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Contos Completos (2012)

by Lydia Davis(Favorite Author)
4.26 of 5 Votes: 4
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English
genre
publisher
Relógio D'Água
review 1: Maybe she's a genius...maybe she has Asperger's Syndrome?I've owned this book for three years,and I have now read all of it. Davis, meantime, has won the International Man Booker, increasing the pressure I already felt to laugh heartily at the deep sophisticated wit of these stories, or delight in their sharp insight, or at chuckle knowingly at the brilliance of their deconstruction of that oppressive thing, the character-centred narrative. But all this time, I haven't really got it. There is definitely nothing lovely about the prose - it is just flat and limpid - or poetic about the images. Then, after a long afternoon with my Aspie godson I started to notice... Davis does all the things my godson does with narrative- notice the wrong bits, tell you the map of a town inst... moreead of about the guy she is with, notice that two women both have a moose on the wall rather than how they feel about each other- maybe Davis is Aspie too? And maybe I am not that keen because I am a long way from Aspie, and find my godson's stories hugely boring even though other people, especially his Aspie friends, find them quirky, amusing,and, yes, a interesting deconstruction of modern thought. Just a thought...
review 2: Well, not really 'finished'. Very unique! Different from any 'short stories' collections I've read. I had not previously heard of her.This is a compilation of stories from four of her previous books. I didn't count them but there must be over 100 total.Assigned 20+ stories for my lit class at the U of M, I borrowed the book from the local library. I read those plus many others. Some are as short at a few words or one sentence. They range from funny to sad -some I did not 'get' - not typical stories with characters and plots as such but rather 'pieces' revealing the workings of the inner mind - all are thought provoking. She is hard to classify so I'll let anyone interested do a bit of research on their own.I'll be getting my own copy this week!ps as I've found with most short story books, picking it up and reading one or two and thinking about it is better than treating it like a novel where there is a connection from one chapter to the other. Sometimes! less
Reviews (see all)
lizzie
It turns out that I don't like Davis' style. I found the stories dry and ponderous and cold.
andrewxswan
short short stories. I admit I only read the ones that were a page or less but still.
jewelsrae
I was not impressed with this book. Although it is thought provoking in some ways.
kitty
fascinerende verhalen, scherpe observaties, fantasievol.
CraziiMadeline
jumping all over the place with this one.
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