Thank you to everyone who left such kind and encouraging comments on my last post, I really do appreciate it. My brain is feeling less fried from anxiety at impending unemployment, but the slog of job applications means I still didn’t manage as much reading or as many posts for September as I would have liked!
Still, this is one final contribution to Short Story September hosted by Lisa at ANZ Lit Lovers. It’s been such a great event and good encouragement to take some of the short story volumes off my shelf, which always seem to languish in favour of novels.
This one is a perfect example, as I’ve really enjoyed the novels by Deborah Levy that I’ve read (Hot Milk, Swimming Home and The Man Who Saw Everything) and also her volumes of autobiography. She is so precise and incisive, but never cold, and has a way with startling imagery. All of which are definite strengths in short story form, and I was not disappointed by the ten stories in Black Vodka (2013), published by the ever-wonderful AndOtherStories.
Lisa wisely asked us to focus on one story in a collection, which is a great approach as writing about short story collections can be a real challenge. However, for this collection my tired brain struggled to formulate a post on just one, due to Levy’s precise way of writing. It’s very difficult to go into any detail with the stories in this collection, so I’ll just attempt to give a flavour of a few.
The collection is thematically linked through explorations of love in many guises. It opens with the titular story of an advertising executive falling for his colleague’s archaeologist girlfriend.
“There is nothing that feels as good as breathing near someone you desire. The past of my youth was not a good place to be. Is it strange then, that I am attracted to a woman who is obsessed with digging up the past?”
The man is vulnerable and the story describes the delicate moves towards one another made by two people unsure of each other and themselves. The fragility of the self is another recurring theme, as people struggle to sustain identities.
In Vienna, again there is a vulnerable man, unsure of where he lives or who he is after the disintegration of his marriage. His lover, the married Magret, is business-like and forthright. There is a sad humour in the contrast between his fragility and her determination not to be involved beyond the physical act.
“He nods, as if he is a secretary taking notes from an inscrutable Executive Director who wears purple lipstick to frighten the more timid of her staff. She rips the silver foil from a carton of langoustines and slides them into the microwave that still has the price taped to the side. He watches her bend her long neck to check the minutes and seconds and then fold her arms against the pearl-grey cashmere that hugs her small breasts. While she waits she tells him she has no idea why her husband has bought her a microwave.”
While most of the stories are grounded in the everyday – however unsettling that is, especially when feelings are overwhelming – Cave Girl has a slight magical realism edge as a brother tries to cope with his sister changed beyond all recognition.
“My sister Cass thinks that ice cubes in the shape of hearts will change her life.”
A highly readable collection, inventive and moving, sad and funny, where nothing is tied up neatly.
To end, a surprisingly fully-clothed performance from Eugene Hütz and Gogol Bordello 😀
madame bibi lophile recommends 
I hope the brain continues to unfrazzle, Madame B, and I totally get why real life is getting in the way of reading right now. Glad you enjoyed some short works, though – I really must give Levy a try!!
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Thanks Kaggsy! I’m managing a novel now which I had originally planned for WITMonth, although progress is slow!
I hope you enjoy Levy when you get to her 😊
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I feel for you ploughing through job applications. Take them surely but steadily with reading breaks in between difficult questions would be my advice! I hope the right door will open for you soon.
I have enjoyed Deborah Levy’s non fiction but have struggled more to click with her fiction. This story collection sounds like it might work for me though.
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Thank you! Well-timed breaks are definitely the key
😁
I think Levy’s non-fiction is definitely her strongest writing, but I enjoy her fiction too. I hope these stories work for you if you give them a try!
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You’re amazing! Thank you for your contribution, and remember, don’t get discouraged by the process. Firstly, if you don’t get an interview it’s their loss, and secondly, each time that happens is a learning opportunity to critically assess your application to make it even better. Everything you know about editing tells you that’s true.
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Thanks Lisa! You’re absolutely right – I’m trying to focus on it all as a learning process rather than the end goal.
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I must get to Deborah Levy and short stories would be a good introduction; I’m glad you’re not feeling so fried, keep going
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Thanks Jane! I hope you enjoy Levy when you get to her.
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I’ve still not tried Deborah Levy and these stories actually sound more tempting to me than her novels usually do. But like you I tend to end up letting short stories linger in favour of novels. Oddly, I quite liked the musical accompaniment too! 😉
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I do enjoy short stories so I don’t know why I don’t pick them up more often! I hope you enjoy these if you get to them.
Gogol Bordello are great fun – glad you liked the clip!
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I remember enjoying this collection when it came out, so it’s great to hear you found it satisfying, too. (You’ve also reminded me that I have a copy of Hot Milk somewhere, which I ought to dig out.)
I suspect short stories might work very well for you at the moment, especially given the headspace being consumed by job applications, handovers at work and other personal priorities. I really hope all goes well for you over the next few months – do let us know how you get on!
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Thanks so ,much Jacqui! You’re right – short stories are working well right now.
Great to hear you liked this collection too. I hope you enjoy Hot Milk when you get to it!
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I know what you mean, some collections just don’t lend themselves to speaking/writing at length about one piece. It’s like they AllComeOutOfTheSameBrain and it’s hard to isolate certain elements and arrange them about just one segment.
I wonder if this is the same in Englan? But over here, it’s also worth keeping in mind, during a job hunt, that while you are very concerned about time passing because you’re looking, the people hiring have only a little time to manage that hiring process and coordinate with all the various people’s schedules required for different interviews while doing the rest of their daily work, so it can take much, much longer than expected even to get a form letter let alone more complicated (i.e. promising) responses. It’s hard to be patient as the looker, but hard to find time to hire as the hirer (even when the position desperately needs filling). Fortunately you can read whenver you’re feeling impatient.
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Yes, the stories are distinct but she’s very concise, so it’s hard to pick one to look at in depth without feeling you’re spoiling the entire thing!
Thank you for your wise words. It does feel like applications just fall into an abyss but you’re right, they’re very time-consuming for those at the other end.
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