Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Unhappy Endings? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Unhappy Endings. Check out the link below:
>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers
Unhappy Endings ReviewThese four stories all live up to the title's promise: each has an unhappy ending. My favorite was "Ars", which is built around the highly imaginative concept of a crime (and its punishment) that is defined by its "artistic" qualities, as determined by a jury. My least favorite was "Black Market", because the ending was so easily guessed.The stories are well-written: (1) the writing is grammatical; (2) the dialogue is handled well; (3) decent descriptive passages don't overload the storylines; and (4) intriguing story developments are paced so as to keep the reader reading. However, the author seems to be more comfortable as an essayist than as a storyteller. Three of the four stories include quite lengthy passages that expound on the "world view" of the protagonist (and the author?) in the guise of the character's internal thoughts or external conversations with other characters. Also, the protagonists in all four stories sound alike to me--none strike me as being individuals with specific, memorable traits.
Looking at the stories as essays, I'm rather turned off by the author's overall negativism. Whether it's the plight of the homeless ("Extraneous") or the problems of a troubled, sociopathic teenager ("Redemption"), the message is one of hopelessness, because neither the world nor the people in it can ever change. Sometimes, I simply disagree with the expressed premises--for example, this one from "Redemption": "rich, old, . . . women that were middle-aged seemed to go through a rather unique form of mid-life crisis: they would choose a cause. It didn't really matter what it was, it simply gave them a feeling of importance to think that they were helping someone out that was facing injustice." In my opinion, this paints the subject with overly broad strokes.
I rate this collection at 3.5 stars, primarily because it violates the basic "show, don't tell" requirement for writing fiction. For me, there is simply too much "telling" for the stories to work well as stories. However, I'm rounding up to 4 stars, because the author is an intelligent, skillful writer, the "stories" are thought-provoking, and the storylines have frequent flashes of humor, imagination, and creativity.
Unhappy Endings OverviewThe first book by Harkius, this collection includes four stories."Ars" is a precautionary story of a legal system gone wrong. Joshua returns home to find his wife murdered. The police know who did it, but a legal loophole allowing criminals to claim that their crimes are immune to prosecution because they have artistic qualities, allows the killer to go free. Joshua, finding this unacceptable, seeks revenge."Wild Meat" is a postapocalyptic fairy tale. Torn between her faith and her reality, a mother fights to feed herself and her daughter. How far will she go, and what choice will she make when her options are gone?"Extraneous" is a story about a man who lives on the fringes of society. He is homeless, proud, and peaceful. He allows himself to reconnect to society, falls in love with a reporter, and finds the consequences to be more than he had bargained for."Redemption" is the story of Jeremy, a boy born into the modern age, as a man who finds himself in an inescapable position. He knows that as long as he loves his girlfriend, he can't let her go. But he can't help himself. He knows as long as she loves him, she won't leave. But he can't stop her. He knows that if she stays, and he doesn't let her go, she will be destroyed. But he can't allow that. Forced to choose, Jeremy leaps outside of the box, destroying more than one life in the process.
Want to learn more information about Unhappy Endings?
>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now
0 comments:
Post a Comment