Tuesday, 10 July 2012

SHORT STORY SUMMER - 'Night in Paris' - Patrice Chaplin

With all the stories I post about in the next couple of months, I will always attempt to find a link to them online, and indeed I have found one to Night in Paris by Patrice Chaplin right here. My copy of this story came from my rather battered second hand copy of The Minerva Book of Short Stories Vol. 1 (Minerva, 1988), if you ever feel the urge to track down it down

I first read this about 18 months ago, after finding said copy of book in the lovely second hand bookshop I was volunteering in at the time. I was going through a brief short story period (rather similar to the one I am going through now) and decided to pick a few at random. This one stuck in my memory.

I think it's the Englishness of it all - we follow young Lucy from the age of eleven in 1950, right through to her as a young woman, as she experiences first hand the family tradition of professional re-gifting - how her beloved bottle of perfume, along with several other gawdy, tacky items, make their way through the hands of several family members and friends over the years. I'm always drawn to a hideous matriarch in a story and this one is no different - the small references to Lucy's mother, her domineering ways and her own perception of the meaning of Christmas (never loose face, manners are everything, must give present, no matter how bloody awful it is) - is just so well written.


TACKY GIFTS -
 THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS
This isn't the most literary of stories, but I loved it. It just says so much about families and what a particular occasion means to different people. And it was such an accessible read.

Just a quick note on the character of Lucy - it's refreshing to read a character like this in short story form - I guess there's not a huge amount of room for character development here - we start off with a good person and end up with a good person who has just a little more understanding of other people than she did at the start - no major lessons learnt or anguish or tearing out of hair. I love her simplicity and uncomplicatedness (yes, I just invented a new word).




So if you get a chance to read it, let me know what you think...

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8 comments:

  1. Vegan YA Nerds14 July 2012 at 22:10

    Lovely review, Anna! I really like the sound of Lucy and it is impressive when an author manages to develop a decent character in such a short amount of time. And like you, I am a sucker for stories about horrible mothers, I don't know why! Maybe it's because we enjoy having someone to dislike while cheering on the good character.

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  2. Anna Scott14 July 2012 at 22:36

    Thanks Mandee! Hideous matriarchs are THE BEST :)

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  3. Katja Weinert20 July 2012 at 18:13

    Great review, and yes awful mothers make great reading. I love short stories, but it's been a while since I read any. I think it's time I did, it's lovely to finish an entire story during a lunch break.

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    1. Anna Scott8 August 2012 at 21:15

      I always forget how much I enjoy them, and then I find a really great one and make a promise to myself to read more from now on :)

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  4. Flannery Anderson25 July 2012 at 04:27

    You did a great job making me want to read this. I love that you are attracted to the hideous matriarch character in books. I'm really glad to hear that the transformation was just from good to good+. I hate when transitions happen ridiculously fast--it is just so unbelievable. (and annoying!)

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    1. Anna Scott8 August 2012 at 21:16

      You should definitely check this one out Flann :)

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  5. Sam (Realm of Fiction)31 July 2012 at 23:50

    Uncomplicatedness should be a word. ;) This is a lovely review! I can't say short stories have always appealed to me (unless they have been tied in with one of my favourite books), but I'm glad you found something good here. Lucy sounds especially great. Sometimes the simplicity of a story is its best trait. Great review, Anna! :)

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