Customer Reviews

The Joy of Funerals: A Novel in Stories

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When Six Feet Under was first released, it got loads of press and great reviews. The combo of funeral-home lore and insights into off-kilter characters proved irresistible to critics and eventually viewers.This seems to be what Strauss is drawing on: the shock of death, inside info on the funeral industry and decidedly on-the-edge female characters all populate these stories.

Yet, somehow, where Six Feet Under makes you care about its characters both dead and alive, The Joy of Funerals feels like a parade of circus freaks. While the women who populate these stories sound morbidly fascinating-a recent widow who beds strange men near her husband's grave, a lesbian obsessed with finding her lover's killer-they come across as thinly drawn wackos. In attempting to say "everyone has a dark side" and "look at how deeply grief affects people," Strauss has come up with something that seems to trivialize both black humor and sadness.

Also, though the characters have different stories and different names, in the end, they all come across as having nearly the same voice. This bleeding together of narratives and mood continues in the last story, a novella that strings all of the tales together. It's heroine, Nina, who obsessively attends funerals in an attempt to be less lonely, ends up connected to all of the other "obits" in the book. It's an interesting idea, but it ends up not working. The other women's stories have become so indistinct at this point, that I ended up constantly turning back to the earlier chapters.

This is a book that's meant to be read twice. On first reading, it's a smart and engaging collection of stories, with fully drawn characters and beautiful sentences. On the second reading, all the pieces come together and you realize the meanings behind all you so lightheartedly enjoyed first time around. I envy those who haven't yet read this book.

Alix Strauss' The Joy of Funerals: A Novel in Stories is a wonderful book that weaves together the stories of nine women who are all searching ... for love, loss, fulfillment, life, connection, or just something different. The stories are both twisted and achingly familiar; the women's loneliness and desperation is poignant and their longing for connection and love is something that I think everyone can relate to. The manner in which Strauss ties all of the stories together was refreshing and I really enjoyed the common thread - the novella which closes the book, The Joy of Funerals. The novella provides you with a deeper understanding of the characters you've met in the preceding short stories. It's truly a tragically beautiful novel.

BASICS:
The stories within are: "Recovering Larry," "The Way You Left," "Shrinking Away," "Addressing the Dead," "Post-dated," "Versions of You," "Swimming Without Annette," "Still Life," and the novella "The Joy of Funerals."

SUMMARY (from the back cover):
"A widow who lusts ... a daughter who aches ... a lover who obsesses ... a shopaholic who hungers ... a funeral-junkie who needs. "The Joy of Funerals" is a riveting collection that explores the lives of nine restless, rootless young women, each willing to take drastic measures to fill the voids created by loss, longing, and loneliness. Embodying a 'Sex and the City' spirit, these women are unfulfilled party girls who have momentarily slid over to the dark side, hell-bent on finding love and connection. The stories are tied together by the novella 'The Joy of Funerals,' which follows the life of Nina, a single thirtysomething woman who attends the funerals of the deceased characters in the previous tales, all in the hope of bonding with others. With raw wit, mordant humor, and a penetrating voice throughout, talented newcomer Alix Strauss offers a clever and provocative take on life in the big city."

BOTTOM LINE:
I would definitely suggest buying this book, as it's one you'll want to revisit. It made me laugh and feel lonely and loved at the same time; I don't usually cry at books, but for some of you it may also bring tears.

P.S.:
The summary above (from the back cover) is good in giving a basic description of the novel and is very accurate in portraying it as witty and clever and etc., but in some ways I think it almost sells it short (example: I wouldn't compare it to "Sex and the City," which is a show I love - by the way - but which I don't think is equivalent to these beautifully written stories).

This collecton of stories is smartly written. I found the characters to be quite well drawn. By focusing on the theme of funerals, the author places all of the women she writes about in unusual and challenging situations. It is crafted with a clever sense of humor and I enjoyed the way all of the stories were woven together in the novella at the end. I gave this book to a few friends who love short stories and they have all recommended it to others.

Let's not talk about the intelligence of the narrative- (a series of seemingly unrelated short stories all involving death and funerals that culminate in one final story that tie them all together) or the insight it probably required to create so many consistently rich and unique, characters who (although are all somehow influenced if not obsessed with death and dying) are still fundamentally vital human beings. Let's not even talk about the ease in which one slips into each story or the humor that comes from each character's [very real] specificity.

On a purely technical level, Strauss' writing is innovative, her word choice and narrative/structural choices are wholly well informed and on all levels serve to draw the reader into what is already, in itself, a very delicate and delicious subject matter.

She is a writer's writer with a rare insight that makes the rest of today's Urban interest fiction seem bland and flavorless, no offense to The Devil Wears Prada...

Anyone who has been fortunate enough to have seen the beauty in something which had till then been otherwise discounted as worthless, taboo, disgusting, ugly, or undesireable will immediately appreciate this book. Anyone who has not, should read it in hopes that someday they will.

I thought The Joy of Funerals was a quick and interesting read (which doesn't mean it lacks substance - just that Ms. Strauss is a good storyteller). Ms. Strauss takes a "taboo" subject and turns it into something we can all read about without guilt and actually enjoy. I think how you'll take to this book depends on your views about death and funerals, but for me personally, funerals are not really talked about. They're just something to do when someone dies, and that's that. So for me, to build a whole book around the subject was a treat.

So yes, the main theme in this book is funerals, but each story has it's own plot, it's own twist. Ms. Strauss goes one step further and ends The Joy of Funerals with a novella that ties all the previous (except one) stories together. You get to flash back to a story you just finished and then view it from a different point of view. This was a surprise to me because I didn't read any of the reviews posted here until I finished the book, so it took me a few paragraphs to get that the author was doing this. It may sound redundant, but in all reality, it's not. Structuring a novella this way only gives you a different perspective of a story already told without rehashing details again.

All in all, I would recommend this point to anyone who just loves a good story. I read this book fast and kept on thinking how I wanted to pick it up and read, read, read. I just hope Ms. Strauss comes out with more in the future. She's on my list a intriguing authors.

Although I recently faulted Paul Theroux in his recent book for giving us what I thought were works-in-process for the same story, Alix Strauss has, in my opinion, successfully told her stories from different overlapping viewpoints. This is what I felt was lacking in the Theroux. With Struass you wonder if the title story came first and then the enrichments followed or whether the shorter stories were the burgeoning ideas that came together in the larger. No matter. It was all so skillfully done. Despite the act that the subject was a little tender for me having lost a loved one recently, Strauss's creative skills kept me involved with her ideas and never allowed me to stray into my own grieving ones. Despite the subject matter - a great read.

I have not read such an original book in.... I don't know how long. Ms. Strauss takes the tiem to paint such vivid images that one feels as if they were watching a film. The stories are wonderful and compelling and it is no wonder I had to stay up with the bedtable lamp on (bothering my trying to sleep wife)to finish it the day I purchased the book.

People might compare the book to "Six Feet Under" but they would be wrong. The Joy Of Funerals is an original. The characters jump from the page with a life of their own. Ms. Strauss also is able to weave characters from the earlier short stories into the novela to great effect. (Kind of a stroll down funeral lane!)

Not at all dark or depressing, Funerals is a take on a subject we all have to deal with, death. I would suggest that you take a look at this book, then buy it. Actually, buy two copies. If you only buy one, you wil lend it to a friend and may never get it back!

The title is what first caught my eye--one of those titles that made me say, "Whaaaa?" So I checked it out.

It's tough to acutely depict the message Ms. Strauss tries to get across in this work--one must see it with his or her own eyes. One must read the novel and interpret the ideas with one's own mind. Each of the stories that comprise the novel are braided into one another until the final, which makes the work particularly noteworthy.

This work is a different read; a novel with smart organization and catalytic prose.

I recommend it.

This is a dark, wry, witty, and wonderful book.