Pure Hollywood: And Other Stories

“....into this just-right night of Los Angeles in....? Let's just say it was May in the first decade of the hardly promising twenty -first century...”

For those of us who love short stories and Literary Fiction, starting a new collection is always a risk. The short stories don't really allow you to truly know a character, to fully connect with the situations depicted. The writing is dense and the underlying themes require the readers' full attention. This is why I love short stories so much and the reason I tend to be quite picky. In this marvellous collection by Christine Schutt, there are characters that open their hearts to us readers, there are themes that concern us on a daily basis, there is poetry and pain. So, it's not an easy read. If you're looking for a collection to spend some quality time, then “Pure Hollywood” is there for you. If you don't feel like investing time and thought, then I'm not sure you'll enjoy it.

I always associate Hollywood with vanity. Vanity and the hypocrisy of appearance and decorum are central in the stories. The characters are trapped by choices that are influenced by the terror of growing old, unwanted and unloved. Families come apart either by their own fault or by Death and the pain feels like heavy shackles. There is no “pure” narrator in those stories. The only thing that is “pure” is the desire to change what cannot be changed.

“At this hour, the road is not much travelled; its residents living far apart and withdrawn into their woods and behind their fences, are abed.”

Isolation is almost tangible in these stories. Even the couples are only technically together. In terms of emotion and connection they couldn't be further apart. No one opens heart and soul, no one dares to give voice to feelings. They are isolated from each other and from themselves. However, they speak to the reader, their cry for help, their cry of regret is loud and clear.

“Death: will it be sudden and will we be smiling? Will we know ourselves and the life we have lived?”

This collection has Death as one of its central themes. Physical and emotional death, the loss of a loved one, the loss of innocence, the loss of all meaning. Flowery images and garden sceneries become a metaphor for the need of preservation, the need to have something alive and beautiful that will eventually go to waste because we never open ourselves to anyone.

I don't have much to say about Schutt's writing. In my opinion, it is exquisite in all levels. Poetic, literary, dark, balanced. In a few pages, there are so many themes and questions. The characters are mysterious, each one could very well live inside their own book. There is very little dialogue, but many inner monologues that are almost theatrical in nature. There are traces of Groff, of Watkins and Offill, of Fitzgerald and Woolf.


All the stories of this collection are very, very good, but there are some that really stood out for me:
“Pure Hollywood”: A complex relationship between a sister and a brother and the complications of a marriage of convenience.
“The Hedges”: A tragic tale about motherhood and the demanding nature of parenthood.
“Species of Special Concern”: An elderly gardener in love with his brother's dying wife. There are some beautiful images of life, love and death told through the use of flowers.
“A Happy Rural Seat of Various View: Lucinda's Garden”: Striking title, isn't it? There are elements of Fitzgerald in this story. A newly married couple is in charge of a famous garden which becomes a metaphor for their marriage.
“The Duchess of Albany”: A recently widowed woman struggles to cope with loss, thinking that drinking and writing poetry are the means to escape.
“Where You Live, When You Need Me”: One of the most enigmatic stories about a mysterious, imposing woman who has a deep love for children.
“Burst Ponds, Gone-By, Tangled Aster”: A mother who struggles with loss and a son who's good for nothing. A story about acceptance, tolerance and the severe lack of both in today's society.
“Oh, the Obvious”: An elderly woman, dissatisfied with her life and her appearance, is on vacation in the countryside. A story that focuses on the merciless passing of Time with underlying sexual themes.
“The Lady From Connecticut” : This story reminded me of Virginia Woolf's “Mrs Dalloway” from the first paragraph.

These short stories are among the best I've read. However, I hesitate to recommend “Pure Hollywood” without reservations because I am aware that some of the themes incorporated in it may seem depressing and disturbing to the most sensitive of readers. But if you desire to invest in poetic, cryptic writing and contemplate on questions that shape our choices and lives, then you should definitely try your luck with this book whose content is as beautiful as its cover.

Many thanks to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.