The Book of Other People

Believe it or not: I chose this book based on its cover. It was illustrated by Charles Burns (author/illustrator of Black Hole - which I LOVE).

It's really hard to rate a book that's a collection of short stories written by the same author, let alone when it's written by different authors. Overall, I really liked it. The concept was interesting. Zadie Smith has asked several authors (including himself) to write about a character. That's it. Some results were very impressive and amazing, while others... not so much. It has introduced me to the writing styles of several writers that I've wondered about for a long time. Dave Eggers is one of them, and I am definitely going to read some of his books.

Zadie Smith propuso una idea a varios escritores: invéntate un personaje. El resultado, la presente antología, ’El libro de los otros’. También hay que reseñar que los fondos obtenidos con la publicación de este libro están destinados a 826 NYC, una ONG dedicada a perfeccionar las habilidades lectoras y escritoras de niños y jóvenes entre seis y dieciocho años. Pero dejando este punto aclarado, los relatos incluidos me han parecido bastante decepcionantes. Nombres de relumbrón, la mayoría, que no llegan al nivel de sus novelas, y es que me parece que muchos de ellos se mueven mejor en la distancia larga, o sea escribiendo novelas de más de 300 páginas, que en el relato, donde todo ha de estar más condensado y mejor show more ideado.

En una antología con veintiún relatos de veintiún escritores diferentes, es normal encontrarse de todo un poco, y lo cierto es que hay una gran variedad de estilos, hay humor, pero predomina la tristeza. Hay buenos relatos y otros verdaderamente infumables, por lo menos para mí. He aquí la lista completa:

Cachorro, George Saunders (**)
Judith Castle, David Mitchell (***) Judith se entera de la muerte de su amante, y actúa de una manera bastante especial. Buen relato con un estupendo final.
El embustero, Aleksandar Hemon (**)
Frank, A.L. Kennedy (***) Frank está en una sala de cine, solo, esperando a que se proyecte la película. Poco a poco se nos irá desvelando la razón del extraño comportamiento de Frank. Gran relato, todo un descubrimiento de esta autora a la cual no conocía.
Gideon, ZZ Packer (***) La protagonista nos cuenta cómo es su relación con su nuevo novio judío, Gideon. Otra autora que no conocía y que me ha sorprendido gratamente.
Gordon, Andrew O’Hagan (*)
Hanwell padre, Zadie Smith (**)
J. Johnson, Nick Hornby con ilustraciones de Posy Simmonds (*)
La jueza Gladys Parks-Schultz, Heidi Julavits (**)
Lélé, Edwidge Danticat (***) Lélé está embarazada, y esta historia está contada por su hermana. Muy buen relato. El principio genial: ”Aquel verano hacía tanto calor en Léogâne que la mayoría de la ranas explotaron”.
Magda Mandela, Hari Kunzru (**)
El monstruo, Toby Litt (*)
Nigora, Adam Thirlwell (**)
Rhoda, Jonathan Safran Foer (**)
Soleil, Vendela Vida (***) Soleil está de visita en casa de su amiga, donde la hija de once años, Gabrielle, se sentirá atraída por la manera de ser de Soleil. Muy buen relato.
Roy Spivey, Miranda July (***) La protagonista se encuentra durante un vuelo con el famoso Roy Spivey. Buen relato.
Cindy Stubenstock, A.M. Homes (*)
Theo, Dave Eggers (***) Relato fantántisco en el que unos gigantes dormidos cobran vida. Muy buen relato, teñido por la tristeza, quizás el mejor del libro.
Perkus Tooth, Jonathan Lethem (***) Pequeño extracto de lo que se convertiría en parte de la novela Chronic City. Buen relato y gran personaje.
Donal Webster, Colm Tóibín (*)
Newton Wicks, Andrew Sean Greer (*)

En resumen, me ha parecido una selección bastante mediocre para los nombres incluidos, pero al menos me ha valido para descubrir a algún autor que no conocía. Lo mejor, lo corto que es. show less

I know its for charity, but the problem is it just isn't very good. I had high hopes, admittedly. A handsomely designed hardback with twenty-three short pieces on the theme of character, containing work by some of my favourite novelists – David Mitchell, Hari Kunzru, Jonathan Safran Foer, Dave Eggers and Colm Tóibín – and a supporting cast of other interesting writers that I had either enjoyed before or wanted to know more about – A. L. Kennedy, ZZ Packer, Andrew O'Hagan, Zadie Smith, Nick Hornby, Toby Litt and A.M. Homes. What could go wrong ...

David Mitchell's Judith Castle was the first big disappointment. I haven't read anything by David before that was less than brilliant, but this is pretty shallow and tedious with a show more punchline that you can see coming from less than half-way through.

Rhoda, Jonathan Safran Foer's Jewish granny stream-of-consciousness, has its moments, but is a long way from the best of his writing. Andrew O'Hagan's Gordon (yes, that Gordon) is a great idea, which he doesn't quite come off, while Dave Eggers' Theo is a throwaway idea stretched and meandering way beyond the point where it was interesting.

The two best stories for me were Colm Tóibín's affecting Donal Webster and A. L. Kennedy's genuinely unsettling Frank. Both create vivid and believable individuals who find themselves in situations that you desperately want to know more about.

Anyway it is for a good cause – www.826national.org (unbelievably they even get the website wrong in the introduction) – and I hope the book raises them lots of cash. However, if you want to read something captivating and amusing I would suggest you try the letters to President Obama written by some of the students supported by this organisation instead. show less

Any time you dive blindly into a short story collection (that is, with no idea or pre-conceived notions about the stories, not even a hint of genre) which is a compilation of various authors, it is usually with equal parts trepidation and excitement. This collection held the added trepidation that I did not recognize most of the authors. However, there was the enticing premise of the book – “make somebody up”. You would think that making somebody up is the basis for any story (isn’t that what characters are for?), yet it was evident from the titles (just people’s names) and the introduction that it led to something different.

And, in general, I was happy to have visited. To start with, it was well beyond the third or fourth show more story before I said, “Well, that one didn’t work.” And, while any collection should start with the strong stories, it was apparently just serendipity in this case as the stories were delivered in alphabetical order by the title of the story (character.) And, even though there were disappointments in this collection (I have to specifically point out a story that was about [spoiler-alert] Jesus which I specifically point out because it violated the rule about making someone up), there were interesting and intriguing approaches to the challenge and the stories.

One in particular I want to point out - Jordan Wellington Lint to the age of 13 (by C. Ware), a graphic-novel approach whereby each page was a year in the life of the character. It is written from the perceptions of that character – so the early pages show next to nothing. At first, it just seemed a one-trick pony of a story. However, the author’s use of space and changes in the perceptions cause more than a cursory glance and a solid inspection into the content.

There are good stories in here. As with most collections there are others that are just not as good and some that are good but predictable. In other words, as you will find in many collections, a mix of tastes and results from which you are sure to find something for your enjoyment.

And now I'm going to do something I try to never do. Make comments based on other people's reviews. (I write my review - then read what others say.) After reading the other reviews posted for this collection, I think it makes my final point. It is interesting to note that some people like the ones that others hate. And some feel blah about ones others rave about. I stand by my assessment - you probably will not like everything you read in here, but you will find things you like. (And they will be different than the popular choices of others.) show less

There's a common consensus amongst booksellers, publishers and authors that short story anthologies don't sell nearly as well as novels. J.G. Ballard called them the "loose change in the treasury of fiction;" George Orwell thought that most modern short stories were "utterly lifeless and worthless, far more so than most novels." I've quoted Michael Chabon's perfect description on contemporary short stories so often on this blog I can't do it anymore in good consciensce.

I used to disagree with prevailing opinion, but I've read quite a few anthologies this year and I'm starting to realise I was wrong. Whether it's "Stories," "The Complete Short Stories of J.G. Ballard," or "The Best Australian Stories 2010"... none of these books grabbed show more me. They all suffered from the weak links in the chain. I can count the number of short stories I have read in my entire life that I really, really enjoyed on the fingers of one hand.

I suspect I even suffer from the common bother of disliking short stories simply because, as Orwell pointed out, they're so truncated; you don't get a chance to unwind and stretch out, to really get to know the characters. The Book of Other People opens with a story by David Mitchell, my absolute favourite author of all time, yet it didn't really do anything for me. That didn't bode well for the rest of the collection, which mostly featured writers I'd never heard of.

I started reading short story anthologies in order to practice my own (a short story being a much quicker way for a young writer to achieve the validation of publication), but I think I'm getting fatigued from the constant disappointment. This is not to say that short story collections are usually bad - indeed, The Book of Other People isn't bad - but they are almost universally average and forgettable. I suppose an anthology actually subverts the purpose of a short story, which is supposed to be a quick dose of fiction, standing by itself and read in a single sitting. An anthology is an attempt to collate short stories into something more like a novel, and the stories suffer for the comparison. show less

Some fantastic writers contribute to this anthology of short stories and vignettes. The proceeds are going to Dave Eggers’ 826NYC charity focused on helping children and teens develop their creative writing skills. Some of the stories I found thoughtful, thought provoking, entertaining and poignant, but I also found some flat, dull and overworked. Colm Toibin’s contribution is used as the opening story in his book “The Empty Family.” Nick Hornby gives us the evolution of a writer in his bio blurbs. Dave Eggers’ character is a lovelorn giant, and George Saunders wrote a story exploring two sides of devotion and love. The stories I did like--I really liked, so I found the book worth it.

This was an ok book. That's the problem with short story collections, especially those with several contributors. Some stories are beautiful, some are funny, and some are just blah. The most vivid ones for me: Judith Castle (I could just see her!), Lele, Magda Magdalena, Judge Gladys Parks-Shultz (I loved this one! Perfect.), Puppy, and Soleil. Oh, and Roy Spivey, I liked that one, too. Theo definitely intrigued me. I wasn't too keen on the illustrated stories, it's just not my thing. I'll definitely be looking out for some of these authors now.