Status Updates From The Wind's Twelve Quarters

(contd. on Things) I thought the title of the story was interesting. The "things" here refer to bricks, which are solid and unremarkable, and not even the right tools for Lif's goal, and yet turn out to be his "path" to the future. As the reader you're struck by the futility or even stupidity in his effort, but also the simple beauty of trying anyway. Favourites so far:Nine Lives, April in Paris.

On Things: a story about quietly trying to create in a world that feels like it's about to end. It's a story that is ostensibly about the end, but you realize that is the end isn't coming. Lif asks the widow: do you think this is the end? And she replies that it isn't, that the end will be the end, but the present moment is simply the wait until the end. The question then is: what are we to do until the end?

Very good short stories. I prefer long ones though I think, and a short one now and again, taking it slowly. So a compilation of short stories is not ideal for a library book with a return date