The trusting and the maimed by James Plunkett
The trusting and the maimed by James Plunkett
220 pages
1955
There are 10 stories in this book. They all take place in Ireland and they are all depressing. Usual I read a book of this size in a couple hours but it took a little over a month to read this book. There are things I didn't like about the stories. One, the character were more caritures than people I could care about. I like flaws in my characters and the authors give his creations plenty of them but he doesn't flesh them out so you'll care about them. "The Half Crown" is about the thief of a half crown and the effect it has on a couple. I could understand the thief and I wanted to sympathize with the man but it was like having sympathy for a cartoon. Second, the author has the habit of switching viewpoints which can make the stories hard to read. I had to read "The trusting and the maimed" twice because the jumping viewpoint was confusing. The author uses a third person viewpoint which suits his writing style and his use of multiple viewpoints. I found the multple viewpoints jarring and they distracted away from the story. Third, I found the stories had a dated feel to them. I think a good story can relate to some part of you. I just didn't connect to these stories.
However, the author's use of metaphors was interesting. A good example is his use of the pigeon in "The trusting and the maimed". I felt that the pigeon was mirroring the struggle of the characters. I would not put this book on a must-read list. I will give it a 2 out of 5.