Trick of the Light By Laura Elvery

Book Review of Trick of the Light By Laura Elvery 

The short story that gave this collection its name is a powerful allegory about dangerous inventions. Told lightly in the first person, it's a spine-chilling reminder of the impact of unintended consequences. Many other stories deal with students and teachers' relationships with students and youth. The protagonist of a verbal story has several partially remembered reincarnations. Topics covered by the stories include an unexplained suicide, memories of watching live broadcasts on television of the first people to walk on the moon, pregnancy, compassion for an injured fledgling bird, dealing with shoplifting, vulnerability, pollution, despair and failure.

Elvery has a fine eye for detail and his observation of human nature is shrewd. It is a pity that, with one exception, the stories in this collection are told in a single voice in the first person, giving the impression that Elvery is the person who is telling each story, rather than his fictional character. This is, of course, more noticeable if you read the stories one after the other than when reading for the purpose of this kind of review. As has often been said, short story books are not necessarily meant to be read like novels.

But there is a lot to like in this collection. The perceptive insights that accompany the ups and downs in family life and the complex relationships of parents with their grown children are explored with a depth of understanding. This is enhanced by Elvery's disposition for description, whether of scenes or actions:

There's a ladder behind closed cabinets with skulls, and I see dozens of people going back and forth and up and down escalators. Two identical security guards pass. Their hands hold their belts where they have sticks, not guns. They run, carry their shoulders forward.

One of the challenges for the short story writer is to find a title for each that encapsulates its essence or at least a teaser to whet the reader's appetite—but preferably both. The titles of the 24 stories in this collection do both.

What many stories have in common is that they feature young women and are told from their point of view. This makes them doubly worthwhile for men of all ages.

Name : Ruby Satish Sharma. Roll no. : 46 

Bibliography :

Website Address : https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Trick_of_the_Light.html?id=7tJFDwAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y

Website Address for Book Cover : 

https://www.uqp.com.au/books/trick-of-the-light

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