|
Pick and choose from this group of 13 short stories
"I'd Like" by Amanda Michalopoulou (Dalkey Archive Press, $12.50) Reviewed by Katy Olson
The curious collection of objects that reappear throughout Amanda Michalopoulou's "I'd Like" -- a glass of whiskey, a red beret, soluble aspirin -- grow in meaning as the stories themselves unfurl in this unusual group of 13 short stories. With brevity and depth, Michalopoulou depicts ordinary events and emotions of people whose lives seem infinitely different, and yet extraordinarily
connected. In the first tale, a failing artist and her husband bond with a famous writer and his wife, only to learn that their relationship, and their worldly accomplishments, is diminished by very human flaws. Although the writer reappears in "The Most Wonderful Moment" to torment a young journalist, pinpointing the other men and women -- mothers, daughters, sisters, husbands, fathers and lovers -- whose habits and hearts dwell in each other's stories is an elaborate puzzle. The characters are immersed in agonizing situations: a psychologist cares for a patient, an old woman mourns her sister, a man leaves his disabled wife, all without revealing how entwined their lives and their stories really are.
In the way an obscure genetic trait spreads within a family tree, the characters in "I'd Like" are unified by interweaved personalities and emotions. A couple who cannot reconcile its failures with admiration of another's accomplishments, sisters who grow up and grow old together, and victims of accidents and tragedy all appear, identified not by their names, but by their possessions and impressions. Each story appears to unfold on its own, but like an unsolvable case, Michalopoulou's pace and wit conceal an enigmatic cast of characters who beg to be understood.
Perhaps when reading this work, as Michalopoulou writes, "No one can follow me that far, that deep." Yet it is this collection's deep elusiveness and, ultimately, its striking intricacies that the reader will return to, seeking to rediscover its mysteries. Books reviewed in this column are available online or at your local bookstore.
(c) 2008 King Features Synd., Inc.
|
|
)