A bunch of short stories that involve relationships of varying types and different cultures. Good filler stories if you’re not ready to dig into a novel. ( )

Well written stories by Vienamese-Australian writer. Each story takes place in a different country and culture. ( )

In a way it is unfortunate that the first tale in the collection is one of the most powerful and beautifully written short stories I have read in a long time. The rest of the collection suffers slightly in comparison to this masterpiece.

At the heart of each story is a sense of loss, each tale in the collection will leave your heart a little more broken, grieving for the the characters whose liveas are laid bare to you.

Well crafted and immersive tales with a strong narrative storyline. They are full of beauty, the psychology of human relationships, humour, loss and yet somehow so much more. ( )

Nam Le’s debut novel is, in fact, a collection of seven short stories beginning with what appears to be an autobiographical account followed by six fiction pieces. Le flexes his hefty writing muscles right from the start. His command of the language is poetic with every word providing power and stimulating all five senses. The versatility of his voice allows Le to alter his style with each story, providing the feel of seven unique authors rather than one author telling many stories. However, while the stories are beautiful to read, they often wander and I was left feeling like I was missing the last few pages of a couple of the stories. In several, the plot is so secondary to the imagery that it felt more like I was reading assignments from a literary writing class that had been cobbled together rather than a coherent story. In spite of this, his characters are so engaging and his visuals so powerful that I was willing to forgo storytelling for awhile just to enjoy the artfulness of Le’s words. I became very attached to each one of his characters - their dark personas and darker circumstances. If any of these stories had been novel-length, the storytelling would have become tiresome. However, the short story format allowed Le to produce artful prose without boring the reader. While I really enjoyed The Boat for providing a rare piece of writing that lives comfortably in the sparsely populated land between the nations of fiction and poetry, it left me both delighted and disappointed at the same time. I’m hoping that this is just the beginning of a long career by an obviously gifted writer. If you are looking for a polished, plot-driven thriller, The Boat is not going to be your cup of tea. But if you are interested in reading something visceral – something that will take you someplace you have never been before - you should give this book a try.

Read my other reviews at www.chadintheazdesert.blogspot.com. ( )

A very well written collection of short stories. For the audio version, each story was read by someone with a voice matching the main protagonist. It highlighted how Le was able to adopt the voice of people from multiple nations, genders, and ages with remarkable skill. The stories are very dark and weave a common thread which we all share, death. Unique collection. ( )