Tales Of Natural And Unnatural Catastrophes (2015) - Plot & Excerpts
I really have a love/hate relationship with Patricia Highsmith. And I feel like it's mostly hate, but sometimes I am drawn to her work. Writing about something usually makes me like it better, and that's what happened for me with "The Mysterious Cemetery," which is a really cool short story. That's one of the instances where her utterly uncaring narrative voice and lack of resolution work really well. Other times... not so much - you're really just reading for the images of six inch cockroaches and burning elevators packed with rotting corpses. Interestingly enough, are no snails in this one (Highsmith was, as far as I know, the world's only Crazy Snail Lady).My favorite stories are "The Mysterious Cemetery," "Trouble at the Jade Towers," and "No End In Sight," and "Rent-A-Womb vs. the Mighty Right." As for the others, I don't think my life would be lacking if I'd never read them.
An awesome collection of Highsmith short stories, almost as good as The Animal Lover's Guide to Beastly Murder. So many great gems: Giant cockroaches invade an elite, luxury apt. highrise building in "Trouble at Jade Towers"; following a pain-induced epiphany, the pope goes renegade and shakes up Catholicism and the world by embracing liberation theology and women's reproductive rights in "Sixtus VI, Pope of the Red Slipper"; unionizing surrogate mothers and the religious right face off in "Rent-a-Womb vs the Mighty Right"; and finally, a presidential scandal based upon the Reagan era Iran-Contra case spirals wildly out of control in "President Buck Jones Rallies and Waves the Flag." This last one reminds me of Philip Roth's spoof of the Nixon Administration, Our Gang (fea. Trick E. Dixon), it is just as gloriously insane in it's sarcasm. Great stuff!
What do You think about Tales Of Natural And Unnatural Catastrophes (2015)?
3.5If you loathe your fellow human beings and enjoy watching them meet terrible ends, all while having your suspicions of their vileness confirmed, this is your book. If you're a writer, it will read like every barely disguised revenge story you've promised to write after a slight. Someone here describes her prose as utterly uncaring. A good description, yes, but not a valid criticism. You either like Pat or you don't. But she'll never like you.
—Sara
A pretty low quality collection of tales. The first one, about mysterious excrescences growing in an Austrian cemetery, was about on the level of the horror stories I wrote when I was fourteen. In tone and style, these remind me of Roald Dahl. The one I liked best was about a corrupt west African nation expecting a visit from a U.N. watchdog group - but first they have to kill all the homeless people and burn their bodies, spiff up the Presidential Palace for their visitors, and try to get rid of the haze of smoke from all the burning bodies. In another story a crazy First Lady launches a missile strike against Russia. Also: a widowed whale goes nuts; a man gets locked inside a nuclear waste dump; roaches infest a chic New York highrise; surrogate mothers form a union and do battle with religious right protesters; and a pope stubs his toe.
—Lobstergirl
محمد الزهراني wrote: "كلما أقتربت من هذا الكتاب أجلته، بعض الكتب الجادة والعميقة تحتاج منا وقت وإخلاص.اعتقد هذا أحدها"يحدث معي نفس الشيء.على كل، الكتاب سرده مباشر كما هي عادة الأمريكان في السرد القصصي أو الروائي. لعل قراءة قصة واحدة منه في كل جلسة تتيح لك التأني في قراءته والاستمتاع به.قراءة ماتعة أتمناها لك.
—Haifa Busamra
