Binocular Vision

The author is new to me; a friend recommended I read it. I am still perplexed: are the stories meant to be characters caught "in the moment;" or is there something else going on. I am not sure. It hasn't caught fire with me, yet, but I am willing to give it time.

I am an avid short fiction reader and subscribe to Paris Review and other literary periodicals, so I am surprised that I have not run across more of her stories in the past. This is a wonderful collection to be nominated for a National Book Award, and these are some of the best short stories from a modern English speaking author in a few years. Her writing is so fluid and wonderful. She enlightens the reader, guides the reader into the story; never seems to thrust the story upon the reader or push the reader. She never writes as if preaching or teaching some lesson, but there are lessons to be learned.

The stories are amazing and fluid, and the reader is quickly, nay instantly taken into the world of the story. I fell in love with characters in moments, which is rare indeed for a short story. I particularly enjoyed 'The Noncombatant'. Though I was hooked with the very first story in the collection: 'Inbound'.

*** All you have to do is read "Tess" and you will be unable to resist reading more of this wonderful work. ***

Not since J.D. Salinger have I found a collection of short fiction this utterly engaging, reflective, and rewarding. I look forward to more of her work in the future. She would have my nod for National Book Award for sure!

Update: Upon reading more about this author I discovered that she has won O. Henry awards, a Pushcart prize, that she is older than I thought (judging by her writing style that is), she has some previous works, and also that she has had stories appear in many periodicals, including Ploughshares. I look forward to reading more of her work.

Update: Pearlman won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. You can Google NY Times Pearlman Award for more on the story. I for one am very pleased with her award, and I still consider this the best of the National Book Award Nominees for 2011.

It’s possible that the title of this collection comes directly from one of Edith Pearlman’s stories, “Mates,” as she uses it (‘it’ being “binocular vision”) to describe a single attribute of the female partner in the story. It’s also possible, however, that it comes from the title of the short story, “Binocular Vision,” which can be found on pp. 223 – 227. Either way, it’s an apt trope.

Characterizing Ms. Pearlman’s prose is no easy matter. She seems to see and hear things like no other writer I’ve ever read – and then to put them down in crystalline form for our inspection and delectation. It’s a formidable accomplishment, and little garnishes like the following just add to the enjoyment of it all: “(t)he Asians’ task was to care for the sages who had outlived their sagacity” (p. 56).

Rarely does something monumental happen in one of Edith Pearlman’s stories. The truth is, nothing monumental needs to happen in them. Rather, her objective would seem to be conjuring up – and then dissecting – mood in all of its myriad facets. Besides which, the monumental has already happened for many of her characters: they’ve survived Europe; World War II; the Camps.

What reads in four brief pages (pp. 158 – 161) like a likable – but unremarkable – family is something the author turns on its head in the last two paragraphs. But this reversal (or diversion) concurrently allows her to give us a tiny bit of her philosophy of life: “(m)aiden lady that I am, I believe solitude to be not only the unavoidable human condition but also the sensible human preference.” Is it risking too much to suggest that Ms. Pearlman’s lack of renown derives, at least in part, from this personal philosophy?

I don’t want to suggest that all of her stories are unblemished gems. “How to Fall” was one I just didn’t get. And the same could be said of both “The Story” and “On Junius Bridge.” But then, “(i)t would be a pleasure to stew tomatoes until they burst through their skins” (p. 192), as unremarkable as the sentence may read out of context, is the otherwise perfectly-tuned masterstroke to the story “Rules.” And “Jan Term” is simply a hoot – if also no mean accomplishment for a woman of Ms. Pearlman’s age.

“The Noncombatant” was a story I found fascinating, but most likely because of my fairly recent read and memory of John Hersey’s HIROSHIMA. Would it have been equally as compelling without that read and memory? I don’t know. I also didn’t understand the significance of the unnamed character at the end of the story. “Capers” (pp. 259 – 267), however, is a story for which I can find no better qualifier than ‘perfectly delightful’ – or, highest accolade in my arsenal of accolades – ‘O. Henryesque.’

As I was commenting to another writer/friend just this morning… when you read Edith Pearlman’s short stories, you have to wonder why you even bother. It’s already been done to perfection – and Edith Pearlman did it.

RRB
03/11/15
Brooklyn, NY

My opinion about this volume is divided. I can't quite decide if I really liked it. Some stories worked for me, while I felt let down by some of them. Perhaps the collection felt checkered because the stories spanned at least four decades. There is no doubt, however that Ms Pearlman is good short story writer. She is able to get under the skin of the character in a matter of a few lines, which is an important skill for writers of the short form.

Most of her stories are set in Boston, specifically in the fictional suburban Godolphin, and many of her characters are Jewish Americans. However, Pearlman rather adroitly inhabits the soul of any one character, whether it be the simultaneously guileless and confident seven-year old girl who becomes separated from her parents in "Inbound", or a 67-year old man who mentors a 17-year old Russian immigrant on American History and much more, in "Girl in Blue with Brown Bag", among many others.

One of the more absorbing stories is "Days of Awe", where a retiree Robert pays a visit to his gay son, Lex, in Central America to see his newly-adopted grandson for the first time, and his touching attempts to bond with the boy, as he deals with his contradictory feelings. He reflects, in one instance, when Lex refuses his money for a trip: "A disappointing fellow. May you, too, have a son like mine, Robert thought - the old curse, the old blessing."

Her prose is glowing, and she mixes the familiar with such an interesting detail that it startles you and forces you to revisit the phrase again, for example in "Vallies", a woman with a mysterious past who somewhat reluctantly becomes a housekeeper for a series of families. At the playground, she observes: "The mommies - there were some of those, too, unmannerly - ignored her entirely: they were too busy boasting about their children as if someday they meant to sell them."

Eastern European Jewry, Assimilation, Aging, Escape, Illness,Androgeny - these are just some of the themes that recur in this collection of short stories, many of which involve Jewish characters inhabiting New York, Israel, and/or Europe. There are a number of lost fathers, and other tortured family relationships. Some stories I hated ("Inbound", centered on a Child in Peril - a cheap way to get the reader's attention) and some I loved ( "Relic and Type", centered on intercultural discoveries). Some of the stories are linked through the same central characters. Several have clever structure (the epistolary story "Jan Term") and surprise endings a la O. Henry ("Capers", "Lineage").

This collection is like grazing at a very classy smorgasbord - you are bound to find somethings you like; there will be some things you try and spit out, but it's not like sitting down to a full meal. I'd like to see what Pearlman can do with a novel.

These stories are crafted with the highest degree of art. I read the collection while on my subway rides to and from work; I've never been at such high risk of missing my stops. Edith Pearlman is merciful to her readers. Although she does not shy away from depicting bleak aspects of life and history, she also offers hope and promise and even some happy endings. At the end of every story, we feel that we really understand and know the main character. After reading each story, I went back and re-read it and saw how each event and dialogue built upon themselves to create the ending. She also does write unexpected plot twists that make sense in hindsight, but they can take your breath away. The language is vivid. When reading this book, we are in the hands of a master writer who takes us where she wants us to go.

Lovers of short stories rejoice and read these.

Wow these are good. A master of the short form who is relatively unknown but brilliant, Edith Pearlman builds big stories out of small elements of life, delves history, deftly tells human tales. She seems to be able to do it all. Humor, pathos and good, subtle, rich writing.

If you're looking for the best collection of short stories you've probably never heard of, this is the one for you. And happily, it contains all of her very best stories, as far as I can tell.

A very strong collection of short stories each one different from the others which is refreshing. Many are written about Jewish characters but are universal enough to be enjoyed by anyone. This was a National Book Award finalist and Pearlman is so skilled its easy to see why the book turned the judges heads.

A collection of exquisite, subtle vignettes of life among the working intelligentsia in the Northeast, mostly in the Boston suburbs and thereabouts. A major but apparently overlooked short story writer.

I have not read all of the stories yet. I am not reading in order. Alongside other reading I am engaged in, every day I open Binocular Vision randomly, and that is the story I read that day. It takes an act of will to keep it to just one. I have probably read 20 stories (a little more than half) and wish there were hundreds still to read. Each one is a life on the page. They are gems, to describe them using an overused and unoriginal word. But gems they are, in 8 or 10 or 15 pages. In each story more than one time, I am stopped cold in my reading. I have to write sentences in my book journal so I can have those amazing sentences to read again sometime. How did I never discover Pearlman before the publication of this book? Well, now I know who she is and what she can do.

This book presents fascinating views into the interior lives of the characters. Each story is a gem - and is totally engaging and touching. I loved how the title story summarizes the theme of the other stories - taking a close look (binocular) at the various human conditions. Highly recommended!!

One of two things has to be true of Edith Pearlman. Either she has an uncanny breadth of knowledge, or else she has an uncannily adept imagination. On page after page, she takes your breath away. If the juries know diamond from cubic zirconium, this book will surely be under consideration for all the major annual awards.

Edith Pearlman, thank you.

I found the short stories more than interesting and a valueable peak into the perceptions of Jewish culture. I benefitted by not racing through the work.

S.J.Tagliareni author of Hitler's Priest

There are 22 short stoires, about 5 of which I thought quite good. I read this because it won the National Book Critics Circle award for fiction for 2011. It is the 24th such winner I've read. I think the best--and a story did not have to very good to be the best in this book--was "Elder Jinks" which told an interesting story about a couple meeting, marrying, and what exciting events thereafter occurred, and how their diilemma was resolved. A real story and one did not have to imagine the ending. I also liked "Vallies" which told of an interesting woman but the story is a bit 'darker' than "Elder Jinks". In generaal I admit I dislike reading a whole book of short stories because one every few pages has to "start over." I would think this author might do a good novel, since she does conjure up interesting and unusual characters who do things which invite one's attention.

I have had the misfortune of reading several of the stories in Binocular Vision and I am amazed that many people use words like "sumptuous" and "insightful" to describe her work.

With few exceptions, Ms. Pearlman's stories suggest a world in which men are either weak, absent, or virtually non-existent. Perhaps this is a valid description of Ms. Pearlman's personal experiences. Certainly, it is the point of view that she deliberately imposes on the fictional worlds she creates. In many of the stories, an elderly man is close to death. In some as well, his world is falling apart. In another, his friend is dying while his wife fantasizes that he is a woman and she has a crush on the daughter of the dying man. The daughter's boyfriend meanwhile has no name and no character--a virtual nonentity. One wonders whether Ms. Pearlman's world admits of the possibility of a vibrant male.

Ms. Pearlman's point of view is one of perpetual sadness and resignation. There is little joy and the opportunity to triumph over the travails of the world are scarcely admitted. Complete bummer.