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A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies
These vivid and compelling tales, many set in Africa and Asia, are about immigrants and others facing change and dislocation. The science is never pedantic; indeed the language of biology and natural history is used to great lyrical effect. The stories are accomplished and seasoned, remarkably so given that this is the author’s first book. Murray is adept at holding together a complex narrative and creating characters who reach out emotionally to the reader upon first meeting.
Global in scope, classical in form, evocative of place, and deeply emotional, this collection marks the beginning of what promises to be an illustrious career.
Global in scope, classical in form, evocative of place, and deeply emotional, this collection marks the beginning of what promises to be an illustrious career.
274 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
13 people are currently reading
579 people want to read
About the author
John Murray
1 book6 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
John Murray was born in Adelaide, South Australia, where he studied medicine. He has a Masters of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, and is a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop, where he was a teaching-writing fellow.
In 1992, he joined the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, specialising in epidemic dysentery and cholera in Africa and Asia. Since 1995 he has worked full time on child health programs in developing countries, most recently in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana and Uganda.
John Murray has recently returned to Australia and lives in Adelaide. "The Hill Station" won the Prairie Lights Short Fiction Award, and the title story was selected by Joyce Carol Oates for the Best New American Voices 2002 fiction anthology. A Few Short Notes on Butterflies is his first book. It was published to wide acclaim in the United States, UK and Australia in 2003.
John Murray was born in Adelaide, South Australia, where he studied medicine. He has a Masters of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, and is a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop, where he was a teaching-writing fellow.
In 1992, he joined the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, specialising in epidemic dysentery and cholera in Africa and Asia. Since 1995 he has worked full time on child health programs in developing countries, most recently in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana and Uganda.
John Murray has recently returned to Australia and lives in Adelaide. "The Hill Station" won the Prairie Lights Short Fiction Award, and the title story was selected by Joyce Carol Oates for the Best New American Voices 2002 fiction anthology. A Few Short Notes on Butterflies is his first book. It was published to wide acclaim in the United States, UK and Australia in 2003.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
October 19, 2023
THE OUTBACK STARTS HERE
Così è scritto sui cartelli per i turisti che fingono di segnare l’inizio e la fine dell’outback australiano.
Ma l'outback non ha confini ben precisi, è una regione ideale più che geografica.
Ne sanno qualcosa i protagonisti di Walkabout, un film di quaranta anni fa, che vanno oltre il bush, nell’outback appunto.
”Walkabout” è un film di Nicolas Roeg del 1971. Dei tre interpreti quello che ha fatto più carriera è l’attore aborigeno, David Gulpilil.
John Murray è australiano.
Ha un nome tipicamente british, ma ho letto che ha sangue indiano: anche se non ho trovato sufficienti conferme, è un fatto che la maggior parte di questi racconti ha molto a che fare con l’India – ci approdano, ci partono, ci sono ambientati, hanno personaggi nati o trasferiti là.
John Murray ha lasciato l’Australia ed è partito per il suo personale walkabout, alla ricerca del suo outback.
È approdato in US, dove ha praticato il suo mestiere, quello di epidemiologo – poi è andato in Iowa e ha frequentato una scuola di scrittura creativa, quella considerata la migliore del mondo, l'Iowa Writers' Workshop.
La famiglia sempre dietro, il guscio non si abbandona nemmeno durante il walkabout.
Ha girato il mondo, forse personalmente, sicuramente con la sua scrittura: questi racconti spaziano su diversi continenti, e sono sempre sospesi tra qui e là, tra prima e ora, tra adesso e dopo.
È tornato a vivere in Australia, e sta scrivendo il suo primo romanzo.
Un uomo appassionato del suo mestiere di medico e ricercatore si sposa, mette su famiglia, e a quarant’anni il medico diventa scrittore (bravo, davvero bravo). Che succede in famiglia?
Ma questa è un’altra storia, di quelle che a me incuriosiscono, però non ho elementi per continuarla.
I protagonisti di questi otto racconti (belli – scoperti per caso leggendo una recensione, una di quelle recensioni vere e serie, nelle quali ci si può ancora fortunatamente imbattere) sono medici, ricercatori, scienziati: professionisti dedicati, bravi, appassionati – anche quando si tratta di un falegname è comunque qualcuno che possedeva un dono naturale con il legno e usava le mani con una precisione rigorosa…Aveva imparato la tecnica degli incastri a coda di rondine e quella per ricavare spigoli e innesti che combaciassero alla perfezione.
Sono persone che col loro talento e la loro vocazione pensano probabilmente di poter controllare il caos che li circonda, che si chiama semplicemente vivere – sembrano credere in regole e ordine, per timore dell’imprevisto, per arginare gli eventi dell’esistenza: eventi che, prima di tutto, sono le loro agitate e turbolenti emozioni.
In questi racconti le sorprese arrivano, non mancano certo – ma non sotto forma di colpi di scena – perfino le tempeste sembrano naturali e quotidiane in queste pagine. Sono racconti pieni di racconti, storie e porzioni di vita che scorrono come fiumi per sfociare in finali che, con mia grande sorpresa, non deludono mai.
In principio ero diffidente, mi sembrava troppa materia per uno scrittore esordiente, troppa umanità e troppe esistenze per essere contenute dalla mano di un principiante nell’esiguità di un racconto (per quanto di lunghezza mediamente consistente). Mi sbagliavo: lo scrittore John Murray è già tutto presente, sapiente appassionato dedicato bravo.
... e io capivo che avevamo creato un momento destinato a durare per sempre, nitido e ben definito... avevamo condiviso qualcosa di cui non avremmo mai potuto parlare.
Forse il mondo ha perso un bravo medico: in cambio ha sicuramente trovato un bravo scrittore.
Entrambi i mestieri sono utili e preziosi.
Così è scritto sui cartelli per i turisti che fingono di segnare l’inizio e la fine dell’outback australiano.
Ma l'outback non ha confini ben precisi, è una regione ideale più che geografica.
Ne sanno qualcosa i protagonisti di Walkabout, un film di quaranta anni fa, che vanno oltre il bush, nell’outback appunto.
”Walkabout” è un film di Nicolas Roeg del 1971. Dei tre interpreti quello che ha fatto più carriera è l’attore aborigeno, David Gulpilil.
John Murray è australiano.
Ha un nome tipicamente british, ma ho letto che ha sangue indiano: anche se non ho trovato sufficienti conferme, è un fatto che la maggior parte di questi racconti ha molto a che fare con l’India – ci approdano, ci partono, ci sono ambientati, hanno personaggi nati o trasferiti là.
John Murray ha lasciato l’Australia ed è partito per il suo personale walkabout, alla ricerca del suo outback.
È approdato in US, dove ha praticato il suo mestiere, quello di epidemiologo – poi è andato in Iowa e ha frequentato una scuola di scrittura creativa, quella considerata la migliore del mondo, l'Iowa Writers' Workshop.
La famiglia sempre dietro, il guscio non si abbandona nemmeno durante il walkabout.
Ha girato il mondo, forse personalmente, sicuramente con la sua scrittura: questi racconti spaziano su diversi continenti, e sono sempre sospesi tra qui e là, tra prima e ora, tra adesso e dopo.
È tornato a vivere in Australia, e sta scrivendo il suo primo romanzo.
Un uomo appassionato del suo mestiere di medico e ricercatore si sposa, mette su famiglia, e a quarant’anni il medico diventa scrittore (bravo, davvero bravo). Che succede in famiglia?
Ma questa è un’altra storia, di quelle che a me incuriosiscono, però non ho elementi per continuarla.
I protagonisti di questi otto racconti (belli – scoperti per caso leggendo una recensione, una di quelle recensioni vere e serie, nelle quali ci si può ancora fortunatamente imbattere) sono medici, ricercatori, scienziati: professionisti dedicati, bravi, appassionati – anche quando si tratta di un falegname è comunque qualcuno che possedeva un dono naturale con il legno e usava le mani con una precisione rigorosa…Aveva imparato la tecnica degli incastri a coda di rondine e quella per ricavare spigoli e innesti che combaciassero alla perfezione.
Sono persone che col loro talento e la loro vocazione pensano probabilmente di poter controllare il caos che li circonda, che si chiama semplicemente vivere – sembrano credere in regole e ordine, per timore dell’imprevisto, per arginare gli eventi dell’esistenza: eventi che, prima di tutto, sono le loro agitate e turbolenti emozioni.
In questi racconti le sorprese arrivano, non mancano certo – ma non sotto forma di colpi di scena – perfino le tempeste sembrano naturali e quotidiane in queste pagine. Sono racconti pieni di racconti, storie e porzioni di vita che scorrono come fiumi per sfociare in finali che, con mia grande sorpresa, non deludono mai.
In principio ero diffidente, mi sembrava troppa materia per uno scrittore esordiente, troppa umanità e troppe esistenze per essere contenute dalla mano di un principiante nell’esiguità di un racconto (per quanto di lunghezza mediamente consistente). Mi sbagliavo: lo scrittore John Murray è già tutto presente, sapiente appassionato dedicato bravo.
... e io capivo che avevamo creato un momento destinato a durare per sempre, nitido e ben definito... avevamo condiviso qualcosa di cui non avremmo mai potuto parlare.
Forse il mondo ha perso un bravo medico: in cambio ha sicuramente trovato un bravo scrittore.
Entrambi i mestieri sono utili e preziosi.
July 31, 2020
3.5 stars
This collection comes shrouded in praise, unusually glowing even by blurb standards and much of it from big names, but it doesn’t seem to have received much attention from readers. My reaction was mixed. The writing is good, the characterization and imagery vivid. And yet, there’s a lot of tragedy, some of it perhaps over-the-top, and some of the stories are maddeningly inconclusive. Like others who have posted here, I found the last four stories better than the first four; not until finishing the fifth was I even sure I was going to finish the book.
The eight stories in the collection are not linked, but there are many repeated themes: father/son relationships; doctors searching for meaning, often through travels to developing countries; characters who experienced the traumatic death of an older sibling or parent during childhood; collapsing marriages; multi-generational collections of insects. The author himself is a white man who has worked as a doctor around the world, and the collection certainly reflects that, though several of his characters are also Indian-American.
My thoughts on the stories in order of appearance:
“The Hill Station”: The collection begins with the only story featuring a female protagonist, an Indian-American microbiologist traveling to India to teach a workshop. I found this story and character immediately compelling, but was put off by its direction, which suggested that tired notion of a female professional giving up her career for marriage and motherhood. That said, this is one of the less tragic stories in the collection and the bus guy’s courtship method is hilarious.
“All the Rivers in the World”: This story features an overweight Maine carpenter coming to terms with his father’s decision to abandon his mother in favor of following his boat-owning dreams to Key West. Again, compelling and colorful characters, but not a very successful story in my mind. The notion that the son ought to use his savings to bail out his father, who doesn’t seem to have a real business plan, didn’t sit well with me, and the father’s much-younger girlfriend’s experiences as a nurse in war-torn Africa seemed out-of-place.
“A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies”: The title story features the strained marriage of two surgeons, an older man who hasn’t dealt with the traumatic death of his sister in childhood, and a younger immigrant woman who desperately wants children. The story traces the husband’s grandfather’s Victorian-era adventures in search of tropical butterflies, the beginning of a love for butterflies passed down from father to son that has apparently brought tragedy to each generation. There’s a lot here, but after making it through all of that trauma I expected a more decisive ending.
“White Flour”: A young man travels to India to spend time with the father who abandoned the family years ago in favor of service to the poor. Compelling characters, but the story doesn’t do much with them, and the ambiguous ending seems to me to just leave us with nothing much.
“Watson and the Shark”: A doctor volunteering in Rwanda or the DRC faces a crisis when militants attack. This is the one story that really deals head-on with the recurring issue of medical professionals volunteering in war-torn areas, with some exploration of the reasons leading people to choose this work. In some other stories I found this element out of place, the poor sufferers serving as no more than a crutch in the privileged protagonist's journey, but this story is well-done and one of the better ones in the collection.
“The Carpenter Who Looked Like a Boxer”: This perhaps deceptively straightforward story of a single carpenter father picking up the pieces after the disappearance of his brilliant psychiatrist wife was the most compelling story in the collection to me, mostly because of the mystery at its heart. The story never answers the question, but I found these characters and their marriage particularly interesting.
“Blue”: A young man climbs a mountain with his best friend and his uncle, apparently in tribute to his dead father. This story is almost absurdly tragic, with . Either way, it’s certainly vivid and sad.
“Acts of Memory, Wisdom of Man”: The final and longest story is a somewhat meandering tale of a teenage boy growing up in a family of Indian immigrants in Iowa in the 1960s, with a father who worships reason and discipline while the mother is drawn to a free-spirited family friend. The scandal and tragedy that will befall the family are fairly predictable, but the characters are well-drawn and the setting vivid. The dialogue is particularly good, capturing the non-native English of the parents as well as the way of speaking of a precocious, awkward adolescent.
Overall, while this wasn’t my favorite short story collection, it certainly has a lot of merit. I enjoyed meeting the author’s characters, though I found some of his tragedy over the top and the repeated portrayal of characters’ careers in science and medicine (or even carpentry) as being no more than a safety blanket to be unfortunate. I would consider reading more from this author.
This collection comes shrouded in praise, unusually glowing even by blurb standards and much of it from big names, but it doesn’t seem to have received much attention from readers. My reaction was mixed. The writing is good, the characterization and imagery vivid. And yet, there’s a lot of tragedy, some of it perhaps over-the-top, and some of the stories are maddeningly inconclusive. Like others who have posted here, I found the last four stories better than the first four; not until finishing the fifth was I even sure I was going to finish the book.
The eight stories in the collection are not linked, but there are many repeated themes: father/son relationships; doctors searching for meaning, often through travels to developing countries; characters who experienced the traumatic death of an older sibling or parent during childhood; collapsing marriages; multi-generational collections of insects. The author himself is a white man who has worked as a doctor around the world, and the collection certainly reflects that, though several of his characters are also Indian-American.
My thoughts on the stories in order of appearance:
“The Hill Station”: The collection begins with the only story featuring a female protagonist, an Indian-American microbiologist traveling to India to teach a workshop. I found this story and character immediately compelling, but was put off by its direction, which suggested that tired notion of a female professional giving up her career for marriage and motherhood. That said, this is one of the less tragic stories in the collection and the bus guy’s courtship method is hilarious.
“All the Rivers in the World”: This story features an overweight Maine carpenter coming to terms with his father’s decision to abandon his mother in favor of following his boat-owning dreams to Key West. Again, compelling and colorful characters, but not a very successful story in my mind. The notion that the son ought to use his savings to bail out his father, who doesn’t seem to have a real business plan, didn’t sit well with me, and the father’s much-younger girlfriend’s experiences as a nurse in war-torn Africa seemed out-of-place.
“A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies”: The title story features the strained marriage of two surgeons, an older man who hasn’t dealt with the traumatic death of his sister in childhood, and a younger immigrant woman who desperately wants children. The story traces the husband’s grandfather’s Victorian-era adventures in search of tropical butterflies, the beginning of a love for butterflies passed down from father to son that has apparently brought tragedy to each generation. There’s a lot here, but after making it through all of that trauma I expected a more decisive ending.
“White Flour”: A young man travels to India to spend time with the father who abandoned the family years ago in favor of service to the poor. Compelling characters, but the story doesn’t do much with them, and the ambiguous ending seems to me to just leave us with nothing much.
“Watson and the Shark”: A doctor volunteering in Rwanda or the DRC faces a crisis when militants attack. This is the one story that really deals head-on with the recurring issue of medical professionals volunteering in war-torn areas, with some exploration of the reasons leading people to choose this work. In some other stories I found this element out of place, the poor sufferers serving as no more than a crutch in the privileged protagonist's journey, but this story is well-done and one of the better ones in the collection.
“The Carpenter Who Looked Like a Boxer”: This perhaps deceptively straightforward story of a single carpenter father picking up the pieces after the disappearance of his brilliant psychiatrist wife was the most compelling story in the collection to me, mostly because of the mystery at its heart. The story never answers the question, but I found these characters and their marriage particularly interesting.
“Blue”: A young man climbs a mountain with his best friend and his uncle, apparently in tribute to his dead father. This story is almost absurdly tragic, with . Either way, it’s certainly vivid and sad.
“Acts of Memory, Wisdom of Man”: The final and longest story is a somewhat meandering tale of a teenage boy growing up in a family of Indian immigrants in Iowa in the 1960s, with a father who worships reason and discipline while the mother is drawn to a free-spirited family friend. The scandal and tragedy that will befall the family are fairly predictable, but the characters are well-drawn and the setting vivid. The dialogue is particularly good, capturing the non-native English of the parents as well as the way of speaking of a precocious, awkward adolescent.
Overall, while this wasn’t my favorite short story collection, it certainly has a lot of merit. I enjoyed meeting the author’s characters, though I found some of his tragedy over the top and the repeated portrayal of characters’ careers in science and medicine (or even carpentry) as being no more than a safety blanket to be unfortunate. I would consider reading more from this author.
April 18, 2017
Lovely prose. Complex and subtle.
2003 notebook: Rich, layered, similar theme throughout (the absent father, caught up with by the abandoned child, or the other way round). Draws on his medical experience, set around the world – India, Sri Lanka, Africa, U.S., Wales, and Sheffield even, glancingly; this is filled with a network of passing acquaintances, VSO, medics, journalists, scattered around. Joined by the bug. Cholera, disease, insects, diarrhoea feature. In the title story the narrator, a butterfly hunting grandfather is captured by cannibals, the first European thye’ve seen, thinking him magical with his magnifying glass that can start fires. These are incredible intergenerational, intercontinental, interdisciplinary stories, combining medicine, lepidoptery, love and the theory of evolution.
2003 notebook: Rich, layered, similar theme throughout (the absent father, caught up with by the abandoned child, or the other way round). Draws on his medical experience, set around the world – India, Sri Lanka, Africa, U.S., Wales, and Sheffield even, glancingly; this is filled with a network of passing acquaintances, VSO, medics, journalists, scattered around. Joined by the bug. Cholera, disease, insects, diarrhoea feature. In the title story the narrator, a butterfly hunting grandfather is captured by cannibals, the first European thye’ve seen, thinking him magical with his magnifying glass that can start fires. These are incredible intergenerational, intercontinental, interdisciplinary stories, combining medicine, lepidoptery, love and the theory of evolution.
Read
November 7, 2022Im saving my thoughts for BC 😏
September 21, 2022
Possibly the best collection of short stories I have ever read.
....
9/20/22
Upon finishing this collection of short stories again in preparation for book club, I love it just as much, but there are a lot of pretty graphic sex scenes I didn't remember from before.
But I'm still in love with John Murray's writing. And his shorter stories especially ("Blue", "The Carpenter Who Looked Like A Boxer", "The Hill Station") were tight and strong. He has an incredible ability to make people and settings come alive in a few strokes. His metaphors and images are beautiful; many of his sentences are, too. I love the different settings of his stories and am in awe that he knows so much, not only about disease (he was trained as a doctor), but India, ice climbing, and painting. His characters are lost, lonely, organized, figuring out how to be sure of the world in their own ways. No matter how little I can identify with some of his protagonists, I felt something for each of them.
I know the content of these stories won't please everyone, but I found a lot of value in the WAY these stories were told, even if some of them were sad or disheartening. Some of them end in an echoing, empty sort of way; at least one of them shocked and terrified me. But I don't know - I liked them anyway. Murray's writing really is spectacular. I'm going to go back through some of my favorites from this book and write out all the beautifully structured sentences I underlined in hopes that I can learn to write this well!
....
9/20/22
Upon finishing this collection of short stories again in preparation for book club, I love it just as much, but there are a lot of pretty graphic sex scenes I didn't remember from before.
But I'm still in love with John Murray's writing. And his shorter stories especially ("Blue", "The Carpenter Who Looked Like A Boxer", "The Hill Station") were tight and strong. He has an incredible ability to make people and settings come alive in a few strokes. His metaphors and images are beautiful; many of his sentences are, too. I love the different settings of his stories and am in awe that he knows so much, not only about disease (he was trained as a doctor), but India, ice climbing, and painting. His characters are lost, lonely, organized, figuring out how to be sure of the world in their own ways. No matter how little I can identify with some of his protagonists, I felt something for each of them.
I know the content of these stories won't please everyone, but I found a lot of value in the WAY these stories were told, even if some of them were sad or disheartening. Some of them end in an echoing, empty sort of way; at least one of them shocked and terrified me. But I don't know - I liked them anyway. Murray's writing really is spectacular. I'm going to go back through some of my favorites from this book and write out all the beautifully structured sentences I underlined in hopes that I can learn to write this well!
Read
May 31, 2023In the process of moving I came across this paperback which I had read years ago. I held onto the book because it had so intrigued me and decided to re-read it and discover why. The stories are set mostly in third-world countries and often have a protagonist who is a medical worker.Born in Australia, John Murray was trained as a doctor and probably served with Medicine Sans Frontieres in the conflicts of the 1990's. I tried to learn whether he had published any other works. He became a writer after a year at the Iowa Writer's Workshop but didn't seem to publish anything later. This is a set of eight short stories. Each one is a polished jewel that can stand on its own. Many of the stories have sons with unresolved conflicts with their fathers and each story has a sub theme about butterflies or beetles (as in Charles Darwin) . I don't know whether John Murray is still living. Wikipedia seems vague. Nonetheless I was once more astonished at the quality of these stories. I am especially drawn to the work of expat writers. The characters in each of the stories are at the edge of an unknowable culture in which they must function trying to bring solace and to lessen the suffering they find themselves in. John Murray will remain an unsolved mystery in my reading life. Incidentally, the book got rave reviews from the most prestigious writers and publishing journals at the turn of this century. John Murray has written one perfect work that can stand the test of time.
November 7, 2016
Murray’s collection of stories has impressive moments, but the dense detail and lofty word choice resorts to showmanship at times. The sophisticated degree of refinement can cause problems with allowing the characters to feel genuine. As a trained doctor, Murray analyzes his complex characters with a clinical-like approach that often makes them wooden and too perfect in their flawed states. The last story, “Acts of Memory, Wisdom of Man,” generates the most power and emotion. It is a lengthy discussion of the liberal mind, and it addresses issues of moral obligation and laws of conduct. A convincing sequence of dialogue in the story highlights the central idea that things never really change. They may appear as though they do, but a fundamental order keeps the natural flow of the universe stable. The other strong story also comes in the second half of the book. “Watson and the Shark” is an involving and sympathetic tale that focuses on the great cause of life that doctors fight for. Throughout these stories, Murray’s command of vocabulary and subject displays his adept writing skills. But the result is not entirely memorable. The stories can be overly elaborate to the point of hindering their impact in many cases.
May 9, 2020
What I appreciated abt “A Few Short Notes” was the variety of characters in the stories: expatriates from India, immigrants, men, women, children. My favorites of the eight really varied stories were “The Hill Station” and “Watson and the Shark.” Every story has a doctor of some kind of some scientific references, and these are blended in well to support the plot and character development.
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March 3, 2013Some of these stories are truly wonderful. Delightful and sort of creepy.
October 26, 2024
"Kurze Notizen zu tropischen Schmetterlingen" ist eine Sammlung von acht Kurzgeschichten, die (noch) nichts mit Schmetterlingen zu tun haben.
Bis jetzt habe ich die Geschichte einer Frau gelesen, die sehr pragmatisch durchs Leben geht. Als sie ungewollt schwanger wird, trifft sie eine ungewöhnliche, aber für sie logische Entscheidung. Was sie wirklich fühlt, darüber erfahre ich nur wenig. Es scheint, als ob sie alle Gefühle tief in sich weggeschlossen hat. Ob aus Selbstschutz oder aus einem anderen Grund, kann ich nicht erkennen.
Die zweite Geschichte handelt von einem Mann, der nach zwölf Jahren wieder aufs Meer zurück kehrt. Der Grund ist nicht schön, denn er trifft nach Monaten seinen Vater wieder, der sich nach vierzig Jahren Ehe von seiner Frau getrennt hat. Er will den Vater nach Hause holen, aber der Besuch verläuft ganz anders, als er sich das vorgestellt hat.
Die Geschichte, die dem Buch seinen Namen gibt, ist traurig. Was als große Liebe begann, kann nach einer Tragödie nicht weiterbestehen. Der Erzähler ist nicht bereit, sich zu ändern. Er hat Angst vor Veränderungen und nimmt lieber das Alleinsein in Kauf, solange er an seinen Gewohnheiten festhalten kann.
Ganz anders macht es das Paar in der nächsten Geschichte. Sie trennen sich und wieder steht ein Sohn zwischen den Eltern. Auch wenn er nicht der Spielball ist, hat er immer das Gefühl, einen Elternteil zu enttäuschen.
Ich lese vom einem Krankenhaus in einem afrikanischen Staat, in dem Krieg herrscht. Immer mehr Flüchtlinge kommen ins Krankenhaus. Es sind so viele, dass der Priester der benachbarten Mission sich Sorgen um die Sicherheit seiner Leute macht. Aber darf man Menschen, die um Hilfe bitten, abweisen wenn die eigene Sicherheit gefährdet ist?
In der zweiten Geschichte sehe ich einem Vater zu, der seine beiden Kinder ohne Mutter groß zieht. Sie ist verschwunden, aber was genau passiert ist, darüber will er nicht nachdenken. Auch seine Nachbarn schweigen das Thema tot. Viel wichtiger ist die Tatsache, dass er Ungeziefer in seinem Haus hört. Oder ist es vielleicht seine Frau?
Die vorletzte Geschichte hat mich sehr berührt. zum einen mag ich das Thema Bergsteigen sehr, zum anderen kenne ich solche oder ähnliche Geschichten aus manchen der Bücher, die ich darüber gelesen habe.
Die letzte Geschichte ist die Erinnerung eines Jungen an seinen großen Bruder und sein Erwachsenwerden. Auch wenn John Murray hier wieder schöne Bilder von Landschaft und Menschen gemalt hat, hat sie mir nicht so gut gefallen. Wahrscheinlich, weil ich noch zu sehr unter dem Eindruck der Geschichte vorher gestanden habe. Daran merkt man, wie sehr die Reihenfolge der einzelnen Geschichten den Eindruck der Sammlung beeinflussen kann.
Bis jetzt habe ich die Geschichte einer Frau gelesen, die sehr pragmatisch durchs Leben geht. Als sie ungewollt schwanger wird, trifft sie eine ungewöhnliche, aber für sie logische Entscheidung. Was sie wirklich fühlt, darüber erfahre ich nur wenig. Es scheint, als ob sie alle Gefühle tief in sich weggeschlossen hat. Ob aus Selbstschutz oder aus einem anderen Grund, kann ich nicht erkennen.
Die zweite Geschichte handelt von einem Mann, der nach zwölf Jahren wieder aufs Meer zurück kehrt. Der Grund ist nicht schön, denn er trifft nach Monaten seinen Vater wieder, der sich nach vierzig Jahren Ehe von seiner Frau getrennt hat. Er will den Vater nach Hause holen, aber der Besuch verläuft ganz anders, als er sich das vorgestellt hat.
Die Geschichte, die dem Buch seinen Namen gibt, ist traurig. Was als große Liebe begann, kann nach einer Tragödie nicht weiterbestehen. Der Erzähler ist nicht bereit, sich zu ändern. Er hat Angst vor Veränderungen und nimmt lieber das Alleinsein in Kauf, solange er an seinen Gewohnheiten festhalten kann.
Ganz anders macht es das Paar in der nächsten Geschichte. Sie trennen sich und wieder steht ein Sohn zwischen den Eltern. Auch wenn er nicht der Spielball ist, hat er immer das Gefühl, einen Elternteil zu enttäuschen.
Ich lese vom einem Krankenhaus in einem afrikanischen Staat, in dem Krieg herrscht. Immer mehr Flüchtlinge kommen ins Krankenhaus. Es sind so viele, dass der Priester der benachbarten Mission sich Sorgen um die Sicherheit seiner Leute macht. Aber darf man Menschen, die um Hilfe bitten, abweisen wenn die eigene Sicherheit gefährdet ist?
In der zweiten Geschichte sehe ich einem Vater zu, der seine beiden Kinder ohne Mutter groß zieht. Sie ist verschwunden, aber was genau passiert ist, darüber will er nicht nachdenken. Auch seine Nachbarn schweigen das Thema tot. Viel wichtiger ist die Tatsache, dass er Ungeziefer in seinem Haus hört. Oder ist es vielleicht seine Frau?
Die vorletzte Geschichte hat mich sehr berührt. zum einen mag ich das Thema Bergsteigen sehr, zum anderen kenne ich solche oder ähnliche Geschichten aus manchen der Bücher, die ich darüber gelesen habe.
Die letzte Geschichte ist die Erinnerung eines Jungen an seinen großen Bruder und sein Erwachsenwerden. Auch wenn John Murray hier wieder schöne Bilder von Landschaft und Menschen gemalt hat, hat sie mir nicht so gut gefallen. Wahrscheinlich, weil ich noch zu sehr unter dem Eindruck der Geschichte vorher gestanden habe. Daran merkt man, wie sehr die Reihenfolge der einzelnen Geschichten den Eindruck der Sammlung beeinflussen kann.
July 22, 2022
This was a library booksale find and I was really drawn to the title and minimalist cover art. I really enjoyed that each story centered around different scientists worldwide, which made it a little different than other short story collections, so for that alone I gave it an extra star. Stories were well written and interesting but they didn't stick with me. Probably more like 3.5 stars.
February 1, 2017
A wonderful collection of stories - beautifully written, full of really fascinating though flawed characters who are very easy to warm to.
July 17, 2017
A lovely collection of short stories.
June 15, 2021
Fine. Series of short stories written around several main themes. Well written but not particularly amazing.
July 12, 2021
A collection of short stories - premised on medicine, travel, and beautiful insects. Haunting. Heartfelt. Real.
January 7, 2022
I'd really like to give a 3.5, some of these were great- others difficult to get through.
July 13, 2025
Would have given this anthology a 3/5 but the last two stories shook me to my core, 5/5 for both.
February 14, 2011
I really loved this collection of stories.
The language is poetic, vivid and stylized without overkill. Lots of comparisons are unusual but quite effective. All the stories are sad in one way or another, but the language is so beautiful that they never become depressing.
The characters are very real and although most of them go through unusual experiences it is easy to experience the events through them.
The first four stories have identical, rather complicated structure with different story lines crossing each other. It felt repetitive and I enjoyed those stories less than the others. However, the stories remained good reads because of the language, the description of the scenery and the individual characters.
There is a lot of sadness in all stories. Loss is everywhere. All characters are either sad or no more than content. They live but they are not happy. For some characters there is a feeling that this might change at some point in their future, but for most it feels as if they will stay in this 'accepting' state forever. The author allows one character to actually change and find happiness. This scene is extremely beautiful and awesome in its simplicity.
The language is poetic, vivid and stylized without overkill. Lots of comparisons are unusual but quite effective. All the stories are sad in one way or another, but the language is so beautiful that they never become depressing.
The characters are very real and although most of them go through unusual experiences it is easy to experience the events through them.
The first four stories have identical, rather complicated structure with different story lines crossing each other. It felt repetitive and I enjoyed those stories less than the others. However, the stories remained good reads because of the language, the description of the scenery and the individual characters.
There is a lot of sadness in all stories. Loss is everywhere. All characters are either sad or no more than content. They live but they are not happy. For some characters there is a feeling that this might change at some point in their future, but for most it feels as if they will stay in this 'accepting' state forever. The author allows one character to actually change and find happiness. This scene is extremely beautiful and awesome in its simplicity.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2016
What can I even say about this book? It was like reading a mirror of my own soul. It felt like time had reached out and shared with me a book I had written in the future. It was the oddest sensation to make my way from short story to story within this book and have every detail be something I loved and cherished. Every theme, something I have thought about or planned to write about. It was a ghost book that I will write in the future, as I still plan to explore (or have explored) all these topics in my own work: science, museums, beetles, sitting in a tree while it rains, rowing a boat, living in India.
I will forever cherish this book for the pure pleasure of the writing (Murray writes with such ease and familiarity across vast topics of knowledge) as well as the finesse contained in the details of the stories.
I will forever cherish this book for the pure pleasure of the writing (Murray writes with such ease and familiarity across vast topics of knowledge) as well as the finesse contained in the details of the stories.
December 19, 2007
This is a really good book for people in therapy for depression. Oh wait, maybe it isn’t. Basically the theme seems to revolve around people who have crappy lives and crappy situations. The climax of each story comes when the character realizes that their life is meaningless, and it will never get any better, and that they should just accept that they will never accomplish anything. In the end, each character is like someone who has had a lobotomy. (Note to self: Avoid reading books with the words “Tropical Butterflies” in the title.)
October 10, 2009
I like short story collections because they're ready-made for reading before going to bed. I picked this up from a bookstore because it was on sale--I knew nothing about it or John Murray, the author. It was worth buying! Many of the stories take place in other countries--India, Rwanda. And many of them leave you with a lingering sense of regret--father-son relationships gone bad, not-so-successful immigrant stories. I did make the mistake of reading "Watson and the Shark" before bed--and then I couldn't sleep. It's the one about UN doctors in Rwanda.
December 19, 2009
The review on the sleeve declares this collection "life affirming" and I don't think myself lazy when I say that covers it. These lovely stories carried me through the last two days of my residence in Dakar and are rightfully placed in the bin with other "books to travel with." John Murray plays and elaborates the same themes and characters while telling stories to a global village (Excuse: Geography). Must admit that the summit story reminded me of Dave Eggers' "Up the mountain slowly and down quickly," although I can't say I've bothered to look up whose came first. In any case, delicious.
December 31, 2007
John Murray was (probably still is) a physician, and this really shines through in his prose. His characters in these short stories are doctors or are related to doctors, which in itself is interesting. I didn't actually realize it when I picked this book up on a Library binge, but the stories are also all related to India in some way, and that's what I really like about them. I was surprised to find not only that Murray lives somewhere in Middle America, but also that he's whiter than I am.
July 27, 2008
This collection of short stories is heartbreaking and unflinchingly honest. Murray is a doctor and many of his stories contain elements of the scientific (butterfly collecting, surgeons, biological research). His stories are set all over the world, from India to Cape May, New Jersey. Occasionally I found his voice a little detatched, but I suppose telling the story of a brutal rebel war from the perspective of a doctor is probably not the time to wax sentimental.
August 17, 2009
His writing is fabulous, the stories are compelling, and they focus on science/health in tropical countries. But they are all rather dark and difficult and mostly highlight relationships and people falling apart. There is an element of redemption in some that lightens the load a bit. But I might have given this more stars had I read these stories spaced out a bit. All at once, it was a bit much.
August 17, 2010
John Murray's book was painful for me to read. Each story was sad and each had a life lesson. How will you conduct yourself when faced with your most important task, regardless of age? The last story was the most meaningful to me. A 14-year old boy tells on his older brother to keep his parents together. His older brother later dies in the Vietnam war. The younger brother pleases his parents and becomes a doctor, unsure of his decision.
February 26, 2008
You would think this would be a perfect storm for me...a public health guy writing short stories at the Iowa Writers Workshop. And while I was entertained to run across a fun public health phenomenon in each story, I was underwhelmed. There are a few standouts though: A few short notes on tropical butterflies and Watson and the Shark were particularly moving.
February 2, 2009
This collection of stories offers a surprisingly thoughtful and gentle look at the human condition: From the perspective of someone with a biological background it is amazingly intuitive and refreshing. Murray really unfolds back the evolutionary emotional layers, so to speak, and gets right to the truth of his characters. I am smitten and hope for more works from this author very soon.
February 16, 2009
This was a very good look into the minds of scientist/biologist/doctor types. They definitely think very differently from us average joes and these short stories get into the organization of their thoughts and actions. Enjoyable enough, but the last and longest story kind of lost me. I thought the shorter stories were better.
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