Review: Powerful
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 13, 2014
"The Ivory Tower - a short story" by Kirstin Pulioff shows what a skilled writer can achieve with a greatlty set up short story that others cannot pull off in an entire book.Pulioff describes in some detail the life in a protection camp, a post-apocalyptic setting where people are protected from the effects of a prior world wide contamination. Within a few pages I felt as if I was in the camp with 15 year old Simone and had the same questions, doubts and experiences.The descriptive style pays off many times over as a futuristic setting comes very much alive for protagonists and readers.The scenario raises many questions about freedom and quality of life that are sometimes clearly implied and sometimes spoken out loudly by the characters. Through the well presented narrative and the dialogue, Simone, the heroine of this story, becomes familiar very quickly as a strong individual and someone I could relate to.The almost hypnotic writing pulled me through the story in what appeared no time, leaving me with a powerful ending and a strong impression.It reminds me how poignant a successful short story can be in ways that 3 hour movies or thick novels often cannot achieve, The brief snapshot - if done well, as in this case - can point out the claustrophobic feel so much more efficient.This is really good.