I absolutely adored this book.
One thing, it gave me a reading list.
Another thing, its author, Peter Orner, made the point behind a Turgenev story clear, which I had read and didn't quite understand when I was fifteen. That was more than fifty years ago.
In addition, I like to read books about authors writing about other authors' stories.
Plus, his chatty, sincere and personal way of talking about his reading has impressed me greatly.
Then, this book mostly concentrates on short stories.
Most author-on-author books I read earlier focused on specific authors in general; this one concentrated on a story from any one author that impressed Peter Orner in some way, especially when that story's event or some part of it coincided with something in his personal life.
As to Orner's life, writing the personal together with the author's review or rather the understanding and experience of a specific scene or story adds a touching emotional element to a book, which in the hands of a lesser writer could become dull and businesslike.
Also, in some way, Orner's way of experiencing stories coincides with mine, in that I also react to them rather than applaud them because they won this or that award. In fact, he says he picked a couple of the books out of used-books bins and reacted to them as if their authors were Nobel-Prize winners.
To date, I haven't read any other books by this author. I think I'll remedy that now.

everything about this book

is Peter Orner.

it opens up a more personal and less didactic view in enjoying what one has read.

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Created Jan 16, 2018 at 12:35pm • Submit your own review...