The Brutal Language Of Love: Stories (2002) - Plot & Excerpts
Alicia Erian's 'The Brutal Language of Love' is engaging and entertaining, but not always enjoyable. There were some stories which I found particularly powerful, and I suspect the standouts would differ wildly person to person, depending on their life experiences.This is a book of short stories about the weirdest sex and love situations:1) Standing Up to the Superpowers (***): A tale about a promiscuous woman who sets out to ruin a guy's life. The guy ends up raping her but feeling so bad about it that he follows her everywhere. The relationship they develop is fascinating.2) Alcatraz (**): Roz is an obese middle school student who beats a popular guy in the school spelling bee. They develop a relationship completely based on explorative sex - a very strange story.3) Bikini (***): Vanessa is a free spirit who loves to wear a bikini in the early days of the trend. In college, she starts dating Shawki, a middle eastern guy who has much more conservative ideas about who she should be. A reasonably interesting view into a bi-cultural relationship.4) Almonds and Cherries (****): After a mildly arousing experience while bra shopping, Brigette realizes that she may be lesbian. She decides to recreate this experience for a film class assignment to explore this new development in her sexuality. Easily the best piece in the book. 5) Lass (**): Shayna falls in love with Carl, the son of a famous Irish author. Unfortunately, she is also in love with the father, who she meets after her wedding with Carl. Most of the story takes place in Ireland, as Shayna meets and gets to know her new in-laws.6) On the Occasion of my Ruination (**): Gilda works at the lingerie store in a mall. She's determined to lose her virginity to Jonathan, a guy at the pizza place, before leaving in a month to college. This documents that experience.7) The Brutal Language of Love (****): Leonard, a rising amateur documentary artist, asks Penny if he can capture her in her job as a projectionist at a theater. Because he doesn't give her direction on what to speak about, she starts rambling and tells him about her biggest worry: she has breast cancer and can't afford a biopsy or surgery. Her father refuses to contribute. Leonard changes the topic of his film and also takes it upon himself to take care of Penny. Meanwhile, Penny is in a destructive relationship with coworker Felix. Quite a powerful story.8) Still Life with Plaster (**): A slightly depressing story about unpopular elementary/middle school Patty who has to deal with mistreatment not only by her peers, but also by her family.9) When Animals Attack (**): A story about a very tense family dynamic, further ignited by Mother's request to meet and give career/life advice to a certain runaway. Interesting, but I didn't feel like it made me think of anything new.The book is short and sweet. It's worth picking up if you want something that can make you question what you thinks is right and wrong in love.
The problem with books of short stories is that sometimes some of the stories are good or even great, and some are not so good. I thought the first story was pretty boring (don't even remember the title or what it was really about) so I wasn't too excited to continue reading, but read another anyway. The next one I read, "bikini", I really liked, so I thought maybe I'd love some of the others, but when I randomly chose a 3rd to read and found it boring again, I gave up.I loved Towelhead - one long good story.
What do You think about The Brutal Language Of Love: Stories (2002)?
After reading Towelhead and completing this collection of short stories, Alicia Erian is fast becoming my new favorite writer. Her writing style and the themes she tackles are very similar to my own writing, except my stories are usually from a gay POV.When I read a short story collection my favorite stories are usally the ones I remember when I'm finished. In this case, the two best stories for me were On the Occasion of my Ruination about a 19 year old girl who works in a mall at a Victoria's Secret type store. She's leaving for college in a month, is a virgin, and sets her sites on losing her virginity to the hunky guy who works the mall pizza joint and takes off his gloves before handling her food. However, things don't turn out the way that she hopes.And Still Life with Plaster about a girl and her brother who live with their dysfunctional grandparents and teenaged uncle.Two other stories that stood out but weren't as good as the above were When Animals Attack in which the "animals" in question are a brother and sister with Mom issues and the title story about a girl who works as a projectionist in a movie theater and has a weird relationship with her co-worker.Although the remainder of the stories are fairly weak, end abruptly or are just plain dull, the common thread is Erian's characters are fractured females who have a warped sense of love, sex, self-image and relationships. People that we all have known at some time in our lives or people we may have been ourselves at some point in our lives. I highly recommend this collection of stories but be warned, Alicia Erian places an unflinching eye on situations, circumstances, and people that may make some uncomfortable.Overall, an interesting collection of shorts by a remarkably talented writer.
—Joe
when you first start this book, it seems like a collection of part stories taken from different novels.It's as if you start on page 10 of a book and then it suddenly ends on page 30, and you turn the page looking for the rest of the story, or the 'answer, or the resolution, but it's another story starting. You really do want more.You get the initial impression there should be more, and then you realize everything you need is in those pages Ms Erian gave you - wonderful female characters with problems, fears, hopes and dreams we all have, struggling to get through another day, or looking forward down the road, and the 'men' they have in their lives.I'm sure some would call it erotica, since the main thread running through many of the stories are young women dealing with sex, or relationships which lead to sex, but the sex, and the feelings around it, are common to us all I think, and isn't particularly graphic.You don't have to think when reading the book, it's an easy read, but at the end of each story you find yourself thinking about what you just read and how it fits into the world around you, or maybe into your life, and that can't be all bad.
—Bud Mallar
