The Brutal Language of Love : Stories

Rating:
Summary: Simply Fantastic
Review: If you could somehow meld Philip Roth with Carson McCullers, you might get close to the wit and compassion Alicia Erian demonstrates in her first collection of short stories. Then again, Erian's voice is so incisive and orginal, she almost defies comparison. The stories in The Brutal Language of Love don't bother with niceties, striking right to the heart of things people are afraid to say out loud. But there's none of the world-weary pessimism and pseuo-sophistication that plagues so much contemporary fiction: Erian's protagonists are heartbreakingly human, and her prose never sells them short. This book is as entertaining as it is deep, as charming as it is disturbing.

If you like to read even a little bit, you'll be thrilled by this wonderful new voice in fiction.

Rating:
Summary: great collection from a stirring new voice
Review: let me start by saying that this is the only book i have ever felt compelled to review on this site, and probably will be the only one for quite some time. picking up this book was an impulse buy, as i violated two main rules in purchasing it: firstly, i don't buy authors i haven't heard of; and secondly, i shy away from women in contemporary fiction because i have gotten burned way too much in the last few years. that being said, this collection is one of the finest that i have read in my life. the protagonists are all empowered females, so the book has a feminist flair, but what is most interesting about the presentation is the decidedly anti-feminist undercurrent. erian never leaves things clear cut. when her characters makes conscious decisions that empower them, that allow them to flaunt their power and their sexuality, i found myself cringing because while these are powerful decisions, they are not exactly the right ones, and the characters know it. there is a self-destruction in the exercising of their femininity that is at once wholly new, unexpected, admirable, and tragic. erian's prose is economic and careful, and her stories taunt the reader with abrupt endings and open interpretation. she will end a story right as she leads up to a confrontation that has been building for fifteen pages, and it is here that she empowers her reader, by allowing them to take an active role in ending the story. based on what we have read, we know in our hearts how the story will end based on what we drew from the body of the prose; but our endings will all be different. erian's voice is immediate and achingly contemporary...it makes fare like the canon of oprah's book club seem inept and maudlin. this is power in storytelling. i can't wait for her upcoming novel.

Rating:
Summary: new mary gaitskillesque writer
Review: This book is definitely worth reading. The story about the girl losing her virginity absoulutely killed me. I was almost embarrassed while reading it, it felt so real, I felt as though I were intruding on a real person's privacy. For me that is a sign of really good writing. Looking forward to more by the author.