Customer Reviews

A Moment in Berlin and Other Stories

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The theme running through these tales is one of mortality and how it affects us. They can read as being somewhat morbid and certainly, they don't make light reading - however, they are so short as to lessen any depression and the subject matter is thought-provoking and involving. In the same way as one can enjoy the dour downwards inflection of Radiohead songs, so one can enjoy Hocking's short stories about death. They are short stories in the classic sense - no real action, just a mood, a situation, feelings, thoughts, then a finish, or reveal. They are short - you could read each story during a commute or train journey - but beautifully-written, they give you a wonderful glimpse of the standard of literature that Hocking can produce.

I must add - if you have read this author's Saskia Brandt stories, these tales are completely different. But still recommended.

It's rare to discover the sort of gentle elegance on offer in this collection of short stories by Ian Hocking.

Personally I found the stories engaging, littered with some wonderful descriptions and observations and refreshingly unpretentious. This isn't a collection that reinvents the medium of short stories and clearly wasn't ever intended to.

What it is is a thoroughly good read.

Sorry - this was a very average piece of writing and I'm pleased it was cheap otherwise I would have felt cheated ...... there so many very good books where Berlin is the background for the work.