- Hardcover: 235 pages
- Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Pr; First THUS edition (September 1987)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0871131595
- ISBN-13: 978-0871131591
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 16 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 522 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,515,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
The stories in this collection read like textbook exercises in classic short story form: in each, a lifetime of sadness is suddenly crystallized around a momentan image, a discovery, a confrontationafter which a life has been irrevocably, if at first imperceptibly, changed. Ford approaches the genre with reverent precision and delivers an array of haunting, enduring images: a stalled train about to be engulfed in a brushfire; a misdirected collect phone call to a father from a son in trouble; a wounded snow goose swimming circles in a lake that moments before had been covered by the rest of its flock "like a white bandage laid on the water." Together, these portraits of violence and betrayal among the unemployed and unmotivated in rural Montana present an almost relentlessly bleak picture of difficult lives, and the frequent presence of children as witnesses to their parents' disgraces further darkens the vision. It may well be too dark for many readers. The accessible appeal of Ford's most recent novel The Sportswriter is missing here, in large part because the characters lack the wit and perspective that could give voice to their endeavors at self-awareness. Comparisons to Raymond Carver are appropriate, but where Carver's depictions of the basic struggle to make sense out of things strike a universal chord that transcends the narrow focus of the part of the world he examines, Ford's stories only outline that world and remain bounded by its constraints despite their intermittent beauty. First serial to the New Yorker and Vanity Fair; paperback rights to Vintage.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
'Stunning ... one of the most compelling and eloquent story tellers of his generation' New York Times 'A collection of stunning impact which marks Ford's arrival at the pinnacle of his craft' Sunday Times 'A marvellous book of short stories ... Rock Springs confirms Ford's place among our finest writers' The Times 'These are beautifully imagined and crafted stories. By turns heart-rending and wickedly funny - and just plain wicked. Ford is a born storyteller with an inimitable lyric voice - and Rock Springs is the very poetry of realism' Joyce Carol Oates
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Ford is a better novelist than short story writer,
By
This review is from: Rock Springs (Paperback)
I'm a fan of Richard Ford's novels - The Sportswriter was one of my favorite novels ever, and Independence Day was a worthy sequel. But there is something about his short stories that simply leaves me feeling empty. The depth of human emotion and existence that he reaches in his novels simply does not have enough time and space to develop in a story of 15 or 20 pages. And as a result, he offers glimpses of his great talent, but no hard evidence. He scratches the surface of his characters' identities but never has a chance to develop them fully. These are snapshots, or sketches, each of them fascinating in the same way that Picasso's sketches of Guernica are fascinating. The preliminary drawings are only worth something in the context of the final, grander work of art. And here, unfortunately, the sketches are the final work of art. With each of these stories I felt myself wishing that Ford would expand them into a novel. Who are these characters? Where do they go? What happens to them in five or ten years, or even tomorrow?That's not to say that this isn't a good collection, because as far as short stories go, these are certainly worth reading. Even in 15 or 20 pages, Ford does manage to achieve an intimacy with his characters that is remarkable. And as with many short story collections (Cheever's and Carver's, to name two), in Rock Springs there is a powerful sense of place, as if the lonely towns of Montana were themselves main characters.
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Must Read,
By gonn1000 (Portugal) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Rock Springs (Paperback)
A strong and intense collection of short stories, "Rock Springs" is a shining moment for Richard Ford, even if it isn`t his best work. He`s an author that expertly covers themes such as desolation, apathy, human ambiguity and relationship problems in a natural, realistic and credible way. His writing is simple and acessible, still his stories are strangely compelling, complex and unique. In "Rock Springs", Ford offers engaging tales about common, ordinary people and the choices and decisions they must face. They all occur in a western region in the US, and its dry, hopeless and somewhat isolated atmosphere is well portrayed here. These short stories are mostly about contrived family ties, broken relationships, the process of growing up or the way people deal with loss and desillusion. The honest, believable and detailed elements of Fords` writing resemble writers such as Ernest Hemingway in style and overall feel, and the main themes are also alike. "Rock Springs" is a worthwile read and a sign of vitality of one of todays` more relevant authors.I can tell you it rocks (cheesy line, I know, but I couldn`t avoid).
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rock Solid,
By
This review is from: Rock Springs (Paperback)
Ford paints the past and the present of that midwestern phenomoenom, the hollow eyed drifter with the soft spoken voice and two coats of dust on his boots. Ford's prose is deadpan and its power is cumulatitve, as opposed to immediate and lyrical like Denis Johnson. Ford has no fear of letting his tales mosie along and take their sweet time to get where they are going, which is usually a place of muted pain and forlorn prospects. Gambler's out of luck, casualties of the waste land, Ford's character's are tough, but not without enough scars that we feel for them. All in all, Ford out Carver's Carver, and takes the Midwest of Hemingway into the desolation of the 21st Century.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
