- Hardcover: 144 pages
- Publisher: Gutter; 1st Edition edition (Oct 2 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1896356419
- ISBN-13: 978-1896356419
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,036,895 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Amazon.ca
Relationships between men and women, especially sexual ones, are subject to a veritable grocery list of the seven deadly sins, and few topics are more compelling to explore. Montreal-based author Steven Manners knows this, and in the 15 very short, very dark stories in Wound Ballistics, it's Mars and Venus all over again. Alas, Manners forgot a golden rule of fiction: people don't read simply for detail but to go somewhere, and so Wound Ballistics ends up being too little of a good thing. We get lots of colour and some fantastic turns of phrase: "I would like to believe that her words lie buried inside me, like old bones and bits of pottery in the earth beneath the nursing home," Manners writes in "Thinking I Would Remember Those Words Forever." But just as we feel momentum, the story ends, rendering all foreshadowing and detailed description useless. "That Last Day in Paris" and "Commitment" offer, respectively, beautiful scenery and eerie possibility, but neither is developed beyond mere suggestion. Also distracting are the facts that virtually every character smokes cigarettes and that Manners endlessly describes their skin-- it's alternately "cool as glass," "clammy to the touch," "paper smooth," and, well, you get the picture. There is no doubt that Manners has a way with words, but judging by the dearth of meat served up in Wound Ballistics, he has a way to go with plot. --Kim Hughes
Quill and Quire
Wound Ballistics is a troubling coroner’s report on the moribund state of modern North American relationships. Each of the book’s 15 stories centre on fraying alliances between men and women. Manners could become a major voice here.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Alfred Hitchcock would have been pleased. Very pleased.,
By Thomas Ligotti Reader (Somewhere, on earth) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Wound Ballistics (Hardcover)
This hard cover edition is 144 pages and contains 15 gripping tales of relationships between men and women. I don't understand Kim Hughes' review on this book as I found each story satisfying. Steven Manners writes lean; there's no fat to trim off the meat. Kim Hughes talks about more plot. What is she talking about? The reader will decide in his own mind what really takes place.My mind's eye enjoyed the stories as Manners does not over describe anything. But the reader sees everything in his own head. The stories are dark, gripping tales of human emotions. Sometimes they are chilling and they made my blood curl in anticipation, expectation, and letting my mind go free. This book is exceptional and any of the short "short stories" could be made in to short films that would please any director.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
5.0 out of 5 stars
Alfred Hitchcock would have been pleased. Very pleased.,
By Thomas Ligotti Reader - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Wound Ballistics (Hardcover)
This hard cover edition is 144 pages and contains 15 gripping tales of relationships between men and women. I don't understand Kim Hughes' review on this book as I found each story satisfying. Steven Manners writes lean; there's no fat to trim off the meat. Kim Hughes talks about more plot. What is she talking about? The reader will decide in his own mind what really takes place.My mind's eye enjoyed the stories as Manners does not over describe anything. But the reader sees everything in his own head. The stories are dark, gripping tales of human emotions. Sometimes they are chilling and they made my blood curl in anticipation, expectation, and letting my mind go free. This book is exceptional and any of the short "short stories" could be made in to short films that would please any director.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Even Twisted Hearts Can Get Lonely,
By Richard Hobbs - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Wound Ballistics (Hardcover)
Wound Ballistics is an awesome, albeit short journey into failed human relationships and the dark thoughts that accompany them. The 15 pieces of short fiction often leave you gasping for more, and invariably leave you saying OH MY GOD! The story Mouse is a phenomenal look at a relationship that rivals Timothy Findley in its ability to place the reader inside the fragile mind of a spurned lover. Manners uses an excellent narrative technique to illustarte how and where people come together and fall apart. The 15 stories are like a brief summer fling, passionate, shocking, oddly satisying and yet you still want more. |
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