North of Tourism

by Stephen Henighan

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1896951139
• ISBN13: 9781896951133
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Cormorant Books
• Length: 173 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Mental travels

Short stories are constraining for the author and reader alike. Plot and characterization must be developed in minimal space, depicting enough to be definitive, yet complete in a few pages. Some writers handle this constraint better than others. Stephen Henighan's response to the confinement is handled in various ways, some more successful than others. The collection of eight short stories cry out for expansion, yet are fully complete in themselves. This apparent contradiction is a complement to Henighan's skills as a writer, not confusion on the part of the reviewer. With one exception, the stories are fascinating reading, with excellent characterization. The stories are complete and don't leave you hanging - except where that is the intention. The initial story in this collection is a post-modernist attempt to convey the world of the elderly. The value of Henighan's imaging is nearly overcome by his technique. Sixteen pages to impart the stresses in Sophie's long life - all in a single paragraph. The lack of break forces the reader to find a way to pause at arbitrary places, then try to pick up the story thread. This method almost inevitably leads the reader back a few lines - an incredibly fatiguing experience. Yet, of course, this is precisely what Henighan wants - by the end of this brief undertaking, which seems to last far longer than it actually does, you are as weary as is Sophie herself.The title story relates the life of a social worker in Guatemala during one of its many political upheavals. Isabelle is beset by heavy demands on her time and energy. Her loneliness in an isolated town is palpable, but she mines her personal resources for nuggets of spiritual fuel to continue. The odds are formidable, but she finds means to sustain herself through the crowded days. A gringo enters her life, adding to the complications. The resolution leaves the reader shaken and sympathetic.All Henighan's stories have left him exposed to the charge of "expropriating voice" - the adoption of cultures, gender, locales that aren't "native" to the author. Henighan's writing skills absolutely refute such silly accusations. "Political correctness" has no place in good literature, and Henighan's images of times and places not his carry no tinge of falsity. Even his "Canadian" women read with perfectly validity. His finest success in this collection relates the life of Antoine, a diplomat in pre-WWI Montenegro. Henighan's sense of irony is well developed in this account. It is an outstanding example of how well a short story can be written.

Capturing the ex-pat experience

North of Tourism a collection of short stories from various perspectives on what it's like to be an ex-pat. I have been living abroad for the past two years and I enjoyed this book because it describes, with startling accuracy, many of the feelings and experiences that come with adjusting to life abroad.