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'Quite swept me off my feet.' --Lynne Hatwell, Dovegreyreader blog, Feb 25 2009
Review
'A stunning debut collection'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Power and humanity,
By
This review is from: Balancing on the Edge of the World (Salt Modern Fiction) (Paperback)
Balancing on the Edge of the World employs a very high standard of writing indeed and I enjoyed it very much. The themes are the relationship between people and the power they hold (or the lack of it) - very human tales indeed. Particular favourites are Condensed Metaphysics (jazzy, edgy and strong), Holding Hands (a powerful tale of family dynamics and frailty - though Baines should have ended it 3 paragraphs earlier as the end line actually appears at the close of the 4th paragraph in from the finish, to my mind), Into the Night (a great erotic encounter which might or might not turn out to be more) and Condundrum (a wry look at child-rearing through the generations). I'd definitely read more of this author.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
High-wire Storytelling,
By
This review is from: Balancing on the Edge of the World (Salt Modern Fiction) (Paperback)
Baines write stories that demand to be emotionally and philosophically engaged with. Flights of introspective narrative blur the edges of the 'complete picture' with flashes of intense human understanding, rewarding us with a platform to question and react.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Short stories with an edge,
By Mr. R. C. Shearman "Robert Shearman" (Streatham Hill, London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Balancing on the Edge of the World (Salt Modern Fiction) (Paperback)
It's all too easy for short stories to read as something very slight - either as tales which don't have a strong enough backbone to support a bigger plot, or as bits of poetry in prose form which delight in the rhythm of words over meaning or point. What makes Elizabeth Baines' collection so brilliant - and why, no doubt, it was deservedly nominated recently for an international award - is that she perfectly plays with both the page-turning quality of novel's fiction, and a crafted beauty you usually only associate with verse. These are stories concerned with 'power', in all its forms - whether it be the hilarious tale of a naive screenwriter and the way her fledgeling script is abused by a film course, or the magical superhuman powers of a young child ignored by the numbing reality of parents getting divorced. They're funny, and moving, and thoughtful - but above all, they're short stories which celebrate how beguiling short stories can be. Read and be enchanted.
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