty in the raw, demanding to redeem itself.

𝘍𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺 is 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (so think character driven, not plot driven). You have to approach it allowing the characters’ actions, inactions, and introspection to guide. Or you’ll feel bewildered.

Some of the stories do seem abrupt and incoherent, unfinished. But I think it’s meant to feel that way. Because it’s a collection about black people refusing to be boxed in to stereotype “norms.”

So be prepared for lots of symbolism and figurative language that refuses to fully explain itself.

My first fav - “The Spray Paint King”
What seems like a hormone raging rebellious black youth story, turns into a psychologically perplexing tale of societies failures and their lasting effects on the shaping of a young person.

Heart-achingly beautiful - “Damon and Vandalia”
Poetic, story about forbidden love and love lost. I should have realized it from the beginning but some how it still creeps up and startles me.

“The Vibraphone”
I’m still turning Murdon’s character over in my head. After the last story, I was determined to stay on my toes with this one. Like Murdon, this story held me running along the edges of a wooded path curious about what treasure lurked within. But…was it all worth it in the end?

“Aunt Carrie”….
By the time I got to this last story, I'd become well accustomed to Dove's way of slapping you in the face with these character's "truths" - unapologetically and with no distinct lines drawn between hero's and villains.

So from the first page, somehow my heart knew Aunt Carrie's stain. But let me tell you, I STILL WASN'T PREPARED TO FACE IT.

And with that, Dove ends this collection just as calm and at peace as when she began it.

enjoy :)

[Célèste · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading Thomas and Beulah in college, I came across “Second Hand Man,” which got me curious about Dove's fiction. I was able to find a 1985 rejected library copy of Fifth Sunday with a blank check-out card on the inside cover. Such a shame that there’s not more demand for this book. I found a lot to admire in it: incredible language and very strong voices (as in her poetry). While some of the stories held together for me better than others—some were a bit hard to follow in places, especially the ones that consisted primarily of a long piece of dialogue—all in all, I found the collection to be a treat. Definitely worth checking out if you can get your hands on a copy.

What I learned: Picasso drew bulls in various stages of abstraction, which I can only think about as an exploration of definitions of masculinity, especially in the context of Dove’s story about a horny young artist.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A coming of age tale involves a young girl named Valerie who is finding her existence and purpose in her life through her church involvement. When a sudden incident involving her and accusatory remarks are directed at her while inside the church, her entire demeanor is affected.

[Mills College Library]

Fiction D743f 1985

[Jason]

Some of the stories are character sketches in disguise -- not all of it works (at least, to my rustic ears.) Stories end when you think they're starting. Plot is pounded through to get to the moment Dove wishes to write about.

But "Damon and Vandalia" and "Aunt Carrie" are both excellent in different ways. "Damon and Vandalia" balances a story of an affair between both titular points of view. (Dove would return to that technique a year later with "Thomas and Beulah.") It's a jagged little puzzle box -- the closest in style and tone to Dove's poetry.

"Aunt Carrie" tells the story of a family secret through two perspectives: that of Aunt Carrie and her unnamed niece. It's similar to Alice Walker's work in that bad things may happen, people may even do bad things, but Dove opts not to call anyone "bad." She tells the tale with a generosity of spirit toward misfits and the marginalized.

"Second-Hand Man" is also interesting because its plot mirrors "Thomas and Beulah" and reads like an alternate version of Dove's Pulitzer Prize-winning poem.