Review of Tales of the Seventies
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Chika Amelia
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Review of Tales of the Seventies
[Following is a volunteer review of "Tales of the Seventies" by David Done.]
Not all stories end in happiness. As life brings many things to us, we are bound to feel the joy of gaining something special and the sadness of losing one. Tales of the Seventies is an example of how a novel has a dark ending. This novel is a collection of short stories and each of the stories has different ending even though most of them are sad. What makes this book more interesting is the fact that David Done wrote these stories based on true events.
The first story of the book started with an old man in his early sixties named Zhen. Together with his wife, Leila, they ran a bookstore for years. However, later on Leila was diagnosed with a tumor and started to lose her memory. Leila’s condition reminded him of his mother on her death bed and he started to feel anxious. He loved his wife and he wanted to save her but her condition was complicated that it was hard to do anything. Zhen could only make sure his wife got the love and care she deserved.
There is also a story inside which far from the word ‘dark’ for me, which is ‘The Cat Burglar’. It is a hilarious story for me but again, it is inspired from an event in real life. The author’s note after the story made me think that maybe that was what happened to the burglars. However, no one knows for sure what had happened at that time. Another story which picked my interest is the one which entitled ‘Blind San Franciscans’. The story left dissatisfaction in my heart since there are rooms for more explanation for many questions appeared in my head when I read that story. However, that might be what the author aimed for; for the readers to be in the dark about what was actually happened and what would happen in the story.
The owner of the brilliant ideas as well as the author of the book, David Done, is a retired businessman. He had started to write long ago since he was young but he stopped because of his occupation as businessman. After he retired, he found his drafts that he wrote years ago and decided to return to his old hobby of writing. The author really did a great job in conveying a side of life which differed from the people’s preference of usual romance and action. There is even a story which is conveying the mental state of the character and if the readers choose to skip the Introduction part, I am sure that one would find the novella is quiet confusing. Moreover, since the stories inside are mostly about the dark endings, it will be unattractive to young souls who enjoy reading romance and fantasy.
However, I personally will rate this story with three out of four stars for the inconsistency of grammars used in the first story and the dark ending. Most of the stories in the book appeared to be professionally edited, however, I didn't think the same for the first story. It took me a while to understand behind the inconsistency of the grammar used in it, but I still found some of them quite disturbing. On the other hand, the ideas of the story are superb since I think not everyone can write a dark ending story as beautiful and as vivid the author did. However, even though the grammar and idea of the story are great, it does not change the fact that it has limited range of readers. I needed time to read it until the last page since I am not a fan of sad ending story. It was enjoyable enough for me but still not the kind of story I want to read. Other people might think otherwise, though.
This book is recommended for adults who don't mind reading a not happy ending story because of the mature content inside. Young readers needs guidance and supervise to read this book. Sometimes they are explained explicitly and sometimes it is in strings of words and paragraphs which describe the scene subtly. The mature content is not only about the sexual activity, but also the weight of the story which is, actually, not suitable for young readers without any supervision from the adults. Reader discretion is advised to fully absorb the story. Even if one wants a change of pace by reading a book with different ending from the usual, one needs to have a good comprehension and skill to be able to enjoy such stories.
******
Tales of the Seventies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Not all stories end in happiness. As life brings many things to us, we are bound to feel the joy of gaining something special and the sadness of losing one. Tales of the Seventies is an example of how a novel has a dark ending. This novel is a collection of short stories and each of the stories has different ending even though most of them are sad. What makes this book more interesting is the fact that David Done wrote these stories based on true events.
The first story of the book started with an old man in his early sixties named Zhen. Together with his wife, Leila, they ran a bookstore for years. However, later on Leila was diagnosed with a tumor and started to lose her memory. Leila’s condition reminded him of his mother on her death bed and he started to feel anxious. He loved his wife and he wanted to save her but her condition was complicated that it was hard to do anything. Zhen could only make sure his wife got the love and care she deserved.
There is also a story inside which far from the word ‘dark’ for me, which is ‘The Cat Burglar’. It is a hilarious story for me but again, it is inspired from an event in real life. The author’s note after the story made me think that maybe that was what happened to the burglars. However, no one knows for sure what had happened at that time. Another story which picked my interest is the one which entitled ‘Blind San Franciscans’. The story left dissatisfaction in my heart since there are rooms for more explanation for many questions appeared in my head when I read that story. However, that might be what the author aimed for; for the readers to be in the dark about what was actually happened and what would happen in the story.
The owner of the brilliant ideas as well as the author of the book, David Done, is a retired businessman. He had started to write long ago since he was young but he stopped because of his occupation as businessman. After he retired, he found his drafts that he wrote years ago and decided to return to his old hobby of writing. The author really did a great job in conveying a side of life which differed from the people’s preference of usual romance and action. There is even a story which is conveying the mental state of the character and if the readers choose to skip the Introduction part, I am sure that one would find the novella is quiet confusing. Moreover, since the stories inside are mostly about the dark endings, it will be unattractive to young souls who enjoy reading romance and fantasy.
However, I personally will rate this story with three out of four stars for the inconsistency of grammars used in the first story and the dark ending. Most of the stories in the book appeared to be professionally edited, however, I didn't think the same for the first story. It took me a while to understand behind the inconsistency of the grammar used in it, but I still found some of them quite disturbing. On the other hand, the ideas of the story are superb since I think not everyone can write a dark ending story as beautiful and as vivid the author did. However, even though the grammar and idea of the story are great, it does not change the fact that it has limited range of readers. I needed time to read it until the last page since I am not a fan of sad ending story. It was enjoyable enough for me but still not the kind of story I want to read. Other people might think otherwise, though.
This book is recommended for adults who don't mind reading a not happy ending story because of the mature content inside. Young readers needs guidance and supervise to read this book. Sometimes they are explained explicitly and sometimes it is in strings of words and paragraphs which describe the scene subtly. The mature content is not only about the sexual activity, but also the weight of the story which is, actually, not suitable for young readers without any supervision from the adults. Reader discretion is advised to fully absorb the story. Even if one wants a change of pace by reading a book with different ending from the usual, one needs to have a good comprehension and skill to be able to enjoy such stories.
******
Tales of the Seventies
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Tales of the Seventies by David Done
