Don't Cry: Stories

Interesting

I liked that these are just small snippets of people's lives. Not all tragic, not all happily ever after. Pretty honest yet open to interpretation.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Ms. Gaitskill's Don't Cry. It is a very creative collection of short stories that display a unique sensitivity to the complexities of being human and the intricacies and mystery that live in the psyche and the body.

If you enjoy being taken on a deep, sometimes unsettling, always fascinating journey through the inner lives of characters, you will love this book. The title story in particular brings us close to both pathos and bravery. Ms Gaitskill likes to write in those thin, razor sharp edges.

Don't Cry

Not accurately described. Interesting writing style, but too dense and offbeat for a leisure read.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

???

I agree with the earlier reviewer. Maybe I just "didn't get it", but it was very boring to me and I had to force myself to continue, hoping to find some redeeming part somewhere.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Garbage

The book synopsis of "don't cry" by Mary Gaitskill seemed to hint that it was about human suffering. The short stories found in the book seemed to be about this, as well. I think this is an excellent topic for a short stories collection. I truly do. But all great ideas get mucked up by someone, and Mary Gaitskill mucked up the premise mentioned above.

Most of Gaitskill's characters come off as the same person. Just about all of the protagonists are women who have been used for sex and then discarded like a used tissue. These women are almost invariably writers. The entire time I read this book, I had to ask myself, "Is Mary Gaitskill writing about herself?" This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if you're going to write a semi-fictional autobiography, call it such; don't call it a short story collection.

Gaistkill demonizes men in this book. The source of almost all the pain in the world come directly from men, and unto women. Women are portrayed as subtle, seductive, and kind. Men are portrayed as selfish, neurotic, and mean. I think maybe one of the ten stories in this book is actually from the perspective of a man. That should tell you something.

The way the stories flow is atrocious. In fact, I'm inclined to not even use the word "flow" in this description. One moment the main character is taking a dump in a public bathroom. The next, she is recollecting a very painful moment in her life. The next, she is having sex; when this happens, Gaitskill makes sure to make use of at least one vulgarity, because vulgarity just radiates eroticism. Sometimes paragraphs separate these contents, and sometimes sentences separate them. In no cases, however, do they flow.

I would recommend this book to teenaged girls who want to read about women who are ashamed of and yet enthralled by their sexuality. I would not recommend this book to adults in general, anybody male, anybody who likes coherent fiction, or anybody mentally competent.

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