Category: Short Story Review

  • Short Story Review: “On the Agenda” by Lore Segal

    (The short story “On the Agenda” by Lore Segal appeared in the September 18th, 2023 issue of The New Yorker.)

    Illustration by Riccardo Vecchio

    “On the Agenda” by Lore Segal is an interesting exercise. I read it twice, enjoyed it both times, but I’m still wondering about the ending. Each time I read it, and I can’t put my finger on why, or where the example is in the story, but I kept thinking about French Absurdist one-act theatre. (I was a theatre major, I read a lot of their works.) Something about this story seemed to parallel that. This story isn’t blatantly absurdist. It does have a foot in reality, but there is something off, which works.

    The story is about ladies who lunch, but not the Sondheim “ladies.” The story of these ladies is broken up into sections; the first being “JANUARY: THE FORGETTING OLYMPICS,” which also happens to be an agenda item for the meeting of the ladies. What if forgetting was an Olympic sport? And the ladies give examples of their forgetting, comparing, and expanding this idea. At this point, the story could be about aging. But with the next section “MARCH: NEXT TO GODLINESS” and “JUNE: FUNK” we are given examples of the ladies friendship, and how they are dealing with their forgetting. And again, it all feels purposefully off center, ever so slightly. But when the final section comes along, “NOVEMBER: NO MORE TRAINS” which is broken up into three sections, with the last being the one I questioned the most – It’s a single paragraph with no dialogue, which is different and shorter than all other sections of the whole story. This paragraph thuds the story to a close, help with a rhetorical last question “For now?”

    From the way the story started with that absurdist feeling I had while reading, I never was expecting this to be a story that would wrap up cleanly, or even conclusively for that matter.  But that last paragraph is completely and radically different from the rest of the story – what was the point? Then I remembered the French Absurdists, who sometimes made the point of not having a point, and just ending things.

    Or it’s about death?

    I’m going with death.

  • Short Story Review: “Hobbies” by Robbie Herbst

    (The short story “Hobbies” by Robbie Herbst appeared in X-R-A-Y on August 30th.)

    (SPOILERS, people! SPOILERS!)

    Art by Bri Chapman

    There sure are a great number of short stories and novels that cover the subject matter of the male midlife crisis. Or, as a friend calls them, “Sorry your penis stopped working, stories.” In one way or another, midlife crisis stories are about virility; the lack of it, the fear of losing it, of losing it, or desperately keeping it. And it is an attractive cliché to work with, as it is soaked in drama due to impending change, and can lend itself to comedy or drama, or a little of both.

    “Hobbies” by Robbie Herbst is just a short story that could have taken a turn down the midlife crisis trope. In fact, I kept expecting that it would, but it didn’t, and that was a completely refreshing development. In fact, the whole story is told in this realist yet absurdist style; claiming to be neither, but clearly dabbling a toe in both. In this way, the story stays lite, but also rooted in an honesty.

    The protagonist is a man sliding into a transition. The story opens with a mysterious letter from a woman named Therese that the he does not know, and rather than share the letter with his wife, he burns it, thus keeping it a secret. As we learn more about him, we see that he is a good person, with two good kids, happily married, with a good job, living a good life. But that night he wakes up having no idea who he is, but slowly, the details of his being return to him. This moment starts his journey to see if he is missing something. This is the fear of losing virility. Or maybe relevance. Either way, the hero is in a place of security and yet feels incomplete.

    And what follows is the breaking of the midlife crisis cliché. Here, the marriage is still fine, the kids are okay, and the job is fine. Yet, there is a threat that looms over him and the family – something that has to be prepared for. It’s not identified, nor does it need to be, as it is a fear that takes the form of whatever it needs to be for each person. But our hero keeps making choices, figuring out what he needs to do to confront whatever is coming.

    This was a smart story, and also very funny. Herbst is very good at keeping the story moving, throwing in details, and never letting the narrative get bogged down. But most of all, “Hobbies” took what I thought would be cliched, and gave it a twist and an insight that I wasn’t expecting.

  • Personal Review: The Great British Bake-Off

    I did it – Well, the wife and I did it – We watched all 13 seasons of The Great British Bake-Off, or Show, depending on where you are. That was a lot of baking, and a lot of British culture. We watched the show together on our lunch breaks, so we only got about half an episode done a day. The show has ebbed, and flowed several times, and gone from too serious to too silly a few times as well. In the end, I still enjoy the show, and I will be looking forward to the 14th season which should premiere in September 2023.

    To start with, the first two seasons of Bake-Off are awful, and no offense to the winners, are a slog to get through. The show that became the international hit hadn’t figured out its footing, nor it’s direction yet. It over all feels very American, as conflict is played up more, and it’s also a sort of an educational show – teaching the audience the history of the foods that are being baked. What I did find interesting is that they seemed to have nailed the music from the start, and pretty much have been using the same themes ever since. Luckily, after two seasons of feeling it out, they landed on what worked.

    What worked well, and is very refreshing, is that Bake-Off is still the nicest show on television. For what is basically a reality gameshow, the competitive nature of the contestants are playdown, and good sportsmanship is played up. The bakers are often shown coming to each other’s aid, and cheering each other on when they do well. There are no snide comments, or backhanded compliments displayed. All the bakers are given an opportunity to be shown as decent, friendly people that you enjoy spending time with.

    And that brings me to what makes the show so enjoyable season after season – the bakers. Bake-Off doesn’t go into detail about the bakers lives outside of the tent. Small details are given in the first few episodes, and the final, but outside of that, we are left to form our opinions about the bakers based on their bakes, and how they behave in the tent. There are no political discussions, nothing about sports or religion. Any subject matter that could divide people is avoided. We get twelve people who just want to bake. And for that, I am impressed with the casting of this show. Not only have the producers continually found charming and interesting people season after season, but they have also done an excellent job of showing Britain as a modern multi-cultural society, where everyone gets along and respects each other. In it’s very subtle way, this show whispers in our ear that we actually do have more in common than what divides us.

    Looking back at the UK ratings, Season 7 was their all-time high, with Season 6 being the runner up, which makes sense as Bake-Off was in the middle of their “salad days” at this point. I would argue that if you are going start watching the show, Season 5 to 9 is the run you want to partake in. This is especially impressive as starting with Season 8, the show undertook a radical change with the switching of broadcast channels, losing Mary Berry who was replaced with Prue Leith, and then the hosts Mel and Sue were replaced with Noel and Sandi. What could have been a stumble instead was a seamless continuation of the show.

    And with that switch in judge and hosts, I am torn. For one, though I do enjoy Prue as judge along with Paul Hollywood, they seem to be a team that “gets along” with respect of judging bakes. Mary Berry had a steeliness to her, where she had no issue with disagreeing with Paul, and digging in if he disagreed with her. It was the only time in the show where there could be tension between personalities, and it worked for the show. As for the hosts, I wasn’t a fan of Mel and Sue. They are two very funny comedians outside of the show, but in the tent they often pulled attention away from the bakers and the bakes by trying to be funny, or ending everything with a pun or a button. My preferred team was Noel and Sandi, but Sandi especially. They made a good “odd couple” paring, but what made them work was Sandi connection to the bakers. She came across more as a friend than a host as when she would talk bakers down from a cliff, or encourage them to continue on. And when Sandi had to announce who wouldn’t be coming back next week, and she would get choked up and cry, it felt like that was coming from an honest place in her. Noel did come around to Sandi’s level of connection, but when she left after Season 10, her replacement of Matt had rather big shoes to fill, no pun intended. What had worked in the past was the classic comedy pairing of straight man and wild card, but with Matt and Noel it was two wildcards which pulled attention away from the bakers. And Matt relied quite heavily on “Paul’s a mean guy” jokes. Entering Season 14, we will get a new co-host in Alison Hammond, and we’ll see how her and Noel get on.

    But when you go through thirteen seasons, you do start to see where some things have gone slightly off the rails. I point directly at Season 9, which also happens to be my personal favorite season. This was the moment when the show started moving toward more gimmick baking – just crazy shit to see how the bakers handle it. This was the season that had a biscuit chandelier which a baker pointed out wasn’t a thing, and made up for the show. Also, in the final episode, the three bakers had to “bake” on a camp fire outside of the tent. A stunt that has never been repeated, and for clear reasons as the bakers didn’t do well, and their annoyance was clearly visible. In earlier seasons, the bakers were asked to create bakes that were based on actually oven bakes, or techniques that revolved around baking. After Season 9, more and more gimmicks or “theme” weeks came into play, which didn’t add anything to the show. This finally blew up in the shows face with Season 13’s “Mexican Week,” which Tejal Rao criticized as “casually racist,” while I was confused why the bakers were making “tack-o’s?” It was a misstep on a show that should have known better.

    What I hope will happen in Season 14 is that Bake-Off sticks to what works, which is casting interesting people from the UK who love baking. And I also hope they get back to what has worked; letting the bakers bake – no more gimmicks. Because at the end of the day, what I look forward to in Bake-Off is an hour of comfort food television; I don’t have to think too hard, there is no one to root against, and I get the celebrate someone who is good at what they do.

  • Short Story Review: “The Autopsy” by Lyudmila Ulitskaya (Translated, from the Russian, by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky.)

    (The short story “The Autopsy” by Lyudmila Ulitskaya appeared in the August 28th, 2023 issue of The New Yorker.)

    (You know there are SPOILERS, right?)

    Photograph by Tereza Zelenková for The New Yorker

    First of all, I do want to give credit and say thank you to the Fiction Editor at The New Yorker, for exposing me to another Russian author. (I haven’t read this much Russian literature since I was a freshman theatre major.) In the writers of late, I have found this very interesting dynamic in their storytelling, where they take a pragmatic and a fantasifull world, and then combine them in a seamless fold of a believable surrealism.

    “The Autopsy” by Lyudmila Ulitskaya continues this form. It is a simple story that moves between a coroner, a mother, and her son. The storytelling is impressive, and with a few lines, I was pulled into this piece. The economy of words, simple yet pushing the story forward, lulls the reader into the throws of this very pragmatic world, first starting with a coroner. Then the story shifts to a mother who is looking for her missing son. Again, the beautiful simple language tells us of her wrenching, difficult life story, and the heartbreaking love she has for her son. Then the story shifts to the son’s perspective, and again we are betwixt by the magic of these words, though the language stays in it’s realistic form, we now move into an ethereal realm. All leading to the final section, and a completion of this story that leaves us feeling that this journey has fulfilled its purpose.

    I loved this story. I loved how it ran me through these lives, how they were connected to each other, and how strong and painful love and loving someone can be. There was a tragedy to this love, but also a dignity to loving someone so much. I appreciated that Ulitskaya swung for the fences on this, and made these two realms fit together. But most of all, I loved they style in which this story was presented; never going down a rabbit hole of flourishes or needless details. It got the job done in an effective use of language (And I know this was a translation) that never felt like a word was wasted.

  • Short Story Review: “The True Margaret” by Karan Mahajan

    (The short story “The True Margaret” by Karan Mahajan appeared in the August 14th, 2023 issue of The New Yorker.)

    Photograph by Eliza Bourner for The New Yorker

    “The True Margaret” by Karan Mahajan, is an interesting short story, which ultimately is a well-crafted piece of fiction, yet I never found myself engrossed by it. The story has a great opening paragraph, which is compelling, but what follows is a deliberate plodding paced story that never rises in intensity, even as the climax approaches. As I finished the story, I liked it, but I was left feeling unsatisfied. I will say this; I do recommend reading this story.

    All the pieces are here for an effective short story. It is set in the past of 1959 London. An arranged marriage, an Indian bride brought 5,000 miles from her home. The adjustment to a new city and culture. The shadow of colonialism, patriarchy, class, and sexism. Questions about the idea of freedom being a reality or an illusion. How threats grow larger and more diabolical in our minds as we dwell on them. The duality of one’s nature. The courage to escape one’s situation, and a resolution that delivers our protagonist to a safer place, but not a rewarding place. There is a lot going on here, and it is all brought up in a natural way, never feeling forced.

    And still, I couldn’t shake the feeling of not being satisfied with the ending. Finally, I had to come to the conclusion that this ending was the point. That the plodding pace was there to help illustrate this point. Doing the right thing, breaking the mold, saving yourself doesn’t mean you get the happy ending – it only means you survived to live another day. And even if you get years beyond that incident, to where it doesn’t necessarily feel real anymore, it sometime can never be forgotten, or forgiven.