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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Don't Throw Stones,
This review is from: Stones (Paperback)
I believe that "Stones" is one of the lesser known books by Findley, and is somewhat weaker than most of his popular works. "Stones" is made up of multiple stories happening to various Canadian characters. The stories generally take up only one chapter and then you don't hear from those characters again. I enjoyed reading this, but am not always a fan of this type of work. I often find myself attached to a specific story and am then disappointed when it is dropped for another; I find myself wanting to know what else happened. However, it is an interesting collection of characters and an interesting portrait of Canadian life.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Leaves you wanting more...,
By
This review is from: Stones (Paperback)
This collection of short stories explores the inner lives of people driven by various dark, shameful secrets: compulsion, alcoholism, incest. The writing is excellent. Findley uses both dialogue and narration to let us see the story from the perspective of the protagonist. What we see is that each character is confused about her or his own motivations and choices. Memories, perceptions, beliefs weave together into tapestries with gaping holes. Thus we, the readers, come to understand that we, too, wouldn't have a clue what to do in the character's situation.
The book certainly displays the author's virtuosity as a writer. It includes two pairs of stories that show events from two perspectives: a character in the moment of crisis, and the same character reflecting on a longer chain of events. It explores several different writing techniques. It weaves autobiographical moments from the life of the author into the lives of different characters. My criticism applies to most of the stories, except for the two where the character reflects on events over time. Each story opens us onto a moment of confusion, madness or sudden clarity. And at the end of the story, we are perched at that moment, wanting to know what happens next. It seems somehow to be a failure of the author (or perhaps the genre of the horror short story) to bring the story to a climax and then abruptly end it, because the author doesn't know where to take the character from there. Overall, this is a very good read, and one that can teach a reader a lot about writing. I read it in one sitting!
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