- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Bantam Press (1 Sep 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 059305752X
- ISBN-13: 978-0593057520
- Product Dimensions: 24.2 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 566,880 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Coronado
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More About the Author
Product Description
BOSTON HERALD, 31 July 2006
'A brilliant, insightful and intriguing literary voyage'
KIRKUS REVIEWS
'...a writer of commanding gifts, who seems poised on the threshold of even greater accomplishment'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'd always enjoyed Dennis Lehane books. There was a certain safety about the detective series and Mystic River - great thrillers, all set in the familiar Boston environment. I was disappointed in Shutter Island and thought it maight have been because he'd stepped outside of his comfort zone. This though was a great surprise - these short stories have real depth - this is the type of writing that I'd expect from a James Lee Burke novel. The characters have real depth and the stories leave you wanting to know more - always a good sign. More of the same please.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Dennis Lehane is one of my favorite authors. I could read (and re-read) some of his books a number of times, even though they aren't what you would ever call 'great literature' style fiction.
'Coronado' is a book of short stories, however, and while some of the stories work, some of them don't. I think he's at his best describing grimy inner city living. Where those elements pop up in these stories, the book works well. Where they don't appear, the story is missing something I feel.
I don't know whether I was less satisfied with this book because it didn't live up to what I was expecting from Lehane or if the book isn't that good (I sometimes wonder if I've got the intellect to decide that sort of thing -I rather suspect I don't, I just know what I like), but either way, I was left wanting him to return to stories like Mystic River or Gone Baby Gone, both of which are great books in their way.
Incidentally, The book gets its title from the last story, which is written in the form of a play. I always feel a little like I don't know how to read that sort of writing particularly well, which is why I might be a bit ho-hum about the book. It's something you might wish to consider before buying the book too!
'Coronado' is a book of short stories, however, and while some of the stories work, some of them don't. I think he's at his best describing grimy inner city living. Where those elements pop up in these stories, the book works well. Where they don't appear, the story is missing something I feel.
I don't know whether I was less satisfied with this book because it didn't live up to what I was expecting from Lehane or if the book isn't that good (I sometimes wonder if I've got the intellect to decide that sort of thing -I rather suspect I don't, I just know what I like), but either way, I was left wanting him to return to stories like Mystic River or Gone Baby Gone, both of which are great books in their way.
Incidentally, The book gets its title from the last story, which is written in the form of a play. I always feel a little like I don't know how to read that sort of writing particularly well, which is why I might be a bit ho-hum about the book. It's something you might wish to consider before buying the book too!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
41 reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Bleakly depressing but very honest...
2 Jan 2007
Format:Hardcover
I picked this book up because I had heard much of the author Dennis Lehane, and thought it would be worth trying his prose on for size (so to speak). It is, for me, and imperfect fit. Lehane is a talented writer, but there is something unrelentingly dark about this book. Every character seems to be caught in a downward spiral, without any hope of escape. Admittedly, there are a few very quick flashes of biting humor in the stories, but I just had that impatient feeling of wanting the book to be over. Although the characters and situations are different, they are all sinking under the stormy surface of life. His prose is stark and unstructured, in a style that I feel is similar to Raymond Carver, although he explains more than Carver every did. I found the book interesting and the characters were very real, but I guess it's just not he kind of thing I feel I need to experience again.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Noir to the Max
24 Dec 2007
Format:Hardcover
I'm struck by the response of other Amazon readers. I agree that Coronado is not the equal of one of Lehane's novels, but short stories (and short plays) are seldom the equal of a novel, particularly a novel crafted by a writer as gifted as Lehane. Each of the stories here is dark and each is haunting in its own way. Like any reader, I have my favorite(s), but the collection as a whole carries the Lehane touch. I waited awhile to buy Coronado because, like most readers, I was waiting for the next Lehane novel. Paging through the book it felt odd to me, particularly with a two-act play that grew out of one of the stories. I should have read it earlier. Any 'collection' is, a priori, uneven, but each of the stories held my attention and 'Running out of Dog' and 'Before Gwen' are unforgettable. The stories also take Lehane away from his geographical base and demonstrate the range of his talent. I'm still waiting for that next novel, but Coronado has given me enough of a Lehane fix to help me tolerate the wait.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
I was hoping for much better
10 April 2007
Format:Hardcover
A few years ago my father turned me onto Lehane with "Gone, Baby, Gone". The incredible insightfulness, the absorbing story lines and the absolutely cutting sarcasm led me to seek out all of his books which I read with frothing eagerness. I was thrilled when "Mysic River" was made into a movie, and Clint and the gang did a great job of it. So after what seems like a long time since "Shutter Island" I was ready for some Lehane, especially since I live (and have been for 20+ years) in the Boston area. I was thus more intrigued by the fact that it was a book of shorts and set in the south, not Boston. I thought "Running Out of Dog" was total brilliant Lehane, crisp, sharp, full of mood and expectation. Then, what happened...? The whole book fell apart. The rest of the stories seemed forced, the dialogue and characters completely non-believable, and frankly the plots were tedious. It was like he spent his creative story telling mastery on "Dog" and wrote the other pieces just to finish a book of short stories on a deadline. Dennis - if you are listening, please, please do another book of shorts, if "Dog" is what you can do, that is where the gold is.
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