These are four short stories, each imbued with a profound sadness and a sense of irreparable loss. They explore moments where redemption feels unreachable : burning an entire bookcase of treasured books out of anger and resentment, grappling with a deep sense of disconnection—lost in the vastness of the universe, in one’s own life, and even among friends. One story poignantly depicts the act of cutting the hair of a dying woman, knowing there will never be enough time for it to grow back before her passing. Another is to be confronted with the haunting knowledge that you are dead. The tone is deeply melancholic, but the writing style captivated me, making the sorrow all the more poignant and beautiful.
“The grass was yellow in the hot sunlight as she walked towards them. When she was quite close she called again shyly: ‘Hello.’ Then, ‘I used to live here once,’ she said.
Still they didn’t answer. When she said for the third time ‘Hello’ she was quite near them. Her arms went out instinctively with the longing to touch them.
It was the boy who turned. His grey eyes looked straight into hers. His expression didn’t change. He said: ‘Hasn’t it gone cold all of a sudden. D’you notice? Let’s go in.’ ‘Yes let’s,’ said the girl.
Her arms fell to her sides as she watched them running across the grass to the house. That was the first time she knew.”
Content
The Day They Burned The Books / Till September Petronella / Rapunzel, Rapunzel / I Used To Live Here Once
“The Day They Burned the Books’ and ‘Till September Petronella’ were first published in Tigers Are Better-Looking (1968); and ‘Rapunzel, Rapunzel’ and ‘I Used to Live Here Once’ in Sleep it Off, Lady (1976). They can all be found in The Collected Short Stories (2017).