The Yellow Review

Okay, so as the final part of my creative writing blog assignment I’m reviewing a short story.

The story is called The Yellow and it was written by Samantha Hunt. It was published in the November 29 issue of the New Yorker in 2010, so this year for anyone counting.
I loved this story. Now I know you’re supposed to keep objectivity and stuff, but it’s really good. Personally I found it really moving, and maybe it’s because there’s a dog in it and I love dogs. I am actually repeatedly haunted by dreams of my own dog, Freckles, who passed away last year. In the dreams she’s alive and well and we’re going for a walk. Usually part way through the dream I realize she’s dead and, become confused by her resurrection. I end up waking up to the realization that she’s in fact dead and not some how brought back to life, and I spend the morning coming to terms with it. I think it’s all due to the fact that I spend a good part of my life convincing myself she would never die. You’d be surprised what you can convince yourself of.

Anyway I digress. The story has very interesting characters. I found the character development to be fantastic, there is one character who only appears for a short time and says one thing, but that’s all you need to know that character. The two main characters have much more time spent on them and they are both as interesting and likeable as they are unlikeable.

The pacing of the story is very interesting, it beings with a slower pace then acculturates quickly. It’s very fitting of the story, it seems panicked and out of control, which reflects what the characters are going through.

I also enjoyed the dialog; it seemed quite realistic and slightly detached, which I think reflected the characters. There’s quite a bit of depth and I don’t want to give away what happens in the story, but that makes it hard to really get the depth across. This is the description the New Yorker gives the story:

“Short story about an unemployed man who moves back in with his parents and hits a dog while out driving…”

That doesn’t exactly explain it all. So do yourself a favor and go read the four pages.