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The Palace Thief: Stories
 
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The Palace Thief: Stories (Paperback)

by Ethan Canin (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

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7 new from CDN$ 5.90 5 used from CDN$ 26.85

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Canin, whose short-story collection Emperor of the Air was justly feted, as his novel Blue River was not, here offers four brilliant longer stories, each seamlessly structured and with prose and characters to linger over. The book's ostensible theme is Heraclitus's observation that character is fate, which is all well and good until we try to understand the meaning of either term. Take Mr. Hundert, the honorable boys' school teacher who in the title story tries to make sense of a student's rise from a cheating dullard to an industrial and political leader. As for the question of character, hardly does a protagonist gain a slippery hold on the essence of another person's character, when a forced self-evaluation occurs: in "City of Broken Hearts" a recently divorced man considers his son as alien but in fact, the youth is the one person who sees through--and redeems--his father's bluff boorish exterior. Canin keeps readers so thoroughly engaged that the anticipation of resolution is almost like dread, as in the beautiful and wrenching "Batorsag and Szerelem," in which the narrator recalls the gradual revelation of his family's painful secrets and a quiet secret of his own, the most painful and insidious of all. BOMC and QPB selection; author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Four stories from Harvard Medical School graduate Canin, author of the fine collection Emperor of the Air ( LJ 2/1/88).
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews

21 Reviews
5 star:
 (13)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (4)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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2.0 out of 5 stars Only one gem in the palace, Jun 8 2003
By paisleymonsoon (Tulsa, Oklahoma) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Palace Thief, The: Stories (Paperback)
This book contains 4 short stories that are good, but not terribly memorable (even though the back cover calls them "unforgetable"). I read this book only a couple of weeks ago and can only remember one of the stories very well: The Palace Thief.

The Palace Thief has nothing to do with a palace or a conventional thief. It was also used as the basis of the movie, The Emperor's Club. The story has the same feel as Dead Poet's Society with a professor that gets his students to dress in togas as they study Greek history and literature. The story is good but, in my opinion, the only true gem in the palace of this book.

Ethan Canin likes to infuse his stories with baseball and other diversions enjoyed by men. I suppose these are the types of things he himself enjoys when he's not writing books or working as a doctor.

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2.0 out of 5 stars not bad, but not great either, April 28 2003
This review is from: Palace Thief, The: Stories (Paperback)
I grow so weary of reviewers touting the hackneyed line, "unforgettable characters". Please! The characters in this collection inspire a certain curiosity but are hardly "unforgettable". The story "The Palace Thief" would have been much more enjoyable had I not read the quintessential teacher/student story which is "Of This Time, Of That Place" by Lionel Trilling - hands down the best short story I've ever read. I wonder if Ethan Canin has read this because there is a similiarity. But where Trilling's story is a classic, Canin's is merely average.
Also, the first-person narratives in two of the stories (the first & last) sound like the same person - both are pedantic, somewhat pompous, and long-winded.
I'm beginning to worry that the reading public has become immune to terrible writing, which is why when someone like Canin comes along, there's an overflow of enthusiasm which is just not warranted. These are good little stories, but all are easily forgettable. This is easy-reading, and the neither the stories nor the writing, are particularly memorable.
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2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointment! Why is this author so loved? OVER-RATED!, April 26 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Palace Thief, The: Stories (Paperback)
I went out to buy this set of stories after seeing the wonderful movie THE EMPEROR'S CLUB and remembered the story "The Palace Thief" was the story that movie was based upon. In the past, I have read books after seeing movies and found the movie much more enjoyable than the films they are based on UNTIL NOW. The short story was definitely worse than the movie that developed the beloved high school teacher, making the character much more interesting than the man described by the author. SO DISAPOINTING!

Why is everyone (except me) so crazy about Ethan Canin? I found it strange that a medical doctor would have time to be writing books in the first place. Now, I wonder if his medical knowledge is as limited as his writing abilities? Sure, the story about the father and son who share a love for baseball (sort of) but nothing else has intriguing moments, but to say that Canin is one of the country's best writers scares me. I know why I still read books written fifty years ago- the writing was much better.

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 		 Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars I hate Ethan Canin because...
...my wife used to work at Houghton Mifflin whose vaunted Trade Division published Ethan Canin when he first started. Read more
Published on Jan 8 2003 by S. A. Cartwright

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful human drama.
Let's face it folks: All stories have already been told. In fact, the Greeks nailed down about every possible archetypal character, conflict and plot over 2,000 years ago. Read more
Published on Dec 2 2002 by J. L. Albee

5.0 out of 5 stars Intricate and intriguing
To be honest with you - the reason I picked up the book was because I knew "The Emperors Club" with Kevin Kline was based upon The Palace Thief. Read more
Published on Nov 23 2002 by E. Jepson

3.0 out of 5 stars A Story for Every Season
Ethan Canin's The Palace Thief is a collection of four short novellas that are all connected by the same themes; that of human nature and that emptiness we often feel deep within... Read more
Published on Sep 20 2002 by Sebastien Pharand

4.0 out of 5 stars Palace Thief plus filler
This collection of four (no so short) stories is uneven at best, but the title piece, The Palace Thief, is a gem. Read more
Published on Jan 26 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars I can't help but love the book
I can rip into avant-garde fiction and potboilers like there's no tomorrow. But when it comes to something so sweet and unpretentious, I can't help but be mesmerized. Read more
Published on Dec 28 2001 by Sai Li

5.0 out of 5 stars Quiet yet captivating
I, like the other reviewers here, was captivated and engrossed by these four stories. I was especially impressed with Canin's discovery of a distinctive voice for each of the... Read more
Published on July 17 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Quiet yet captivating
I, like the other reviewers here, was captivated and engrossed by these four stories. I was especially impressed with Canin's discovery of a distinctive voice for each of the... Read more
Published on July 17 2001

2.0 out of 5 stars Not Overly Inspiring/Interesting
IV The Palace Thief in school. (Sophomore English Class). I didn't find it to be too interesting or inspiring or thought provoking.
Published on Jan 15 2001 by Rebecca

5.0 out of 5 stars Good
The best of these stories were such a relief to me, after reading literary story after literary story in the "New Yorker" and elsewere that had that bland, icestuous,... Read more
Published on Oct 1 2000

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