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Revision as of 08:39, 5 September 2020
, 08:39, 5 September 2020no edit summary
Jeanette Winterson's short ''Dog Days'' closes the book with a stylistically faultless, passionately poetic, poignant but ultimately full of hope celebration of the fiery gloriousness of life itself (as embodied in a young spaniel).
In between those two lies a varied and occasionally uneven assortment of tales of which the most disappointing were was a piece by Geoff Dyer, which seemed like rather utterly inconsequential and forgettable musings suitable for a magazine column, and Victoria Hislop's ''Aflame in Athens'' which tried hard but (mostly due to clunky language and stereotypical characterisation) didn't really succeed in producing a classic short story with a twist.
Sebastian Faulk's ''Family Evening'' and William Sutcliffe's ''Sandcastles: A Negotiation'', both fragments of a larger work, made me want to read the finished novels. The latter presented one of the most incisive and bitingly hilarious analyses of the predicament (and a mindset) of a parent lumbered with two under-fives I have seen for quite a while.
From John Le Carre's little fable of ''The King Who Never Spoke'' to Ali Smith's linguistic and slightly absurd ''Last'', ''Fire'' showcases some of the best contemporary British authors and it's well worth reading for the sheer variety of styles, approaches and subjects. Each writer brings something different to the anthology, and although not many readers will like all the tales, most should enjoy a fair proportion of them.
Thanks to the publishers for sending this book to the BookBag. If you'd like more from Jeff Dyer we can recommend [[Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer|Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi]].
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