2 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 called Sister Carrie. Each story is accompanied by a beautiful picture that has a nice connection to the plot of the stories. The book begins with a tale about a baby with a special case and how the family deals with it. Among the stories, the major subjects are marriage, family, death, love, money and a lot more. It all ends with the novella Sister Carrie. The novella was a about a young teenage girl and her need for a family and for love. The graphic novels are called Homunculus and Reddog, and are short stories previously told in the book that are now brought back with some color.
Imagine a circus dwarf with a heart full of love, a betrayed husband at his wife’s funeral, a beautiful Amish girl who falls in love for the first time, or a black pianist in a racist world. Those are just a few of the stories I liked, but they make a good idea of what this book is about. I think the main subject here is the human psychology. The stories capture a character’s problem and it shows us how he deals with it. A lot of characters have handicaps, like being a dwarf or the sad story about the cart boy. But sometimes, the handicap is not theirs. The world is handicapped, making them feel miserable about who they are and taking advantage of their problems. The book illustrates this point merciless, showing exactly how hard it is to fit when you are different.
The important thing in every story is that everyone has problems, handicaps, psychopathic traits, or simple needs that turn into a complicated plot. Almost all the stories are centered around some love interest for the main character, but the love stories sometimes are twisted and dark. Human’s worst traits are brought to light. They kill, they cheat, they hate. Broken people experience some situations that keep the reader breathless, wanting for more. The stories seem unconcluded for the tension they bring, it feels like it is only the beginning of a character’s problem. The characters and plots are very diverse, going from dwarfs to hitchhikers and so on.
Religion had a major accent in this book. Almost all the characters had some connection with religion, directly or through their loved ones. The novella at the end also contains a big religious subject. I guess the characters must have some redeeming quality, or something to hold on, like faith. It plays an important role in the human mind, and the author doesn’t ignore that. Although religion might be something very personal to the author.
I rate Illustrated Short Fiction of William H. Coles: 2000-2016 2 out of 4 stars. The numerous grammar mistakes forced me to take a star from the rating. I took another star because the book was too dark for my taste. It didn’t make me feel good, emotionally speaking. The sadness everywhere was too much, but I guess there are a lot of people who enjoy this kind of stories. I do not recommend this book for the lighthearted people like me, but I acknowledge the value of the stories despite their darkness.
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Illustrated Short Fiction of William H. Coles: 2000-2016
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