The New Death and others [NOOK Book]

James Hutchings’ The New Death and Others is a fascinating

James Hutchings’ The New Death and Others is a fascinating blend of short stories and poems that are amusingly dark and disturbing. The collection did not have any valid reasons to the way it was assembled because the stories were very random. I found that this unpredictability to be a delight as each story or poem was something new. Aside from being dark, there is certainly humor in it.

Hutchings delivers a very witty and entertaining book. He touches serious topics like death and not-so-serious ones like the relationships with our phones. I love how Hutchings take everyday things and convey them in an entirely different and original way. There are very important matters in each story that are disguised very well. You will have to think outside of the box to fully appreciate the meaning behind each story.

The stories are definitely dark fantasy, humorous, and flat-out cynical. Hutchings’ creative way to write a serious matter into something hysterical is brilliant. He is like the blacksmith of words: hammering, bending and cutting words and forging them to create a beautiful story. If you enjoy sharp and twisted stories, I highly recommend this collection.

Irreverent! Entertaining!

The New Death and Others is a collection of 44 stories and 19 poems. Some of the stories are so short they could be a vignette…if they’d been drawn instead of written.

Irreverent, cheeky, sarcastic and very amusing is how I’d describe this collection. I skipped only three items: Under the Pyramids, The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune and The Garden of Adompha because I couldn’t get into them. The rest were pretty funny, at least to me they were. I’ve been told I have a strange sense of humor sometimes though, so what amused me in this collection may not be quite so amusing to others.

A fast easy read and an enjoyable way to pass the time. I groaned, snickered, giggled and even LOL’d my way thru this hodgepodge collection. A great way to pass the time.

*The author provided a copy of this book to me for review. Please see disclaimer page on my blog.

Highly original view of the world in which we live

When the author asked me to review The New Death and Others I was quite chuffed. I'm not normally one to review books but I thought it was a great time to start. The genre of this book isn't really what I would seek out to read, so it was going to be out of my normal comfort zone. The New Death and Others is a collection of short stories, very short stories and poetry. The subject of these tales is quite dark at times. I have to say that some of them left me a little cold - meaning that I read them and at the end my thoughts were 'What was all that about?'. But on the other hand many of them showed me a completely different way of looking at things. I liked the clever way that Hutchings uses Death, Destiny, Fame and many others as characters - certainly a different spin. The author has a talent to look at everyday things and present them in a completely original way - and as you read - if you look behind the words you can pick up the hidden messages in the stories. I see these stories as a very original way of reflecting on the norms of society. This can provoke the reader into personal contemplation about ourselves and how we live.

Hilarious!

This book was hilarious. James Hutchings has taken the simplest things and turned them into something fantastic! This book is perfect for those days when you have 5 minutes spare, you can quickly grab it and read one of the short stories or poems. I am not a huge fan of short stories, but I will be recommending this book to all readers, and people who just love to have a laugh!

One book you should check out

Just finished reading this and I liked it. It's a mix of cynicism, humor and a touch of irony. Each story and poem is well written and I liked each one. They are set apart from each other, but have a touch of the same elements. I found my self laughing so much from this book. It's an awesome read and I would recommend checking it out.

Skip the short stories and head straight to the poems.

The description of this book was definitely interesting. I enjoyed the way the writer switched between short stories and poems. Unfortunately, I didn't really like the short stories. They were full of puns and I think would be funny if they were told on stage by a comedian, but not so funny as the written word. The author definitely has creative ideas and it would be interesting to see what kind of stories he could tell that were a little more serious.

On the other hand, I did like most of the poems. The author has a penchant for cats, and I liked it when he wrote about them. I especially liked the poem "My Cat is Not Like Other Cats." It wasn't written for laughs, but was written to show why this cat is different from other cats. "How the Isle of Cats Got Its Name" was humerous and enjoyable.

For those that like puns and silliness, then this book is for you. For those who don't like groaning at the end of a story because you got to the punchline, then you will probably not enjoy this book.

A Dark and Twisty Winner!

I really enjoyed reading this collection of poems, flash stories, and longer works. It made me laugh and made me think. The poems were great to read out loud with the rhythmic pattern of writing. The longer stories were very interesting, but the flash stories really made me think. The collection is a mishmash of dark fantasy, ironic fairy tales, satire, and twist minds, which obviously Mr. Hutchings has. My favorites are The Auto-Pope, where a robot is elected Pope, an untitled poem that will make you stop and think, and My Cat Is Not Like Any Other Cat, in which Mr. Hastings must have the sibling of my cat! I normally do not read collections, but the subject matter peaked my interest in this book. I am very glad that I read something so different for me. It made me laugh out loud on the bus and that's totally out of my comfort range, but I just couldn't help it. I know I will read pieces of this collection again and again. Mr. Hutchings has written a winner!

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