Karate Chop: Stories (Lannan Translation Selection (Graywolf Paperback))

Short stories can range in length, with some that tend toward the long end of things, while other ones are really short. This collection tends towards the latter. Each story is generally no more than a few pages each, but each one is completely different; no need to read each story in order. What we get is an inside peak to the world of modern Dutch fiction, a world that is not readily available to readers in the United States, and I for one am glad that a publisher like Graywolf brings these stories to us; without them we would not get this collection.

The stories generally tend towards the more black humor side of life; they are not always happy, but not totally grim either. In a way, it is turning the mirror toward ourselves, and wondering what we see. With a short work like this, it is easy to become distracted, and the only negative I get from this is that they are so short that by the time you get to know the characters, the story is over and you have moved on to another one. But that is a minor quibble; this is an enjoyable read.