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A review by dreesreads
Everything Like Before: Stories by Kjell Askildsen
3.0
3.5 stars
The 30-odd short stories in this collection vary from being very short to more typical short-story length.
All or nearly all of these stories show slices of regular life for very regular people. All are frustrated and/or bored or the stories just have a feeling of dread hanging over them, many of the characters are elderly or middle-aged and looking at the ends of their health/lives. Some of the characters reappear, and honestly (perhaps because I was reading an egalley on kindle) it was hard to tell sometimes if the stories were meant to connect, if ALL of the stories are mean to connect (like maybe these are all residents of one small town, for example), or even if the same names were reused and they were not meant to connect at all. And while I had some favorites here, reading an entire collection of 30+ stories featuring dread and sadness is...exhausting.
Favorites:
"A Lovely Spot": a couple (husband and wife? brother and sister?) go to a family cabin. She is paranoid, he starts to feel it after too much wine.
"Thomas F's Final Notes to the Public; Carl Lange": An officer comes to Carl's apartment and accuses him of a crime. Carl is upset and wonders how he could be accused of such a thing--and possibly wonders if he might have actually forgotten? He cuts his hair, shaves, and his stress reaction is somewhat odd but also understandable. Cop sees it as very odd. (Is this the Carl from the story "Carl"?)
The 30-odd short stories in this collection vary from being very short to more typical short-story length.
All or nearly all of these stories show slices of regular life for very regular people. All are frustrated and/or bored or the stories just have a feeling of dread hanging over them, many of the characters are elderly or middle-aged and looking at the ends of their health/lives. Some of the characters reappear, and honestly (perhaps because I was reading an egalley on kindle) it was hard to tell sometimes if the stories were meant to connect, if ALL of the stories are mean to connect (like maybe these are all residents of one small town, for example), or even if the same names were reused and they were not meant to connect at all. And while I had some favorites here, reading an entire collection of 30+ stories featuring dread and sadness is...exhausting.
Favorites:
"A Lovely Spot": a couple (husband and wife? brother and sister?) go to a family cabin. She is paranoid, he starts to feel it after too much wine.
"Thomas F's Final Notes to the Public; Carl Lange": An officer comes to Carl's apartment and accuses him of a crime. Carl is upset and wonders how he could be accused of such a thing--and possibly wonders if he might have actually forgotten? He cuts his hair, shaves, and his stress reaction is somewhat odd but also understandable. Cop sees it as very odd. (Is this the Carl from the story "Carl"?)