Particularize Appertaining To Books Not the End of the World
| Title | : | Not the End of the World |
| Author | : | Kate Atkinson |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 288 pages |
| Published | : | October 27th 2004 by Back Bay Books (first published November 4th 2002) |
| Categories | : | Short Stories. Fiction. Contemporary. Fantasy. European Literature. British Literature. Literary Fiction. Mystery |
Kate Atkinson
Paperback | Pages: 288 pages Rating: 3.75 | 4384 Users | 435 Reviews
Relation As Books Not the End of the World
4★A favourite author, a favourite genre (short stories), and a theme I enjoy – recurring characters. I liked it but expected to like it more. I always enjoy her ingenuity and ideas and writing style. I think these could be fables for our time.
I particularly liked the first and last stories, where two ingenuous girls wander through shops, dreaming aloud in detail about their perfect weddings one day while “the end of the world” is actually taking place around them. At first, it seems weird when they marvel at fabrics and such while noting that there is an alert for fire in the haberdashery department.
Trudi begins to panic, as she smells smoke, but Charlene carries on imagining their future life:
“ ‘Or we could lead an even simpler life,’ Charlene said hurriedly, ‘a life where there are no machines and where we would live on a green hillside and sleep under the stars and gather kindling in the woods. And we would keep animals-'
‘What kind of animals?’ Trudi asked, as everything from taffeta to winceyette suddenly went up in flames.”
The art of distraction to avert panic? They continue this inane conversation even as they make their escape.
There is more to it than this, of course, but it certainly makes me think of the head-in-the-sand approach so many of us have toward the current state of our world. (We need coffee. What's in the fridge?)
I always enjoy Atkinson’s writing:
“her ankles like melting Brie above those bloody awful faux Birkenstocks”
“The man was the color of newly poured concrete.”
There’s birth, life, and death.
“When he celebrated his fortieth birthday, Addison had neither child nor wife. When he celebrated his forty-first, he had both, one inside the other. Every morning when Addison woke up, he was surprised anew by these two facts.”
A different wife:
“Romney had opted to be knocked unconscious and split open rather than give birth naturally. Missy favoured natural childbirth whenever possible. She thought it was character forming for a child to have to fight its way into existence. Missy herself was a twin and had made sure she’d elbowed her way out first, ahead of her brother.”
Parents will relate to another wife and mother:
“They didn’t want a relationship with her, they just wanted her to exist somewhere in the background (I haven’t got any clean clothes). If she died, would her soul migrate? Into an insect, a tadpole, a bean?”
Trudi and Charlene reappear in the last story, having lowered their sights from dreaming of “peaches in Moscato wine, Madagascar green peppercorns, rose-petal champagne. . . " to something they think is more realistic.
“ ‘ From now on,’ Trudi said, ‘I only want good, simple things. A bushel of russet apples, a truckle of cheddar cheese, a firkin of bloodred win. Clean linen sheets, rinsed in lavender water and then dried in the sun and the wind on an old-fashioned rope in an orchard. A good book, a small dog, a single strand of pearls.’ “
Which is why we read--to transport ourselves out of our We Need Coffee, What's in the Fridge lives to either the imaginary delicatessen or the Good Life (but with power and indoor plumbing).
Quirky, well-written stories. Reliable Atkinson read that gives pause for thought.
Describe Books Toward Not the End of the World
| Original Title: | Not the End of the World |
| ISBN: | 0316159379 (ISBN13: 9780316159371) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rating Appertaining To Books Not the End of the World
Ratings: 3.75 From 4384 Users | 435 ReviewsCritique Appertaining To Books Not the End of the World
I haven't been able to get either daughter interested in The Twilight Zone, not as TV, nor as collections of really marvelous short stories. The episode or two I've made them watch is interesting as text, but way too melodramatic as drama. I mention that because this is a collection of short fiction that comes from a twilight zone. Things are not as we would normally expect, although they are interconnected. The mood, as in the Jackson Brodie books, is melancholy with occasional bright spots. II really enjoyed the intelligent but kooky nature of this book. It's a 5 star read for me.I don't think I understood enough of the references to ancient Greek/Roman mythology so I'm off to do some research and reading. I also must read more of Atkinson's work as I thought her writing style was really engaging. - It speaks volumes that I scored this book 5/5 when I dislike dystopian or 'magical/fantasy' fiction in general. I think Atkinson approached her themes in a way that was entirely
Enjoyed this collection of short stories. A few misses but overall an entertaining read.
4★A favourite author, a favourite genre (short stories), and a theme I enjoy recurring characters. I liked it but expected to like it more. I always enjoy her ingenuity and ideas and writing style. I think these could be fables for our time.I particularly liked the first and last stories, where two ingenuous girls wander through shops, dreaming aloud in detail about their perfect weddings one day while the end of the world is actually taking place around them. At first, it seems weird when they
Okay, I'm not a writer, but this book just seemed like some sort of practice exercise you would do for a class: Take all the random characters that have been bouncing around in your head but you haven't been able to work into a novel. Write them into some random scenes. Give a character from each short story a cameo in a following story. For further cohesiveness, make sure each story references Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and add a boring framing story at the beginning/end. That said, Kate
3.5 stars. Very much enjoyed this collection of fantastical interlinking short stories by one of my favourite authors.
Not The End Of The World is a book of twelve short stories by British author, Kate Atkinson. The stories capture (mostly) ordinary people in their everyday lives, with occasional snapshots of extraordinary moments. Each of the stories can be read as a stand-alone, but they have connections: characters appear in each others tales, with some characters making multiple appearances; places (Edinburgh, Crete), events (a fatal vehicle accident on the M9), TV programs (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Green
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