Ten Tales Tall And True (1995)

Book Info

Author

Alasdair Gray

Genre

Horror

Rating

3.78 of 5 Votes: 3

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ISBN

0156001969 (ISBN13: 9780156001960)

Language

English

Publisher

mariner books

Shops

Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble

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About book Ten Tales Tall And True (1995)

Another excellent collection of short stories from the best living Scottish writer. The only reason I don't give this collection a maximum rating of 5 stars is because it's not quite as good as Gray's first collection, *Unlikely Stories, Mostly* which contains my favourite short story of all time 'Five Letters from an Eastern Empire' as well as several other amazing pieces that perfectly blend poignant realism with cerebral fantasy.Alasdair Gray writes a kind of fiction that might be called Magic Realism, except that it's more muscular than the prose usually associated with writers of that type. It's also cleaner and more dour. He uses fantasy to make points about reality and uses reality to make points about fantasy, the fantasy worlds that exist in all our heads. In this regard he bears some resemblance to M. John Harrison. But his bleakness is less intense than Harrison's and his politics are less ambiguous.My favourite story in this collection is 'Near the Driver' which is a kind of science fiction fantasy that bears many similarities to Friedrich Dürrenmatt's short story 'The Tunnel' but is also original in its own right. There are many other enjoyable, heart-rendering and delightful (and also disturbing) tales in this collection -- despite the title there are more than 10 stories. Apart from 'Near the Driver' I was enthralled by 'Houses and Small Labour Parties' and 'YOU'. Gray always manages to convey good ideas in clean fine prose. His dialogue is also very good, though not exactly realistic, not exactly stylised.

Some of these stories were cracking. Alasdair Gray doesn't muck about - he just tells it like it is (or as he sees it). It's what he's always done but I still found it refreshing to read. Plus, some genuine hilarity! Homeward Bound was my favourite. Funny feminism featuring that old chestnut: 'But when you have knocked such a man down [a smart manipulator], and don't want to go away and be lonely, what can you do but help set him up again, like a skittle?'(actually, upon thinking about that a bit more I think that the ending there is a bit pessimistic about the capacity of men to be feminists. What I liked about it was not that it expected men to need to be knocked down again - I don't like that. What I liked was the appreciation that the destruction of misogynistic thoughts needs paradoxically do be done with some care for the holder of the thoughts)

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connor told me i should read something i was sure to enjoy on my birthday, just pure pleasure. i thought that was what i was doing with alasdair gray. and its not that i didnt enjoy it, this is just not my favorite of his books. so this review-space is just to say - go read lanark. (which i havent reviewed, but just allow me to say is the best)typically a scottish fabulist, some of these stories were more real (boo)than i expected. the first one, in particular, was like reading an alan sillitoe story (which is good, just wasnt what i was prepared for as my birthday escapist fiction.)but lanark, o lanark. i know i cant do it justice until i reread it (ive read it twice but many years ago) i would just like a little trust here, after all we have been through together. seriously, lanark.
—karen