The Shell Collector
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'Perilously beautiful, precise and elegant!Doerr can describe a woman running through a Tanzanian forest with the careful specificity of a scientist and the awe of a poet; he can give you a sunrise with the glory-bound colours of apricot and gold, and two pages later you're meeting a young woman in Idaho, who falls in love with the metal-eater at the country fair!Breathtaking.' Boston Globe 'Remarkable!Reminiscent of Annie Proulx's wonderful "Close Range" and Andrea Barrett's "Ship Fever", "The Shell Collector" illuminates both the riotous dangers of the natural world and the rocky terrain of the human heart, thrusting us into environments we can only hope to control.' LA Times 'Doerr's prose dazzles, his sinewy sentences blending the naturalist's unswerving gaze with the poet's gift for metaphor. And it does so from the very beginning, opening with such a sensual description of shells that it's almost a shock to discover, a page later, that the character "seeing" them is blind.' New York Times 'Anthony Doerr is a gifted and fearless new writer. He is absolutely unafraid to take on the biggest themes of the human condition, always writing about heroes and their various epic journeys. The Shell Collector is unforgettable -- not so much a book of short stories as a book of short myths.' Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Pilgrims and Stern Men) 'These complex, resonant, beautifully realised stories sing. An entire world unfolds in each, memorable and rich; together they form a remarkable first collection.' Andrea Barrett 'This striking debut collection offers boldly imagined and scrupulously detailed explorations of the mysteries inherent in both the natural world and human interconnection! The best new book of short fiction since Andrea Barrett's Ship Fever. Keep your eye on Doerr.' Kirkus Reviews
New York Times
‘Doerr's prose dazzles, his sinewy sentences blending the naturalist's unswerving gaze with the poet's gift for metaphor.‘
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Doerr's very good collection of short stories transports us from the coast of Kenya to the Montana winter, from Liberia in West Africa to Oregon, from Tanzania to Ohio. Three of the best in my view are the title story "The Shell Collector", "The Hunter's Wife" and "Mkondo", where the characters Doerr creates exist in natural worlds suffused with a power that is palpable.
In "The Shell Collector", the blind collector trawls the beaches and coral reefs of Kenya, his retreat from the world, sifting through sand granules in search of rare shell specimens, his life-long study - but his private world is overturned when he happens on a cure for malaria and word quickly spreads about the miracle cure. "The Hunter's Wife" has the gift of psychic commune with the spirits of Earth's creatures and this poses a challenge to their life together in the harsh Montana winterscape. In "Mkondo", Doerr explores the theme of people caught between different cultures: a newly married couple from the rainforests of Tanzania and the suburbs of Oregon respectively, discover how love can first blossom - and then wither, depending on where they are; that peoples health, happiness, even love may be subject to the landscape they live in. Three mesmerising stories from a very powerful creative imagination!
Other 'goodies' in an all round high standard of short story include "For A Long Time This Was Griselda's Story" about two sisters who take divergent roads in life, one seeking her fortune assisting a metal eater in a travelling sideshow, the other remaining at home with their mother, and "The Caretaker", a refugee from civil war in Liberia, now in Oregon, struggling with the trauma of having witnessed atrocities and being forced to carry out an execution. Recommended!
In "The Shell Collector", the blind collector trawls the beaches and coral reefs of Kenya, his retreat from the world, sifting through sand granules in search of rare shell specimens, his life-long study - but his private world is overturned when he happens on a cure for malaria and word quickly spreads about the miracle cure. "The Hunter's Wife" has the gift of psychic commune with the spirits of Earth's creatures and this poses a challenge to their life together in the harsh Montana winterscape. In "Mkondo", Doerr explores the theme of people caught between different cultures: a newly married couple from the rainforests of Tanzania and the suburbs of Oregon respectively, discover how love can first blossom - and then wither, depending on where they are; that peoples health, happiness, even love may be subject to the landscape they live in. Three mesmerising stories from a very powerful creative imagination!
Other 'goodies' in an all round high standard of short story include "For A Long Time This Was Griselda's Story" about two sisters who take divergent roads in life, one seeking her fortune assisting a metal eater in a travelling sideshow, the other remaining at home with their mother, and "The Caretaker", a refugee from civil war in Liberia, now in Oregon, struggling with the trauma of having witnessed atrocities and being forced to carry out an execution. Recommended!
Format:Paperback
I have bought numerous copies of this book as presents for friends. The other reviews say enough on the content of Anthony Doerr's writing in this, his debut collection of short stories. Exquisitely written. I have a hardbacked copy on my shelf as it is one of those books that so touched me and is a treasure to keep. Hence my buying it for everybody I can think of - deserves as wide an audience as possible in my view. Each story has its own impact, but it was Mkondo that resonated most, and touched something deep inside me.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A suprising collection of short stories for a debut. Compelling from the very beginning, the stories draw you in to characters very quickly and leave you desperate for more. The stories span the globe with different age groups, sexes, and ethnic backgrounds for the characters, all of which seem to work. A very difficult book to put down which induces a wide variety of emotions in the reader (Well it did with me). I particularly liked the learning to fish scene with the young girl, a very real moment. A touching book which I am very pleased I have read. I am making my friends read it.
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