#Short stories The Pull of the Moon

• Author: Julie Paul
• Title: The Pull of the Moon  (12 short stories)
  
• Published:  2014
• List Challenges 2018
  
• Monthly planning
• #CanBookChallenge  (reviews)
• #DealMeIn2018.  Jay  @Bibliophilopolis

 

Introduction:

1. The slow reader is like a swimmer who stops
2. counting the number of pool laps they have done
   
3. … just enjoys how their body feels and moves in water.
   
4. For the first time I approached
5. ….a collection of short stories
6. as a slow reader.
7. I read each and every word Julie Paul wrote.
8. Not every story is a home-run
9. ….but she hit a few out of the ballpark!

 

Short stories:

• I read the collection from
• …beginning to end as Ms. Paul arranged them.

 

• I could not detect a flow in the arrangement of the stories.
• They did not build on each other.
• There were 2 stories that felt just pointless (9,12)
  
• with paper thins characters.

 

• Three stories had potential ….but endings were ambiguous
• …and left this reader wanting. (8,10,11)

 

• The BEST stories were Black Forest, Crossing Over and Flip
• …all good feeling endings….love conquers all! (1, 3, 6)

 

• Setting: 6 of the 12 stories mentioned NO location specifics
• …which made the stories colorless.
• It does not take up much space in the story
• …to at least mention the name of a town or state!

 

Characters:

1. Children:  Jenny – Simon – Sammy – Beany – Angela – Lulu
2. Marriage:
3. Vicki/Larry – Jim/Fran – Mr./Mrs Poole
4. – Bob/Dee Hudson – David/Erica – nameless wife/Michel
5. — Sue/Fraser — Jess/Dylan
6. Couples:  Warren/Lacy  — Claudia/Rodger — Billy/Allan — Mario/Sheri
7. Brother and sister:  Warren/Gwen  – Stravos/Alexa
8. Sisters: Tirsh/Donna
9. Brothers – Owen/Jasper
10. Teenagers: Jenny – Juna
11. Neighbor: Carl — Mia — nameless woman (5th story)

 

Themes:

1. Looking at this character list you can see the
2. …most common theme was
3. marriage, family loyalty vs denial dynamics.

 

1. Many fathers feared they were not a good enough parent.
2. The most common themes were
3. …doubts about parenting,
4. marriage, separation, custody battle, family secrets,
5. accepting no medical intervention for a sick husband and
6. …a husband dealing with post traumatic syndrome disorder (PTSD)
7. ..and Diana (49 yr) tries  to make a home-made baby with a turkey baster!

 

1. Couples/relationship dynamics swirled about tropical vacations:
   
2. 4 young people’s dream trip went haywire.
3. Claudia and Rodger took a chance on the flip of a coin
4. …and found love in Cuba!

 

1. One couple broke up…. Lacy/Warren 
2. …Lacy felt The Pull of the Moon and booked
3. …a one-way ticket with the Lunar Pilgrim shuttle!

 

1. Gwen: What do you do when all you have in the world
2. …is a brother and a cat named Fluffy?
3. She felt “…as lonely as a lighthouse.”

 

1. Black Forest

 

1. crisis: Mother abandons family
2. struggle: Lawrence must be father-mother for his daughter.
3. discovery: Jenny is growing up and father feels  separation anxiety
4. transformation: Jenny who needs guidance…
5. is the ‘adult’…and  ends up guiding her parents!

 

...it is really about the cake!

 

2.  Damage

1. crisis: PTSD
2. struggle: recover from trauma
3. discovery:  trauma can be a source of growth
4. transformation: Jim feels a greater appreciation for life,
5. ….a greater sense of personal strength.
6. He pushes himself to ‘meddle’ with the neighbor’s problem.

 

3.  Crossing Over

1. crisis: Should a cat have a grave?
2. struggle: brother (balanced, reasonable) vs sister (emotional, lonely)
3. discovery: grief is real be it for a cat or a wife….
4. transformation: Roy realizes that grief is simply a part of life.
5. There is no need to suppress or deny the pain.

 

4. Pilgrim

1. crisis: the rise of New Age spirituality in a skeptical world.
   
2. Lacy wants to follow course Angel Reading cards (…talk to guardian angel)
3. struggle:  Lacy is a believer: “That stuff got me so amped up!“
4. discovery: If the moon controls the tides, affects crops, etc.,
5. …it seems logical that it has some sway over us too.
6. transformation: Lacy books a one-way-ticket to the moon!

 

5. Adios

1. crisis: Mr. Poole (neighbor) suddenly dies
2. struggle: narrator feels guilty
3. ….she did not prevent Mr. Poole from wandering off.
4. discovery: narrator is burdened with regrets and seeks redemption
5. transformation:  Mrs. Poole calls narrator a gift from God.
6. Ironically.…narrator does not feel she is the answer to a prayer.

 

6. Flip

1. crisis:  Single librarian lives alone with her cat.
2. struggle:  Roger (co-worker ) asks her to go to Cuba with him!
3. …What should she do?
4. “…a vacation with Rodger? “
5. …they only know each other in the coffee sense,
6. ….she likes lattes with extra sugar and he like Africanos…!”
7. discovery: Claudia discovers that it is sensible to want
8. …more than what keeps the flesh alive and mobile.
9. transformation: Love blossoms
10. ….Claudia she is brought back to life… a little resurrection.

7. Tropical Dream

1. crisis:  couples have problems….flirting with each other.
2. struggle: Fraser flirts with Billy – Billy….flirts with his wife Sue!
3. discovery: boys find girls locked in a passionate embrace
4. transformation: Sue is confused….feels the ache of unfinished business

 

8. The King is Dead

1. crisis: Trish feels as an outsider from the secret family club
2. struggle: tension b/t Trish and family….what is wrong? what is the secret?
3. discovery: before Trish was born
4. ….her  brother Patrick drowned (father was drunk could no save him).
5. transformation: Trish internalizes her grief and anger
6. If she explodes she will never see her nephew again
7. ….her ‘stand-in-little-brother’.

 

9. Viable

1. crisis: Juna’s mother (49 yr)  asks Stravos (17 yr)
2. …to donate sperm so she can have a baby
3. struggle:  Stravos weighs the pros and cons.
4. discovery:  ???
5. transformation:  ???
6. Conclusion: pointless!

 

10. Weeping Camperdown  (tree)

1. crisis: man divorced, woman married feel themselves falling in love.
2. struggle: Andrew does not want his daughter to know he is looking for love.
3. discovery: After a few incidents
4. ….Andrew suspects this woman is stalking him!
5. transformation:  “Something in her voice made Andrew’s hair prickle”
6. Conclusion: story had great potential but the ending just fizzled out.
7. Last sentence:  “He began to count”.
8. Me: Count what?

 

11. Her Full Name Was Beatrice

1. crisis: custody battle Erica  vs and David for their child Beany
2. struggle: David is awarded custody  of Beany. (Beatrice)
3. discovery: Erica cannot accept this decision
4. transformation: Narrator (nameless)  is guilt-ridden
5. ….what signs did she miss….could she have helped Erica?

 

12 Squirrel People

1. crisis: Jess cannot bear to live near neighbors Mario/Sheri  from upstairs
2. …they keep feeding the squirrels It drives Jess crazy!
3. struggle: Dylan bring home puppy for Lulu (daughter). Jess is livid!
4. discovery:  role reversal
5. transformation: Dylan has become just like Mario
6. ….just wants to make people happy
7. …Jess his wife turns  into Sheri
8. …raging when no raging was necessary.
9. Conclusion:  pointless story