What do You think about A Bit On The Side (2005)?
tWilliam Trevor’s collection of short stories, A Bit on the Side, is uniformly excellent, each story a minor masterpiece of narrative, character, theme and setting.The closest comparison in English is Dubliners, by James Joyce, and not only because both writers are Irish. Joyce through sheer economy and prose music comes out ahead, but this doesn’t discredit Trevor much. Both writers focus on the private moments of private people, looking for some miracle of happiness or sadness in life, something special, some kind of revelation or resignation, and both create a kind of silence around their characters, such that when they speak, the reader really hears the fullness of what they say, or think.tMany of Trevor’s stories in this collection, if not all, are downhill tales, by which I mean we see a recent widow revealing her loathing of her former husband, a poor couple unable to get a desperately needed loan, a cad exploiting lonely women, and the decline both of a great Irish house and a small affair.tThe essence of good short stories--their focus on details and intimate characterization--underpins all of the stories here. The title story, “A Bit on the Side,” is a case in point. Here it’s that miserable phrase describing a married man’s secret lover--his bit on the side--around which the whole affair collapses. It makes our protagonist worry that he’s dishonoring a woman he really loves; he can see that judgment in the eyes of others who think they know what he’s up to; and he can’t bear demeaning her.tMentioning Joyce raises the bar high. No one else need clear it, unless Chekhov did. Getting close is enough. Among younger writers, Colm Tóibín, another Irish writer, captures some of the desperation that goes into being Irish. For the sensitive, observant writer, this can be an advantage. Poverty strips things to the bone; attempts to get settled in America as an immigrant sharpen the senses and instantly create sympathy; the flourishes of life are seen as empty, all flash, no substance; and characters have no choice but to interact directly, if subtly--there’s no beating about the bush when you’re in trouble.tOne story, “Solitude,” is an understated tale whose contours are worthy of Henry James. The central incident is tawdry, but the protagonist’s reaction reaches deep into that haunting category, the imaginary friend. When she’s a child she has two of them; when she is an aging lady, she only has one, a different one, but this is her solitude, her portion of life despite the fact that she is rich in financial terms.tSo if you like quiet short stories, A Bit on the Side will please you a great deal.tFor more of my comments on contemporary fiction, see Tuppence Reviews (Kindle).
—Robert
Amazing collection of short stories. Trevor just gets better with age. Born in Southwest Cork, Trevor is equally at home with characters of every class and type, but he is especially good at describing the weak and powerless. His stories are heartbreaking and powerful in their deceptive simplicity. He is a master of point of view as he switches seamlessly from character to character exposing complex relationships and changes. Some of my favorite stories are in his other collections, but the title story and "Sitting with the Dead" are truly memorable. Also recommend "Family Sins" with the story "Kathleen's Field" and Events at Drimaghleen."
—Moira
Time for more of WT's perfection. I hope he wins that Nobel Prize soon as he's really getting up there in age. Alice Munro won last year so...Sitting with the Dead - The death of a peckerhead... As usual Mr. T focuses in on stunted lives and bad decisions lived with. As usual he brings it home strong - a typical Trevor flourish: bitterness, regret, despair. Reminds me of Alice Munro's "Runaway"...Traditions - I'd read this one before in the New Yorker. Many in the collection were first published there. One thing about Trevor... he has a theme and he sticks to it. Life's a pretty unhappy place to be stuck in and most people can't seem to work it very well, though they do what they can, as in the "girl" in this story.Justina's Priest - The mournful, frustrating tone continues. A WT's wiki page says, he loves to focus on the marginalized, the powerless, the left-behinders of the modern world. The last line of this one goes over my full comprehension...An Evening Out - Didn't like this one as well but it was still good. Expectations... limitations... loneliness... another adult male/child selfish jerk-off who feels compelled to be a little more honest than usual. A gift to the nice lady...Graillis's Legacy - A man is getting on and recalls his two dead loves: a devoted wife and a soul-mate. Very reminiscent of "Death in Summer in some ways. More mournfulness...Solitude - A child's life nearly destroyed by parental infidelity. Typical Trevor! Sad, sad, sad... Reminiscent of "Two Lives" - both stories! Also "Bonjour Tristesse"... "Sling Blade". Uses "judder(ed)" like Le Carre'... that WT story from The New Yorker about the two boys and the old dog...Sacred Statues - Another tale of the marginalized... the losers in life.Rose Wept - more quiet infidelity... subtle shifting and moving of lives controlled by circumstance. Loss is inevitable.Big Bucks - the allure of America looking from the old, tired world, (Ireland). Absence makes the heart confused and uncertain.On the Streets - This one seems connected to other "stuff". Felicia's Journey and Death in Summer plus that story of the two boys and the old dog. Here's the one grown up to be that reclusive waiter. A depressed, loony-tony man harasses his ex. Did he or didn't he? Supposedly not as he keeps changing the story. What to do with someone so essentially alienated but harmless(though persistently annoying).Trevor always looks at EVERYONE in a story. Arthurs is a Bartleby both mysterious and mundane(and deeply unreachable). The narrative gets a bit confusing time-wise. Trevor does that by withholding info.The Dancing Master's Music - A poetic description of a stunted life made a bit more bearable. A Bit on the Side - The end of an affair. As usual Mr. T is restrained and no effusive. Not my favorite but love tales gone sour usually aren't. Tastefully flat... Who was who's bit on the side? They both were!- I lowered my rating to 4.5 which rounds down to 4*... The last two stories were not the best I need that Trevor edge of nastiness.
—Chris Gager
