Review: conveys subtly the starkness of man, makes a reader want to comfort, shake, and laugh with the characters he has created
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 8, 2013
When an author conveys subtly the starkness of man, makes a reader want to comfort, shake, and laugh with the characters he has created, all at once, he has achieved something magical. "Henry's Shorts ..." has done all of this and more.In his book of short stories, I felt very connected to an almost arcane darker side, darker point of view. I found myself very much tuned in to the underlying messages, for instance: "We are all of us orphans, Eli ... some of them are well-intentioned ... but they still abuse us."In the aforementioned quote, the character (who sort of gripped my heart, made me want to shelter him, yet still, I wanted him to get out there and really use his size to his advantage) is often finding himself being taken advantage of. He is always being taken advantage of. And in this quote, throughout the story, we are forced to ponder man, humanity, this world, and the "underdogs" and "bad guys."I enjoy Simpson's writing style, and read with rapt fascination each detail of every short story, and each line of dialogue (one of my favorite parts of reading). I even found myself learning something new with the way the characters brought me into their worlds of education, engineering, communications ... very inspiring.My favorite story was Encounters. I loved the first person point of view, and I loved the way each supporting character at some point or another, stole the show. Another mark of an excellent writer. (I'd love to see this story as a novella or novelette.)I found it quite brilliant the way Simpson has married simple and complex, dark and humor, philosophical with art.Good read.