Endearing and Enduring Themes
All well-crafted short stories should strive to make a single emotional impact on the reader. On that count, The Sun Zebra delivers. Rolando Garcia’s collection of five stories offers endearing glimpses into the little moments that can impart lasting life lessons when seen through the eyes of a child. Love is what connects and binds us to each other in this thing called life and in Garcia’s touching stories.
The title story not only effectively communicates a child-like sense of wonder, it also contains excellent imagery. “Bob the Intrepid Insectnaut” manages to combine sorrow and humor effectively, although the father’s narrative voice feels too intrusive at times. The premise of “Raven-Lenore” intrigues with its interplay between Poe’s famous poem and daughter Nell’s squirrely counterpart, but the structure needs tweaking. “The Meaningless Christmas Tree” achieves effective characterization with the old man and his ugly tree and demonstrates the author can also deftly render intriguing adult characters. Finally, “Birdman and the Fairy Tale” showcases the author’s knack for illustrating how a child can mull a moment over in their mind and how adults can learn a lot from their children.
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Rolando Garcia’s storytelling gift lies in beautifully communicated thematic elements. As a fellow lover of the short story form, I am happily anticipating further work from this author. As a perpetual student and teacher of the craft of the genre, I would recommend more showing and less telling, adding more dialogue, and heightening setting details. It will be interesting to see where his story-telling journey takes him.
You can connect with Rolando Garcia on his blog The Eclectic Life, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Pinterest, and Google+. He has previously written under the pseudonym Phantomimic.
JeriWB’s Rating: 4.25 Stars (“Really Liked It”)
For more insight, read my Book Review Criteria or visit the Review Request Page.
You can also read my interview with the author by clicking here.
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Thanks for this honest review.
Geek Girl recently posted..Motivational Monday: 2/10
Sounds like a good read. With all the reading I have been doing lately I think short stories would be a nice change. It would be nice to sit and finish a story in a single sitting.
Jon Jefferson recently posted..Questions of Note: Cori Paige
Jon, be on the look-out for Rolando’s upcoming collection of short stories as well. His new collection brings in more of a supernatural element and plenty of clever twists.
I know I would enjoy this book on so many levels. Partly because it speaks to me as a teacher, I love short stories and I’m person who sees our childhood as full of great lessons if we’re willing the see them for what they are.
Susan Cooper recently posted..Two Chocolate Wines – Red Decadence & Chocolate Red Wine: Wines
Susan, You would really like how Rolando captures a child’s perspective.
I loved the way you wrote this, very intriguing. The books sound really good. I will make sure I go check them out.
I really like your reviews Jeri and it is surprising how much we can take out from reading short stories. This one does look like an interesting read.
Susan, I love short stories so much and Rolando is up there with the best when it comes to crafting a good story.
Sounds like a very touching book that anyone can relate to. Thanks for the review.
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Jeri — thanks for the review. I’ve lost touch with reading short stories. It seems they are a lost art. In fact, I find that authors of full-length books seem to be padding their stories to add length to the book. Maybe their publishers make them do it. I’m reading Nelson DeMille’s new book which is over 600 pages long which slows down the action. Could have definitely come in at a couple of hundred pages less.
Jeannette Paladino recently posted..7 Content Marketing Habits to Kick In 2013
Jeannette, it’s interesting that commented your have found your recent reading of a novel to suffer from a couple hundred extra pages of padding. Rolando has written some great blog posts about the conciseness of short stories and why he shouldn’t feel compelled to write a novel if he can fit the same punch in to a short story. I’ve encountered similar issues with writing my first novel as well. I don’t want my book to feel like I’m adding in padding. There’s nothing worse than the realization that you’re starting to skim sections of a book….
I have only had time to read the first two stories in this collection and they are SO enjoyable. There’s a very playful atmosphere in them as well as love for his child. I particularly like how he seamlessly integrates small windows into the rest of his life, though we are focused on his daughter’s interest. I highly recommend the collection. Thanks for the post Jeri – very timely:-)
A.K.Andrew recently posted..Toni Morrison on Hope in Beloved: Musemedium
A. K., It’s great to hear that you are in the process of reading Rolando’s stories. I envy his ability to capture such innocence and playfulness on the page. As an author, he has a wide range, so I hope you’ll think about checking out his forthcoming collection of short stories as well.
I had kind of gotten out of the whole short story genre for a while until a friend published a collection of his work and I’m now returning to what for years was a favorite. Thanks for highlighting this collection, I need to check it out.
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I like the idea of a collection of some short stories that connect in some way. Thanks for the honesty on what you thought about the writing style and constructive criticism.
Kelly Wade recently posted..The Pros and Cons of a May/December Relationship
Great review! I love books that are composed of short stories, I have never heard of this one but I’ll have to check it out!
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