I didn't like it nearly as much as I loved Life of Pi. ( )

Four unrelated short stories. I've given the book 3 stars, but: "The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios" (3 stars) "The Time I Heard the Private Donald J. Rankin String Concerto with One Discordant Violin, by the American Composer John Morton" (5 stars - wonderful story, especially if you're a music lover) "Manners of Dying" (1 star - I totally didn't get the point of this one.) and "The Vita Aeterna Mirror Company: Mirrors to Last till Kingdom Come (3 stars) ( )

Warning: I'm going to talk about the content of the four stories making up this early steffort by Martel.

I do wonder at the notion we have of marking a line between artists whose commitment involves a profound continuing investigation of a Thing, and commercial hacks who are formula writing for no more than mere money. How do you tell which is which? How do I know that my friend Petrus who spent years making pots, dashing them to the ground and then sticking the pieces back together was of the former class? Is it that if you fail to make money at it, this failure maintains your integrity?

This book comprises four stories which explore the act of repetition. I guess it is a vital part of successful writing, to be able to repeat one's self without the audience getting restless.

The title story is about the narrator watching a close friend die of AIDS. The repetition is in the horrific detail of his decline. It was strangely gripping and I wished I hadn't been in a cafe at the point where it had me in tears.

rest here: https://alittleteaalittlechat.wordpress.com/2017/10/25/the-facts-behind-the-hels... ( )

short stories — weird
Letter from prison warden to mother?

Inventive in form and timeless in content, each story is moving and thought-provoking. A Canadian university student visiting Washington, D.C., experiences the Vietnam War through an intense musical encounter. Variations of a warden's letter to the mother of a man he has just executed reveal how each life is contained in its end. A young man's fascination with the mirror-making machine he finds in his grandmother's attic is juxtaposed with the reminiscences it evokes from his grandmother. And, in the exquisite title story, a young man dying of AIDS joins his friend in fashioning a story of the Roccamatio family of Helsinki, set against the yearly march of the twentieth century.

A short story collection for those who love the art of the short story.

Each story is perfectly balanced, leaving the reader a feeling of completion despite its brevity.

This collection also treats readers to Martel's gifted prose, his finesse with emotions, his presentation of the fantastic as factual, before his masterpiece, The Life of Pi, brought all of those treats together in a single breathtaking package.

For fans of Martel or of short stories, this is a pleasurable read. ( )