| Title | : | Ox-Tales: Fire |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1846682592 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781846682599 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 208 |
| Publication | : | First published July 2, 2009 |
The idea behind Ox-Tales is to raise money for Oxfam and along the way to highlight the charity’s work in project areas: agriculture in Earth, water projects in Water, conflict aid in Fire, and climate change in Air.
Ox-Tales: Fire Reviews
-
This was a charming collection of short stories by some famous authors:
The Island by Mark Haddon
Playing with... by Geoff Dyer
Aflame in Athens by Victoria Hislop
A Family Evening by Sebastian Faulks
The King Who Never Spoke by John le Carré
Into the World by Xiaolu Guo
Sandcastles: A Negotiation by William Sutcliffe
Last by Ali Smith
Long Time, No See by Lionel Shriver
Dog Days by Jeanette Winterson
Whether I'd heard of or read these authors before or not didn't seem to matter in this collection. The stories were fresh and interesting. This book, Fire, is supposed to focus on conflict, as well as the element of fire itself. A couple of the stories left me thinking, "What was the point of that?", but my favourites (The Island, The King Who Never Spoke, Into the World, and Dog Days) really made an impact on me.
The Island follows a woman in some rustic century who lives in a rich household but decides to elope with one of the prisoners in the dungeon. In the end he deserts her on a strange island and she has to try to survive on her basic knowledge of the world, after having lived a privileged, waited-on life.
The King Who Never Spoke showed just how important words are when we use them. The King's kingdom slowly but surely lost its conflict, and everything turned to peace.
Into the World shows how ambition can lead you through life, but at some point we need to step back from ambition and recede into simplicity.
Lastly, Dog Days is a touching memoir about a spaniel and an astute analysis of love - how it forms us and our lives.
I enjoyed reading a book of short stories because it was easy to dip into when I was tired or didn't have enough days left before getting my new book club book. -
I liked this collection, especially the short story by Ali Smith about words and etymolgies! The first story by Mark Haddon on Ariadne was also very interesting, although the ending was a bit disappointing but a very interesting retelling! The other stories were all more or less fine; good short stories but not necessarily anything mind-bogglingly amazing.
-
The Island
I love Haddon's writing. This story repulsed yet intrigued me at the same time. It was enjoyable, in some sick and twisted fashion. 4/5
Playing With...
I thought this was clever & witty. It was funny, fun & it made me smile. It wasn't too long & it was generally pretty good. But it seemed a little bit, I don't know, empty in places. 3/5
Aflame in Athens
I loved this one <3 So very much. It had me from the very beginning, I loved the flow & I loved the outcome. 5/5
A Family Evening
Good. Short. Sweet. I liked the flow & feel of this one. It wasn't too heavy, it got across what was intended. It was good & I enjoyed it 3/5
The King Who Never Spoke
Totally loved this one. It had the feel of a fairy tale, you know? I think that was the intention but I really loved it. =D 5/5
Into the World
I liked the change of culture in this one. It interested me. The writing was good & I liked the alternating point of views. 4/5
Sandcastles: A Negotiation
So brutally honest & so funny. I liked the flow, the humour. Very funny. It made me smile. 4/5
Last
I love Ali Smith. I lovelovelove Ali Smith. This wasn't my favourite story in the collection, nor is it my favourite short story of hers. But it was enjoyable and the pace & flow were pretty good. I love how she tells stories 4/5
Long Time, No See
I just couldn't get into this one. I don't know why I just, it didn't click with me like all the rest have. Don't get me wrong, his writing is amazing. His language just flows but I just didn't connect 2/5
Dog Days
I think this was just beautiful. It was probably my favourite story in the collection. Perfect way to finish off the collection. 5/5
Overall works out at 3.9/5. But I round up so 4/5 overall. Perfect for a summers day reading ^_^ -
A lovely little collection of short stories. The ones I enjoyed most were:
"The Island" by Mark Haddon. Disturbing and darkly beautiful.
"Aflame in Athens" by Victiria Hislop. A tale of youthful passion,both personal and political.
"The King Who Never Spoke" by John Le Carre. Gorgeous in it's brevity and simplicity.
"Last" by Ali Smith. The action seems secondary to the absolute joy of words and their many meanings.
"Dog Days"by Jeanette Winterson is pure LOVE, plain and simple. -
I'm reading the Ox-Tales series as part of a literacy course being run by Headway (Gloucester), the idea being to re-build confidence of attendees (including myself) and rekindle a love of books some may have lost following a brain injury.
The books themselves a series of short stories over four volumes written by a verity of authors each a little gem in there own right, perfect for a short journey or a quick bed time read -
I am glad the book ended on JW, and it was a really lovely story... Never read it before. A really lovely collection of stories and even the ones that I thought were going to be boring turned out to be not so bad :)
-
Especially liked dog days - but each story had a surprising aspect of fire in that, not only are the emotions strong, they are poignant in a way that gets that true idea of the element across in an emotional aspect opposed to an obvious elemental one the reader might be expecting.
-
"Ox-Tales: Fire" is one in a series of four short story collections published to raise awareness for the work of Oxfam International's aid projects around the world. In the case of "Fire", the special subject is aid for conflict areas.
As you can tell from my reviews for
Earth and
Air, a fit with the title or theme of the book seems to be not all that important, therefore I won't even go into my usual rant of not seeing any connections, and instead point out if there ARE some ;).
As with my previous reviews (
Ox-Tales: Water will be read and reviewed later), my personal opinion on the stories does bear no connection to either Oxfam's work or the author's other stories, so please don't be offended :).
"Fire" by
Vikram Seth
For the first time in these reviews, this is a poem that I didn't like that much. "Fayah" and "dizayah" sound alright if you say it aloud, but it is quite difficult to read, and not that enjoyable for me.
"The Island" by
Mark Haddon
The longest story in this book describes a young woman's struggle for survival after having been left on an island by her lying fiancé.
While this is an utterly disgusting and disturbing read, the images stay with you for a long time, and this is one of the best stories in the collection so far.
Note: Further comments on this story and another one follow in the spoilerbox at the end of the review. Don't read if you don't recognize a classical reference in the scenario described above.
"Playing with ..." by
Geoff Dyer
Plus point: I like Geoff Dyer. And the title of the story is connected to the title of the collection.
Neutral point: I get what the author was on about.
Minus point: This is nowhere near a great short story. In fact, I don't see how that counts as a short story at all. It is basically just a collection of anecdotes, and one or two thoughts about them.
"Aflame in Athens" by
Victoria Hislop
This story is interesting in two different ways.
First, it tells about how a good idea (protesting against something bad) can go really wrong. It is important for people interested in and commenting on social changes and problems that they understand the difficulties of change as well. As this story also deals with political indifference, it offers a good overview of some of the problems of protest marches. No solutions unfortunately, but then again, that's not what short stories are there for.
Second, this story has an interesting actuality right now. Originally published in 2009, no one could have foreseen the European trouble Greece is facing right now (2012), but it is really interesting to read about the protests back then, and then look up some of the names or demands. And understand the importance of this story for the way Greece is today.
"A Family Evening" by
Sebastian Faulks
"A Family Evening" is an extract from Faulks' 2009 novel
A Week in December. I had already started this book, and knew the story from that context. I even liked the chapter in the book. But to be absolutely honest, as a story on its own it makes not much sense. And why should it, when it is perfectly fine as a part of a novel...
"The King Who Never Spoke" by
John le Carré
Never having read le Carré before, I was expecting something of a crime or mystery story. And got surprised.
Actually, this story reads like a bit of a fairy tale. There is a solution to some problems, the happy end happens, and it really puts a smile on your face. There is also no way the advice in the story will work out in today's politics. But nevertheless, the smile might help :).
"Into the World" by
Xiaolu Guo
This is actually one of the more complex stories in the collection. There are two different viewpoints, one of a screenwriter in the Chinese movie industry and one of a young man from the rural provinces. Both of them reveal quite a lot about their characters, both of them have a sense of moving forward and, while I thought it a bit abrupt, both of them achieve a fulfilling ending. Which is actually quite rare to find, and that makes this story so enjoyable to read. It did not stay with me for long though.
"Sandcastles: A Negotiation" by
William Sutcliffe
This short story is a whole 26 pages long. And it is another extract from a novel.
Take my advice: If you enjoy the main character and his struggles with his wife and two kids after the first ten pages - and I think you will - stop there, and wait for the publish date of the novel. Whenever that may be. Because short stories with a cliffhanger are not nice at all.
"Last" by
Ali Smith
Ali Smith has published several short stories, and you can see a slight difference to some of the other authors. This story has a concise beginning and ending, creates images you will remember for a while, and tells you a lot about the characters in a really short time.
While I disliked the start a bit, as the metaphors seemed really random, it got better from there. The storyteller gets her passion, her fire back, and her journey there is quite remarkable.
In fact, I might check out another one of her stories soon.
Note: This is the other story which is covered in the spoilerbox.
"Long Time, No See" by
Lionel Shriver
Much like one of the stories that make up Tom Rachman's excellent book
The Imperfectionists, this story tells us about a man who always looks towards his peers without realizing his own worth.
In an odd way though, this story doesn't quite leave you with the same feeling of recognizing your own goods. Most likely because the oh-so-lucky main character is one of the most unpleasant people I have ever encountered or read about. Including Professor Umbridge...
"Dog Days" by
Jeanette Winterson
I have never read a single book by Jeanette Winterson. And maybe I should have, seeing how she won't have become an OBE for nothing. But this story really didn't make me want to change that and go to the library.
True, I am a cat or an owl person, but I didn't feel the love that was being talked about constantly. In fact, this story about a dog and its owner left me rather empty.
All in all, this makes 4 stars. Good collection, my odd favourite being "The Island".
Spoilerbox: -
I really enjoy these Oxfam collections of short stories, book extracts and poetry. Particularly enjoyed the Lionel Shriver piece.
-
As with all short stories, I liked some and was ambivalent about others.
Favourite: The King Who Never Spoke. Very sweet. -
Excellent collection of short-stories by a variety of authors all in support of Oxfam. 4/5 stars.
-
This slim volume of original stories was a pleasure - some impressive contributors, some real gems amongst a generally high standard, few 'duds', probably something there for most people. I might've judged this anthology a little more harshly were it not for the benefit of charity, and I felt the 'theme' of fire was completely unrealised, but in truth it was an entertaining little punt.
~~~[Spoiler-ish comments on individual stories follow]~~~
VIKRAM SETH "Fire" - A short poem with primary school level rhymes and lack of depth, this felt a lot more 'because of the name' than because of the quality of the piece.
MARK HADDON "The Island" - This was a bleak and beautiful tale of how a princess came to be stranded on an island. Spellbinding.
GEOFF DYER "Playing With" - An interesting autobiographical consideration of luck, consequence, and not being caught making bad choices.
VICTORIA HISLOP "Aflame In Athens" - This tale of a young student falling for a dangerous man in Athens was atmospheric, but didn't really touch me much.
SEBASTIAN FAULKS "A Family Evening" - A seemingly unfinished introductory preamble of a mother's thoughts on her husband and children.
JOHN LE CARRE "The King Who Never Spoke" - A nice little fairytale about keeping one's own councel, morality and human nature. Clever and thought-provoking.
XIAOLU GUO "Into The World" - This created a world and a situation interestingly, that of a Chinese servant in the home of a writer, but it felt very partially formed.
WILLIAM SUTCLIFFE "Sandcastles: A Negotiation" - Humour, insight and a surprise ending in this story of a father looking after his two young children. I do like Sutcliffe's writing.
ALI SMITH "Last" - Though kinda aimless, this threw together thoughts on etymology with a description of the rescue of a woman left on a train. Just the 'good' side of pointless.
LIONEL SHRIVER "Long Time No See" - A conversation between two old school-friends meeting as adults, this failed to hold my attention and felt detached.
JEANETTE WINTERSON "Dog Days" - A cute eulogy of a canine, this was not really my thing (as not a huge fan of dogs) but it was kinda sweet. -
I didn't like this part of the Ox-tales series as much as the others I've read. There were a couple of really good stories in there, notably "Into the world" by Xiaolu Go, "Last" by Ali Smith (I really liked that one) and "Dog Days" by Jeanette Winterson. The piece by John le Carré about "The King who never spoke" was also well worth reading.
What bugged me about this collection was that there were three excerpts from novels (in progress or just not published) which couldn't really pass as stand-alones. There were novel excerpts in the other Ox-tales volumes, but they still felt as if you were getting a story, albeit a very open-ended one - but then many short stories are open-ended. With this volume, it just felt like a preview, the kind you get at the end of novels to get you interested in the author's *next* novel. I was a bit disappointed by that. The stories didn't seem to be tied together very well by the "Fire" motto either (or maybe I just missed it because I was grumbling about the excerpt thing).
I don't regret reading the collection, but I wasn't as satisfied as with the other volumes. -
What a delight the OxTales Elements have been! Like some kind of literary lucky bag... and the perfect 'bag books'
Mark Haddon's story The Island which comes first after the traditional opening poem by Vikram Seth is a bit of a shocker, unlike anything of his I've read before and I am not sure what to make of it. Sebastian Faulks had given part of what was then a work in progress since published as A Week in December, so that's a hazard of being way behind in reading these books way behind... when you didn't like the final product that is.
Lots of other good stuff - I liked Geoff Dyers' piece on risk, William Sutcliffe's excerpt Sandcastles - A Negotiation (the sandcastles have cliffhangers), Lionel Shriver's excerpt from an unpublished (overtaken by 9/11) novel about terrorism - which is about college peers meeting again, and Jeanette Winterson's passionate piece about a dog. -
A collection of stories that bedazzle, move, and mortify, Ox-Tales Fire assembles some of the greats in contemporary fiction for a worthy cause. It’s an excellent way to sample the talent of a lot of respected writers before taking the plunge of committing to their novels. (Perfect for curious booklovers who nonetheless like to play it safe with their reading choices.) Each piece appears simple, unpretentious in length and title, but in reality is poignant and introspective. With the exception of Vikram Seth’s rather mediocre poem, I loved each one and couldn’t decide on a favorite. The combination of superb writing and one’s contribution to Oxfam’s humanitarian work make for a truly satisfying experience.
-
My third dip into the Ox-Tale soup - and my favourite volume so far.
'Dog Days' by Jeanette Winterson was delightful and heartfelt.
'Last' by Ali Smith was quirky and playful.
The William Sutcliffe piece took a turn at the end that would actually encourage me to read the full novel when it appears. Which is more than I can say for the boring Lionel Shriver piece.
The Victoria Hislop and Geoff Dyer both allowed me to sample authors I've never liked the sound of, but I'm not sure they've convinced me to come at them again.
And the Mark Haddon piece was the out and out winner for me. So unexpected and beautiful. -
Apparently not-for-profit organisations haven't enough money for editors. This is evident in Oxfam's collection. One of the stars is for the famous people sending in crap. One additional star is for Oxfam. The idea was great Oxfam, but a bit of quality never hurts.
Plus one star for Lionel Shriver, whose writing is always good (even though she didn't submit a new story, but rather a chapter from a work in progress)
Minus one star for demeaningly trite story from Le Carre. -
Another good set of short stories for the Oxfam collection. The Fire set are highlighting the work that they do in conflict zones.
The John le Carré story is very good, as i would expect by him, and Aflame in Athens by Victoria Hislop has a good plot for such a short story. Sandcastles: A Negotiation by William Sutcliffe is chilling. I like the Sebastian Faulks story too; I must read more by him. -
**** (4) stars to Vikram Seth and Mark Haddon. I liked the poem Fire by Vikram Seth so much I am learning it by heart and I loved the long short story by Mark Haddon - don't read about it - just read it with no preconceptions.
I had to look up the prawn jumbalaya in Vikram seth's poem and I shall have it for tea tomorrow. My only grumble is that once again Mark Haddon's biography makes no mention of his delightful 'Agent Z' books.
The others get a variety between ** (2) and *** (3). -
I was given 3 books from this series of short stories written by established authors. Proceeds from the 4 books in the series go to Oxfam projects so it is serving a very worthy cause as well.
Contributing to this book are authors such as Mark Haddon and Vikram Seth who contributed a poem. Some stories are better than others but I note that most of the authors represented are not known for short story writing which is a very different form than the novel. -
This is the third volume of the Oxfam short story collections featuring a collection of stories from many talented authors including Lionel Shriver, Mark Haddon, Sebastian Faulks and Ali Smith among others. The stories are variable and I enjoyed most of them in one way or another. Still, for a low price and a worthwhile cause it's not a bad deal.
-
some nice short pieces here and all for a useful cause. a bit wearisome the need for so many writers to contribute work about the vapid nature of middle class life in the u.k. when the money raised is going to people who may not even have a place to call home. wake up people and write about the outside world.
-
Trumpi apsakymai anglų kalba, kuriuos jungia ugnies leitmotyvas. Mitologijos, istorijos, šeimos problemų, didaktinių temų jungiami apsakymai, kuriuose atskleidžiamos gerumo, humanizmo, egzistencinės problemos.
-
Mark Haddon - what a story!
-
My favourite of the Oxfam series so far. Lionel Shriver's excerpt of an unpublished novel left me wanting more. Ali Smith was great as was Mark Haddon. Brilliant.
-
Don't understand the purpose of this book. It's a combination of extracts from bigger pieces (well, mostly) and reading it is like watching a bunch of previews when you came to see a movie.
-
5 stars for Jeanette Winterson's story about her dog
-
Some really great stories in this collection. Mark Haddon's was the stand out: so haunting!
-
Sorry to say that, unlike the two previously read collections, this one was a disappointment. I only really liked the last story ("Dog Days")
-
These stories were undoubtably well written and thought provoking but quite dark in their themes. Maybe its just me but life is hard enough without being subjected to depressing stories.
