Review of Tales of the Seventies
Posted: 17 Sep 2021, 15:21
[Following is a volunteer review of "Tales of the Seventies" by David Done.]
Tales of the Seventies by David Done is a collection of seven short stories, reworked drafts from the 1970s, and a novella. The social environment of San Francisco is presented through different stories without any connection, which are based on the early life of the author, the emphasis falling on the psychology and cognitive valences of each character.
Briefly, the stories bring forward the psychic lability that leads to the psychological deviation of the character, the middle age crisis, and the attempt to expose a fraud, which leads to reverse events, the plan to steal an Ocelot from the zoo with an unexpected ending, the insecurity and the effort to pretend to be someone else and behave differently from the true self just to impress other people, the sexual abuse and the influence of drugs. The novella highlights the drug abuse that leads to spirituality and highlights the states of mind and the diligent attempt to find out some unspoken truths. Jeff, the protagonist, gradually evolves into madness, constantly oscillates between comic and grotesque, has crises and pretends he has clarity of vision, claims the absolute truth, the unity, and the synchronization of all things in the universe.
David Done focuses on the characters, on their feelings, the attention falling on the emotions that oscillate from one story to another. I liked the irony of the author used in some of the stories, especially in the second short story, "Blind San Franciscans", where the idea of unity is presented in a house of art, full of street artists gathered by Don, the protagonist of the story, who becomes what he did not agree.
I did not like that the short stories have a steep ending and the novella does not have a linear plot. I would have liked to read a sequel to some of them.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars because the stories were too short for my literal taste and they failed to capture my attention, and I found some punctuation errors, but I liked that the author humorously outlined some stories and I discovered art in the idea of the union of two entities, but also the unity of several different characters.
I recommend this book to all fans of short stories, which are sprinkled with humor and irony in patches, but not to those who do not like to read about mental problems and both drugs and sexual abuse.
******
Tales of the Seventies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Tales of the Seventies by David Done is a collection of seven short stories, reworked drafts from the 1970s, and a novella. The social environment of San Francisco is presented through different stories without any connection, which are based on the early life of the author, the emphasis falling on the psychology and cognitive valences of each character.
Briefly, the stories bring forward the psychic lability that leads to the psychological deviation of the character, the middle age crisis, and the attempt to expose a fraud, which leads to reverse events, the plan to steal an Ocelot from the zoo with an unexpected ending, the insecurity and the effort to pretend to be someone else and behave differently from the true self just to impress other people, the sexual abuse and the influence of drugs. The novella highlights the drug abuse that leads to spirituality and highlights the states of mind and the diligent attempt to find out some unspoken truths. Jeff, the protagonist, gradually evolves into madness, constantly oscillates between comic and grotesque, has crises and pretends he has clarity of vision, claims the absolute truth, the unity, and the synchronization of all things in the universe.
David Done focuses on the characters, on their feelings, the attention falling on the emotions that oscillate from one story to another. I liked the irony of the author used in some of the stories, especially in the second short story, "Blind San Franciscans", where the idea of unity is presented in a house of art, full of street artists gathered by Don, the protagonist of the story, who becomes what he did not agree.
I did not like that the short stories have a steep ending and the novella does not have a linear plot. I would have liked to read a sequel to some of them.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars because the stories were too short for my literal taste and they failed to capture my attention, and I found some punctuation errors, but I liked that the author humorously outlined some stories and I discovered art in the idea of the union of two entities, but also the unity of several different characters.
I recommend this book to all fans of short stories, which are sprinkled with humor and irony in patches, but not to those who do not like to read about mental problems and both drugs and sexual abuse.
******
Tales of the Seventies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon