Judith L. (jlautner) reviewed on + 105 more book reviews
When I first started reading these short stories, I was reminded of the New Yorker magazine that my mother subscribed to many years ago. I would leaf through each new issue just to see the cartoons, but after a while I got curious about the articles and stories as well.
My first impression was that they were lengthy and that the stories did not go far. I felt like I was reading and reading about nothing. And so it was when I started reading these stories, many of which did, indeed, appear in the New Yorker. They tend to ramble a bit and not a lot happens. Events are not especially visible as they happen inside a character's head or only inside the reader's head, actually.
I did develop an appreciation for O'Hara's skill with conversation, however. And with the ways a Pennsylvanian may have seen the world during the Pre-, present, and post-war years (WWII). He paints a picture of a person through his dialogue. Physical features tend to be sketched lightly in comparison.
Some of the stories did not get to me, while others made me laugh or shrug or think. I spent months reading this tome, as I think it works to pick it up, read a story, and set it down again. No point in rushing.
My first impression was that they were lengthy and that the stories did not go far. I felt like I was reading and reading about nothing. And so it was when I started reading these stories, many of which did, indeed, appear in the New Yorker. They tend to ramble a bit and not a lot happens. Events are not especially visible as they happen inside a character's head or only inside the reader's head, actually.
I did develop an appreciation for O'Hara's skill with conversation, however. And with the ways a Pennsylvanian may have seen the world during the Pre-, present, and post-war years (WWII). He paints a picture of a person through his dialogue. Physical features tend to be sketched lightly in comparison.
Some of the stories did not get to me, while others made me laugh or shrug or think. I spent months reading this tome, as I think it works to pick it up, read a story, and set it down again. No point in rushing.
