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Antarctica
Antarctica | Claire Keegan
17 posts | 13 read | 14 to read
Compassionate, witty, and unsettling, Antarctica is the debut collection of one of Ireland's most exciting and versatile new talents. Claire Keegan, winner of several prestigious awards including the William Trevor Prize, writes stories that have a razor-sharp narrative style and unembellished tone, and move from the cruel, hard life of rural Ireland to the hot landscape of the southern United States. From the title story about a married woman who takes a trip to the city with a single purpose in mindto sleep with another manAntarctica draws you into a world of obsession, betrayal, and fragile relationships. In "Love in the Tall Grass," Cordelia wakes on the last day of the twentieth century and sets off along the coast road to keep a date, with her lover, that has been nine years in the waiting. In "Passport Soup," Frank Corso mourns the curious disappearance of his nine-year-old daughter and tries desperately to reach out to his shattered wife who has gone mad with grief. Keegan's characters inhabit a world where dreams, memory, and chance can have crippling consequences for those involved. Moving in its quiet intensity, the award-winning Antarctica is a rare and arresting debut.
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RobES
Antarctica | Claire Keegan
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Pickpick

I loved this, but I didn't enjoy it!!! Oxymoron!? Yes, but hear me out - Keegan's writing is amazing, it brings back the very smell of my granny's kitchen! However, most of these short stories were super unsettling and uncomfortable to read ... So I loved it, but I didn't like it 🤷

dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 6mo
Ruthiella I know what you mean! 6mo
43 likes2 comments
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mjtwo
Antarctica | Claire Keegan
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Pickpick

28 Feb-18 Mar 24
I really like Clare Keegan‘s writing. Some of these stories caught my attention more than others. But I always find short stories frustrating. If they are engaging, I inevitably want to know more.
There were a few standouts in this collection: the title story, Antarctica, which was a little shocking, the story about the family attending the town dance. But ultimately I prefer Keegan‘s novellas, still short but more complete.

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JuniperWilde
Antarctica | Claire Keegan
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Pickpick

If you‘ve read a lot of CK‘s short stories you‘ll see the progression from this to her more recent work. There were some absolute gems here and some that I skimmed. She has a talent for packing a lot of subtext such that each short story feels like a novel.

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IndoorDame
Antarctica | Claire Keegan
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Pickpick

I didn‘t adore this the way I did her novellas that I‘d read previously, because I found it to be uneven in a very similar way to most short story collections. However, the fact that she‘s such a master of short form fiction and characterization definitely shone through, and the pieces I especially connected with were ones I really did adore.

Megabooks I keep meaning to read this. 10mo
IndoorDame @Megabooks she‘s definitely an author whose entire catalog I want to get to at some point. 10mo
60 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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JillR
Antarctica | Claire Keegan
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Pickpick

“‘You and your books,‘ they say, shaking their heads, squeezing the good out of the teabags.” My first book by this author, and her first book; a collection of short stories. I‘m now desperate to read her novels, the writing was perfection. I don‘t normally enjoy short stories but these were perfect to dip into. That said I get invested, then they end, and it always leaves me feeling a little muddled.

squirrelbrain Oh you‘ll enjoy her novels, although most are novellas anyway. I got this not long ago on Kindle but haven‘t read it yet. 11mo
rachelk Claire Keegan is my favorite ‘new to me‘ author this year. 10mo
35 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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Becker
Antarctica | Claire Keegan
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Pickpick

A real mix of mood, content and narrative voice in this collection. As usual, some stories worked better for me than others. Overall, I enjoyed it well enough but it won‘t stay with me. ❄️

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Anna40
Antarctica | Claire Keegan
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Mehso-so

I hated the first story titled Antarctica. The others were ok. Compared to her novels and other short story collection, this felt promising at best. It‘s not the writing, but the content that fell flat for me.

Suet624 That‘s too bad. 🥴 2y
Anna40 @Suet624 yes, it is. On the other hand this feels like her early work and I was probably a bit harsh in my judgement. Others might enjoy them Many of the stories won prizes. I think I expected something else and then was disappointed. She still is one of my favourite writers :) 2y
26 likes2 comments
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Tamra
Antarctica | Claire Keegan
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I hate it when I do this …… perusing my shelves and realize I chose to listen to the audio edition because I forgot I have a print copy! 😏

Aimeesue Whoops 2y
Ruthiella Serious bookworm problem! 🙈 2y
SamAnne Or, I. check the book out from the library and then find the copy on my shelf….🙄🙄🙄 (edited) 2y
62 likes3 comments
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Tamra
Antarctica | Claire Keegan
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Pickpick

👍🏾👍🏾I love short stories and Keegan has become an auto buy/read for me. Now I want to find a paper copy for my shelves because they are worth rereading.

The narrators were fabulous for the audio version!

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Lindy
Antarctica | Claire Keegan
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Pickpick

Claire Keegan‘s 1999 debut, a short story collection, was released in 2022 as an audiobook with 4 excellent narrators. The title story is so unsettling that I‘m still haunted, days later. Two of the stories set in the USA open with a listener advisory for offensive language; I wish I‘d skipped those. Best, are the 9 exquisite stories set in rural Ireland, exploring the inner lives of women from childhood into old age.

Ruthiella You wish you had skipped the stories or the reader‘s advisories? 🤔 2y
CarolynM Having just read and loved her latest I‘m going to stack this. Might skip those US stories though😏 2y
Lindy @Ruthiella I wish I had skipped the two stories that had listener‘s advisories. Only partly because of the offensive language; they seem to be experiments in voice and style, are a bit awkward or forced, and I think Keegan does a better job with voices closer to her home. 2y
Lindy @CarolynM It‘s a strong debut, that‘s certain. I think five of the stories (out of 14) are set in the US (one with an au pair who might be Australian) and there are only two with dated, offensive language. 2y
42 likes4 stack adds4 comments
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Lindy
Antarctica | Claire Keegan
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They finger the fabric, see how deep the hems are, read the labels.
“Nice bit of stuff in that. Where‘d you come at it?”
“Well sure the minis are all in again, don‘t you know.”
”She has the legs for it.”
“Lovely bit of linen in that but the devil wouldn‘t iron it.”
“Can‘t beat the drip-dry, really, can ya?”

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Lindy
Antarctica | Claire Keegan
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And I won‘t comfort you. I will not be the woman who shelters her man same as he‘s a boy. That part of my people ends with me.

Onioons Loved Foster! Now I really want to read this. 2y
Lindy @Onioons I‘m about halfway through and really enjoying the collection, although the first story is quite unsettling. 2y
36 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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jlhammar
Antarctica | Claire Keegan
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Friday #bookmail! I had a gift card burning a hole in my pocket.

LeahBergen Isn‘t Jane‘s Country Year a beautiful book? I love the illustrations. 2y
jlhammar @LeahBergen It really is. The color illustrations are so lovely. Can‘t wait to read it! 2y
merelybookish Great haul! I loved both the Ditlevsen & Philyaw. 2y
45 likes3 comments
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Tamra
Antarctica | Claire Keegan
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Took a chance and ordered these books by Keegan before I read Small Things Like These. 🤞🏾

jlhammar I think I'm going to have to follow your lead and place a Claire Keegan order! I really liked Walk the Blue Fields when I read it several years back and loved Small Things Like These. Enjoy! 3y
Tamra @jlhammar I haven‘t ordered that one yet - it was pricey. Thank you! 3y
DrexEdit I can vouch for Foster. It was a lovely, warm, hopeful story. I too want to work through all of Keegan's works based on Foster, Small Things Like These, and Walk the Blue Fields. Such an amazing writer! 3y
Tamra @DrexEdit yay! I‘m looking forward to them all. 3y
70 likes4 comments
blurb
catsuit_mango
Antarctica | Claire Keegan
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blurb
catsuit_mango
Antarctica | Claire Keegan
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An in-between book : short stories to get me from the book I finished yesterday to the books already in my bag for a week long vacation!