Rate this book

Whirl Away (2012)

by Russell Wangersky(Favorite Author)

3.33 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0887629369 (ISBN13: 9780887629365)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Thomas Allen Publishers

review 1: The characters who populate the stories in Russell Wangersky's collection Whirl Away are risk takers who frequently face down life-threatening situations and even death—or else embark on risky behaviour that leads them to the brink of what is morally or socially acceptable. Because of this, most of these grim, spare stories have some degree of narrative urgency about them that propels the reader through. Wangersky's most trusted strategy is to drop the reader into a situation that is well on its way to completion, or which has been concluded some time ago and the narrator is reviewing it in flashback. These approaches are effective and make for compelling reading more often than not. However, when the same narrative structures are repeated over several stories in success... moreion, the result can seem monotonous and somewhat predictable. The best stories here are the ones in which we see a character at a significant life moment, and either he (or she) reaches a decision ("No Harm, No Foul") or must pay the price for past transgressions ("Family Law"). Other stories succeed because Wangersky cleverly structures the narrative so that the reader becomes heavily invested in a character's fate (“Open Arms,” "I Like"). The less successful stories are the ones where a character acts impulsively or obsessively, taking risks that seem foolish (“911“), or imperiling a relationship for no good reason (“Sharp Corner”). Throughout, the writing exhibits the blunt terseness of the best journalism, a quality that makes every word count but also means literary flourishes are few. The subject matter (broken relationships, personal tragedies) leans toward the gloomy side of human experience (few if any of Wangersky's characters are happy about anything), but Whirl Away is still enjoyable and thought-provoking for anyone interested in the art of the short story. The book was long-listed for the 2013 Giller Prize and won the 2013 Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize.
review 2: Although I feel Whirl Away was a weaker contender compared to the other Giller nominees, this book was overall a pleasure to read for its short, but poignant, stories. I definitely had favourite (and not-so-favourite) parts of this book, but this is inevitable when the characters are situated in different times and spaces. It's easy to forget that every part is written by the same author because each story has a different 'voice', but the level of description seems fairly constant throughout. Wangersky's book will appeal to readers who like variety as well as those who enjoy slower-paced psychological fiction and/or descriptive prose (largely of rural Canada and the East Coast). less

Download links for: Whirl Away

Advertising