The Things You Know (Storycuts)

Nov 17, 2024 4:59 PM

Author:Julian Barnes

Janice and Merrill, two widows, converse about their departed husbands over breakfast. Fond memories of their spouses are recounted, but it is in what they leave unsaid that they find the greater sustenance.

Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection The Lemon Table.

Reviews

A lifetime's achievement in more than one sense

—— Sunday Times

Startling in their simple perfection

—— Sunday Tribune

Provokingly singular and rare, an island of richness

—— Guardian

Beautifully crafted stories: elegiac, honest, proud, and both eloquent and taciturn, like their subjects...a wonderfully talented writer

—— Margaret Atwood

Rarely does a great writer offer himself to us with an oeuvre so complete

—— New York Times Book Review

Etgar Keret is a writer to be taken seriously

—— Yann Martel

Keret's surreal conceits are couched in a wry, downbeat language...The effect is something like a sorrowful hybrid of Kafka and Donald Barthelme: deadpan on the surface, with a bassnote of discomfort and emotional alienation that makes even the briefest tales snag in the mind...Each piece is at once universal and particular...world-class gems. The translation is brilliant, too

—— Tim Martin , Daily Telegraph

Etgar Keret is the voice of young Israel

—— Independent

One of the greatest short story writers alive

—— Ben Rice

One of the most important writers alive... enchantingly witty

—— Clive James

Etgar Keret's extraordinary imagination sets the reader free from slogans and headlines

—— Linda Grant

One of the greatest short story writers alive

—— Ben Rice

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