What Becomes
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Review
'not always an easy book to read, Kennedy's linguistic inventiveness, wild humour and compassion make it an unexpectedly joyful one.' --The London Review of Books
"There's no denying that these utterly controlled stories have a power, humanity, and even beauty of their own" --Daily Mail
`While What Becomes isn't always an easy book to read, Kennedy's linguistic inventiveness, humour and compassion make it unexpectedly joyful' --The London Review Of Books
'savour this book' --The Times
"Twelve stories from the manic mistress of comically vitriolic observation"
-- The Financial Times
"There's no denying that these utterly controlled stories have a power, humanity, and even beauty of their own" --Daily Mail
`While What Becomes isn't always an easy book to read, Kennedy's linguistic inventiveness, humour and compassion make it unexpectedly joyful' --The London Review Of Books
'savour this book' --The Times
"Twelve stories from the manic mistress of comically vitriolic observation"
-- The Financial Times
Review
‘AL Kennedy manages to convey an edgy modernity within relatively standard narrative forms … written with the tonal meticulousness of genuine literature’ - Financial Times, Lionel Shriver
‘achieves more powerful gut punches in its 217 pages than many novels manage in triple the length…Kennedy has produced another stunning, impressive and genuinely enjoyable collection, hard not to be charmed by’ - Scotland on Sunday, Claire Sawers
‘achingly intimate, acutely observed stories from the Costa Book Award winner’ - Woman & Home, Fanny Blake
‘achieves more powerful gut punches in its 217 pages than many novels manage in triple the length…Kennedy has produced another stunning, impressive and genuinely enjoyable collection, hard not to be charmed by’ - Scotland on Sunday, Claire Sawers
‘achingly intimate, acutely observed stories from the Costa Book Award winner’ - Woman & Home, Fanny Blake
Inside This Book
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a very mixed bag of short stories, dark in content, depressing to read and not always clear in purpose. There are perhaps three or four which are of the standard one assoicates with this author but parts seem over-written (e.g. "blood ... large, symmetrically rounded drops indicative of low velocity and a perpendicular descent, and haloing every drop was a tiny flare of threads").
There are a few lines which will appeal to anyone who has dealt with children - the young boy, made to clean up before eating, "washing his hands with the air of a weary surgeon" or the mother who "wondered which of her threats they would remember, which would be useful and which scar".
The three most interesting stories are Marriage, which like a Roald Dahl story, holds its punch for the finale, As God Made Us, in which the author celebrates supportive male friendship, then twists the story savagely at the end and Another, the most optimistic of the twelve.
There are a few lines which will appeal to anyone who has dealt with children - the young boy, made to clean up before eating, "washing his hands with the air of a weary surgeon" or the mother who "wondered which of her threats they would remember, which would be useful and which scar".
The three most interesting stories are Marriage, which like a Roald Dahl story, holds its punch for the finale, As God Made Us, in which the author celebrates supportive male friendship, then twists the story savagely at the end and Another, the most optimistic of the twelve.
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book at the Edinburgh book festival 2010, and have only got round to reading it now, since lending it to my daughter first. My daughter keeps books for a VERY long time!
Anyway, having read through the first 3 stories, I am quite bored. It seems to be nothing more than a collection of observational descriptions, and leaves me quite dissatisfied. I wanted stories that made me think, made me feel something......a connection.
This book makes me feel that it is based on a series of writing prompts given by a high school teacher.
Anyway, having read through the first 3 stories, I am quite bored. It seems to be nothing more than a collection of observational descriptions, and leaves me quite dissatisfied. I wanted stories that made me think, made me feel something......a connection.
This book makes me feel that it is based on a series of writing prompts given by a high school teacher.
11 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A great collection of short and varied stories that each revealed a great deal about the characters involved. Thoughtful and well rounded stories that are quick to read and easy to pick up.
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