Literary reviews by Tim Love.
Warning: Rather than reviews, these are often notes in preparation for reviews that were never finished, or pleas for help with understanding pieces. See Litref Reviews - a rationale for details.

Friday, 12 June 2009

"Constitutional" by Helen Simpson (Jonathan Cape, 2005)

9 stories that are 10-18 pages long. Lots about cancer and Altzheimers. Lots of people pondering about life and relationships. Things were slow until "Early One Morning" about a hectic school run. "The Tree" is short. Though it depends on a twist, that twist brings into focus character issues that are already present. "If I'm Spared" has a fine first page, but I predicted the plot-twists, and the execution seemed rather pedestrian to me. "sneezing like burst paper bags" (p.12) was one of the few images in the book. All in all, alright I suppose.

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