Declare About Books Last Night: Stories
Title | : | Last Night: Stories |
Author | : | James Salter |
Book Format | : | Paperback |
Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 132 pages |
Published | : | March 14th 2006 by Vintage (first published April 19th 2005) |
Categories | : | Short Stories. Fiction. Literature. Literary Fiction. American |
James Salter
Paperback | Pages: 132 pages Rating: 3.9 | 2264 Users | 256 Reviews
Commentary During Books Last Night: Stories
Last Night is a spellbinding collection of stories about passion–by turns fiery and subdued, destructive and redemptive, alluring and devastating. These ten powerful stories portray men and women in their most intimate moments. A lover of poetry is asked by his wife to give up what may be his most treasured relationship. A book dealer is forced to face the truth about his life. And in the title story, a translator assists his wife’s suicide, even as he performs a last act of betrayal. James Salter’s assured style and emotional insight make him one of our most essential writersItemize Books In Favor Of Last Night: Stories
Original Title: | Last Night |
ISBN: | 1400078415 (ISBN13: 9781400078417) |
Edition Language: | English |
Literary Awards: | PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Nominee (2006) |
Rating About Books Last Night: Stories
Ratings: 3.9 From 2264 Users | 256 ReviewsEvaluate About Books Last Night: Stories
This is the first time I had ever read anything by James Salter. Much impressed. I'll admit that I went straight to the last story (titled Last Night). I was taken aback by the ending. (Don't want to spoil it.) I re-read the same story more slowly & picked up on all the clues that foreshadowed the ending. Salter is a less-is-more kind of writer, a true wordsmith. I have since read his novel, Light Years, which I rated a 5-star book. I did not know the name James Salter before the year began.DNF. I got about 3/4 of the way through the collection before I looked at my shelf and realized I'd rather be reading somebody else. This reminds me of the Mad Man era, but without the interesting characters. Salter writes about relationships, alcoholism, marriage ruts, infidelity, but in a way that seemed utterly familiar, with nothing new or surprising. I even looked up his age online because I wanted to know how dated this was. He grew up in the 1920's, but, to my surprise, the collection was
19 November 2009Incredible. Very brief, I read this in a day. I've read it several times before, and it doesn't lose its punch. Salter creates little perfect worlds with little perfect sentences. He's very precise, yet the stories aren't stilted. A few toward the end sag a bit, but the final story is an absolute stunner. Most of the women in the collection are young and beautiful, with gorgeous bodies which are often in swimsuits. Salter sometimes shocks with somewhat twisty moves, but not quite
I think the best part about this book is tone of it. From the first story, I knew what I was in for. Slightly dimmed light, wistful, quieter than normal voices and things half seen. Salter does a very solid job constructing this as a harmonious whole, where the carpets and curtains and couches are barely different, and you are likely to find the same art books on the coffee table and the same half-empty glasses of scotch by the bed. It was all longing, but the polite and tentative sort that
Favorite stories (in no particular order):"My Lord You" "Give""Platinum""Palm Court""Last Night"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _From "Give"I read the poem, a third of it anyway, standing stunned in a bookshop in the Village. I remember the afternoon, cloudy and quiet, and I remember, too, almost leaving myself, the person I was, the ordinary way I felt about things, my perception of there's no other word for it the depth of life, and above all the thrill of successive lines. The poem was an aria, jagged
Last Night was my first experience of James Salter's writing. He has written numerous short story collections, and the name and blurb of this particular collection really appealed to me, so I decided to start there. I'm not sure if this is meant to be one of his better books, if we're looking at his overall bibliography, but all I know is that I found it quite disappointing.Salter's stories generally focus around couples who are going through problems in their marriages/relationships - some
Salter is incredible. I found him through Ondaatje and admire them equally; both can throw in a simple phrase that will turn your heart over in the middle of a paragraph. The stories in this collection are about love and loss and the beauty that comes from life because only because of its imperfections. The message becomes despondent towards the end of the book and I began to feel that all is hopeless in the world, that we are unable to actualize what we want. But the trick with Salter is he
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