Island : The Complete Stories

Rating:
Summary: An English Assignment Gone Well...
Review: When I first picked up my copy of Island I had two thoughts. Wow this cover is pretty, and Wow this book is (relatively) big, at least to read in a week or so. However once I started reading the first few lines of "The Boat" (a story I'd coincidentally read the year before and didn't even realize till the end) I found myself liking MacLeod's simple yet descriptive style. Written in a way such that a reader can picture the story being told out loud, much like traditional maritimes tales are done through oral speakings, these 16 stories each encapsulate the reader leaving you wanting to know what will happen to the characters within the story and beyond.

Many of the stories are written from the perspective of an older male looking back on a particular snapshot of atime period in their youth, usually a moment of clarity in coming of age (although sometimes its only just starting, as some stories are set with main characters as young as 8 or 9. There are variations of lessons of love, death, learning from your parents, upholding traditions, starting afresh, surviving in extreme conditions, and just general lessons of life.

I'd recommend this book to people who enjoy short stories, and while they are not my fave genre of writing, these particular stories, although sometimes overly simplistic and almost annoying in terms of some stylistic aspects, will engage a reader to continue reading each story from start to finish. A triumph in Alistair MacLeod's life is that his collected works can create a whole that is quite powerful.

Rating:
Summary: An English Assignment Gone Well...
Review: When I first picked up my copy of Island I had two thoughts. Wow this cover is pretty, and Wow this book is (relatively) big, at least to read in a week or so. However once I started reading the first few lines of "The Boat" (a story I'd coincidentally read the year before and didn't even realize till the end) I found myself liking MacLeod's simple yet descriptive style. Written in a way such that a reader can picture the story being told out loud, much like traditional maritimes tales are done through oral speakings, these 16 stories each encapsulate the reader leaving you wanting to know what will happen to the characters within the story and beyond.

Many of the stories are written from the perspective of an older male looking back on a particular snapshot of atime period in their youth, usually a moment of clarity in coming of age (although sometimes its only just starting, as some stories are set with main characters as young as 8 or 9. There are variations of lessons of love, death, learning from your parents, upholding traditions, starting afresh, surviving in extreme conditions, and just general lessons of life.

I'd recommend this book to people who enjoy short stories, and while they are not my fave genre of writing, these particular stories, although sometimes overly simplistic and almost annoying in terms of some stylistic aspects, will engage a reader to continue reading each story from start to finish. A triumph in Alistair MacLeod's life is that his collected works can create a whole that is quite powerful.