Stories from The Stinging Fly, etc
- To all their dues - 3 sections entitled "Mo", "Kyle" and "Grace". Mo has opened a beauty parlour - she used to work on phones where people wanted their Fortunes told. Her window's smashed. She's asked for protection money by Kyle. Then we see Kyle by his brother's graveside, at a hypnotist/therapist (a humourous mismatch), then with his wife Grace at a new restaurant. His style of speaking is great fun. In the final section we learn of Grace's religious childhood and how an early encounter with a rough girl made her lose religion. She's unable to have children. She loves Kyle and decides she should be more high maintainance. She regularly goes to the new beauty parlour. She asks about the broken window.
- Inakeen - Malcolm's dutifully visiting his widowed mother Jean. With time on her hands she's been trying out clubs/classes. She's been observing the 3 new inhabitants of the house opposite who she's nicknamed W7, Black Sail, and Inakeen. He has a new girlfriend to replace the Canadian Mariel, the mother of his 3 year-old, Anton. Jean misses Mariel and Anton (who's now in Canada speaking French) more than her husband. "Her husband was someone she once overheard being described as a fellow who would put a bob on himself both ways". At the end I think she dresses Islamic intending to befriend the people she now knows are Somalian.
- Observation - School-age Cath's friend Lauren has a mum called Kim Cassells who has boyfriends. Her new one, Stuart is 26. She holidays without Lauren. Lauren says that she (Lauren) has had sex with Stuart. Cath wants to see him. She wonders about which kinds of men attract which kinds of women. She's curious about whether Kim Cassells has a fake tan. She breakfasts with the family after a stay-over.
- Locksmiths - The female narrator's mother is jailed for murder. The narrator lives with her nan. The narrator visits her mother twice a year. When nan dies, the narrator's mother is let out for the funeral. She misbehaves. The narrator doesn't visit her again. She collects her on her release. They don't get on. They go to the local together. The mother meets an old friend. The daughter leaves. Next morning she plans to chuck her mother out (I think). The weakest piece so far.
- Sweet home - Gavin (from Belfast - his senile mother's still there) and architect wife Susan (Scotland) decide to move from London to Belfast where she's designed a big people's centre. He's an ideas man in advertising - jobless really. They hire a gardener Bucky, and his girlfriend Emma becomes their cleaner. Both get hugely overpaid. Emma brings her child Carl to work. Gavin sometimes reads him stories. Emma wonders if he's a paedo. Gavin and Susan had a daughter who died when 6. Bucky dumps Carl on Gavin for a day. Carl escapes into the road and nearly dies. Emma and Bucky split. Because of work, Susan's hardly in Belfast.
- Last supper - Andy manages a church's coffee bar that provides work for vulnerable people. It's losing money. At the end of the day 2 customers complain that a couple - workers - were having sex in the toilets. Andy apologises without agreeing that the workers "aren't right in the head" and asks the customers to keep it secret. Next day, the female worker doesn't come in. Andy had forgotten that it was her 6-month review. A man (his pomposity well-rendered) from the charity comes in, asks a few questions, then asks "So do you want to reflect on the process?" At the end of the story they find that the toilet episode in the "freakzone" is spreading through social media.
- Arab States: Mind and narrative - When Paula returns from a break early, Jimmy's not there, but his phone is. She worries, but he's only at a festival. She sees that Ryan Hughes, who asked her out at college, is sometimes on TV, talking about politics. He has a book out - "Arab States: Mind and narrative". He's going to be at a book festival in Newcastle. She books a flight from Belfast, and in her confused obsession arrives at a swimming pool instead of the venue.
- Lady and dog - Olga's been a primary school teacher for 40 years. Bit of a Miss Brodie. Doesn't get on with computers. When she was 17 and having an affair she found her lover with his head blown off. Belfast. She has a dog so that she can wander less suspiciously. A guy called Cormac comes to teach Gaelic football. He teases her. When he suddenly stops coming she's suspicious. I don't get the ending.
- 77 pop facts you didn't know about Gil Courtney - It's what the title says - a list of facts, anecdotes, and quotes from interviews and biographies. OK, though for a change we're distanced from the main character.
- The soul has no skin - The main character Barry works in a place like Argos. He uses skin lotion. He had an affair with Annie, his ex-boss who had a well-known drinking problem and an invalid husband. She had low self-esteem - "Look at me, she said. I want you to look. You see the, well, I hardly need to point any of it out to you, I would rather not give chapter and verse here, but what you are looking at is not really babe material.". He recalls when he was under 18 helping a bullied little girl in a playground. He was interviewed by the police that evening because she went missing. Now his boss accuses him of doing something wrong, but he was innocent. After the police incident he moved from his parents because people were throwing things at the house. He no longer sees his parents much. It's a dead-end job and most people move on. He hasn't.
I like the humour. I like the depiction of the males in particular.
No quote-marks. Not always a new paragraph per speaker - e.g.
|
Mariel and Anton might move back at some point, Jean said. Oh aye right, like anybody believes that. You need to go over again maybe next summer. I'm sure it would be better than last time. Yeah how dead on of Mariel, generously giving me an opportunity to see my own son. Jean was silent. Well, anyway, like I said, flying visit. |
and
| She was on the road the other day, Kim Cassell's, Cath's dad said. You didn't mention it, her mum said. Why would I mention it? Why would I mention to you everyone I see? Am I going to tell you about everything? Don't come in, her mum said, there's bleach going on this floor. |
Even when stories don't quite work, you can feel sorry for the characters and there's observation and/or witty conversation. In "Last Supper" for example, dead-end but hard-working Andy knows the place will close down. He pops to Shop Kwik where "There's the polyphonic sound of a row of animatronic fish, flexing as they sing. Somebody's gone down the ailse pressing all of the buttons".
More than once, a character becomes rather obsessive, the intensity out of proportion to the unexpressed motivation. Paula seems to have more general issues.
Other reviews
- Will Heath (Each of these stories is written with a somewhat assuredly flippant disregard for the established tropes of short story writing. We are thrown into the deep end of these characters’ lives ... we follow them for a little while and then part ways without a resolution ... my favourite story, ....Locksmiths. ... We live at a time of unrest and impassioned hatred, and here are capsuled examples of the real people who live through that, all the while balancing the stresses and responsibilities of the inescapable everyday.)
- Sarah Gilmartin (The downtrodden in the community is a focus for Erskine, as is the importance of work for people who are struggling or rebuilding their lives after trauma. ... The penultimate story shows stylistic ambitions beyond the rest ... Erksine is at her best when she gives the narrative over to the authoritative, pulsating voices of her characters.)
- Lara Pawson (An exceptional ear for dialogue, an impeccable semantic rhythm and an uncanny ability to tease laughter out of the darkest moments mean Erskine is perfectly poised to stare, unflinching, into our neoliberal abyss. The result is a gripping, wonderfully understated book that oozes humanity, emotion and humour. ... Erskine’s subjects do their best to cope. They are trying to keep up; they are trying to reach out. They are doing their best to free themselves from the undertow of their lives.)
- Good reads
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