A Blue Tale and Other Stories – Marguerite Yourcenar

Published to great acclaim in France in 1993, this collection is not only a delight for Marguerite Yourcenar fans but a welcome port of entry for any reader not yet familiar with the author’s lengthier, more demanding works. The sole published work of fiction by Yourcenar yet to be translated into English, this collection includes three stories written between 1927 and 1930 when the author was in her mid-twenties. These stories cover a range of themes, from an allegory on greed and a scene from the war of the sexes, to a witchhunt that obsessively creates its own quarry.

I admit to picking this up purely because I haven’t reviewed a book by an author whose last name begins with a ‘Y’.  The only other time I picked up a ‘Y’ author was when reading David Yallop‘s, How They Stole the Game, but the machinations of FIFA corruption isn’t to everyone’s interest so that shall be for another day.

A Blue Tale, the book’s title story is a strong start.  The colour blue is used as a simple description for many objects, which in turn allows the reader to visualise and appreciate the many hues of blue, this works both for the visual but also for the different emotional shades of tale.

When other colours are mentioned they gain a more pleasing vibrancy due to the blue saturation, this also helps bring out the geographic imagery of various places as well, as this story is told in the form of an adventure by merchants journeying to the east, with a desire for riches and the (un)expected adversities that this can bring.

Mama Cried – Talia Haven

Jenny was enjoying herself on the swings when Azula, one of the guardians of the playground came to take her away.
Together they journey to a cinder building where Jenny must make a powerful decision.

I have a bit of a conundrum with this review, the story runs for just 12 pages and for the first third relies on mystery, how then, can I review a book without giving anything away to anybody wishing to read it?

The story starts strongly putting you into the immediacy of the moment and really it could go anywhere, there are hints that all is not quite as it seems but due to the length of the story,  you have no need to worry about being in the dark for long.

At first I thought it was going to be a children’s book but it deals with some very strong and poignant themes.  The story relies on touching the feelings of the reader, the emotive impact is, perhaps one we could all imagine finding ourselves dealing with.

A lot of detail is left to the imagination throughout, unsurprisingly.  There is plenty to speculate on and that is, of course the most interesting part of any book, to discuss and to open up new avenues of thought.

For its size this book won’t take long to read, even if you take your time, it does manage to pack in a fair amount of detail and leave enough hinted at for the reader not to be left puzzled by what has transpired.

For the $0.99 price point, this is worth taking a look at,  perhaps more specific details would have made for a more substantial and affecting encounter but overall it is a story that has enough strong themes to make you ponder for a little while.

Once again apologies for not being around your blogs for a while (there will be a post on it at some point soon I expect), I will be round yours soon.

Short Stories for the Hopeful and the Weary – Scott Roloff

It appears my Contact Ste page is paying off, as only a few days after going up an author kindly asked me if I would like to review his new book.

Not one to pass up a chance of a free book, I wiped my suddenly sweaty palms and put fingers to keys in order to reply in the affirmative.

Short Stories for the Hopeful and the Weary is an interesting title and one that appeals to me as it encompasses two polarised feelings which we all of us get at some time or another or perhaps mostly both together.

The cover is fascinating…that fly near the cup is the thing that intrigues me the most but if you ask me why…well I’m not quite sure.  I just notice these things and then my imagination goes into overdrive with various ideas…

Always the sign that it is doing its job then.  There is also the steaming cup and the open scene which is always enticing and allows various thoughts to wander the twilight world, which is always a welcome exercise.

So anyway, the major surprise of the books is that it really is an über short book, the page count being only 22 pages but with the claim of  ‘Four short stories, each with a twist that will puzzle and perplex.’

The stories are:

Nicoli’s Birthday–A young couple travel to Moscow to adopt a child on the eve of war.

A Lifetime Until Dawn–A soldier endures another sleepless night pondering the war atrocities that he committed, or did he?

Saturday’s Crossroad–A husband contemplates life without his wife.

God and the Devil–A journalist interviews the Devil, whose truth is quite different than what we’ve been told.