Written by: Erica Brooks
Narrated by: Flora Montgomery
Tags: Drama
A scientist in Berlin believes life is chaotic and meaningless, but personal loss forces her to reconsider.
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Details
The Pope's Revenge was added to Shortbread stories on Friday 12th December 2008, and has been accessed 1176 times. It's been read online 89 times. It's been downloaded as a PDF 38 times. It's been downloaded as an MP3 69 times. 8 members have added The Pope's Revenge to their favourites. 11 members have added Erica Brooks to their favourites.
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Reviews
| Editor's Pick › I love both of Erica’s stories. Her writing style is intensely analytical, skilful and clever, and for me it works brilliantly. Her stories are gutsy, underpinned by heart and soul, and a genuine search for meaning. I am sure there will be lots more from Erica, and I really look forward to it.
In this story she interweaves bursts of well-paced dialogue with raw drama and thoughtful analytical passages. A story which should be bleak, but somehow isn’t – it makes you think, and think again. I have a feeling that Erica will write a fabulous novel one day soon.
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Comments
Wonderful › Erica, thank you for contributing such a wonderful story. I love the merger between hard angles, numbers and science with the raw driving emotions of the narrator. I am looking forward to reading more of your work. Best, Kristina
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from Willie › Tell you what Erica, your much better than you think you are. I never ever believed I could be a published author, and if I can do it, so can you.
So fill yourself a big glass of wine, get off your arse, bite your lip, and cover that blank page of yours with everything that's inside your head. I'll be worth it.
It's been two years? So what. Most people never write anything longer than a lottery ticket in their whole life. Keep going kid.
Willie Robertson
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| Thanks › Thanks so much for the encouraging comments! Eliza, bonus points if you can guess the story she read with the riddles...
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The Alienation of Despair › It's like aquaplaning over the surface of a deeper pain. How do you do it? Admirably spare, stripped down to the essentials, yet so full of meaning and profoundly human.
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ditto all of the above and some › Hi, Erica,
I would have pasted the two sentence novel you've put at the heart of this story as one example of what it was about this story that took my breath away (starting "I read story once") had you not also written ‘Listen. I knew I loved you when I realized I couldn’t remember your whole face all at once.' Thank you. It's always been the surest sign to me but I didn't know anyone else had experienced it. That said, of course, you don't just make the observation. Like everything else in this piece it's there for a reason and the effect is staggering. Wonderful. Just wonderful, she babbled.
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Removed! › This member decided to remove their comment.
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Pixels, particles and pain › This is a powerful story. The opening stopped me in my tracks- "we're pixelated". So orignal, so compelling, a unique voice. We're so accustomed to coming on the question "Is this it?" but your narrator posed "Or is it?" The imagery and symbolism struck me throughout; the arrangement of words struck me at the core. Every paragraph delivers a sentence that took my breath away. There is so much, science, God, meaning. The atmosphere is surreal, the voice disembodied. Her talk "But now I see only the pieces."
A stunning short story.
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marvellous › Excellent writing skills. brilliantly compiled, and there's so much in this story to digest, I keep finding little nuggets that I missed on first reading. Well done.
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