Friday, June 25, 2010

The Diving Pool -by Yoko Ogawa

is a set of three short stories. The first is about a girl whose parents take in orphans, the second about a woman whose sister is pregnant, and the third, a wonderfully creepy story about a man without arms and only one leg, who keeps a boarding house.

The writing is wonderfully spare, and yet detailed. Each story focuses focuses on physical appearances and the emotions that they evoke within. Her descriptions of the human body, especially, are like a pencil drawing, sharp lines and curves, gently shaded. She deals with the dark thoughts, the fears and suspicions of everyday life, the ends that may or may not be reached. The first story is the cruelty of children and the shame and loss of discovery; the second is an unusual perpsective of pregnancy, the disgust of a woman of the changes in her sister's body- her half hope that the pregnancy should fail, the third seems to narrate a horror story, but leaves more questions behind than it answers.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The new policy will allow drivers of old vans to scrap their bangers in
exchange for a greatly -discounted Vauxhall models.
The issue which comes up is not knowing about the different van or car leasing which is available and not getting to use
the vehicle because of the cost associated with the monthly payment.
If a dealer tells you that it is not or unwilling to do so… they are plenty of other
vehicles and dealers that offer and will.


Check out my web blog - Cheap Volkswagen deals

Anonymous said...

Woаh! I'm really loving the template/theme of this site. It's simple, уet effectiѵe.

A lot of times it's difficult to get that "perfect balance" between superb usability and appearance. I must say that you've donе
a gгeat job with thiѕ. Аdditionallу, the blog loadѕ eхtremely quicκ fοг me on Safari.

Outstanding Blog!

Feel fгee tο visit my ωeb pаgе: toy