Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.......by Wallace Stevens1) among twenty snowy mountains,The only moving thingWhat is the eye of the Blackbird. 2) I was at three mindsLike a treeIn which there are three blackbirds3) The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.It was a small part of the pantomime.4) A man and a womanAre one. A man any women any blackbirdAre one. 5) I do not know which to prefer,The beauty of inflectionsOr the beauty add innuendoes,The black bird whistlingOr just after. 6) ic...

This was my first by Colum McCann. In a year where short stories are having quite an impact on me, this is yet another uniquely styled and beautifully rendered collection. Unlike anything I have read yet, these stories (though very different from one another) seem to share an honest look at the human condition...how we think, rethink, question our actions, what if. Intense character studies, beautiful prose, and raw emotion delivered in an almost stream of consciousness. I am so pleased that I h...

Colum McCann’s new collection includes a piece that sounds like the classic high-school cop-out: It’s a story about a writer trying to write a story. That McCann manages to overcome the necrotic cliche of that premise is a sign of his technical skill; that he makes the story so emotionally compelling is a sign of his genius.“What Time Is It Now, Where Are You?” is the shortest piece in “Thirteen Ways of Looking,” and the only one that feels autobiographical, though McCann claims in the “Author’s...

What a treat was listening to Colum McCann narrating these stories!This is a wonderful collection, will try to come back later with a more detail review, but I really enjoyed these, particularly the novella that gives its name to the book.

There are four stories here, one of novella length. One is a short piece about a short story writer, hard on a deadline, who is going through the process, hurriedly, of writing a story. The less said about that one, the better. Sh’khol Sh’khol is a Hebrew word meaning a parent whose child has died. There are similar words in Sanskrit and Arabic (I take this on faith), but none in Russian, French, German, Irish. There is no such single word in English.Our protagonist is a translator of Hebrew l...

I am not a good reader of short fiction . I'm always anxious that I'll turn the page, the story will be over and then I'll be left wondering - did I get it , did I miss something? Then I'll have to move on to the next story still thinking about the last one. But there was no anxiety for me here with Colum McCann's collection of a novella and three shorter works because reading even a sentence by this man is so worth it . This is a powerful collection written in beautifully perceptive language .I...

Thirteen Ways of Looking is a mesmerizing collection of a novella and three short stories. Irish author Colum McCann's radiant writing seems the consummate soother of the ever-shuffling soul while his stories stir one's deepest sentiments: a child disappears overnight from his mother's bed at a seaside resort; a writer goes through the stop-and-go process of writing a short story on distant lovers; a nun faces her fears and resentments after seeing her South American captor/rapist on a televised...

As soon as one steps into these stories, it is apparent to readers of McCann that you are entering a world only he can create. He notices the little things in life, and in simple but brilliant prose relates these to the reader. It is this talent that lets readers thoroughly become one with the story.In this collection he tackles some tough themes, the way a writer writes and where his ideas come from, aging and the mental and physical changes this beings. Memory and how it can be evoked by a sim...

Oh shit. A writer I never heard of, a collection of short stories. What had I signed up for? Short stories are so iffy—so often they are too subtle, which translates into boring, or they try to be all artsy with an ambivalent ending. Guys, this collection (one novella and three short stories) gets five stars! The language alone made my head dance. I talk about the novella the most because it’s the heftiest, taking up over half the book. This review is WAY too long, so I won’t be offended if you

Such a treat to read such good writing. Thirteen Ways of Looking is a novella followed by 3 short stories written by Colum McCann. I read and loved Let the Great World Spin. And I can say the same about this book, especially the opening novella,Thirteen Ways of Looking -- that on its own accounts for my 5 star rating. McCann portrays a day in the life of an 82 year old man, which happens to be his last day. The man is a retired judge living in Manhattan's upper east side. In every other chapter

I'd rate this 4.5 stars.Full disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for making it available!Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin was a highly heralded, award-winning novel that I never could get into. I tried several separate times to read it and could never get past the first few pages. But seeing so many glowing reviews of his new short story collection, Thirteen Ways of Looking

Although I am not a huge fan of short stories, I enjoyed this collection of one novella and three stories. I think this author is such a wonderful writer that it doesn’t really matter what he writes about, I just want to read it. He also did an excellent job of narrating the audiobook edition. My favorite was the novella, “Thirteen Ways of Looking”, in which an elderly, former Brooklyn Supreme Court judge retraces his career, family ties, the death of his wife, and his current dependency on his

I'm having a bit of a difficult reading period. Nothing satisfies me, I'm feeling impatient and nervous. After a few books that didn't work for me this moment, this book by Colum McCann was the right one. A collection of powerfull short fiction wich didn't leave the reader untouched. They kept you thinking and feeling. I felt like emotional and intellectual interaction was needed again. Certainly a strong collection.

3.5 Stars, Thirteen ways of Looking by Colum McCann consists of a Novella and 3 short strories. I am not a fan of short stories as they rarely work for me but with the right author short stories can be quite interesting and entertaining.I enjoyed the Novella which told the story of a retired elderly judge living in New York in today's world of suverlience. The story is well plotted and as usual with all McCann's books the prose is poetic and vivid. While I loved the writing I did find sections

This audiobook includes a novella and three (3) short stories. I enjoyed them all. The book is narrated by the author, Colum McCann, who provided an excellent reading. I like stories dealing with real life emotions and situations. This book did not let me down.The title of the book, Thirteen Ways of Looking: Fiction comes from the novella which is about a retired judge and his struggles dealing with old age, being a widower, and a selfish son. A lot can happen in one day.Sh 'khol is about a wome...

The mood/Traced in the shadow/An indecipherable cause. ~ Wallace Stevens, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a BlackbirdColum McCann traces the shadows of tension and love, despair and tragedy in this collection of one novella and three short stories-pieces that held me transfixed with their poignancy and fierce energy. The title story which opens the collection is like a tightly-scripted short film, the camera moving from the close-ups of former Brooklyn Supreme Court judge Peter Mendelssohn, his

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.Having read a few Colum McCann books beforehand--both short stories, novellas and novels--I went into this with a decent understanding of his writing style. It's beautiful. He is able to craft the most fluid sentences that appeal to so many of your senses. The stories in this collection are lyrically written, honest and at times harrowing, never lacking power.The title novella, Thirteen Wa...

Colum McCann has written a marvelous collection of short fiction where he takes the reader into the minds of the protagonists. Some of his stories involve acts of violence which he can write about convincingly. McCann himself was a victim of an attack after he tried to help a woman who was being abused on a New Haven sidewalk.The title story "Thirteen Ways of Looking" starts each section with a verse from Wallace Stevens' poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird". An aging retired judge wak...

'The more we know of time, the less we have of it.'Thirteen Ways of Looking is the story of an elderly man as he goes about his daily routine, dealing with the inescapable indignities that go along with old age, all the while missing his wife. The characterization is impeccable and haunting, for this is the morning of the last day of his life. He meets his son for lunch, but son is there in body only, taking call after call on his cell phone, never even making eye contact with his father. It mad...

‘For all its imagined moments, literature works in unimaginable ways.’– Colum McCannHow many ways are there to write a review? As numerous as the myriad ways of looking at or interpreting a book. Thirteen Ways of Looking comprised a novella and three stories. One of the things that struck me is how this collection of short fiction reads like a commentary on the creative process of writing while it is simultaneously engaged in active story-telling. In ‘What Time Is it Now Where You Are?’, a write...