Review by bookreviewmi1111 -- Illustrated Short Fiction ...

[bookreviewmi1111]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Illustrated Short Fiction of William H. Coles: 2000-2016" by William H. Coles.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Illustrated Short Fiction of William H. Coles: 2000-2016 by William H. Coles is a collection of 33 short stories, two graphic novels, and a novella. All the stories in this book have deep meaning and can trigger so much emotion inside of you.

Most of the stories in this book are great for me, but if I have to pick the one I like the most, I will choose the second story - Speaking of the Dead. I easily cry over movies, but not books. I think it has been over ten years since I last cried over a story in a book. But, I cried while reading Speaking of the Dead. The story puts the main character - John Hampton, in the worst scenario that anyone can think about. His wife - Grace, died in an accident, and just ten days before that accident, she had confessed to him about a four-year affair with another man. John was angry. Deep down inside of him was the conflict between hate and love. He was in the grief of losing his woman and the pain of being betrayed by her. He did not know if he could say good things about Grace at her funeral.

The following day, for some reason, he overcame his weaknesses and hatred to give a eulogy at her funeral. He described how great Grace was and how much he appreciated the memories and adventures he had been through with her. In the end, he chose to forgive and move one. What made me love this story more was when John finished his speech at the funeral and was going to get back to Toronto. As he was leaving, he said goodbye to Henri - a woman who had also been at the funeral. At that moment, he started to have feelings for her. Maybe the author wanted us to see the similarity between Grace having feelings for another man and John having feelings for another woman.

In terms of building characters and generating emotions from readers, this book might be one of the best books I have ever read. I did not expect it to be that great. The pace of the stories was right. I did not think the illustrations were exceptional, but they were perfectly suitable for those dark and profound stories. I was curious and looked up for more information about the author, and it did not surprise me much to see how many awards he has achieved.

There was nothing I did not like about this book, but I did feel a little bit overwhelmed with emotions while reading it. This is not a bad thing about this book, but if you want something bright or lovely to read, you might have to look elsewhere.

I rate Illustrated Short Fiction of William H. Coles: 2000-2016 4 out of 4 stars. I believe it was professionally edited. I recommend this book to people who like fiction books, especially the dark ones with deep meaning. If you are looking for something interesting, then this exceptional book should be one of your considerations. However, if you only want to pick something easy and funny to read, this book might not be the right one because it is not for a quick read. In my opinion, people who are older than 25 or have been through difficulties will like this book because it can challenge thoughts, trigger deep empathy, and teach forgiveness.

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Illustrated Short Fiction of William H. Coles: 2000-2016
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[Gabrielle Sigaki]

Wow, I saw this book and was thinking if I should read it. Maybe I will. Your review highlighted some points for me. I didn't know if a book with so many short stories would have a good plot development. But now I'm really interested and curious to see how this book turns out. Thanks for the great review!

[Dentarthurdent]

Being a fan of anthologies myself, this seems like a book I'd like to try. I'm also glad that the stories therein are the kind that inspire deep emotion. Thanks so much for your awesome review!

[bookreviewmi1111]

Being a fan of anthologies myself, this seems like a book I'd like to try. I'm also glad that the stories therein are the kind that inspire deep emotion. Thanks so much for your awesome review!

Thank you for commenting!

[bookreviewmi1111]

Wow, I saw this book and was thinking if I should read it. Maybe I will. Your review highlighted some points for me. I didn't know if a book with so many short stories would have a good plot development. But now I'm really interested and curious to see how this book turns out. Thanks for the great review!

This book is great especially for people who love fiction. Thank you for spending time to read my review!