tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922354827535398877.post2430129852571424034..comments2023-08-20T07:42:52.010-05:00Comments on Trish's Reading Nook: Springtime on Mars - Susan WoodringTrish @ Love, Laughter, Insanityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17225576485797030511noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922354827535398877.post-58838046078596559542008-06-27T19:46:00.000-05:002008-06-27T19:46:00.000-05:00*Debi - This was a great book for in between some ...*Debi - This was a great book for in between some of the heavier reading (I don't actually do heavy reading...but you know!). It is subtle, but worth the time!<BR/><BR/>*CB - funny--I love short stories but I read less of them than I used to. I think I'm too busy always trying to finish the next book that I don't take the time for them. Glad I read this collection, though!<BR/><BR/>*Bookfool - Glad you're back! :) And I'm still waiting for you to set up that short story forum. Ha!! I think you'd like this one.Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17225576485797030511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922354827535398877.post-12706777955213042852008-06-27T19:24:00.000-05:002008-06-27T19:24:00.000-05:00I agree with C. B. completely. I'm beginning to r...I agree with C. B. completely. I'm beginning to really adore short stories. I'll keep my eye out for this one. Thanks for the review!Bookfoolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08247136634069540446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922354827535398877.post-27484792184025923202008-06-27T19:20:00.000-05:002008-06-27T19:20:00.000-05:00Sounds very good. I'm reading more and more short ...Sounds very good. I'm reading more and more short stories thesedays. I think they are very under-rated.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06906212382849291562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922354827535398877.post-41424026776882738972008-06-27T13:23:00.000-05:002008-06-27T13:23:00.000-05:00This is the first I've heard of this book. Your re...This is the first I've heard of this book. Your review was lovely. You've definitely left me thinking this is one that's worth checking out.Debihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15429881953804634592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922354827535398877.post-46087371801795544672008-06-27T08:50:00.000-05:002008-06-27T08:50:00.000-05:00*Laura - I've found that I really enjoy character ...*Laura - I've found that I really enjoy character development more than a plot driven book--and even when I comment on my blog about books I think I tend to focus on characters more than plot. This book was perfect for that. I really enjoy reading what other people are thinking about certain things!<BR/><BR/>*Natasha - I really like short stories but I dont' read them very often. This one would be a perfect book to take along with you if you have short bursts of time to read--none of the stories are difficult and all are relatively short (10-20 pages). <BR/><BR/>*Sheryl - Exactly! You said it much better than I could have. :) I found that Susan really captured the brief moments of the character's lives--so brief that we don't give those moments enough thought but can really impact an individual person so much. Thanks for your thoughts.<BR/><BR/>*Nymeth - To say that nothing happens isn't quite right--because things do happen to these people. But they aren't spectacular things--they are things that could happen to anyone. But what makes this book so special is seeing what those small things mean in the bigger picture of a person's immediate life. Ha ha--Sheryl above explains it much better than I can! :)Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17225576485797030511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922354827535398877.post-3424467073477320492008-06-26T15:43:00.000-05:002008-06-26T15:43:00.000-05:00I like the sound of this. The "nothing happens" ap...I like the sound of this. The "nothing happens" approach is always risky, but in the hands of a skilled writer it can result in very emotionally powerful stories.Ana S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16092495983972185943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922354827535398877.post-7537161650161519682008-06-26T07:52:00.000-05:002008-06-26T07:52:00.000-05:00Thanks, Trish. I think you're absolutely right abo...Thanks, Trish. I think you're absolutely right about Susan Woodring's ability to take the mundane and hold it up in such a way that we can really marvel at it. This is the way our lives pass 99% of the time. There is no novelistic climax, no gripping thrill of a plot that we can point to and say, "Look what happened to me!" And yet, so much happens to us; doesn't it? There in the seemingly normal house on the seemingly normal street with the seemingly normal family. All the things that twist us up and yank us through the wringers of our ordinary lives is easy to overlook. I think Susan is playing with this notion, drawing direct comparisons to the spectacular, the historic, the surreal, the scientific and technological. Because after all, what is stranger than waking up one seemingly normal day to discover that someone has died in a freak accident, or to realize that you are living in a time of dramatic change, violence, and uncertainty? It's so ordinary to us we can't see how shocking it really is. One day a kid is run over by a school bus, a man is struck by lightning, a woman's kids grow up and she loses her place in the world, a television comes into a home and the world is changed forevermore. These are extraordinary experiences, and Susan Woodring paints them so vividly that we can't help but see them in all their radiance.sherylmonkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16013117002008044823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922354827535398877.post-17883358565101882742008-06-25T23:57:00.000-05:002008-06-25T23:57:00.000-05:00I've seen this one begin to pop up and had no idea...I've seen this one begin to pop up and had no idea what it was about, so thanks! I'm not huge into short stories though, so although it sounds good I have way to much other stuff to read to be adding this one to the TBR.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922354827535398877.post-63195675812907980582008-06-25T20:55:00.000-05:002008-06-25T20:55:00.000-05:00Sometimes, I really enjoy reading a book without t...Sometimes, I really enjoy reading a book without tons of major events or action--it's nice to get a glimpse into character's heads! I like the example you included as well--it makes me think of those cute elderly couples you'll see from time to time, walking together or eating together. I wonder what it will be link to be married for 20+ or 30+ years?Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05048221087572023485noreply@blogger.com