Customer Reviews

The Reasons I Won't Be Coming

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

 

 

Elliot Perlman's collection of short stories, THE REASONS I WON'T BE COMING, was a Christmas gift that I put on my stack of books to be read. I'm not sure how it worked its way to the top of the pile so quickly, but after reading the wee introductory offering, "Good Morning, Again" I had to read the other eight.

I found all nine to be good stories, and, as other reviewers have pointed out, the final piece was an excellent representation, and perhaps even a stand-alone work, but for me, the story that was the most powerful and complete was "I Was Only in a Childish Way Connected to the Established Order." Besides being well crafted, with most of the characters highly developed, it was a story describing the allusiveness of sanity. Examining what is crazy, and what is normal through the eyes of a poet is nothing new, but here Perlman takes a fresh approach, moving from a blissful city life to the stress and strain of a country existence.

Though these stories are perhaps not as creatively sophisticated as Perlman's novel, SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY (shich I strongly recommend), they are nonetheless compelling and satisfying in their own right. My understanding is that he wrote them prior to SEVEN TYPES . . . , so they offer a glimpse into the tremendous potential that was to be fuly realized in the longer work. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. Perman's voices are memorable, and his themes are poignant. The first and last stories, for example, are two of my favorites, yet they are completely different in style, setting, plot and characterization. In this way, I believe that the shorter literary form serves Perlman's talent for versatility well. Indeed, it is exciting to consider what he will give us next.

Perlman's writing style is the kind of deceptively simple literary pulp that might finally bring intelligent books back into vogue. The mass-produced mush that often clots the shelves of bookstores has its place, but it has also made works of genius tiresome affairs for most people. No one likes to be talked down to, least of all by an inanimate object.

Perlman's writing follows in the footsteps of authors like Cheever and Carver, men who throw their ten cents in but make it look like two. These are the kinds of works that don't fly over the head, but that are also much deeper and more dangerous than they initially seem. As a result, people don't feel alienated by the text, nor do the intelligentsia feel slighted by the material.

Short stories are tough acts for novelists, though. Even if Perlman's deft strokes show in the tales of this book, his limitations are likewise revealed. How to contain, in a handful of pages, the breadth and beauty that these guys more artfully employ in hundreds of pages or more? Below is a brief list of the stories, in order of accomplishment.

1 Star - MANSLAUGHTER - An overlong excuse for Perlman to use the technical knowledge he has gained in his work as a barrister. The fluctuating narratorial threads and the ambivalent emotion of the piece showcase the post-modern emotion behind concepts like "guilt" and "justice," but the overall product is bloated, unwieldy, and boring in the way of uber-technical curios.

2 Stars - THE HONG KONG FIR DOCTRINE & SPITALNIC'S LAST YEAR - Both of these are brief character pieces that suffer from opposite maladies. The first has an ending that is far too on the nose; the strength of the metaphor that Perlman employs (the title's doctrine) is sapped by his overt use of it. The second, about a grad student with lousy luck (mostly in love), has an ending so foggy and unrefined that it makes a mockery of the word "last" in the title. If that's where the impetus of the story is to lie, in the word "last," then I'd suggest the story didn't need to be quite so deliberate with its details.

3 Stars - YOUR NIECE'S SPEECH NIGHT & A TALE IN TWO CITIES - The former is a stream-of-consciousness look at the thoughts of a man who is jilted by a duplicitous lover. The story is told in the fashion that Perlman seems to enjoy the most (i.e. to "you"), and although it is a remarkably intense piece, the narrator's muddled mess of a mind makes it hard to read. Ultimately, the monologue collapses under the cleverness of the plot and the stupidity (or ignorance) of the main character. The latter story is a brief treatise on the historical persecution of Russian jews mingled with a tongue-in-cheek detective story about a missing brother. Both stories have Perlman's flair for language and revelation, but the two threads do NOT mix well at all. Perlman is good, but not good enough to flop back and forth between weighty social portents and breezy barroom jokes.

4 Stars - GOOD MORNING, AGAIN & THE REASONS I WON'T BE COMING & I WAS ONLY IN A CHILDISH WAY CONNECTED TO THE ESTABLISHED ORDER - The mental flotsam that fills a man's head in the post-dawn hours after a one-night stand. The simple and somehow unsurprising steps that lead numbly and quietly to a seemingly happy couple's separation. The steady wasting away of a poet's sanity and the things it takes for him to find his own heart again. Solidly driven, all of these pieces, and containing the multi-layered punch of Perlman's seductive prose.

5 Stars - IN THE TIME OF DINOSAURS - Writing from the perspective of a young boy who watches his family fall apart, the pathos and tender withdrawl of this story is eloquently realized. No maudlin strings are pulled, and emotion is consciously toned down, so that the young child's experiences seem ever more present. Perlman refuses to inject his narrator's world with the judgements and understandings of a man more mature, allowing his readers to do that for him. The effect is stunning.

It's the good and the bad. The dull and the sparkling. Short story collections are often hit and miss. As far as this book's score, well, you do the math.

Elliot Perlman is an AMAZING writer. i can't wait for his next book. Seven Types follows one elaborate story through the eyes of seven different people. While this page-turner is full of eloquent prose, Perlman also weaves his very liberal politics into all of his stories -- I wouldn't necessarily recommend his works for those on the far right.

I'm a fan of Elliot Perlman, have been since reading his gargantuan masterpiece `Seven Types of Ambiguity' and so when I stumbled across `The Reasons I Won't be Coming' at my local bargain bookstore I had to have a copy. This is a collection of 9 short stories, some longer than others that at times either shine a spotlight on Perlman's talent or, to some extent, dim that light. There are some great stories here, `In the Time of the Dinosaur' stands out as my favorite I believe, but there are also some I could have done without.

Reading this collection I noticed something about this author I've come to love, and that is that he tends to have a one track mind when it comes to his characters. Every narrator, that aside from the one in `In the Time of the Dinosaur', seems to be these smart literary lost souls who can never find the right person who understands them. It can get somewhat redundant and disappointing. That aside, one can't ignore this man's mastery of the English language. Everything is written so elegantly that you're compelled to enjoy it even if you don't really understand it.

He starts things off on a good note, with `Good Morning, Again', and what I liked about this opening story is that it was short and to the point, grabbed your interest and made you want to read more. It describes one mans feelings after spending the night for the first time with a new lover, how she compares to his former flame and whether or not he wishes to continue down the road to a relationship with this younger woman. It's very real and very relatable. Again, Perlman's writing is just so absorbing.

What makes `In the Time of the Dinosaur' my favorite story here is the mere fact that Elliot takes the narrative of a young boy, kindergarten age most likely, and makes it interesting, but most important of all, realistic. When I first started reading and realized how young the boy was I was afraid that Elliot would end up giving him the same vocabulary as his adult narrators but he did nothing of the sort. Instead he gave young Lucas the mentality and the grammar of a child his age. The story is bitter sweet, starting off somewhat cute and then developing into a very somber study of a child's viewpoint and or understanding of his parents deteriorating marriage. The boy never realizes what's really going on and so, even thought it's obvious to the reader, we're only given the boys interpretation of the events surrounding him. Very well written and short enough to reach the heart without overstaying it's welcome.

`Your Niece's Speech Night' is the first story in the bunch that resorts back to the Perlman I know from `Seven Types of Ambiguity', the heavy wording, the intriguing characterization, the thought provoking dialog. Here Elliot discusses an office romance that may or may not be serious, and as the narrator recounts his meeting with his lover as well as the events proceeding that leave him sitting in an auditorium with her sister and brother-in-law watching her niece give a speech while she's no where in sight. The ending is rather ambiguous itself, and that last sentence alone is worth the read, but it still pales in comparison to some of the superior work resting beside it.

`The Reasons I Won't Be Coming' may be my second favorite story here, and the reason for that is it shows what can happen when a simple misunderstanding is blown out of proportion, how a simple conversation can mean one thing to one party and the complete opposite to the other. Here Perlman gives us a married couple who've been through the worst together (losing a child to what appears to be murder or some other police matter) and yet it's a conversation about their engagement so many years ago that sparks feelings that may or may not have been festering for years. It's a somber piece of literature that hits deep.

One of my least favorites is `Manslaughter'. In this story Perlman dissects the courtroom as a jury decides whether or not to convict a man of murder. The story is a bit long for me, at least for what it has to say, but it's very well written and I was intrigued for the majority of the time. I didn't feel any real connection to any of the characters though, probably due to the fact that no one was really explained very well. It felt as though this could have been a test run for the courtroom scenes that took place in `Seven Types of Ambiguity', the former of which worked much better.

`The Hong Kong Fir Doctrine' reads like a plea from a jaded lover, a man who had an affair with a married student of his (or ex-student to be more exact) that caused her pregnancy and then in effect put an end to their relationship. He's mourning the loss of her companionship when he half expected to have her forever, for her to leave her husband and maybe even her children and stay with him. It's a little whiney to be honest, but it's still beautifully written. That's one thing that can't be repeated enough when in regards to Elliot Perlman, he's a phenomenal writer who knows haw to paint a picture so clear and relatable.

Close to the best in the bunch, `I Was Only in a Childish Way Connected to the Established Order' perfectly creates a mood of misery and depression as it accounts the life of a man growing crazier and crazier quite possibly because of the lack of love and acceptance around him. Our narrator is married, has a son, has a farm and yet lacks everything that could make him happy. His wife despises him, his son is never around and his farm never interested him in the least. The story tells of his visits to a mental hospital and then ends in tragedy that much resembles the life of the poet he so idolizes. Perlman's style is at its most graceful and informative and never leaves the reader bored or tired but keeps him or her glued with anticipation. The biggest compliment I can give this story is that at times it reminds me of Andre Dubus' masterpiece `A Fathers Story', a story that still haunts me.

`Spitalnic's Last Year' is actually quite good once you get passed that horrible name. It really shows the affect relationships can have on a young boy, how the aftershock of a failed romance can haunt you and play a large role in your future failures. All I could think while reading the final paragraphs when you know what's going to happen without Perlman having to spell it out for you was `I wonder what the so-called loves of his lives will think of themselves now'. It's not perfect, but it's effective.

The final story in this collection entitled `A Tale in Two Cities' is broken up into two sections, the first taking place in Moscow, the second in Melbourne. The story revolves around Rose and her family, a Jewish family living in Moscow Russia and their eventual move to Melbourne Australia to escape the misery that the Russian community heaped upon them daily. The first half takes place when Rose was young, before their move, and explains their life in turmoil, her parent's situation, her fathers temper and her mother's loud mouth. The story begins with Rose seeking out a private investigator, and it's at the end of the first section that we are brought to the now and realize why that investigator is so important.

Well, honestly I was very disappointed with this final story as a whole. It starts off strong, the first part being very detailed and informative and it made me like these people and want to know more about them, but then the second half comes along with it's investigator who's as amateur as they come and the whole feel of the story went from this beautifully tragic holocaust type story to a failed adventure of Nancy Drew and an overweight Hardy Boy (I say overweight because he's referred to as a bear, but that could just be because he's hairy). It just fails to live up to its potential. The conversations and the plot become forced and simplistic and it just doesn't work.

So, in the end I'm glad I read this collection. For the most part Elliot Perlman is a great writer and still manages to grip the reader from start to finish, but as is seen with this group of writings, he has his faults and his boundaries. Like I said, at times his characters can feel all too similar, but it's easily overlooked. He's not perfect, or I should say has yet to perfect his craft, but he's still a worthy read and one that is full of surprising touches of grace and sentiment. If you're already a fan of his work then try this one of for size, and if you're looking to break into reading some of his work then this is probably a good start since it's less daunting than a 600+ page novel and will still give you insight into his style and his magnetism.

I am a huge short story fan and was excited to pick this book up. I hadn't heard of it previously but reviews seemed good enough and I quite liked the title. The first story alone did not enrapture me as I'd hoped it would, but I read on. When I finished the last story, I was relieved that I could finally move on to a new book. That's how I felt during many of the stories: wondering when it would be over or if there would be a conclusion or gripping last line that would make it worth it. There never was. Throughout the 300 some odd pages in this collection, there were several instances where I fell in love with a sentence. Perlman surely holds the ability to write a fantastic sentence, but it rarely translates through an entire story. I enjoyed some of the characters but all these stories later, nothing stands out. A mediocre work, but possible to get through, so with that I give it 3 stars.

While it's easy to find books about women who are treated badly by the men in their lives, Elliot Perlman flips the script by writing about the dashed hopes and faded impressions of middle-aged men. The result is a fascinating, beautifully tragic collection of stories about those we forget exist but are very likely surrounding us.

The women are the heartbreakers here--usually cheaters, sometimes just wives who make no attempt to hide their contempt or yearnings for something better. Perlman's real talent is his ability to enter the mind and hearts of the deeply humiliated. It is in the exploration of naked male emotion that these stories grab you tightly.

Unfortunately, as the stories go along you find a familiar pattern (indeed, I feel confident saying this even though I have not yet read the final story). Heartbreak, loneliness, disappointment, something greater than a mid-life crisis--mid-life desperation?--for the protagonists becomes expected, to the point where the eighth story is somewhat predictable in its outcome. I appreciate short stories that showcase human failings in ways that novels rarely do, but it would have been nice to place at least one character in an unexpected situation.

In short, each story on its own is a gem (a cliched phrase the likes of which you will never find in the book), but all of them together end up with a slightly boring aftertaste. Break it up into pieces...read the stories a few months apart instead of one right after another...and you may spare yourself the slight disappointment of predictability.

I recently read a book review which said, to paraphrase, that love can have happy endings, but love stories cannot. There's no better example of this than Elliot Perlman's collection of short stories, The Reasons I Won't Be Coming. They're not all about love, but the bulk of them are, and those are the ones that stayed with me, too. 'Good Morning, Again', for instance, is the account of a man who wakes up with a new lover next to him - but remembers the one who had his heart, who went before. 'Spitalnic's Last Year' is the tale of a university student who is searching for love - but both his desire to be in love and the often misguided objects of his affection both serve him poorly.

What I loved about this collection was how different they all were - in theme, in length and in style. I had picked up this book after loving Perlman's "Seven Types of Ambiguity," and was not disappointed here. In fact, I would say that perhaps the writing here is even richer, more poetic. The author has to be less focused on drawing the reader in to the narrative (although obviously that is important, too) than on drawing the reader in with his words. And what fine words they are.

I was so excited to read this book for my book club based on the few reviews here. I was sorely disappointed. The opening story failed to capture me and left me thinking; "Why should I care about this character?" This feeling didn't go away throughout the book. Perlman LOVES the "in media res" method (starting the story in the middle, allowing the reader to gather information as the story continues), after awhile this gets annoying. Another annoyance is that he seems to think men are scum, more so than a typical college coed looking for Mr. Right. This made some stories predictable. Finally, Mr. Perlman's use of point of view... I dislike when a character, who I know nothing about yet, because of the "in media res" says "you," seemingly to me, putting me on edge, gathering the material, trying to solve the problem, only to later discover it's not me(obviously - but I never knew who it was so I had to assume the role)....arghhhh! I gave 2 stars because there were out of the nine, two stories that I enjoyed.