A Brief Reading discussion

Discussion gets going March 15!! My copy's in the mail.

I'm still slowly making my way through Sum as I've been so slumpy with my reading recently but I'll definitely be reading A Guide to Being Born as I've been meaning to read it for ages! I think I'm going to love this one :)

I hope to really love this collection as well. The cover is gorgeous. Even more so in person, I think. Looking to start this one today!

I am a bit hesitant to pick this one up. I am not really sure if magical realism is my thing. If these stories are anything like the stories in Gutshot, then I don't think it's for me.

Meredith wrote: "I am a bit hesitant to pick this one up. I am not really sure if magical realism is my thing. If these stories are anything like the stories in Gutshot, then I don't think it's for me."

They are nothing like Gutshot, imo. The magical realism is often really, really subtle if there at all. Mostly just narratively straight forward stories about life, death, and birth. Totally different vibe.

Thanks for the info Brooke. Just read the first story on Amazon. I liked it, but I'm still feeling a bit undecided.

I finished this yesterday will post my longer collected thoughts this weekend. I liked it although it wasn't a favorite. I do have one story in particular that really stuck with me. I'll write more about that later. Not sure if anyone else is reading this or not. I do think Ausubel is a very solid, talented writer.

I've only read the first story so far but I loved it! Hoping to read the rest over the weekend :)

I finished this tonight. I liked it. The last story was my favorite; a perfect mix of surreal and realistic. Atria and Safe Passage were also really good.

I agree, Aurora, it was a terrific mix of the surreal and realistic.

The collection starts off so strong with Safe Passage which is high on my list of favorite stories - maybe ever. I don't think I'll be forgetting those ladies on that ship anytime soon. Then there was Poppyseed and Atria which were also stunning.

Chest of Drawers was so moving. It's easy to focus on the pregnant spouse or partner in a relationship. But we don't often really dive into the psyche of the non-pregnant partner who is dealing with his/her own reactions to an approaching baby. This story really was fascinating in that respect.

But, somewhat controversially, my favorite story was Welcome to Your Life and Congratulations. I've looked around and so many people hate this one. I think it's one of the most bizarre stories in the collection despite being completely grounded in realism (absurd realism, I suppose). This collection deals so much with the process of life - conception, gestation, birth, love, death - and I think this story really explores the cycle. And the life cycle is absurd. You have a couple clearly in love and having all the sex. They have a child who is the product of conception, gestation, birth, love, and sex. There's a cat who dies and so that process is explored. And then they all come together in the bed at the end - all points of life meeting at once and I loved it.

The story about the professors waiting for the speaker to arrive and refusing to leave was my least favorite. I think I just didn't see the point.

Tributaries was interesting and many people's favorite, but I was as enamored with it, sadly.

Overall, a really great collection with some near perfect stories if a bit uneven at times.

I liked Welcome to Your Life and Congratulations too. It was so odd, almost like something Wes Anderson could have written. The ending was really great, I laughed so hard at the absurdity of the situation. It's a picture that really sticks with you... I hadn't thought of it in terms of all point of life meeting though, that's really clever. Thanks for the insight, Brooke!

Just ordered this one so hopefully I can start soon :)