13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Adventure, Romance, Discoveries: Stories About Travel, September 23, 2005
Alice Adams writes fifteen stories ... each about some travel experience ... every story is different from the other and captures or explores some human emotion, self-discovery, personal quest, conflict or innner turmoil, or gradual awakening to some deeper aspect of being human and alive.
In "You are What You Own: A Notebook", a married couple inherit antique furniture after the death of one of their parents. The author explores the emotional ties of one partner to the furniture. The reader is drawn to how the author examines their marriage through the eyes of the other spouse who comes to unusual discoveries about her self and what she considers important in life. Ultimately, Helen totally surprises herself and the reader by her actions. The deeply engaging story "Return Trips" is about the romance between two people who are wildly in love. The reader learns it is a May/December relationship and Carl has a congenital heart condition, which essentially means ... he is dying. Oblivious to or blocking out the inevitable, they live a carefree existence on an island off the shore of Northern Yugoslavia. Told from the first person view, the main character revisits this island many years later, after she is married and has a successful career. She compares her current feelings and life situation to the memories of those idyllic times in the past. She resolves certain problems in her life by reliving the strong passionate emotions of the past. The story "Time in Sante Fe" examines the unexpected unusual friendship between a straight female and a gay male. They agree to meet in Santa Fe, New Mexico, stay at a hotel together and explore the city and sights. This trip renews their friendship and reinforces their positive feelings for each other. Most importantly it helps them transcend everyday reality to see life from new perspectives. It fulfills each of them in ways they did not imagine. Another extraordinairy story is "Elizabeth", a highly educated and cultured lady with a fine Austrian accent, who touches the lives of two people very deeply. Minerva, a law student, is "house-sitting" when her parents, both psychologists, leave town for a conference. Due to sheer boredom, Minerva invites Elizabeth, the neighbor, over for a swim. She becomes life-long friends with this world-traveler with whom she can share her cultural interests, intimate thoughts, everyday problems and hobbies - more so than with her own parents. Elizabeth buys a house on a beach in Mexico and invites, Judson,a poet, and Minerva, a lawyer ... The two are distantly cordial and each make assumptions about the other's relationship with Elizabeth. Elizabeth's intentions are not clear ... until an unexpected event draws Judson and Minerva closer together. All the stories are contemporary and thoroughly enjoyable to read.
Each story is deeply engaging and captures the readers interest from the beginning. The reader is magnitized and kept glued to the pages as emotions and events are explored, revealing nuances of meaning and transformational experiences. The stories are magical in how they portray the lives of ordinairy or extraordinairy people in either exotic locales or in everyday situations revealing perceptive insights.
Erika Borsos (erikab93)
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Short Stories Dealing with Loss and Love, May 25, 2009
These stories deal with memory, lost love, old homes, broken ties and friendships. They are also about loss and replacement. Sparing of words, Adams reaches deep into the connotations they evoke. A soft phrase becomes a wellspring of thought. Stories of note in this book are the following.
1) Alaska
2) Return Trips - About the figurative link of life's associative memories with all that occurs in the presnt and catalyzes our future. Our collective memory of love on all levels guides our journeys and forms our lives.
3) A Public Pool
4) New Best Friends
5) Elizabeth
I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys short stories and for any fans of Alice Adams.
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