Postcard Stories
By
Jan Carson
Illustrated by Benjamin Phillips
Illustrated by Benjamin Phillips
The Emma Press 2017
“Every day in
2015, Jan Carson wrote a story on the back of a postcard and mailed it to a
friend. In this collection of highlights, Carson presents a panoramic view of
contemporary Belfast – its streets, coffee shops, museums and airports –
through a series of small but perfectly formed snapshots of her home.”
Often, but not often enough, a book just blows your mind
even though after that first hasty flick through the pages you tell yourself
that it looks pretty straightforward and unchallenging. But then you start
reading and like a fish getting way too close to a hook – BAM! - you’re reeled
in to an amazing experience. This is such a book, an ingenious format of short,
sharp stories that entertain but also form a masterclass of concise writing.
Jan Carson takes a thought or an observation and hands it over to a lively
imagination and off it goes wild and free to surprising conclusion.
The opening lines to some of the stories are tasty and
you’ve just got to find out what is going on. Fish, hook, BAM! Lines like:
“A man in the
line for Edinburgh has three inflatable worlds in a plastic bag.”
“The last power
ballad on the planet did not realize it was alone until it was too late.”
“The bride is
small at the top and wider at the bottom like a pyramid, or a toilet paper
lady.”
“When I grow up I
want to be a player in a paper orchestra.”
“I left my father
in Ikea. He was too old to go on.”
“When I came back
from the shops you were in the garden listening to the trees.”
This is a wonderful book, inventive, exciting, funny,
heartfelt and proof that we don’t always need those 600-page doorstops when the
deft hand of a gifted writer can thrill and delight us in 60+ pages.
Do yourself a favour. Get a hold of this book and read
it once, then, as I am doing, read it again. As a reader, it is pure joy. As an
aspiring writer, I have learned a lot. Bravo, Jan Carson!
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