"Memory Wall" - stories by Anthony Doerr
Just finished this fine work by Anthony Doerr. An exemplary stylist with a finely-tuned sensibility about what moves the human heart. He places these stories all over the globe, from the Three Gorges Dam, South Africa, Lithuania, to Idaho and Ohio. The underlying theme is memory, with shattering loss being the taint that shades many of the narratives.
His tales have a way of sucking you in so that the world outside your head recedes to a distracting murmur. I'm struck by his vivid portrayals of the locations of the stories. He makes sure that location is more than just a geographic anchor for the story. Instead it becomes an integral factor in the tale being told, while his treatment of 'time' becomes a factor with great fluidity. Thus, he skillfully but subtly bring to our consciousness the realization that memory is composed of many discrete factors that hold different meanings and odd psychic 'weights' at variance with their 'exterior' meanings in our culture.
I was sorry to have to come to the end of this book. Each strange morsel was savory, and full of long forgotten flavors. This was the first I'd heard of Mr. Doerr, but you can be sure I'll going back to check out his other fiction. If, like me, you've never run across his writing before, I can heartily recommend this as profitable introduction to a talented writer.
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