Help! tell plz as In Too Deep: And Other Short Stories by Billy O'Callaghan (Goodreads Author) direct link story iBooks book spanish

Help! tell plz as In Too Deep: And Other Short Stories by Billy O'Callaghan (Goodreads Author) direct link story iBooks book

Book description

Book description
I took my first taste of the gentle sharpness of O’Callaghan’s poetic prose barely two months ago (The Things We Lose, The Things We Leave Behind, reviewed HERE), but was hungry for more. I was not disappointed.For me, the standout piece, that demonstrates O’Callaghan’s virtuosity in juggling tenderness, insight, beauty, and sadness - without ever straying into sentimentality or misery is The Inner Light, in which a dying man reassures his eight-year old grandson - and perhaps, himself: The sky still scratched itself pale at dawn and set itself alight just before night came tumbling in… ’See how when the light comes in at a certain angle all that dust starts to shimmer?’... motes of dust fluttering in a veil of light, spores that danced and spun again on stray, wandering breaths”. When the light falls away, the specks are still there, unseen, as the old man will be when he dies: “I beat a drum in your heart when you run and I tickle your mouth when you laugh.” Beautiful words that reassure about death for the one who dies, and those left behind. “Feeling pain is at least feeling alive.”Separate and ConnectedHaving read the brilliant collection of O’Callaghan’s stories that follow this, I see the similarities and differences, the separation and connection within and between them. It is the same poetic, painterly, analytical mind behind the beautiful words and sad situations, and the stories, diverse as they are, clearly belong between the same covers. But whereas The Things We Lose mostly concerns people confronting loss or imminent loss, this collection is primarily about people who are discarded, overlooked, ostracised, forgotten, or ignored. Some have appalling bad luck, some are pushed, and some jump, but a few resist, or even fight back. The undertow may drag them down, but hope buoys them up. There is revenge for a few.There’s a mix of first and third person narration, mostly set in Ireland, one in Paris, and several in US, but none in Asia, this time. I love the elemental descriptions of nature (though less rain than in The Things We Lose) and wrinkled skin. There are chance encounters with strangers (especially book-reading women), but bad luck and oversight mean happy endings are not guaranteed. There are abusers and the abused, unwanted rescues, and doubts about action, inaction, guilt, life, and death.In addition, a couple of these stories are echoed by ones in the later collection. Spotting a book-reading girl on a train (Love Sick) has some similarities with the story, Lila, and a split, linked with astronomy (Syzygy), has similarities with Are the Stars Out Tonight?The 20 StoriesThese are in a spoiler tag for brevity and easy scrolling; there arent actually any spoilers.(view spoiler)[Love Sick“I traced the tangle of veins a little way up her arm and decided that I wanted to play that game for ever.”Do you believe in love at first sight, and if so, what would you risk for it, what hurdles would you, could you overcome? “Love is like trying to create fire or water from thin air, the very same sort of magic.”SecretsAlmost the opposite of the previous story: third person narration (instead of first), in Paris (not, presumably, Ireland), and it’s the book-reading stranger who make the move. And then it’s all very different, slightly darker, more measured and grown up.The Cost of LovingA big change of style: mafia/drug boss, trophy wife, hit man, a possible accident - and a twist.Dog DaysThis starts with a strikingly poetic description of garbage (it’s set in the US): “Dog days… When the air has its own sound, when the streets are empty of people yet full of people’s waste. Rags of newspaper bound and tumble along, then mildew to death in the sodden gutters, their warnings and promises melting into the same inky pulp to be forgotten by the world.”It’s easy to miss the skill and subtlety of the pacing, so when the story slowly unravels, the shocking end is even more of a jolt, jarring with the earlier lyricism. Syzygy“A day of two dawns, the day when life’s road split.”A civilized separation on the day of a solar eclipse, where the departing partner is “using the significance of one event to heighten that of the other”. But how can it not be significant, with “imminent celestial alchemy”?I have strong memories of being in Cornwall in 1999 for a solar eclipse and saying it “kicked awake some sort of primal instinct” is perfect. Sudden darkness, sudden cold, sudden silence. Then instant daylight, at which birds took off and animals started vocalising again. “After the darkness, everything seemed more vital and alive, colours appeared far more brilliant than before.”Little Indignities“He’d say just the right things to feed her addiction. The time that spun between his visits… allowing her to endlessly reconstruct their moments together until they meshed perfectly with her fantasy.”Spousal abuse is often an open secret in a small community. What can, should, anyone do? What are the risks of an accusation, whether it’s true or false? This is a chillingly plausible tale, demonstrating that things aren’t always what they seem. More Than One Way to Skin a CatI thought this the weakest story, exacerbated by coming immediately after Little Indignities, with which it has many similarities, but told like more of an email or pub anecdote.This Bird has FlownA tender, chance encounter with a lonely stranger, this time in hospital, when going to visit an aunt.Better Days“She wanted the loose ends bound so that they might be more easily forgotten.”Do you recognise people out of context, many years later? Would you want to compare your childhood dreams with what you’ve become?Sudden, torrential rain leads two people to squeeze in a phone box. First loves from more than a decade ago. Then the rain stops.The Black and TanA lone soldier is captured, but no knowledge of Irish history is required: it’s the textures of the landscape that captivated me. This was one of my favourite pieces, despite my general lack of interest in war stories, because this is not really a war story, and kindness can be coupled with atrocity. • “The muddy sky heaved and gave up its first cold drops of rain. Within a minute or two it overcame its initial hesitation and became the downpour.”• “The unmistakable beat of fast-running water even through the percussive shuffle of the rain.”• “There was something comforting about the rain, how it fattened the air, its coldness making everything feel clean.”• “The rush of another unseen stream beat noise into the day; its urgency agitating and unsettling.”On the Beach“Out on the beach, this late in the evening, there were only two shades to the whole world, the brazen yellow of fading light and the blackened pressure of shadows.”Having recently read Banville’s The Sea (reviewed HERE), I saw similarities, but this is very much its own story. In both, a man is recalling a beach tragedy of his youth - but unlike Banville’s protagonist, this one is young (mid twenties), and making a fresh start. His life may be scarred, but not necessarily overwhelmed indefinitely.“The waves broke softly… savouring the relentless ease of the sound, the gentle conversation between the sea and the land.”An Immigrant’s Christmas EveA Polish single mother is homesick, but “regret is a useless emotion” and “two is more than enough to make a family”.The Christmas LetterThe power of hope and faith, long after logic would dismiss them, and willing belief in the barely believable, because the truth is too painful.This is a good counterpoint to Little Indignities: in this, someone does take decisive action they think will bring happiness to someone, but the ramifications are uncertain.The Inner LightExquisite. In addition to softening the idea of death by analogy with motes of dust, caught in light (quoted at the top of this review), the story illustrates the slipping away of life, especially as shown in the old man’s voice, with the boy “crying soundlessly, waiting for old to become ancient and ancient to become dust. The old man wanted to soar, but this one anchor was enough to keep him grounded.”• “The sound that wheezed to the surface was as dry and blanched as withered November leaves.”• “He could feel the frail words flutter winged from his mouth, and almost expected to see them in flight.”• “The answering sigh had the same crumbling texture as the words.”• “When his voice came, it felt separate from his body, full of air, a long steady stream that whispered of its own accord.”Heavy Seas“A miracle, everyone said”, of the 22-year old who survived a small wreck, in which his friends drowned. But miracles are not always happy or easy to live with. “There was something necessary about being alone… Around his family, he became ghostly.”A World of Dark-Haired BeautiesA survivor of Vietnam, apparently suffering from PTSD, but nevertheless, a powerfully unsympathetic character because of how he treats his mother and the way he thinks of younger women.After the HeistThe narrator is proud of the bank job he’s just been involved in, and relishes TV reports showing experts’ awe. But the gang need to lie low, and separately for a while, as agreed. But life doesn’t always go according to plan, does it? In Too DeepThe whiskey-drinking priest is not the Whiskey Priest in the sense that Graham Greene coined the phrase, but the former is under the shadow of accusations against the latter, so he goes for a late-night walk on the beach, barefoot, pondering guilt and innocence, life and death.Fit for a High KingA single man, 52, unmarried, with no family, lives a very simple life and measures his success by the money he has made - though he has little idea or inclination of how to spend it. He has an idea, and it becomes a major project. He will leave something “fit for a high king”. A tribute to himself, his family, or just a way to be remembered? After all, “it wasn’t hulking headstones that made the high Kings, or even that preserved the memory of them. Only stories did that.”Revelations“Words of love take a lot of practice in order to make them sound casual.”This felt a little out of place: longer, less lyrical, and with an undeveloped supernatural slant. There’s a slightly strained relationship, and a man on a business trip spooked by passing his double on the street and seeing a mermaid mosaic that triggers a dream.The ending was perhaps wise and true, but rather downbeat: “Contentment lies sprawled across that middle ground and, when we get right down to it, that in-between stretch is really not such a bad place in which to dwell.” (hide spoiler)]
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Help! tell plz as In Too Deep: And Other Short Stories by Billy O&#39;Callaghan (Goodreads Author) direct link story iBooks book spanish

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