The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel by Amy Hempel
This collection consists of fifty stories and is prefaced with a kind essay. Most might be categorized as shorter short stories based on length. The length of two of them is a sentence. The collection is the work of a writer who has received praise from both her contemporaries and organizations that honour outstanding writers. It has been said that Ms Hempel writes in a minimalistic style. Not all authors that fit this description accept the label. Not Raymond Carver. Despite the fact that she might not agree with her inclusion, Ms Hempel doesn’t seem to mind. In my opinion, minimalism is all about presentation, which includes a number of traits including shortened speech, sparse physical description, few to no transitions, and a word flow that is somewhat staccato.
The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel by Amy Hempel
48 used from $2.30
Free shipping
Amazon.com
- Used Book in Good Condition
Amy has a talent for casually expressing distressing emotional states. She has always had the most beautiful tenderness and humour. I find that a unique and lovely combination of offhandedness and tenderness results in fiction that is both impartial and sensitive. Although Amy is regarded as a minimalist, I believe it would be more honest to describe her as an expert in emotional deception. Between needing to withhold information and wanting to keep it secret, there is a lot of tension in her writing and in her heroes. And talking about someone else as a covert means to communicate about yourself is a tactic her protagonists frequently employ.
More can be added by a critic or literary expert. You’d assume their absence would make a tale unfeasible. Ms Hempel disproves such a notion. She possesses the unique talent for developing exciting scenarios that every first-class author possesses.
She draws heavily from her life for her fiction. In a Paris Review interview, she stated as much. Her love for dogs and cats changes “a sea change into something rich and weird” as a result of her mother’s suicide, her closest friend’s terminal illness, her car accident, and other life events. Her stories have what I would consider being two problems. One is a consequence that every writer must face. The names, brands, and events that occasionally connect to current events and are familiar to generations close to them fade with time.
The next two choices are “Housewife” and “Memoir.” They are narratives with only one sentence. There appeared to be a vogue for short fiction for a while. Despite the fact that there are still websites selling them online, the trend seems to have faded. I’m not saying they shouldn’t exist, though. Government is not as democratic as literature. Brevity here becomes a feat like how many pushups can be performed or how long can a breath be maintained for; impressive certainly, of any real significance uncertain. But extreme virtue can also be a vice. What is the foundation of a story if not the ability to engage the reader emotionally and/or intellectually? Such a foundation requires time.
