Ideas of Heaven: A Ring of Stories

Rating:
Summary: Still-Born Novels
Review: Each story, written in the first person, takes a character from puberty through maturity - often right up to death - with the help of a narrow variety of spiritual insights that seem to come from the back covers of self-help books. The author calls these works stories, but they are really a series of under-developed plot outlines for novels, which are marred by the voices of the narrators, who all sound like the same person reincarnated. The "Gaspara Stampa" piece led me to buy this collection, and it is perhaps the best of the lot, but this is a compelling story to begin with, and not much was added to the facts of her life. One is much better off reading the poems of Stampa and Rilke themselves.

Rating:
Summary: Lost Love
Review: I am delighted to have the chance to read this book. It is how we find love in life and in a moment of heat we lose them never to find them in most cases. It provides how we beceome so occupied with ourselves that we forget the substance of love which is about sharing. So it is a great book!!1


Rating:
Summary: stories too uniform, little spark of language or idea
Review: Ideas of Heaven is the third of the National Book Award nominees I've read recently, and while the other two (Madeline is Sleeping and Our Kind) did not particularly impress me (gave both a 3), each still had its strong moments. The same can't be said about Ideas of Heaven, whose nomination I admit I just can't fathom.
As the title implies, the stories are somehow connected, most obviously by character. In the first, the main character takes lessons from a bitter dance instructor who then becomes the narrator for the second story and so on through the book. There are also clear connections in theme and subject, especially love and loss. The structure therefore is gimmicky, though it needn't have felt as such. Cloud Atlas, a far better book, has a slightly different but similar structure, but it feels woven into the work, amplifying the stories' strengths rather than simply calling attention to itself. Here, in Ideas of Heaven, the gimmick feels like a gimmick because it doesn't seem to add much. Yes, the second story clarifies why the dance instructor acts as he does in the first, but the payoffs never seem worth the structure.
The structure, however, is the least of the problems here. The stories are all first person narrations, almost all dealing with love and loss. This sameness of point-of-view and theme is risky; careful attention needs to be paid to ensure that the stories differentiate themselves in voice and style. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen. Though the stories are set in different locales and different times, the narrators themselves are extremely repetitive, sounding like the same person again and again. The one true exception to this is the title story, also the best and most effective story in the collection. Coming as it does near the end, however, and being a mere exception rather than the rule, it doesn't do enough to save the book.
Another problem that runs through the work is too often the author falls into the first-person trap of telling the reader things rather than showing them. Characters are constantly telling the reader they are in love, or they are deeply stricken, etc. but it would have been better to have seen/felt these developments rather than hear of them, and in some cases I simply didn't believe them. In terms of style, the writing is serviceable with a few wonderful lines, but is nothing out of the ordinary and so can't overcome the problems with voice and structure.
My usual comment about a book of stories is that it is uneven, often an admittedly obvious point to make since it's rare that someone can string together 8-15 excellent stories. One always hopes that the balance tips toward the positive (preferably heavily so), but even when it does not, when it is more evenly split or even tilts negative, there are usually a few gem stories that one can recommend someone pick up the book for. Sadly, that's not the case here. You should weigh this review against the fact that this book was nominated for a major award (a fact that still stuns me), but for this reader, a recommendation to skip this one.

Rating:
Summary: Shortlisted for National Book Award
Review: Ideas of Heaven was shortlisted for a National Book Award, and is thus worthy of a read for this reason alone. But the read itself will justify the purchase, as others have attested. Silber's work has always been lyrical, and is especially so with these inter-related stories. Be sure to check out her previous works.

Rating:
Summary: Crystalline prose
Review: Joan Silber's Ideas of Heaven is really a terrific collection. Each of these first-person narrative stories is just wonderful, not a weak link in the bunch. Many times, I feel that a short story is a bit of an emotional letdown, but not in the case of these stories; each is emotionally rewarding. Never will you wish that a story was a little longer, or had a bit more for you. The writing here is excellent; the stories, compelling. Silber makes it a little bit more interesting by linking each story to the ones surrounding it as placed in the book. Well done. I highly recommend this collection, even if you generally shy away from short fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Very Well Done
Review: Joan Silber's Ideas of Heaven is really a terrific collection. Each of these first-person narrative stories is just wonderful, not a weak link in the bunch. Many times, I feel that a short story is a bit of an emotional letdown, but not in the case of these stories; each is emotionally rewarding. Never will you wish that a story was a little longer, or had a bit more for you. The writing here is excellent; the stories, compelling. Silber makes it a little bit more interesting by linking each story to the ones surrounding it as placed in the book. Well done. I highly recommend this collection, even if you generally shy away from short fiction.

Rating:
Summary: HEAVENLY IDEAS
Review: JOAN SILBER'S MARVELOUS NOVEL DESERVES THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD. HER FIRST-PERSON VOICE IS SO NATURAL,AND HER WRITING IS SO EFFORTLESS THAT THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT CATCHES ONE UNAWARE.
BRAVO TO HER CLEAR, HEART-TUGGING TALENT.

Rating:
Summary: Crystalline prose
Review: The stories in this collection each have moments where I nodded my head in complete sympathy and understanding of the character. The author's writes movingly and delicately of love and passion, and the after-effects of both.

Rating:
Summary: Unusual, Fascinating
Review: The title alone is enough to capture the interest of a thoughtful reader, but the author's approach of using a "ring" of six stories to tell an even larger, far more panoramic story of life on earth and the human condition is even more fascinating -- though, perhaps, not always successful, since some of the inter-story connections seem a tad more forced and obscure than revealing. But the gradual, collective force and impact of this work are remarkable by the time one finishes the aptly titled sixth story, "The Same Ground." It is satisfying and reassuring to encounter an author who has thought deeply and felt deeply, and as a consequence has richly imagined this world. (In spite of the title or because of it, this world is what this book is about.)


Rating:
Summary: Love and faith
Review: The writing is so elegant and subtle, and the "linked stories" never feels like a gimmick but a smart way to show how people at all times have looked for immersion in or transcendence of earthly love. The last story in particular, about a man going coping with his infidelity and then the sudden death of his wife, is a tour de force.