Ack Amric, you beat me to it. I've been meaning to do this review for the past fortnight but real life concerns... well you know the excuses. Anyways, apologies for being late and thanks to all the authors for providing me with some interesting reading over dinners
Although are we missing an author? There were six entries...
Author 1: Well seeing as this is my piece there's no real point in doing up a mock critique. I will say that in hindsight I'm disappointed that I took this approach. I know that I can make a decent fist of descriptive writing, although the feedback was certainly useful, but I wanted to stretch my narrative muscles. This piece had no progress, little dialogue, and, most annoyingly, I failed to get across de Valera's character as I'd wanted
Still, those who noted that it didn't work as a standalone are perfectly correct. When the assignment was posted I was toying with the idea for an Ireland AAR. It would start in 1966 as a sort of cold opening with the rest of the story advancing from flashbacks. This would have introduced the history of most of the characters mentioned, including the crimes of the deceased
And Miral, I have no idea why I don't use periods at the end of sentences. It seems to be a written tic that I picked up somewhere. It might be an aesthetic thing
Author 2: An odd piece this in that it read as more of a history book than a work of narrative. These didn't entirely mesh together. The story itself I don't mind (even if the Dutch Pope was somewhat jarring) but I did find the burial elements more unbelievable. In particular the boy telling the legend about the uncovering face didn't really work for me. This was one example where the writing, which was generally solid, could have been tightened up and streamlined somewhat. On the plus side though the history segments worked well as a vehicle for exposition
Author 3: Now this was interesting. A daring approach that did a good job of marrying the past and the present with both being vividly painted. There were plenty of small details peppering the internal monologue and the twist at the end caught me entirely by surprise. The last line did seem slightly melodramatic but then I can't imagine how I'd close out a similar scene
Author 4: I'd have to admit that this piece was my favourite. There may well be plenty of holes in the plot but the tone of the writing, and the characters, were enjoyable enough for me to ignore these. Even the necessary exposition at the funeral was well worked by contrasting the stuffy official sermon with the humorous running commentary at the back. Overall a very enjoyable read that left me with a smile on my face when I put it down
Author 5: I have to admit that I'm not a fan of horror stories but I read enough as a child to recognise the tropes. When two shady and unwanted characters appear at a funeral then something odd is going to happen. When it becomes clear that the deceased was/is involved in some sort black magic... well the ending became pretty obvious. This was somewhat signposted by the eulogy - I've yet to hear one that begins by noting that the mother of the deceased had turned her back on god (
). That said, I did very much enjoy the writing and the descriptions were excellent. In particular the dead body ("an unrecognizable collection of shredded tissue and broken glass") and the heart pounding final paragraph helped me forget the obviousness of the story
Author 6: This was another very well written tale and one with considerable emotional pull. The characters are vivid, the details memorable, and the story well told through dialogue. My only possible complaint is that it ended somewhat abruptly. I kept hoping for an event or revelation but in the end all we're left with is a grieving family leaving a fresh grave. Which is a powerful ending in its own right