Short Story Monday
Last Monday, I summarized the first half of the book, so look there if you’d like more info on all the stories in this book. This week, we have:
“The Christmas Baramundi”
Definitely the most depressing story in the book, and one of the few I really didn’t care for. A woman thinks she meets the perfect man, but then finds out differently.
“This Year It Will Be Different”
This one is also depressing. A woman thinks her family wants to help her with all the Christmas preparations, but do they?
“Season of Fuss”
This time, a woman’s family helps with the preparations, but is that what she really wants?
“A Typical Irish Christmas. . . ”
This one’s nice. A family is reunited.
“Traveling Hopefully”
A man and a woman are stuck on a long plane ride together. Will the relationship continue after the flight?
“What Is Happiness?”
A boy is caught up in his father’s infidelity when the mistress stalks the family.
“The Best Inn in Town”
Two grandmothers fight over their turf in a family that is usually united over the subject.
I would have to say I much preferred the first half of the book to the second half. The second half of the book is much more depressing. While the families depicted in the first half were far from perfect, there was at least a little hope involved. Not so in some of these later stories. However, overall I did enjoy the book and would recommend it for the Christmas season.
1996, 210 pp.
Rating: 4
Maybe it wasn’t the stories as much as the layout- perhaps the more depressing one should have gone first, that way you’d have ended on a high note.
Oh I love the Christmas theme of your blog layout!
I have this book somewhere. I like Binchy’s writing although she can be depressing. Irish writers aren’t known for their sunny outlook.
Her novels are better, in my opinion. So don’t give up on Binchy yet! As a collection though, I certainly feel a good sense of Ireland after reading her stories. They can’t have been more depressing than my Irish Stories for Christmas.
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