Richard Bausch

Now I know why Bausch is the one who chooses what to put in Norton's short story collections, and I'd argue that someone needs to step up and insist he drop in some of his own work. These stories are some of the best short stories I've read--very possibly better than James Baldwin and Gloria Naylor who were my favorites until now. Certainly, this is the best full collection I've explored. They're unconnected, which is a change from the collections I usually enjoy. I've found that collections show more which hold only stand alone stories seem to repeat characters, themes, etc. without apparently meaning too. Here, however, they're eclectic, graceful, complete, and have just enough depth without Ever being too simple, and they're never cliched. I'd strongly recommend this collection--I'll be combing it later to decide which stories to bring into class because this is a writer worth teaching and discussing. Read it in bits and pieces if the length seems daunting, but if you're a short story reader at All, this is a great choice. show less

I couldn’t help it. As I read the short stories in Richard Bausch’s collection Something is out there., I kept seeing the paintings of various artists—Edward Hopper; Edvard Munch; Francisco José de Goya; even, at times, Hieronymus Bosch. If I may be permitted to suggest a kind of “reverse ekphrasis” -- a term, so far as I know, normally reserved for poetry -- then this is what I felt while reading Baush’s work. The faces (and the characters these physiognomies represented) of show more despair, loneliness and isolation — and all of them struggling to break out of their personal solitary confinement. Or worse still, out of their private oubliettes.

The following sentence at the conclusion of “Overcast” would seem to sum it all up: “She thought of those nights she lay wide awake in the dark trying to dream up her life out in the world, wondering and worrying about where she might go, who she might come to be with, what she might find to do or be, and whether or not she might be happy there, so far away, in the magical distance, the future that was taking so long to arrive.”

These are not action stories. In many instances, the plot is no thicker than a pie crust. Instead, most of the “action” takes place inside the characters’ heads.

But that’s fine. If the fictional landscapes these characters traverse are no wider than the space between their ears, they live, die and fight in that space — and both the horror and the sadness of their acts and thoughts are ours to consider. It is as if, in the depiction of his characters and their personal travails, Bausch is holding up a mirror and allowing us to look at ourselves.

And no, they — and we — are not pretty to behold.


RRB
4/28/13
Brooklyn, NY show less

Peace is a terrific novella, one of those books that plunges you into - not just its location, but its totality. Bausch has written one of the best "war novels" I've read in a long time, sidestepping many of the cliches of the genre, whilst making its truths feel fresh, and that they matter, and worth reading again.

Corporal Robert Marson has been asked to perform reconnaissance on a hill covering the German retreat in Italy. He and his companions, the acerbic Private Joyner and tortured show more Private Asch, are disturbed by the murder of a hapless civilian earlier in the day, and bitterly cold. Led by an old man of dubious loyalties, soaked by icy rain, injured, and terrified of the German troops that may be hiding behind each slope, by time morning arrives, the hill will become a mountain.

The immediacy of Peace is one of its most impressive aspects. The mountainous Italian countryside, the rich loamy mud, the needle-like rain; it's so tactile you can practically smell it. These quotidian concerns are expertly juxtaposed by the fears, hopes, and relationships between the soldiers. The long night is interleaved by Marson's flashbacks to his landing at Palermo and what's he's left behind. These memories contrast sharply with their immediate concerns, which scarcely extend beyond putting one foot in front of the other.

Marson himself is an entirely believable and rounded character. Uncomfortable with what he's doing, homesick, struggling to make sense of the banality of war (both as a totality and its specificity on the hill), and trying to rein in his bickering privates. The strength of Bausch's characterisation is vital to Peace because of its intimacy and short time frame, and he handles it magnificently. Marson's doubts and certainties are shared with the reader and you can feel his emotions as viscerally as the driving rain.

There is a lyricism to Peace, but it's not rhapsodic or florid. Rather, it comes through the banality, and the dignity these characters have through their - and our - common humanity. Their thoughts are only as unique as all our thoughts are; Baush's skill in showing the greatness of that wellspring in just 165 pages is formidable, and the result is a singular, touching work. Great stuff. show less

This was a wonderful yet disturbing, spare little novel (maybe technically a novella) set in the waning days of WWII as three soldiers trudge up a Northern Italian mountain, in the rain and snow, to get information about any fleeting German forces. As with the ways of war, there is confusion and nothing is quite what it seems to be. Before they set off on the mission, the soldiers witness what may be the murder of an Italian or German civilian (prostitute) by their Sergeant. Like with life, show more it happened so fast, all they each have is fleeting images and what might be. So on their journey, they struggle with what they witnessed, whether to report it and how it fits in with their mission. The soldiers really don't care for each other and are suffering in their own ways, yet they must do this mission together. This is a beautifully written book, despite (or because of?) the war's last futile days. I have read many, many books about WWII and from an intimate, soldier-story level, this is one of the best. It is one of those that sticks with you. Recommended. I also want to seek out some of Bausch's other works as he is a great writer. show less