reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (10/08/85)
I am a fan of Boyle's novels, but this collection of short stories doesn't
really show his talent to advantage. I've never cared for short stories,
by and large, preferring novels. The best short stories can be extremely
satisfying, but short stories are harder to do well than novels, requiring
exquisite minature work. Any error or miscalculation can ruin a short
story, while a novel can survive a few flaws.
All of the stories in "Greasy Lake" suffer from either flaws or lack of
inspiration. Some are fairly good, anyway, but most aren't worth the
trouble. The title story is OK, "Rupert Beersley and the Beggar Master of
Sivani-Hoota" is a cute parody of Sherlock Holmes set in India, "The Hector
Quesadilla Story" is of interest even to those who don't care for its
background (baseball), and "The New Moon Party" is a fun tale of a man
elected president on the platform of putting another moon in the heavens.
Most of the other stories have limited appeal. "Caviar" seems based only
on one metaphor, with no other reason for the story. "Ike and Nina" has
a nice premise, the revelation of an affair between Eisenhower and Khrush-
chev's wife, but doesn't get strange enough to pay off. "On for the Long
Haul" is unpleasant, but not enough so to make a strong impression. "Whales
Weep" is pointless. "Stones in my Passway, Hellhound on My Trail" is too
short to carry its message. "Two Ships" reads like a promising start to
a novel, but doesn't go far enough to be worthwhile. "The Overcoat II"
makes the perilous mistake of updating a famous, great short story, and
inevitably suffers by comparison.
The common flaw in most of the stories is that they are like episodes from
a novel rather than self-contained entities. One frequently feels like
there should be more, that the tale told is only a part of what is important.
Masters of the short story, like Poe and Jack London, never leave this
impression. Boyle should stick to writing novels, and, if you haven't already
read them, look up "Water Music" and "Budding Prospects" rather than
"Greasy Lake".
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiherwfi@rti-sel.UUCP (William Ingogly) (10/11/85)
In article <7020@ucla-cs.ARPA> reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP writes: >I am a fan of Boyle's novels, but this collection of short stories doesn't >really show his talent to advantage. I've never cared for short stories, >by and large, preferring novels. ... >. Boyle should stick to writing novels, and, if you haven't already >read them, look up "Water Music" and "Budding Prospects" rather than >"Greasy Lake". I much prefer his first collection of short stories, "Descent Of Man." People who do enjoy humorous short stories should check it out. I think you're right, though; Boyle is a better novelist than short story writer. -- Cheers, Bill Ingogly