Review of Tales of the Seventies
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Rahila Malayil
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- Latest Review: Tales of the Seventies by David Done
Review of Tales of the Seventies
[Following is a volunteer review of "Tales of the Seventies" by David Done.]
Have you ever wondered how people lived before smartphones were invented during earlier times when people used to talk to strangers in bus and not immerse themselves in gadgets? Tales of the seventies talks about what is needed for you to explore in 1970s street life. It tells the stories of ordinary people back in times when technology had little to do with daily life. The book is a collection of short stories with one novella.
David Done seems to be aware of the heartbeats of San Francisco back then. Most of the stories were set up in San Francisco. This book gives a broad idea on the lives of ordinary people. His writing is placid and appears to be more realistic. I find it amusing that he put more effort into titling each story. The title makes sense once you finish the story.
Each character is sure to take you in a roller coaster of feelings. His precise writing will run your imagination like crazy. The first story "Point to Point After" will grip you with its heart-wrenching story of a book store owner Zhen Huan, who is in the verge of losing his wife. When you realise that he has a history of losing his mother to the same deadly disease, the pain become unbearable. But what if God had better plans for them. The ending is absolutely nothing like you imagined. The next story "Blind San Franciscans" is a story of a guy who is running a charity trust. This story for sure will teach you how far a good heart can survive and how experiences could change your moral values forever.
Cat burglars is my favourite story. Personally, I do recommend you read this story first. It will make you laugh your head off. Lee and Mark are two thieves planning for a huge robbery. The story is packed with good humour mixed with sarcasm.
"Three card shuffles" is a story in which the main theme is gambling. "The San Francisco adventure" is another story down the line. It deals with the problems of gays at that time.
Unfortunately, some of his stories didn't give a deep meaning. In the story "Mack the knife" I wonder why David miss out on character development part. The story yearns for more flesh. Even though the Blind San Franciscans leave us with many unanswered questions, readers could grasp how his past influenced him and the title itself give it away. "The short unhappy life of Terrence mcakers" didn’t resonate with me. It was a disappointing story for me as it is neither relatable nor make an impression in mind.
In the first section of the book, the author tried his best to avoid profane words. Towards the last section he used too many profane words and erotic scenes. These erotic scenes have nothing to do with love. This happens in more than two stories, and it never add any special effects to the stories. The author should also work on editing part because there are a lot of blank lines between lines. Time transition is also not portrayed clearly, I couldn't distinguish between past and present at some places which was quite annoying.
Rating this book was not an easy job as each stories were of different kind. I give this book 2 out of 4 stars because of the reasons discussed above. I recommend this book to people who like dark, mysterious ancient stories more than fairy tales. This book also contains comedy and action.
******
Tales of the Seventies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Have you ever wondered how people lived before smartphones were invented during earlier times when people used to talk to strangers in bus and not immerse themselves in gadgets? Tales of the seventies talks about what is needed for you to explore in 1970s street life. It tells the stories of ordinary people back in times when technology had little to do with daily life. The book is a collection of short stories with one novella.
David Done seems to be aware of the heartbeats of San Francisco back then. Most of the stories were set up in San Francisco. This book gives a broad idea on the lives of ordinary people. His writing is placid and appears to be more realistic. I find it amusing that he put more effort into titling each story. The title makes sense once you finish the story.
Each character is sure to take you in a roller coaster of feelings. His precise writing will run your imagination like crazy. The first story "Point to Point After" will grip you with its heart-wrenching story of a book store owner Zhen Huan, who is in the verge of losing his wife. When you realise that he has a history of losing his mother to the same deadly disease, the pain become unbearable. But what if God had better plans for them. The ending is absolutely nothing like you imagined. The next story "Blind San Franciscans" is a story of a guy who is running a charity trust. This story for sure will teach you how far a good heart can survive and how experiences could change your moral values forever.
Cat burglars is my favourite story. Personally, I do recommend you read this story first. It will make you laugh your head off. Lee and Mark are two thieves planning for a huge robbery. The story is packed with good humour mixed with sarcasm.
"Three card shuffles" is a story in which the main theme is gambling. "The San Francisco adventure" is another story down the line. It deals with the problems of gays at that time.
Unfortunately, some of his stories didn't give a deep meaning. In the story "Mack the knife" I wonder why David miss out on character development part. The story yearns for more flesh. Even though the Blind San Franciscans leave us with many unanswered questions, readers could grasp how his past influenced him and the title itself give it away. "The short unhappy life of Terrence mcakers" didn’t resonate with me. It was a disappointing story for me as it is neither relatable nor make an impression in mind.
In the first section of the book, the author tried his best to avoid profane words. Towards the last section he used too many profane words and erotic scenes. These erotic scenes have nothing to do with love. This happens in more than two stories, and it never add any special effects to the stories. The author should also work on editing part because there are a lot of blank lines between lines. Time transition is also not portrayed clearly, I couldn't distinguish between past and present at some places which was quite annoying.
Rating this book was not an easy job as each stories were of different kind. I give this book 2 out of 4 stars because of the reasons discussed above. I recommend this book to people who like dark, mysterious ancient stories more than fairy tales. This book also contains comedy and action.
******
Tales of the Seventies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Tales of the Seventies by David Done
