[4HZ]∎ Download Gratis The Peripatetic Coffin and Other Stories Ethan Rutherford 9780062203830 Books

The Peripatetic Coffin and Other Stories Ethan Rutherford 9780062203830 Books

Download As PDF : The Peripatetic Coffin and Other Stories Ethan Rutherford 9780062203830 Books

The Peripatetic Coffin and Other Stories Ethan Rutherford 9780062203830 Books

What a joy it is to come across this wonderful book of short stories. Each one is a gem in its own right. The stories vary greatly and several have to do with seafaring or land faring boats or machines. All the stories are wonderfully written with great characterizations and terrific themes.

The title story is about The Hunley, a Confederate submarine that has had two unsuccessful missions killing thirteen men due to malfunction. This is the story of its third mission and what kind of man signs up for such self-defeat - one with hip displacement, another with a severed leg tendon caused by his own bayonet, one with panic disorder, etc. Seven men volunteered out of 400 volunteers. Their job is to sink the largest Union frigate they can find. "They place bets on the time it will take us to sink ourselves. The odds are on less than a week." The story is funny and poignant at the same time. Since I am not particularly interested in the specifics of the Civil War, only writing of such excellence could have had me so riveted.

`Summer Boys' is a lovely rendition of two fifth grade boys, born four days apart, who spend their summer together like twins. The beauty, angst, and fear that comprises this friendship is felt viscerally.

`John, For Christmas' tells of a couple who wait anxiously and fearfully for their mentally ill son to arrive home for Christmas.

In `Camp Winnesaka', a less than thriving camp, the camp mascot named Moosey disappears and the camp leader decides it was stolen by a rival camp. He declares war and in the process, several campers die.

In 1914, a group of Russian peasants sign up on the `Saint Anna' for a journey in a ship that is heading north. The journey has two purposes: to map the land and to bring back bounty from hunting. Instead, the ship gets landlocked in ice for two years in temperatures of -30 degrees. This is the story of the ship and the men on it.

`The Broken Group' tells of a father and son sailing together. They run into a man who tells them that his boat was damaged beyond repair in a recent storm and he has been waiting four days for the Coast Guard. Things quickly become dark and frightening.

A couple gets mugged in `A Mugging' and this story shows the profound impact that the mugging has on them.

Shipper tanks take to the sand searching for `Dirwhals', a source of energy in the future. They are looking for an animal in the sands that is near extinction and must deal with firsties, an aggressive environmental group. All this is told from the vantage point of journal entries by one Lewis Dagnew who despairs over abandoning his sister.

It is rare that I've read a book of short stories that is as powerful, fluid and riveting as this one. Some of the stories are on topics that don't particularly interest me, yet I was sucked into them by the strength of the writing. I highly recommend this book.


Tags : The Peripatetic Coffin and Other Stories [Ethan Rutherford] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The stories in <em>The Peripatetic Coffin and Other Stories</em>, a collection from Ethan Rutherford,Ethan Rutherford,The Peripatetic Coffin and Other Stories,Ecco,0062203835,Literary,Reality,Short stories,Short stories, American.,Short stories.,American Contemporary Fiction - Individual Authors +,FICTION Literary,FICTION Sea Stories,FICTION Short Stories (single author),Fiction,Fiction - General,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),Short Stories (single author),Short stories, American

The Peripatetic Coffin and Other Stories Ethan Rutherford 9780062203830 Books Reviews

It's been a while since I've read a collection of short stories, and I'm glad I rejoined the fold with this one. The way I describe it when recommending it to my friends is that each story takes a piece of you with it. Though many of the stories are elliptical, none of them feel like cheap shots; they live on in your mind, waiting for you to write the endings.

Highly recommended.
I've read at least one of these stories elsewhere, but I can't remember where. An excellent collection of smart stories written by a frustrated engineer that take a jaundiced view of human nature and still hope for the best. I haven't finished the entire set, yet, but I have enjoyed every story, so far. If the description sounds interesting, I would definitely encourage you to go for it. Rutherford has an easy style that reminds me of the best storytellers from the South, but he's got much more than a handful of tall tales to share.
This collection of stories came somewhat short of my expectations.
I have read very positive reviews and decided to give it a try.
I can't say I wasted my time, but there is very little I'm going to cherish about this book.
I quite liked the title story, while the rest of them seemed to be of rather uneven quality.
Some of the plots are good, but other seem to be somewhat cobbled together.
With regard to the people commenting that these stories were some of the most powerful stories they have read, I'd probably suggest to keep looking, because in my personal opinion there are scores and scores of more powerful and better written narratives.
I'd rate this story collection 4.5 stars.

I stumbled upon Ethan Rutherford's amazingly powerful story collection in a bookstore. How can you resist a book with a title like this?

After reading these stories, I realized this collection has far more to offer than an intriguing title. Some of the stories in Rutherford's debut collection pack a tremendous punch; in fact, I'd wager to say a few of these stories are some of the most powerful I've read in quite some time.

The title story is based on the misadventures of the crew of the first Confederate submarine during the Civil War. It's not a subject I would have ever thought would be intriguing for a short story, yet in Rutherford's hands, you sense the claustrophobia of the vessel, the desperation of the crew to make a difference in a war their side appears to be losing more rapidly day by day, and the courage of knowing their efforts could lead to the ultimate sacrifice. Camp Winnesaka is told from the perspective of the head counselor of a summer camp, who leads his campers into some potentially dangerous situations in an effort to reignite their enthusiasm and keep the camp's financial prospects rosy. In A Mugging, a couple struggles with the aftermath of a mugging in vastly different ways.

My three favorite stories in the collection were the most emotionally affecting. In John, for Christmas, a couple struggles with the toll their emotionally disturbed adult son has had on their marriage and their own psyches, in the midst of an impending blizzard and various other issues. The Broken Group recounts a less than successful sailing trip taken by a father and son, in which the son realizes his father's humanness in a way he never expected. And Summer Boys, which completely knocked me out, explored the sometimes-obsessive friendship of two young boys and the fragile innocence of youth.

What prevented this collection from being completely satisfying was Rutherford's over-reliance on stories about men stranded on ships in the middle of nowhere, on what appear to be hopeless voyages. Although I really enjoyed the title story, by the time the third story about men on a boat searching for an elusive creature rolled around, I wished that the collection had more stories like Summer Boys and some of my other favorites, and less on ships.

That criticism aside, I was blown away by Rutherford's writing talent and the majority of the stories in this collection. He is certainly a writer you need to experience, and I can't wait to see where his career will take him. I know I'll be watching.
What a joy it is to come across this wonderful book of short stories. Each one is a gem in its own right. The stories vary greatly and several have to do with seafaring or land faring boats or machines. All the stories are wonderfully written with great characterizations and terrific themes.

The title story is about The Hunley, a Confederate submarine that has had two unsuccessful missions killing thirteen men due to malfunction. This is the story of its third mission and what kind of man signs up for such self-defeat - one with hip displacement, another with a severed leg tendon caused by his own bayonet, one with panic disorder, etc. Seven men volunteered out of 400 volunteers. Their job is to sink the largest Union frigate they can find. "They place bets on the time it will take us to sink ourselves. The odds are on less than a week." The story is funny and poignant at the same time. Since I am not particularly interested in the specifics of the Civil War, only writing of such excellence could have had me so riveted.

`Summer Boys' is a lovely rendition of two fifth grade boys, born four days apart, who spend their summer together like twins. The beauty, angst, and fear that comprises this friendship is felt viscerally.

`John, For Christmas' tells of a couple who wait anxiously and fearfully for their mentally ill son to arrive home for Christmas.

In `Camp Winnesaka', a less than thriving camp, the camp mascot named Moosey disappears and the camp leader decides it was stolen by a rival camp. He declares war and in the process, several campers die.

In 1914, a group of Russian peasants sign up on the `Saint Anna' for a journey in a ship that is heading north. The journey has two purposes to map the land and to bring back bounty from hunting. Instead, the ship gets landlocked in ice for two years in temperatures of -30 degrees. This is the story of the ship and the men on it.

`The Broken Group' tells of a father and son sailing together. They run into a man who tells them that his boat was damaged beyond repair in a recent storm and he has been waiting four days for the Coast Guard. Things quickly become dark and frightening.

A couple gets mugged in `A Mugging' and this story shows the profound impact that the mugging has on them.

Shipper tanks take to the sand searching for `Dirwhals', a source of energy in the future. They are looking for an animal in the sands that is near extinction and must deal with firsties, an aggressive environmental group. All this is told from the vantage point of journal entries by one Lewis Dagnew who despairs over abandoning his sister.

It is rare that I've read a book of short stories that is as powerful, fluid and riveting as this one. Some of the stories are on topics that don't particularly interest me, yet I was sucked into them by the strength of the writing. I highly recommend this book.