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Evening in Paradise


"Berlin's new book is a marvel, filled with deeply touching stories about lives ...
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Which of the stories was your favorite and why? Which was your least favorite, and why?

Created: 11/04/19

Replies: 10

Posted Nov. 04, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

Which of the stories was your favorite and why? Which was your least favorite, and why?

Which of the stories was your favorite and why? Which was your least favorite, and why?


Posted Nov. 30, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
lesleyf

Join Date: 05/14/11

Posts: 119

RE: Which of the stories was your favorite and why? Which was your least favorite, and why?

I liked Lost in the Louvre best. See my notes above in my description of the book.


Posted Dec. 01, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
djcminor

Join Date: 03/14/19

Posts: 208

RE: Which of the stories was your favorite and why? Which was your least favorite, and why?

My favorite story is "Itinerary" because it feels true. The girl's father has arranged for people to meet her in each stopover airport. She feels she should be left on her own. Her descriptions of the people meeting her are funny and spot-on. My least favorite story is ""Andado." It is creepy.


Posted Dec. 01, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
carolf

Join Date: 07/10/14

Posts: 72

RE: Which of the stories was your favorite and why? Which was your least favorite, and why?

My favorite was The Adobe House with a Tin Roof. I loved how Pete, in his own way, forced Maya to become a gardener by bringing her plants and scolding her for not watering enough or dumping a pile of horse manure in her yard for her to use as fertilizer. She started out always being angry with him but in the end had a beautiful yard. My least favorite was actually the title story "Evening in Paradise". There were just so many characters to keep track of that it just got confusing and hard to follow.


Posted Dec. 02, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
kimk

Join Date: 10/16/10

Posts: 889

RE: Which of the stories was your favorite and why? Which was your least favorite, and why?

My favorite was actually "Evening in Paradise." I enjoyed the atmosphere of the story, the "black-and-white" feel of it.


Posted Dec. 03, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
MarieA

Join Date: 10/12/11

Posts: 256

RE: Which of the stories was your favorite and why? Which was your least favorite, and why?

My favorite was "Cherry Blossom Time" because it showed how routine leads to loneliness and lack of communication. Without communication--verbal and non-verbal--there is no relationship. Ergo--loneliness.
I didn't have a least favorite.


Posted Dec. 03, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
KelHydra

Join Date: 08/05/19

Posts: 17

RE: Which of the stories was your favorite and why? Which was your least favorite, and why?

I really enjoyed "A Foggy Day." There was so much unspoken tension and longing between the two characters, that they, and we, know can never be resolved. My favorite line from the book is in this story: "The sooty brilliant clothes flapped against the rain-black buildings around City Hall." What a way to describe the laundry!

I'm not sure I had a least favorite. But the "Evening in Paradise" story felt the most out of place in this collection. I still liked it though. As kimk said above, it has a very "black and white"/old film feel to it.


Posted Dec. 03, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
peggyt

Join Date: 08/10/17

Posts: 215

RE: Which of the stories was your favorite and why? Which was your least favorite, and why?

I had two favorites, “Noël. Texas. 1956,” and “La barca de la Ilusión.” I thought the first one was hilarious and I liked the ending of the second. I didn’t like the first story in the collection but it was because it made me feel sad.


Posted Dec. 03, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
teacher reader

Join Date: 02/14/18

Posts: 64

RE: Which of the stories was your favorite and why? Which was your least favorite, and why?

I liked "My Life is an Open Book" because everything was described so vividly and it had a great ending. My other two favorites were "Cherry Blossom Time" (a common story told so originally) and "Our Brother's Keeper" (humorous in parts, but very poignant).
"My least favorite was "Andado" because I found it very depressing.


Posted Dec. 05, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Lole

Join Date: 11/30/19

Posts: 25

RE: Which of the stories was your favorite and why? Which was your least favorite, and why?

My favorite was Noel Texas 1956 because it really made me laugh. The tiny details that make the descriptions pop, the characters as they reveal themselves.

My least favorite story was Daughters; despite reading it several times, I never felt any connection to the characters or the moments described. However, there are some great lines and descriptions even in my least favorite story.


Posted Dec. 05, 2019 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
skagitgrits's Gravatar
skagitgrits

Join Date: 02/24/17

Posts: 64

RE: Which of the stories was your favorite and why? Which was your least favorite, and why?

The Adobe House with a Tin Roof was my favorite. I loved the way she described the place and the people who just moved in next door in one of her leased buildings. Pete's continued gifts of plants and instructions on planting though chauvinistic as heck gave her something to do and stay busy with while eventually leading to a beautiful yard that she looked back on with nostalgia. I didn't care for "Andado". It was depressing and somehow emotionally distressing. No thanks to that one.


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