Being Various: New Irish Short Stories
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- Create Date：2021-08-04 09:54:01
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Various
- ISBN：0571354106
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Summary
Following her own brilliant short story collection Multitudes， Lucy Caldwell guest edits the sixth volume of Faber's long running series of new Irish short stories， continuing the great work started by the late David Marcus and subsequent guest editors Kevin Barry， Deirdre Madden and Joseph O'Connor。 Contributors to this richly diverse collection include: Kevin Barry， Eimear McBride， Lisa McInerney， Stuart Neville， Sally Rooney， Kit de Waal and Belinda McKeon
'BEING VARIOUS has a brilliant array of writers making waves in the twenty-first century， from lauded names to newcomers ranging from their twenties to their sixties; Irish by birth， by parentage， or residence。' Lucy Caldwell
'BEING VARIOUS has a brilliant array of writers making waves in the twenty-first century， from lauded names to newcomers ranging from their twenties to their sixties; Irish by birth， by parentage， or residence。' Lucy Caldwell
Reviews
Zuzia
，
irlandzka proza ma coś w sobie， ciężko ocenić zbiór opowiadań ale w tym przypadku mogę śmiałostwierdzić， ze ten był bardzo dobry
MaRysia （ostatnia_strona）
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Trudno jest mi oceniać zbiory opowiadań， zwłaszcza tych wychodzących spod pióra różnych autorów。 Były lepsze i gorsze opowiadania – wiadomo。 Najbardziej spodobały mi się „Rozstępy”， „Alfabetowe dzieci”， „Filary’ i „Echo”。
Marika_reads
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Lucy Caldwell zebrała w antologii opowiadań szeroki wachlarz współczesnych irlandzkich pisarzy， autorów złotego wieku irlandzkiego pisarstwa。 Tych Irlandczyków z dziada pradziada。 Tych z rodzin imigrantów。 Tych urodzonych w Irlandii a mieszkających obecnie w innym miejcu i tych urodzonych poza wyspą， ale mocno z Irlandią związanych。 Zresztą to wszystko opisane wspaniale we wstępie książki （nie przegapcie tego fragmentu！）。I jak to bywa ze zbiorem opowiadań jedne podobały mi się bardziej inne mnie Lucy Caldwell zebrała w antologii opowiadań szeroki wachlarz współczesnych irlandzkich pisarzy， autorów złotego wieku irlandzkiego pisarstwa。 Tych Irlandczyków z dziada pradziada。 Tych z rodzin imigrantów。 Tych urodzonych w Irlandii a mieszkających obecnie w innym miejcu i tych urodzonych poza wyspą， ale mocno z Irlandią związanych。 Zresztą to wszystko opisane wspaniale we wstępie książki （nie przegapcie tego fragmentu！）。I jak to bywa ze zbiorem opowiadań jedne podobały mi się bardziej inne mniej， ale u mnie podzieliło się to tak， że teksty z pierwszej połowy książki podobały mi się bardzo， a te z drugiej w większości przypadły mi do gustu znacznie mniej。 Być może te odczucia spowodowane zmęczeniem materiału przez krótką formę， a może zwyczajnie te początkowe były bardziej w moim stylu？ Zalecam jednak nie popełniać mojego błędu i nie rzucać się na nie jednym ciągiem lecz dawkować powoli。 Niemniej sporo w tym zbiorze świeżości i nowoczesnych historii miłosnych。 Historii współczesnych z problemami dzisiejszego świata。 Sporo też tematów trudnych choć podobało mi się， że zazwyczaj nie podanych wprost na tacy lecz takich， które wyłapuje się między wierszami。 Jest o relacjach， dojrzewaniu， wyobcowaniu， o zaburzeniach odżywiania czy stracie dziecka。 Różnorodne perspektywy a nawet różne gatunki bo znajdziecie tu miejscami realizm magiczny。 Piękne to pisarstwo， nie zaprzeczę， ale ta druga polowa trochę mnie zmęczyła， więc jak już wspomniałam wyżej， czytajcie małymi partiami！Ach no i zapomniałabym， a nie można tego nie zaznaczyć - opowiadania przetłumaczone zostały przez grupę wspaniałych tłumaczy， więc nawet dla samych genialnych przekładów warto po „Niepoprawną mnogość” sięgnąć。 。。。more
Una Yates
，
Feathers by Nicole Flattery is the most bizarre and brilliant short story！ Underwhelmed by the Sally Rooney's contribution Feathers by Nicole Flattery is the most bizarre and brilliant short story！ Underwhelmed by the Sally Rooney's contribution 。。。more
Ania
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4，5/5
Fiona
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3。5
Adam Scullin
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A great， diverse collection of short stories that starts and finishes strong。 There was a bit of a grey area through the middle for me， but I mostly loved what this collection had to offer。
William
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This was good。 Some of the stories were phenomenal。 I haven't read tons of Irish authors before， which is probably a crime considering where I live。 This was good。 Some of the stories were phenomenal。 I haven't read tons of Irish authors before， which is probably a crime considering where I live。 。。。more
Jessica
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3。5 stars overall， but the sally rooney one was *chefs kiss*
Helen O
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There is something particularly satisfying about a good short story。 There are plenty to choose from in this diverse collection。 My personal favourites were A Partial List of the Saved， Legends， Stretch Marks， Pillars， Echo and Who’s Dead Mc Carthy。
Elisabeth Goemans
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Heerlijk
Bob Green
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I only skimmed through a couple of these small， memorable vignettes， which leave you wanting to know more about the characters and stories。
Laura
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I liked this book。 I don't typically go for short story anthologies but this was recommended。 Some stories I liked， some weren't for me。 Some were plain weird， others were 'how is this going to end in only a few more pages？'。 I liked this book。 I don't typically go for short story anthologies but this was recommended。 Some stories I liked， some weren't for me。 Some were plain weird， others were 'how is this going to end in only a few more pages？'。 。。。more
Sophie
，
I think it's very rare to get to the end of a collection of short stories and be hard-pressed to pick a favourite—because each was so gently fantastically standalone in its own right。 The cadence and lyricism inherent to the language of this book is something all of the stories within it shared; reading a lot of them felt more so like gliding rather than turning page after page。 The flow of it， the structure and listing and choosing was fantastically done by Caldwell。 I didn't want to finish thi I think it's very rare to get to the end of a collection of short stories and be hard-pressed to pick a favourite—because each was so gently fantastically standalone in its own right。 The cadence and lyricism inherent to the language of this book is something all of the stories within it shared; reading a lot of them felt more so like gliding rather than turning page after page。 The flow of it， the structure and listing and choosing was fantastically done by Caldwell。 I didn't want to finish this collection。 I wanted it to roll on and on， sweeping in new voices and subjects and settings as it went。 I wanted to feel the sweet bite of sadness offered by many of them， the dark threads of humour abundant in others。 I know I will be reading and re-reading this collection over and over—even now I feel the pull to heart-ache that Wings provides， or the muddy hopelessness of Legends， etc。 etc。—& will be looking up other webs of words weaved by these same authors to get lost within。 🍀 。。。more
Hayley （hayleys。little。library）
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I originally picked up this book from my local library after I realised that one of the authors in this book （which is filled of short stories） was Sally Rooney， who is one of my ALL TIME FAVOURITE AUTHORS 🤩 I was also really keen to try some more short stories， so I was really excited to give this one a go。Unfortunately some of the short stories that I read were quite heavy and featured suicide， abuse etc。 and I really wasn’t in the headspace to be reading something of this nature。 My library l I originally picked up this book from my local library after I realised that one of the authors in this book （which is filled of short stories） was Sally Rooney， who is one of my ALL TIME FAVOURITE AUTHORS 🤩 I was also really keen to try some more short stories， so I was really excited to give this one a go。Unfortunately some of the short stories that I read were quite heavy and featured suicide， abuse etc。 and I really wasn’t in the headspace to be reading something of this nature。 My library loan on this book was also about to run out so I just decided to read Sally Rooney’s short story and return the book + DNF the rest as I wasn’t really enjoying it。Rooney’s short story was titled ‘Colour and Light’ ✨ Before anyone asks - yes， Rooney ran with the same writing style of grammar by not using speech/quotation marks。 To be honest， that doesn’t really worry me too much but unfortunately I found that the story didn’t introduce the characters too well and I found it really hard to understand what was actually going on in the story and what the overall meaning was。 So， unlike her other short story ‘Mr Salary’ which I loved - this one wasn’t for me。 。。。more
Jordana Moser
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Favorite stories:How I fell in love。。。The swimmersA partial list of the savedStretch marksBrownLady12345PillarsEchoJack’s return homeFeather
Lisanne
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It's been a while since I read a collection of short stories so well put together。 Mostly highlights in this one， just a few stories I'd describe as 'ok but not memorable'。 It's been a while since I read a collection of short stories so well put together。 Mostly highlights in this one， just a few stories I'd describe as 'ok but not memorable'。 。。。more
Aike
，
What I liked: Great mix of authors - "two-thirds female， one third Northern; two-third born in Ireland， two-thirds currently resident。" Discovering writers I didn't know， like Yan Ge and Melatu Uche OkorieNew writing by Sally Rooney Snapshot quality of the stories， set in lots of different places （from London to Cumbernauld to a small Irish village to New York in the 70s） What I didn't like: The overall vibe is very dark & bleak - this gets a bit much Jarring contrast between the realistic quali What I liked: Great mix of authors - "two-thirds female， one third Northern; two-third born in Ireland， two-thirds currently resident。" Discovering writers I didn't know， like Yan Ge and Melatu Uche OkorieNew writing by Sally Rooney Snapshot quality of the stories， set in lots of different places （from London to Cumbernauld to a small Irish village to New York in the 70s） What I didn't like: The overall vibe is very dark & bleak - this gets a bit much Jarring contrast between the realistic quality of most of the collection and the few stories that are futuristic / dystopian / magical realist Only a few stories really spoke to me （but those that did were really good） 。。。more
Lisa
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Being Various is a collection of short stories by Irish writers and edited by Lucy Caldwell。 I heard Lucy Caldwell speak at the Ilkley Literature Festival last year。 As a Belfast born woman she felt that writers from Northern Ireland， especially those from the unionist community had often overlooked as Irish writers， as had the voices of those who were first generation immigrants in Ireland。 This really does give a freshness and more diverse feel than other Irish short story collections and ther Being Various is a collection of short stories by Irish writers and edited by Lucy Caldwell。 I heard Lucy Caldwell speak at the Ilkley Literature Festival last year。 As a Belfast born woman she felt that writers from Northern Ireland， especially those from the unionist community had often overlooked as Irish writers， as had the voices of those who were first generation immigrants in Ireland。 This really does give a freshness and more diverse feel than other Irish short story collections and there is a great emphasis on female writers。 There are some big names like Eimear McBride and Sally Rooney but also some unpublished writers like Sheila Purdy and Yan Ge who has so far been published in her first language Chinese and only just started to write in English （her short story was one of the stand outs for me along with Pillars by Jan Carson）。 It is a great collection for fans of Irish fiction and Short Stories。 。。。more
Catherine Jeffrey
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An excellent selection of 24 short stories that were specially commissioned for this edition。 Read for the York Irish book group。 The stories covered some many different topics each one throwing up an unusual plot or structure。 Very enjoyable。
Amy Potter
，
Like all anthologies， some stories in the collection work better than others， but the whole is bound together in an attempt to define 'Irishness'。 Variety truly is the spice of life， as no two stories cover the same theme， a number of genre being represented。 For me， the outstanding stories were: 'The Swimmers' created a feeling of unease， as it tackled a difficult the subject matter， but it was brilliantly written and dealt sensitively with the issue。 ‘BrownLady12345’ and an Ge's "How I Fell in Like all anthologies， some stories in the collection work better than others， but the whole is bound together in an attempt to define 'Irishness'。 Variety truly is the spice of life， as no two stories cover the same theme， a number of genre being represented。 For me， the outstanding stories were: 'The Swimmers' created a feeling of unease， as it tackled a difficult the subject matter， but it was brilliantly written and dealt sensitively with the issue。 ‘BrownLady12345’ and an Ge's "How I Fell in Love with the Well-Documented Life of Alexander Whelan"， although very different in their content， were both well-written and capture the feeling of being an outsider。 Generally， a pleasing collection。 。。。more
Mimi
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I would give this a 3。5
Shane O'Connor
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I enjoyed nearly every short story in this collection。 I can't remember the last short story collection that I read all the way through - without power skimming or skipping stories entirely。 Discovering a few new authors to check out further is always a treat。"The Adminicle Exists" by Eimear McBride was an refreshing change in format that I had never encountered before。 "Privacy" by Belinda McKeon was also a real treat。 I can't wait to check out her work further。 To me， I think that was the stan I enjoyed nearly every short story in this collection。 I can't remember the last short story collection that I read all the way through - without power skimming or skipping stories entirely。 Discovering a few new authors to check out further is always a treat。"The Adminicle Exists" by Eimear McBride was an refreshing change in format that I had never encountered before。 "Privacy" by Belinda McKeon was also a real treat。 I can't wait to check out her work further。 To me， I think that was the stand out story in the collection。 。。。more
Genevieve Brassard
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3。5: Looking for material to revamp my Irish Lit course， and like most anthologies this one is uneven （to my taste at least）， with some pieces more interesting than others。 It brought new young writers to my attention and I’m curious to read more by some of them。
Rebecc
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This book has been sitting on my pile for a while & I was delighted by the range & content of the stories featured。 I'd previously read novels by at least 6 authors featured。 but was thrilled by finding some new names I will be exploring。 Only one of the stories felt like a dud & many deserved repeated rereadings。 This book has been sitting on my pile for a while & I was delighted by the range & content of the stories featured。 I'd previously read novels by at least 6 authors featured。 but was thrilled by finding some new names I will be exploring。 Only one of the stories felt like a dud & many deserved repeated rereadings。 。。。more
Neil Kenealy
，
There are twenty-four stories in all。 It’s the same stable as stinging fly so it's like reading the best of Stinging Fly。 Two-thirds are women and a lot of from the North。 Lucy Caldwell is from the Belfast - possibly that's the reason。 Her choices are good and it provides a refreshing balance against the pantheon of white men who've been writing to us for years。 Also in this collection， there is a Nigerian， a woman from China， and a Finn who all moved to Ireland as adults。 There’s also a few Ir There are twenty-four stories in all。 It’s the same stable as stinging fly so it's like reading the best of Stinging Fly。 Two-thirds are women and a lot of from the North。 Lucy Caldwell is from the Belfast - possibly that's the reason。 Her choices are good and it provides a refreshing balance against the pantheon of white men who've been writing to us for years。 Also in this collection， there is a Nigerian， a woman from China， and a Finn who all moved to Ireland as adults。 There’s also a few Irish who moved to England and to the US。 So we see both sides of the migration divide。 We get to hear those living in Ireland what's it like to come here as an immigrant。 That's new for Irish people who are so used to being in stories about Irish people fitting into other cultures。 Some stories stand out。 Louise O'Neill， Kevin Barry， Belinda McKeon， and Sally Rooney are the best。 Privacy by Belinda McKeon。 Story of gentrification in New York where five Trumpian brothers come to excavate the garden and disturb a one-month dead cat。 McKeon is originally Irish but based in the US。Legends Louise O’Neill is about a young woman from a village in Mayo who comes back home from college for the weekend。 She’s staying with a gang of lads in a house。 So we're told what's it's like being in a gang of friends at age of twenty。 Colour and Light Sally Rooney is full of brilliant conversations and interior monologue。 Tension built by just telling enough。 Some of the stories in this collection don't feel fully formed and appear to be snippets or early drafts。 Colour and Light is a fully finished short story。 Who's Dead McCarthy， Kevin Barry。 Top stuff he's a master。 Every word is carefully polished。 Not one too many。 The Adminicle by Eimear McBride is McBride playing with form again。 Pushing out the boat。 It's more poetry than prose。 Needs a bit more effort on the part of the reader。There’s plenty of other writers who are missing – Claire Keegan comes to mind。 But it’s a hard job choosing who to put in an Irish anthology these days。Overall this book is well worth reading。 。。。more
Molly Ferguson
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It's very rare that almost all of the stories in a short story collection are worth reading！ I am amazed at Lucy Caldwell's editing here - she packed in so many stories from such well-known and varied writers， with attention to diversity of race， class， and genre of fiction。 I think I will end up teaching "Stretch Marks" by Elske Rahill and "Jack's Return Home" by Adrian McKinty。 Other favorites here include: "Legends" by Louise O'Neill， "Pillars" by Jan Carson， "Privacy" by Belinda McKeon， and It's very rare that almost all of the stories in a short story collection are worth reading！ I am amazed at Lucy Caldwell's editing here - she packed in so many stories from such well-known and varied writers， with attention to diversity of race， class， and genre of fiction。 I think I will end up teaching "Stretch Marks" by Elske Rahill and "Jack's Return Home" by Adrian McKinty。 Other favorites here include: "Legends" by Louise O'Neill， "Pillars" by Jan Carson， "Privacy" by Belinda McKeon， and "Colour and Light" by Sally Rooney。 Short story collections take me a long time to get through， but this one was worth it。 。。。more
Claire
，
A great and varied collection of short stories from Irish writers， such a rich selection of subjects， perspectives and genres reflecting the depth and breadth of writing now being celebrated。 Jan Carson one of my favourite Northern Irish writers is included and her story is as fabulous as ever。 Kit de Waal was a revelation， other notable inclusions are Paul McVeigh and Eimer McBride。
Juliet
，
This collection of 24 short stories was a nice change of pace after The Goldfinch。 True to its name there's a range of themes and settings， with some properly weird concepts emerging。 My favourite stories were "How I fell in love with the well-documented life if Alexander Whelan"; "A Partial List of the Saved"; "Feather"; and "Pillars" This collection of 24 short stories was a nice change of pace after The Goldfinch。 True to its name there's a range of themes and settings， with some properly weird concepts emerging。 My favourite stories were "How I fell in love with the well-documented life if Alexander Whelan"; "A Partial List of the Saved"; "Feather"; and "Pillars" 。。。more
Alyssa
，