Customer Reviews

Springtime on Mars

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

 

 

I was amazed with the variety of stories told in "Springtime." All of the stories are set approximately between the 1950s and the 1970s and deal with life in middle-income middle America. Some stories are told in first person, others in third, some from the perspective of children, other from adult perspectives. Yet somehow all of the stories seem to have their own, authentic personality, no two sounding alike.

I am not generally a fan of short stories, I often cannot stay interested in a set of characters I know will only be around for 20 pages or so. However, "Springtime on Mars" kept me wanting to see what characters Woodring was going to introduce next. I was more invested in "Springtime on Mars" than I have been with any collection of short stories since "Interpreter of Maladies." The subjects, and even the writing styles, of the two books are very different, but the heart is the same. I would recommend "Springtime on Mars" to fans of short stories as well as to those who would like to give short stories a try.

Springtime on Mars by Susan Woodring is a short story collection filled with intensely personal domestic situations of quiet desperation. There are 11 stories, set in the 1950's until the present day, loosely connected by recurrent themes of science and technology, marriage and relationships, love and loss.

Charming, deceptively simple, and utterly American, many of these tales depict the country at the brink of change and huge scientific advances. Others show the struggle between faith in God and faith in science. Ranging from the introduction of the television into our living rooms, to the Kennedy assassination, to the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, Springtime on Mars holds up a mirror and shows us not only who we were, but who we are.

Woodring breathes life into her characters so quickly- within a few short paragraphs you fully grasp who they are. I was perhaps most touched and completely caught off guard by the story Beautiful, in which a father is staying in a hotel, apart from his family, on an extended business trip. His wife and daughters come down for a visit, but there are huge walls of silence and misunderstanding. He realizes his 13 year old didn't want to make the trip; she seems embarrassed and unsure of how to act around her dad. He then remembers how it used to be:

"When she was little, though, she used to cup his face in her hands and draw it very close to her own. Listen, she would say. There's a crisis on planet Gimbel and we have to go there now. "

Throughout that story, I was rooting for the dad so much. I kept thinking, Do something! You're going to lose your family! The relief I felt when he finally took some action to connect with his kids is hard to describe. I got so choked up and was surprised at how much it affected me.

Susan Woodring has a unique voice and a disarming style. Many short story collections are woefully uneven, but that is not the case here. I found real moments of charm and humor in every single story. I enjoyed this book so much and enthusiastically recommend it.

Over and over again, I've heard that it takes more talent to write a short story than a long novel. It makes sense: you have a limited number of words with which to tell a story, which forces you to cut to the heart of matters very quickly. Every word counts. Knowing this, I have to say that Susan Woodring is an excellent writer! The short stories in Springtime on Mars (Press 53, February 2008) are brilliantly written, and manage to capture very believable snapshots of American life druing certain points of time.

Woodring sets the tone for each story very quickly, and although the emotions felt by the characters range from love to grief to bewilderment to disappointment, I was able to really get into the characters' shoes and feel what they were feeling. I think Woodring's biggest talent is the believability she brings to her characters. Her words literally breathe life into the characters in the stories, and by the end of a few pages, they were no longer just characters, they were people whose stories I had come to really care about. If you want to go beyond basic descriptive terms in your writing and really get to the heart of your characters, you will learn a lot by reading Springtime on Mars. And if you're looking for a group of short stories that keep you interested and entertained, look no further! Susan Woodring is definitely a writer to watch!

The following is an excerpt of a review for "Radio Vision," a story included in the collection SPRINGTIME ON MARS.

Some could say President Kennedy's assassination shocked a naive nation. It also awoke conspiracy theories of lurking Russians and cloaked Cubans. "Radio Vision" tells the story of one woman's efforts to return to the mundane, the "comforting efficiency" (I love that line), after national tragedy and hysteria.

Susan Woodring engages the reader with insightful parallels. The character Marianne Binger is more relatable to the reader than Jackie Kennedy: same age, same number of children, wife of a public figure, chain smoker. Marianne is also as ambivalent about her community status as a minister's wife as we now know the first lady was. The most telling parallel exists in the tragic interruption of Marianne's everyday chores, like being caught mid-wave in the backseat of a convertible.

Marianne Binger's children are our own oblivious consciousness. They continue on with everyday rebellions while trauma and horror await right under their noses, and they expose the guilt that comes from not knowing. Woodring reminds us in her haunting narrative that life goes on, and we have more to fear in our own homes than from any conspiracy theory or terrorist. For when one asks Marianne's boys where they were when Kennedy was shot, they won't think of the convertible or the mysterious second gunman or even the young son's salute in his blue seersucker suit; they'll think of their mother at the bottom of the stairs.

Read more of my reviews of Press 53 titles at [...]

Springtime on Mars is an amazing collection of stories by an author who has the insight to create characters that are complex and touching. Although set in the 1950's, her stories illustrate the timeless and universal problems found in relationships between spouses and between parents and children. Each story is unique and each character memorable.

Susan Woodring's collection of eleven short stories in Springtime on Mars spans decades and relationships with each story being a conglomeration of varying thoughts, feelings, and experiences that allow for the inclusion of just about every reader. She writes from various time periods, points of view, and stations of life.

Her characters need no introduction and her technique of simply opening each story somewhere in the middle allows for a much quicker and easier submersion. Though each one only lasts between 15 and 20 pages, the absence of length is not felt in the reading. Woodring's ability to present a situation with little to no background and yet still retain the integrity and depth of emotion speaks to her incredible talent. For example, the story "Morning Again" begins with this sentence: "Harold" I say. "You'd better take me to a rocket launch. I'm sixty-eight years old." In this opening statement, Woodring paints the scene and grasps the reader's attention. Why must Harold take the speaker to a rocket launch? What does their age have to do with it? These questions draw the reader in, making them want to explore and understand, to delve deeper into this character's life.

Susan Woodring's ease of transition and style make reading a breeze and a joy. I found myself finishing the book almost immediately after picking it up. Each story is over before you want it to be, leaving you with the wondering sensation of `what happened'. Yet, as you continue, you begin to realize these stories are simply snippets of these characters lives and are only meant to be as such.

Each story flows easily with the next as the characters share a common emotion or feeling inherent to the human condition. Susan Woodring does a wonderful job of capturing and retelling emotion. To discover and explore a writer with the ability to engage and interest readers, read this book!