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Hellgoing

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Hellgoing

Written by: Lynn Coady
Narrated by: Andi Arndt
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About this listen

Winner of the 2013 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Short-listed for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. Selected as an Amazon.ca Best Book and for The Globe's Top 10 Books of 2013.

With astonishing range and depth, Scotiabank Giller Prize finalist Lynn Coady gives us nine unforgettable new stories, each one of them grabbing our attention from the first line and resonating long after the last.

A young nun charged with talking an anorexic out of her religious fanaticism toys with the thin distance between practicality and blasphemy. A strange bond between a teacher and a schoolgirl takes on ever deeper and stranger shapes as the years progress. A bride-to-be with a penchant for nocturnal bondage can't seem to stop bashing herself up in the light of day.

Equally adept at capturing the foibles and obsessions of men and of women, compassionate in her humour yet never missing an opportunity to make her characters squirm, fascinated as much by faithlessness as by faith, Lynn Coady is quite possibly the writer who best captures what it is to be human at this particular moment in our history.

©2013 Lynn Coady (P)2017 Audible, Inc. Anthologies & Short Stories Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction Short Story
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I read/listen to very few short stories, usually from masters of the craft. This collection did not satisfy me completely. I saw myself peeking into people's lives that I had no interest in. Very nice experimental attempt.

Interesting collection of stories

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The narrator just pronounced toque as "toke". WOW.
These stories are great though, stark and real.

OMG the narrator can't be Canadian

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It was an okay book. Some stories were good, others were meh. This is my first time reading/listening this author and I found that she's a good writer. I just don't think I'm a fan of short stories like this. I find it the same with Atwood's short stories - good writing, depressing characters, not necessarily a story I care about.

meh

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I think the author is excellent, I just don't want to spend time with the characters she created. I would be fascinated to read a book of hers that is a little more joyful or hopeful.

Good writing, unhappy characters.

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The beauty of these stories is in that which remains unsaid. It’s the way you colour in the potential plot which helps connect you to these meticulously created characters. I know Coady is successful in creating excellent characters and interactions because just when I want to know what happens next, the story ends. There’s an art to this.

Character snapshots

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This is a collection of short stories. All of them are listenable and the narrator does an excellent job with the material. Only two of the stories really caught my attention. I guess it was more based on the subject matter of the other stories and the endings. There is nothing wrong with the subject matter of any of the stories, they just didn't peak my interest. Given the length of the stories I guess I was expecting more plot twist or poignant endings just because the space only allowed for limited character development.

A collection of stories, only two really landed

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the stories are really interesting and I enjoyed the writing. but the production needs to put audio cues that a new story is starting.

needs breaks

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The narrator is excellent. Her cadence and intonations are perfect. The stories are beautifully written; however, beautifully written isn't enough. I had to listen to each story twice feeling I had missed something. I hadn't. They actually just wander around and go nowhere.

Beautifully takes you nowhere

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(Condensed from my Goodreads review)

This was an ordeal. I managed to finish only because it's such a short collection. I began reading the e-book version but switched to the audiobook when it became clear I'd never finish a physical reading.

No doubt the author is a wonderful writer. She's able to describe her characters in a scathing sharpness that's vivid enough to elicit "I know someone like that" thoughts. However, the unremitting snarkiness and sarcasm was too much for me (and I love Atwood, the queen of sardonic humour).

I also had an issue with the abruptness of her endings and lack of character development. Short stories or short fiction don't need a neat resolution, but they do need to give the reader enough of a jumping off point to speculate what might come next. The stories in Hellgoing felt less like giving the reader a chance to ponder the outcomes of her characters and more like a contrivance to get around a proper story arc.

This one was definitely not for me.

Disappointing for a Giller Prize winner

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I wanted to like this but found it difficult to jump between stories...great narrating though.

Wanted to like this...

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