“Some Mathematicians remove pain, some of us deal in negative emotions, but we all fix the equation of a person. The action centers around an infinite formula that allows mathematicians like Nneoma to do miraculous things: In many ways, the title story is the most complete in the collection.
There are eleven stories so I’m not going to dissect them all, just the standouts and one weak spot: Standouts “What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky” Stories set around everyday themes show Arimah’s skill at writing ordinary relationships, several of which center on mothers and daughters-each struggling with a sense of obligation to the other. While this and “Who Will Greet You at Home” are brilliant, they’re not fully representative of the collection which largely takes place in the real world without magic. His Jepisode features the title story, and I picked up the book after listening to the story for a second time. I found this collection via LaVar Burton’s podcast. The first comparison to mind is The Interpreter of Maladies for the way it shows a variety of relationships across and between two cultures in this case, stories take place in Nigeria or America. What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah not only contains individually compelling stories, but also captures an impressive range of complex family relationships, cultural differences, magical realism, and a touch of science fiction. The best collection of short fiction by a single author.
0 kommentar(er)
