Lisa Moore - Degrees of Nakedness
Artistic. Lyrical. Provocative.
For my publishing class, I am required to read a book written by a Canadian author. With the help of my professor, I have chosen Lisa Moore's short story collection Degrees of Nakedness. (Even though I would have loved to read Elise Levine's Driving Men Mad)
I have gotten through 5 out of 12 stories so far and, like many of my past short story experiences, I find it difficult to completely understand. I enjoy the story as I read. The diction and the imagery are beautiful and create a precise framework of a scene or emotion while allowing my imagination to wrap around the story's reality. The attention to detail is magnificent. Lisa Moore, I applaud you.
Each story, to me, is like a confession. I feel like the narrator is presenting a memory, or several memories. Memories mingled with personal thoughts. Deep thoughts. Memories, thoughts, emotion, and morals. Although you don't always know who the narrator is, you get inside their head and learn more about them than the other characters in the stories. You become the narrator. The scattered images and the jumping back and forth creates the overall scene of the mind. A person's mind gets sidetracked while thinking or reminiscing. Nothing is in order. But it flows.
I find myself getting cut short from the stories' endings. I keep expecting more... I keep expecting the story to find its way somewhere... an end... a point where the thoughts die down and settle... for something... anything. But it doesn't. All the stories just stop. Abruptly, sometimes. It's just another thought. And then, there was nothing. There is no conclusion. Memories have already happened and the present is happening. None of this has ended yet and there is no resolution to the narrator's feelings. The feelings are just there. And life goes on.
The stories kind of leave you hanging, but at the same time, there really is no way for it to end any other way. The stories almost have a feel of poems. They sound beautifully and the words flow together to create a light airy atmosphere. It's like a silky cloth gliding down your body, or a thin moist fog hanging over the city.
The stories are enjoyable even if it may be a bit confusing.
I think I can learn to enjoy it. Maybe after several reads, I will find more insight.
xx. vincilam
For my publishing class, I am required to read a book written by a Canadian author. With the help of my professor, I have chosen Lisa Moore's short story collection Degrees of Nakedness. (Even though I would have loved to read Elise Levine's Driving Men Mad)
I have gotten through 5 out of 12 stories so far and, like many of my past short story experiences, I find it difficult to completely understand. I enjoy the story as I read. The diction and the imagery are beautiful and create a precise framework of a scene or emotion while allowing my imagination to wrap around the story's reality. The attention to detail is magnificent. Lisa Moore, I applaud you.
Each story, to me, is like a confession. I feel like the narrator is presenting a memory, or several memories. Memories mingled with personal thoughts. Deep thoughts. Memories, thoughts, emotion, and morals. Although you don't always know who the narrator is, you get inside their head and learn more about them than the other characters in the stories. You become the narrator. The scattered images and the jumping back and forth creates the overall scene of the mind. A person's mind gets sidetracked while thinking or reminiscing. Nothing is in order. But it flows.
I find myself getting cut short from the stories' endings. I keep expecting more... I keep expecting the story to find its way somewhere... an end... a point where the thoughts die down and settle... for something... anything. But it doesn't. All the stories just stop. Abruptly, sometimes. It's just another thought. And then, there was nothing. There is no conclusion. Memories have already happened and the present is happening. None of this has ended yet and there is no resolution to the narrator's feelings. The feelings are just there. And life goes on.
The stories kind of leave you hanging, but at the same time, there really is no way for it to end any other way. The stories almost have a feel of poems. They sound beautifully and the words flow together to create a light airy atmosphere. It's like a silky cloth gliding down your body, or a thin moist fog hanging over the city.
The stories are enjoyable even if it may be a bit confusing.
I think I can learn to enjoy it. Maybe after several reads, I will find more insight.
xx. vincilam