LoveReading Says
Dazzlingly diverse, the five short stories included in Thomas Morris’ Open Up are united by themes of feeling dislocated in a strange, unsettling world. Each of them tingling with tenderness and truths, these stories have the power to flip your heart, make you think and make you feel more alive. In a word, Open Up is magic.
The opener, Wales, fizzes with the power of hope (and football) against a backdrop of poverty. Ahead of attending his first big match, a boy tells himself, “If Wales win tonight, everything will turn out okay.” There’s magic being among a crowd of supporters, singing as one: “WALES! WALES! He is screaming, he is letting something go.” But, while Gareth has a good feeling about the upcoming European Championship, his dad tries to teach him a life lesson: “you’re better off not expecting much, or you’ll only be disappointed.” Gareth puts Dad in his place, though, and turns out to be right, even as the rest of his life takes a downturn. Poignant stuff.
Meanwhile, Aberkariad is an utterly bizarre, unexpectedly affecting story of love, loss, coming-of-age, and the cycles and meaning of life from the perspective of a family of sea horses. Wise, witty and wildly imaginative, I loved it.
With the remaining three stories relating the cliff-hanger-tastic story of “short-arse” Big Mike, an indecisive young man haunted by his past while on holiday with his girlfriend, and a vampire forum moderator treating himself to fangs for his birthday, Open Up adds up to being an enthrallingly varied collection. Morris’ writing is sublimely fresh, and his ideas open up new ways of seeing the world.
Joanne Owen
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Open Up Synopsis
A GRANTA BEST OF YOUNG BRITISH NOVELIST 2023
A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR
LONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE
'I love this book.' BRANDON TAYLOR
'Extraordinary and original.' Sunday Times
'Brilliant, funny, unsettling.' SALLY ROONEY
'Impressive.' Irish Times
'A writer beyond compare.' ALI SMITH
'Fierce and tender.' LUCY CALDWELL
'Astounding.' COLIN BARRETT
'Worthy of multiple readings.' JON McGREGOR
The new collection from a literary star - five achingly tender, innovative and dazzling stories of (dis)connection.
From Wales to Croatia to the depths of the ocean, these five achingly tender stories of (dis)connection are bursting with emotional vulnerability. A child attends his first football match, buoyed by secret magic; a young seahorse grapples with grief and loss; a troubled young man gets his birthday teeth. Strikingly original and wincingly humane, Open Up seeks to find grace, hope and benevolence in the churning tumult of self-discovery.
Praise for We Don't Know What We're Doing:
'Heart-hurtingly acute, laugh-out-loud funny, and one of the most satisfying collections I've read for years.' ALI SMITH, Guardian 'Books of the Year'
'Masterly. . . marvellous grace and wit.' PHILIP HENSHER
'That tonic gift, the sense of truth - the sense of transparency that permits us to see imaginary lives more clearly than we see our own'. The tonic comes in large doses in Thomas Morris's debut short-story collection.' Irish Times
'Morris's fresh, direct writing style feels brand new.' Metro
'Radiant' Independent
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780571317059 |
| Publication date: |
1st August 2024 |
| Author: |
Thomas Morris |
| Publisher: |
Faber & Faber |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
224 pages |
| Primary Genre |
General Fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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About Thomas Morris
Thomas Morris is a writer and historian. His first book, The Matter of the Heart, a critically-acclaimed history of heart surgery, was published in 2017 and won an RSL Jerwood Award for non-fiction. His second, The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth, was chosen by Mental Floss as one of the best books of 2018. He was previously a BBC radio producer for 18 years, and his freelance journalism has appeared in publications including The Times, The Lancet and the TLS.
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