Sourland: Stories of Loss, Grief, and Forgetting Audiobook

" A mostly good collection of stories. A couple of majors themes included older women's sexuality, widowhood, and power dynamics in relationships. She contends multiple times that one person in relationships always loves more than the other. Made for some interesting conversation outside of my reading time. "

" Overall most of the short stories left me feeling like they were incomplete or that I didn't understand the ending. The characters though were memorable and very well developed. "Amputee" was the story I "liked" the most - I say "liked" but really none of these are happy tales. They are all really dark & twisted. "

" OK good but... WAY FREAKING WEIRD!! A bunch of her short stories and most involved something sexually twisted. YIKES!! I loved We Were the Mulvaney's but this... not my favorite. "

" I quickly tired of the naive-woman-is-victimized-by-a-male-pig theme that ran through this story collection. "

" Dark. Very, very dark. "

" I heard JCO read the first story in this book, and she signed my copy. Love her, she is amazing. "

" So far two of the short stories centered around disturbing rape scenes, and a third was about a girl whose ex-model mother verbally abuses her while dragging her around new york looking for a restaurant that she doesn't hate. I might continue reading, because I find the stories captivating, but I am not going to hope for any uplifting ones. "

" It is very clear that Oates was working out some grief about the loss of her husband. Almost all the short stories in the collection feature someone (usually a woman) who has lost a husband or a father, or is waiting for the looming loss. Many of the stories are weird, unsettling and in a way, somewhat unsatisfying. But on the whole, a very interesting collection from someone who remains one of the most relevant living author around. "

" I expected so much more from Joyce Carol Oates! These stories were repetitive and rarely made sense. "

" The collection's first story, Pumpkin Head, sets the tone for the rest of the book. It was grotesque and engrossing. A writer could learn a lot about how to set up a situation and provide enough details to pull a nervous reader through a very dark, realistic world. "

" The stories were weird and twisted. "

" It is obvious that she is suffering from the sudden death of her husband, and is having trouble adjusting to her ner life, as it is a recurring theme in these stories. Very touching, sad, and troubling. "

" Rape, rape, and more rape. Ugh. "

" Disappointing--felt very repetitious of earlier themes. Maybe more interest from a biographical point of view than a literary one, as several stories show the influence of her husband's death--but then I think I'd just as soon read the memoir. "

" Some of the short stories were haunting and wonderful to read. Others were not. I think many of these stories are concerned with Oates' grief when she lost her husband. Too much for me in a short time. "

" I love all her stuff! "

" If her vision gets any clearer she's gonna burst into flames. "

" Sixteen stories in Oates' usual style, dark, absorbing, not for the feint of heart. Most deal with loss, some kind of violence, women's struggles. I loved them, but not what you would read just any sunny afternoon. Lots of food for thought here. "

" As always, a good collection of JCO's short stories--provocative and unique. "

" I really love JCO's writing but, in this collection the redundant theme of vulnerability was exhausting. "