CalamityNovember 18, 2009 in Of books | Leave a commentHas been a while since i read an anthology of short stories.Picked this up at a warehouse sale cos the cover looks deceivingly simple. Just a muffin on a clean white plate on a wooden tabletop. Ordinary, neat… yet subtly enticing. And more importantly, with a title almost antithetical- calamity and other stories. Its almost like shouting silently off the rack.Short stories are different from novels- and in my opinion, writing them requires better literary skills. A short story writer can easily train to become a good novelist but not necessarily vice versa. Mainly because when writing a short story, one must mold characters, develop the plot, hit the climax, deliver the punch in less than 20 pages.And each story stands on its own, so if you have a collection of say 12 in a book, usually you have 12 storylines.And most play with wicked satire; if not, they tend to use allegories and metaphors. You can scan through 100 pages of a novel within 15 minutes but you can barely do the same for a short story of 20 pages, cos the magic is oftentime contained in between the lines, hidden in the choice of words, concealed in the description of mundane reactions. And the best part- You can rush through one thick novel and end off with a laugh, but to finish 12 short stories, you need intermittent rest and involuntary sighs in between.Roald dahl, for example, is one great writer when it comes to short stories. Though better known for bfg and matilda, his short stories can be really sinister at times- capturing the intricacies of human nature with an almost ominous play of language. In this light, daphne kalotay is one of a kind. Cos her stories in this book revolve around one theme: gender issues. She captures the subtle differences between the two sexes using the most minute observations of human activities. Be it mockery on the manly-kind of embarrassment; the struggle in a woman who got back with her ex-husband; the early subtle exposure of an adolescent to adulthood; the excitement over a college prom; the reaction towards simple chores like doing laundry; the responses towards strangers; the suggestiveness of platonic relationship; or the social pressure faced by both sexes, she is good in using the most ordinary events in life to bring out the dilemmas and predicaments involved.And i like her choice of putting the highlighted story as the second last article in the collection- which actually caused me to finish the whole book be it her intention or not. Normally in anthologies like say the ugly duckling and other stories, the featured story is often the best one- or at least, the better-known. And the problem with most authors is they like to put their best in front as the first or second story- and it creates an unwanted effect: After reading the story, you feel the best is over- that the book is already 3/4 spent though say only 1/10 read.On the other hand, by putting the feature story as the second last, this kind of kindle the curiosity of readers and make them eager to read the first few. Ok most readers, like me, will jump in straight to the second last to consider buying it or not, but after reading it, the book still looks inviting- its almost like telling people this may be my best but i have equally good ones which i placed in front. And once they read say 4 out of 12 stories, there is a better chance of they finishing the whole book.Purely psychological, but well at least it works for me.
Fiction A-Z Book 'K': 'Calamity and Other Stories' by Daphne KalotayWhat a beautiful book of short stories this is. There's nothing showy or flashy here, just a writer with a solid grasp on what it means to be human and an incredible amount of talent with language.Calamity is a collection of 12 stories, sometimes including overlapping characters and moments. But the overlap never feels gimmicky, like in other story collections I've read. The stories are focused on family, love, loss, and the little joys and little tragedies that make up each day. They are small personal stories about life and how we all deal with it. Kalotay has a gift for phrasing--there are a number of lines spread among the stories that stand out in their perfection in describing a character or a situation.I'm very happy to have found this book, and I recommend it highly.Best of the Best stories: "All Life's Grandeur", "The Man from Allston Electric", "A Brand New You", "Wedding at Rockport", and "Anniversary"
Do You like book Calamity And Other Stories (2006)?
I originally found and read two of these stories online. Not only did I enjoy them, but I also was intrigued by the main character's first name (not a common one) being the same as my daughter's, though the character pronounces it slightly different than we do. So I figured I had to buy this book to read the whole collection, and I'm glad I did. (On another personal note, other coincidences -- the spelling of another name and especially the universities attended by two other characters -- started to freak me out!) I especially liked the luminous first story and one called "Prom Season," which ends up being a comment on a cultural phenomenon. The touches of humor are especially fine, and I liked being able to see the development of the recurring characters through their own eyes and through others'.
—Teresa
I read through this collection because of the promise of the first story. The tension, the nature of the potential conflict, the sense that the events of the story mattered in the characters lives: these were all drawn with such care. But I found that in the other stories, I found myself thinking "so what?" We don't get the sense that anything that happens truly creates any change in these characters lives, and that may be a truism about what we think are the major events in life, but if nothing really matters, why bother telling the story?
—Shinelle
