📚For ‘readers who are looking for something out of the ordinary’. @OlgaNM7 Reviews #ShortStories The Forest Of Stone by Lance Manion for Rosie’s #BookReview Team #RBRT

Today’s team review is from Olga.

Olga blogs here https://olganm.wordpress.com/

Rosie’s Book Review Team

Olga has been reading The Forest Of Stone by Lance Manion.

I hadn’t read anything by this author before, and these days I prefer longer fiction (although it depends on the circumstances and the author), but I was intrigued by this book, and I appreciated the opportunity to read it in the breaks between longer reads.

It is tough to explain what this book is like. It contains stories that are, almost, like standard stories, with a well-defined narrative and recognisable characters (sort of). But this is not the norm. Some stories provide us with different versions (perhaps in a parallel universe) of the same events; others take as main characters quite unexpected beings (don’t think standard pet, either); there is even a short series with the same hero, Nap Lapkin, who is a secret agent/spy but taken to extremes, and then given steroids. (If you, like me, think that secret agents in movies are beyond your suspension of disbelief, you have seen nothing yet). It may be played for laughs, but I love the guy and Madonna. (Don’t ask. You’ll better read it yourselves, but, just let me tell you that this is a guy that, when bored, allows himself to be captured by the baddies, just to have a bit of fun).

Many of the stories start on what seems like a pretty normal premise and then go off on a tangent (always an interesting one, though). A lot of the stories make us look at things from a slightly (or not so slightly) alternative perspective, and it can be illuminating, whether you decide to take it seriously or not. Many are funny, some will leave you thinking about what happened, and some will make you think. I am sure this is one of those books that you might not be able to recall a lot of details of when asked, but then, you might be in the middle of doing something, hearing something, or seeing something, and one of the stories from the book will pop up into your head.

The whole collection reminded me of the theatre of the absurd and the way it mixes seemingly everyday characters and settings with extraordinary events or circumstances. You might think you know where things are going, but you’re likely to be wrong.

The stories are easy to read, even though the style varies according to the story and the narrator. Sometimes the narrator is one of the characters but in others, there is a very self-conscious author who addresses the reader directly (breaking what is referred to as the fourth wall on stage) and who is happy to talk about the tone of the writing and even the use of punctuation. The author in his note at the end likens his efforts to “collage portraits” and observes that reading such a collection is a good way to get to know who the author is. If that is the case, I must say Mr Manion’s head is a pretty interesting place to visit. I recommend this book to those who love short fiction and are looking for a new author, especially readers who are looking for something out of the ordinary.

Book description:

His work has been called demented, hilarious, quirky and well outside the mainstream, and with his twelfth collection of short stories Manion unapologetically stays with that formula.With this newest collection Manion once again asks the reader to get off the bench and into the game as he dishes out laughs, offense and even a few poignant moments. There is no point to be made here. Only the hope that somewhere amidst all the run-on sentences, unnecessary profanity and poor grammar, readers will come away with some unique thoughts of their own.Perfect reading for artists, commuters and people who spend an inordinate amount of time on the toilet.

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