Book Report #1

So, I have the list of books that I'm reading on the right side of the page. I figured I might as well give you at least a high-level report on what I think of them.


I just finished reading The Collected Stories by Grace Paley. I had never heard of Grace Paley until a couple of months ago when she died. NPR had several stories about her, and she sounded like an intriguing woman who was ahead of her time. Another plus is that she wrote primarily short stories, which are much easier to fit into my schedule than a novel. So, I bought The Collected Stories, which is a compilation of three of books of short stories: The Little Disturbances of Man (1959), Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (1974), and Later the Same Day (1985).

The first thing that struck me is how different her writing style is from what I'm used to reading. Call it the "book club" mentality or whatever you want, but I tend to read all contemporary fiction, usually from the bestseller section. I'm a victim of marketing. But Paley's writing style is vastly different. The tone, pace and vocabulary remind me of talking with my grandmother or great-grandmother. It made more sense in the stories from the 1959 book, but even the 1985 stories had the same kind of flow. It took awhile to get used to, but eventually I really liked it. This style was an interesting juxtaposition to the subject matter of the stories. Political commentary is woven throughout, and there are some definite sexual references. I know, women in the '50s thought about these things, but I don't think I've ever seen these ideas expressed from a female writer of that time period. I'm probably just reading the wrong books.

Secondly, it's amazing how much I was able to get to know characters in just a few short pages. Some characters, or archetypes of characters, appear in multiple stories, even in different books. All the stories feature female characters who are strong in their own way. Many are single mothers, many are poor, many are just trying to find happiness in a difficult world. I saw a piece of myself in all of them.

The other thing that intrigued me about this collection is that I really didn't like some of the stories. But that made me like the others that much more. I realized that not every story Paley had to tell would resonate with me, but would with another reader. And most importantly, these stories are rooted in her real life experiences. Some of these I will never have, and will never be able to relate to. And that's just fine with me.

So, my recommendation would be to keep this book around to pick up and read when you have a few minutes or need a break from a current novel you're reading. It's around 400 pages, so you're definitely not going to read it one sitting. Unless you sit for a really long time. Women will probably like it better than men, given the feminist undertones (well, sometimes they're not so "under"), but there are some interesting, if not entirely likeable, male characters as well. I'm glad I discovered this author. Thanks, NPR!