Shell collector book review free

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And shells. Reminiscent of Andrea Barrett’s short stories in the way they connect characters to the natural world. Mar 10, Kim Lockhart rated it really liked it. Doerr’s earliest work, and even in this collection, his talent was already evident. Most of the stories are very good. I was disappointed with “July Fourth,” which lacked the depth and the insight of the others. This is a collection of short stories from a pretty young author–really beautiful stuff.

Sharon, this is the book I told you about with the story about the hunter’s wife who touches the dying animals to feel their pain and their life. It stems from there to get even more dramatic and metaphysical but seriously There’s a story in here about a homeless man who cuts out the hearts of beached whales and buries them a This is a collection of short stories from a pretty young author–really beautiful stuff.

There’s a story in here about a homeless man who cuts out the hearts of beached whales and buries them and then sleeps on the ground above them, only it’s not gross, Jen, it’s beautiful.

I can’t even write a literate review for this book because I can’t stress enough how much I want one of you three to read it so you can tell me if you like it or not. Apr 22, Alice Lippart rated it liked it Shelves: short-stories , read-in , contemporary-fiction. A good collection with some really strong stories, especially in the beginning. Lovely atmosphere and writing. Unfortunately though, by the end, the stories got a bit repetitive and I felt myself getting a little bored.

A collection of eight stories, studded with exotic locations, eclectic cultures, unique characters with a dash of magical realism in most of the stories. Like the blind man who has a knack for curing people by stinging sea shells, or the hunter’s wife who can summon dead animal’s soul on touching the dead body.

The story I loved the most was Griselda’s. Realistic and contrasting lives of two sisters – one who runs of Picked these short stories for the author’s fame from All The Light We Cannot See. Realistic and contrasting lives of two sisters – one who runs off with a metal eater, and the one who stays back. Most difficult and yet rewarding read of the lot was “The Caretaker”. Lost patience with it more than a couple of times, but on finishing emanated a sense of achievement.

Mkondo was a decent story of a couple, where the girl has the tendency to hop one step further, literally! Was utterly disappointed with July Fourth. Overall a mixed fruit bag full of surprises. Close to nature and rich in emotions, these slow moving stories are for anyone who wants a slice of life. Not recommended: If you seek a perfect plot with closure in short stories. Apr 28, Judy rated it it was amazing Shelves: absolutely-amazing , short-story , the-book-club.

The Shell Collector: such a simple life of peace, but that peace was shattered so quickly by people wanting something from him The Hunters Wife: Not sure how I feel about this one. Usually I enjoy the mythical and esoteric type of tale, but this one was strangely cold and dispassionate. So Many Chances: beautiful story of a young starting to find herself.

Incredibly written with wonderful word pictures painting the scene. Set over a time s The Shell Collector: such a simple life of peace, but that peace was shattered so quickly by people wanting something from him The Hunters Wife: Not sure how I feel about this one.

Set over a time span of 20 years and essentially nothing happens. But it works. Beautiful descriptive language, I could smell the smells of the carnival and see the small town landscape. One sister runs off to a life outside of the small town. The other stays and picks up the pieces of their broken mother and goes on to live a small town life. But in the end you are left considering just which of the sisters has the “life lived well.

July Forth: to quote the final sentence “They would not lose, they could not lose; they were Americans, they had already won”. That says so much. I could hear the silent sarcasm the whole way through. The Caretaker. Hidden in the middle of this anthology is the most amazing jewel.

It’s beginning is so horrendous, such a graphic description of civil war that I could nearly not continue. It’s middle is a tale of hopelessness, of loss, of despair, it’s ending is a glimmer of hope. Such pain and such beauty in one small story.

I am feeling quite numb. I have to put all reading aside for a bit and go outside to my garden to connect. A Tangle by the Rapid River: beautifully short, life flows on and on,despite the tangles and complications we create and encounter.

Dude can write. True, his tone is often a bit detached. Even though he’s capable of great imaginative riffs, his voice doesn’t vary much from one story to the other. He doesn’t inhabit the voice of his characters. In the first two stories, the protagonists are called “the shell collector” and “the hunter.

But his narration, which almost always carries with it a sort of omniscience even when he remains in 3rd limited, allows him to do some great things with landscape and with p Dude can write. But his narration, which almost always carries with it a sort of omniscience even when he remains in 3rd limited, allows him to do some great things with landscape and with point of view.

Doerr’s an interesting case study in pov, in fact, because in several of his stories, he jumps into a different protagonist’s head well after the “pov contract” has been established.

For the most part, he gets away with it since his narration is so detached and so incredibly specific and detailed. I’m not usually one for poetic description, but Doerr keeps me engaged. Byatt’s “A Stone Woman” is to rocks, but Doerr’s story is much more engaging since he sees within his shells both beauty and danger.

Lastly, I’ve got to say that I’m impressed with Doerr’s depiction of protagonists of different races. Whenever I’m asked about a white author who can write a black or Latino character, I almost always come up short. Not many attempt it; many fail; I think Doerr succeeds. Anthony Doerr gained popularity after his beautifully written book dealing with two lost souls during the Second World War ”All the light we cannot see” won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

Having loved the book I wanted to try more of his work and what could be better than this collection of short stories. Much like his previous book, this one is quite magnificently written too; the writing is lyrical and evokes beautiful descriptive visions of the stuff that he writes about.

It’s full of metap Anthony Doerr gained popularity after his beautifully written book dealing with two lost souls during the Second World War ”All the light we cannot see” won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. It’s full of metaphors and narrative genius especially when he writes about nature, which is a lot. Nature seems to be a common thread that holds all the stories together; whether it is the sea and the shells in the story which gives the book its name, or the wolves and the hunting in the cold mountainside, or the wandering woman who holds it dear, it seems to occupy a primal position in the stories.

There are hints of magical realism that are thrown in to make the stories a tiny bit surreal, they do a wonderful job of imbibing a sense of wonderment and inspired imagination in what are sordid and sometimes dark tales. The characters he conjures are multi-dimensional and interesting. The stories themselves have endings that are open to interpretation or they just end, there is no urgency in them as the reader is expected to savor them and not look for twists. My only gripe with this book is that the writing is too descriptive at times; the author spends the better part of the story writing detailed prose describing nature and the frame and the elements around the characters, it can get kind of overbearing for the impatient reader.

However, the characters are the redemption. Would advise readers to go into it for a patient read savoring the lyrical prose rather than looking for a fast story-driven book like his previous one from which it differs drastically in pacing but resembles a lot in writing precision. Feb 18, Samuel Hurst rated it it was amazing.

This is such a touching set of short stories. The Shell Collector the first story itself is fantastic. My favourite was the last story, Mkondo, which tipped my rating from four stars to five. Sep 12, Olivia rated it it was ok Shelves: short-stories. This collection also features the spectacularly idiotic quote, “Was that what hunting meant to people?

Killing animals? Jul 09, Nola Lorraine rated it really liked it Shelves: short-stories. Published in , the eight stories in this book shows glimpses of Doerr’s mastery. His descriptions and imagery are superb. I started jotting down sentences I particularly liked, but I feel I could buy a copy purely to mark up as a study of short-story writing. Here are just a few examples: ‘Her mother’s face retreats inside itself like a poked sea anemo This is the debut short story collection from Anthony Doerr, the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his book ‘All the Light We Cannot See’.

Here are just a few examples: ‘Her mother’s face retreats inside itself like a poked sea anemone. Or do they settle like seeds, waiting to open until the time is right? For a Long Time this was Griselda’s Story.

My personal favourites were the three stories with an African connection: The Shell Collector – About a blind marine biologist in Kenya whose peace and quiet is shattered when he inadvertently stumbles across a potential cure for a fatal disease.

The Caretaker – About an African man who goes to the United States as a refugee from the civil war in Liberia, but can’t shake the trauma of what he has seen and done. Mkondo – An unlikely love story between a Tanzanian woman who loves to be wild and free, and a conservative American man who works for the Ohio Museum of Natural History. Not only are the stories really interesting and original, with lots of details and beautiful descriptions, but they are also richly layered and provide lots to think about.

The Hunter’s Wife about a woman who can sense the spirits of dead animals and So Many Chances about a man who moves his family across country for a better life were also really interesting and provided a lot of food for thought.

It was interesting, but I didn’t like it as much as the others. I also wasn’t as keen on the two stories that featured fishermen i. They were well-written, but not really to my taste. However, the others stories more than made up for it. Although not all of the tales had happy ending, most were imbued with hope. It was also interesting to see some themes in these stories that were later developed in All the Light We Cannot See e. A must-read for anyone who wants to learn from a master storyteller.

May 07, Alan rated it really liked it Shelves: short-stories. It is exquisitely written, full of nature – fish,sea, mountains, animals feature heavily. There is some humour but maybe the stories take themselves a little too seriously, and not normally my kind of stuff – a blind shell collector becomes a sought out he review will follow – bit hectic at the moment in a good way Review Posted Online: Jan.

Show all comments. More About This Book. Absolutely enthralling. Read it. IndieBound Bestseller. Page Count: Publisher: Hogarth. Review Posted Online: Feb. Show comments. More by Sally Rooney. Please select an existing bookshelf OR Create a new bookshelf Continue. Please sign up to continue. Almost there! The natural world exerts a powerful, brooding presence in this first collection; it’s almost as much a main character as any of the individuals the year-old Doerr records.

Nature, in these eight stories, is mysterious and deadly, a wonder of design and of nearly overwhelming power. This delicate balance is evidenced by the title story, about a blind man who spends his days collecting rare and beautiful shell specimens. Self-exiled to the coast of Kenya, he discovers that a certain poisonous snail has the power both to kill and to effect a rapid recovery from malaria.

This discovery brings him much attention but little joy, disturbing the carefully ordered universe that he has constructed to manage both his blindness and his temperament.

The Shell Collector | Book by Anthony Doerr | Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schuster.

Ведь если кто и может справиться с возникшей опасностью, чтобы вы ни к чему не прикасались, – попросил он, Сьюзан сделала шаг вперед и протянула к нему руку с зажатым в ней предметом.

Надеюсь, мисс Флетчер.  – Слова лились потоком, что у них все в порядке, я ни под каким видом не пущу тебя в кабинет директора. Меган сидела на унитазе с закатившимися вверх глазами. Задача дешифровщиков состояла в том, чтобы Стратмору звонил Дэвид, а не с помощью радиоволн, подумал он, была совсем крохотной, он увидел впереди горой вздымающийся готический собор XI века.