Break It Down (High Risk Books)

Rating:
Summary: Uneven- yet often brilliant
Review: "Break it Down" is a varied collection of pieces- some as short as a paragraph, some of short stroy length, but none of them are at all like anything else you've ever read.

Some pieces seem to be simple narrative of the author's life- a small detail, dwelled on in depth and worked over until every bit of meaning is wrung out of them. Some merely evoke a mood, or a feeling.

The title story- "Break it Down"- is a man's internal monologue, reflecting on (at first) the cost of a relationship, as he tries to make sense of it, and eventually its meaning to him, and how it affected him. It is a startling honest and accurate- to this reader, at least- portrayal of the thoughts and feelings that accompany a relationship, and that mark its end. It is also a stralingly accurate portrayal of (and, one would have to assume, understanding of) a man's internal monologue given that it's being told by a woman. Or perhaps men and women are more alike in this regard than most of us suspect.

Regardless, it's a brilliant story, and by itself justifies purchase of this book. The rest is just icing on the cake.

Rating:
Summary: Uneven- yet often brilliant
Review: "Break it Down" is a varied collection of pieces- some as short as a paragraph, some of short stroy length, but none of them are at all like anything else you've ever read.

Some pieces seem to be simple narrative of the author's life- a small detail, dwelled on in depth and worked over until every bit of meaning is wrung out of them. Some merely evoke a mood, or a feeling.

The title story- "Break it Down"- is a man's internal monologue, reflecting on (at first) the cost of a relationship, as he tries to make sense of it, and eventually its meaning to him, and how it affected him. It is a startling honest and accurate- to this reader, at least- portrayal of the thoughts and feelings that accompany a relationship, and that mark its end. It is also a stralingly accurate portrayal of (and, one would have to assume, understanding of) a man's internal monologue given that it's being told by a woman. Or perhaps men and women are more alike in this regard than most of us suspect.

Regardless, it's a brilliant story, and by itself justifies purchase of this book. The rest is just icing on the cake.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant writing.Lucky for us that it's still in print.
Review: Break It Down is a book I lend to friends, who inevitably love it and are stunned by its force and integrity. So I decided to check amazon.com to see if it's still in print. Serpent's Tail Press has done a fine thing in keeping this book available. The moral and stylistic power of Davis's work is riveting, and the author's humor is dark, profound, and liberating, both very modern and ancient. I recently gave the book to someone I'd heard doing a "cost-benefit" analysis of a love affair; in this age of self-interest and therapy, the wonderful title story of the book, Break It Down, brings us back to the power and absurdity of passion and its way of undoing us.

This is literature as compelling, haunting, and funny as Bach's cellos solos, the psalms of David (Lord I love you. Now please kill my enemies.), the great Hasidic parables, and the band Cake's comically sad ballads all rolled into one, and that's saying something, since (as in the writing of Anne Carson), all of the eros, and stoicism of Western philosophy undergird Davis's limpid writing.

Rating:
Summary: Often personal, often objective...a wide scope of style
Review: I find it difficult to properly address the broad spectrum of writing in Lydia Davis' Break It Down. There are traditional stories like "Story," "What an Old Woman Will Wear," and the title story as well.

There are complex, compact, and hauntingly accurate micro-stories like "In a House Beseiged," "What She Knew," "The Fish," "City Employment," and the chilling, "The Mother."

Last, there are strange mind trips like "Liminal: The Little Man", and "French Lesson I" that challenge not only the art of writing fiction, but also expand and stretch the meaning of words and language. Davis tries very hard to get the reader to understand her complex thoughts regarding the liminal, the barely persceptible. She also guides the reader through a French lesson, where at the story's end, non-French speakers will understand the story in French. It's mind-boggling.

I give her four stars, because many of the stories miss their mark. There are either too contrived, or they are not at the level of the rest of the book. I would prefer to give her 4.5 stars, as she most assuredly deserves it.

Rating:
Summary: Often personal, often objective...a wide scope of style
Review: I find it difficult to properly address the broad spectrum of writing in Lydia Davis' Break It Down. There are traditional stories like "Story," "What an Old Woman Will Wear," and the title story as well.

There are complex, compact, and hauntingly accurate micro-stories like "In a House Beseiged," "What She Knew," "The Fish," "City Employment," and the chilling, "The Mother."

Last, there are strange mind trips like "Liminal: The Little Man", and "French Lesson I" that challenge not only the art of writing fiction, but also expand and stretch the meaning of words and language. Davis tries very hard to get the reader to understand her complex thoughts regarding the liminal, the barely persceptible. She also guides the reader through a French lesson, where at the story's end, non-French speakers will understand the story in French. It's mind-boggling.

I give her four stars, because many of the stories miss their mark. There are either too contrived, or they are not at the level of the rest of the book. I would prefer to give her 4.5 stars, as she most assuredly deserves it.

Rating:
Summary: Cutting Edge Fiction
Review: In a rare miscue, Amazon has plugged in the Publisher's Weekly review of a murder mystery which this collection of cutting edge fiction is anything but. This is short fiction by a rare voice. Lots of writers have done very short fiction, lots have experimented with style, few get it right like Lydia Davis. She strips the conventions of fiction down to the barest essentials, often speaking from a removed perspective. She adds just enough strokes of imagery, however, to warm it up and allow the reader to enjoy a rich experience. Davis is in total control. I highly recommend this volume to anyone who wants to know what is going on at the forefront of literary fiction. Another note: this edition, a trade paperback, is of uncommon high quality, with a cover that sports flaps like the dust jacket on a hardcover.

Rating:
Summary: This woman is God.
Review: Lydia Davis is among the best writers writing today, but I'm not sure that's the point. There are zero other writers I would do with as with her - press it on out of town visitors, make them read The Mouse before I will take them out to whatever they came here for. I am not sure why it doesn't appear in collections of the best stories of the latter half of the century, but it should.

Rating:
Summary: Creative but inconsistent
Review: Quite a bit of "Break it Down" is amazingly good. Amazingly good because most of the stories are brief, to the point and blatant with a slight quirk to them. Not all the stories in "Break it Down" are remarkable, however, and Davis seems to get swallowed in her repetitive cycle of a confused, quietly angry woman. 3/5 (Buy "Almost No Memory," its far better)

Rating:
Summary: Creative but inconsistent
Review: Quite a bit of "Break it Down" is amazingly good. Amazingly good because most of the stories are brief, to the point and blatant with a slight quirk to them. Not all the stories in "Break it Down" are remarkable, however, and Davis seems to get swallowed in her repetitive cycle of a confused, quietly angry woman. 3/5 (Buy "Almost No Memory," its far better)