The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories

I'm not usually a big fan of short stories, but of course I'll read anything Connie Willis writes. Even the ones that have been published before are fun to read again. I was thrilled to see "Firewatch" included in this collection, and felt the ending as strongly this time as I did the first time I read it. Other stories, like "Blued Moon" and "At the Rialto" carry Willis' trademark corporate stupidity and mangled language, but others, like "A Letter from the Clearys" and "Nonstop to Portales" are so subtly written, it's both a joy (because you can finally see how well Willis works her craft) and a sorrow (because the story's over!). Some endings are a bit overdone (title-story "The Winds of Marble Arch", "The Last of the Winnebagos"). show more Others endings are a bit muddled ("The Curse of Kings", "Daisy, In the Sun", "Cash Crop"), but some endings ("All My Darling Daughters") are all too clear. The inclusion of such hilarious gems as "Even the Queen" and especially "The Soul Selects Her Own Society..." (pay attention to the footnotes!) more than make up for any flaws. Overall, the collection is a must-read for any Willis fans, and anyone else who just wants to read a broad collection of well-done stories. show less

Great little compilation. I especially enjoyed the tale with the subway that still remembers World War II bombing raids. The winds never forget. Creepy. Some repeats from other anthologies. A decent intro to Connie Willis, though nothing beats her Doomsday Book!

" 'Variety is the soul of pleasure.' And variety is what this comprehensive new collection of Connie Willis is all about. The stories cover the entire spectrum, fr9om sad to sparkling to terrifying, from classics to hard-to-find treasures with everything in between -- orangutans, Egypt, earthworms, roast goose, college professors, mothers-in-law, aliens, secret codes, Secret Santas, tube stations, choir practice, the post office, the green light on Daisy's dock, weddings, divorces, death, and assorted p0lagues, from scarlet fever to 'It's a Wonderful Life'. And a dog.

"Fampous for her 'sure-hand plotting, unforgettable characters, and top-notch writing,' Willis has been called, 'the most relentlessly delightful science fiction writer show more alive,' and there are numerous examples here. Among them, Willis's most famous stories -- the Hugo- and Nebula-Award-winning Fire Watch and Even the Queen and The Last of the Winnebagos -- along with undiscovered gems like Willis's heartfelt homage to Jack Williamson, Nonstop to Portales. Her magical Christmas stories are here, too, from Newsletter to Just Like the Ones We Used to Know ... which last year [2005] was made into the TV movie, Snow Wonder, starring Mary Tyler Moore.

"We've collected stories from throughout Willis's career, from the early ones like Cash Crop and Daisy, in the Sun, right up to her newest stories, including the wonderful The Winds of Marble Arch. There's literally something for everyone here. If you're a diehard Willis fan, you'll be delighted with hard-to-find treasures like the until-now uncollected, The Soul Selects Her Own Society ... If you've never read Connie Willis, this is your chance to discover A Letter From the Clearys , and, well, Chance. To say nothing of, At the Rialto, the funniest story ever written bout quantum Physicists. And Willis's chilling, All My Darling Daughters.

"And...oh, there are too many great stories here to lest and pleasures galore. So enjoy!"
~~front & back covers

This is a massive book. Bigger than some of the Outlanders. But well worth it, at least in my opinion. But then, in the interests of full disclosure, I'm a diehard Connie Willis fan, and have been ever since I read To Say Nothing of the DogPassage, which I fell upon because I so much love Jerome4 K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat, with the subtitle "To Say Nothing of the Dog." And then there was Passage, which I read years ago but can still recite the plot from memory, and still turn the ending over in my mind ...

These stories are a mixed bag, of course. I didn't care for The Winds of Marble Arch mostly because it's a story that doesn't make sense until you read almost all of it; I dislike that literary device but Ms. Willis uses it more often than I'm happy about. I'm especially fond of Inn one of the best Christmas stories ever, detested The Soul Selects Her Own Society ..., and absolutely howled with laughter at At the Rialto.

Obviously I think most of these stories are well worth reading, and the wonderful thing about collections of short stories is that you can just skip any of them you don't like. show less

It's a good collection. I will say, in many of her stories she's got at least one character that I desperately want to see get punched in the nose but somehow never do. It is infuriating.

I read very little fantasy and science fiction, but anything by Connie Willis is going to wind up in my hands sooner or later. This thick volume of novellas and short stories has a wide variety of both F and SF. A few of the stories were also included in her Christmas collection, Miracle, and I believe one of the others was published in another book. But most of the stories were new to me. They range from humorous to chilling and many of them deal with questions of faith. Highly recommended.

There are some great stories in here- it really does have the full range of stuff, including time travel, futuristic societies, magical realism, stories that are hilarious ("Ado", "At the Rialto", "The Soul Selects Her Own Society"), stories that are sad and poignant ("The Winds of Marble Arch", "Chance"), and stories that are downright disturbing ("All my Darling Daughters"). This book is a thick slab to dive into, but it's a treat. :)

I read an audio version of The Winds of Marble Arch (not the "Other Stories")

Originally posted at FanLit.

Tom and his wife are visiting London so Tom can attend an academic conference while his wife goes shopping with a friend. When Tom takes the Tube to the conference, he feels a strange wind in the Underground. Itƒ??s more than just the normal drafts created by trains coming and going; this wind smells ancient and deadly and makes him feel afraid. Skipping the conference, and forgetting to buy theater tickets, Tom spends the next couple of days riding the Tube all over (under, actually) London to try to find the origin of the winds that only he seems to feel.

Connie Willisƒ??s The Winds of Marble Arch won the Hugo Award for Best show more Novella and was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novella. Like several of her stories, this one involves a time-traveling academic, except that he doesnƒ??t actually move through time, but he senses historical events when he visits places where bad things have happened ƒ?? in this case, the London Underground.

The Winds of Marble Arch gets tedious in the middle as Tom races from station to station sniffing the air, buying history books at the gift shops, and overwhelming us with information about what happened at each station during the London Blitz of WWII. This might be interesting for someone whoƒ??s familiar with all of the Tube stations, but for me it all ran together and I couldnƒ??t appreciate all of Connie Willisƒ??s extensive research into the history of the London Underground during WWII. There are also too many details about London theatres, actors, and plays ƒ??another favorite topic for Willis.

Itƒ??s not all just an excuse to lecture us on London Blitz history and Underground geography, though. Willis cleverly relates these bombings and the dreadful winds they created to the disastrous effects of adultery, divorce, and aging. This part of the novella is truly beautiful.

Dennis Boutsikaris superbly narrates Audible Frontiersƒ?? version of The Winds of Marble Arch. show less