The state of the world can’t possibly get any worse. With rising tensions and unrest spreading like wildfire, ways to cope are starting to dwindle. Our latest AOS writer, Bruce Meyer, coped by bringing us The Hours: Stories from a Pandemic, a collection of short stories about overcoming pandemics and disease.
Each short story manages to cover the topic of sickness. Whether that’s the current COVID-19 pandemic or historical virus, they all include this theme. What’s interesting about these stories is how they differ so greatly from each other. They include a variety of topics and explore relationships between couples, families, and neighbours.
There truly is a story for everyone to relate to. Whether you’ve gone through the current hardships of the pandemic or you’ve witnessed a loved one go through a sickness, the stories show us that the realities of the world aren’t always as they seem. The ugly aspects are taking over, and they’ve reached every corner of the world. The Hours makes us think not only about the current situation of the world, but about the past and how people then would have dealt with a situation like this.
If you’re looking for a thought-provoking read, then this collection of short stories is for you. There is ambiguity amongst some characters and their outcomes are not certain. I found myself questioning what happened. Where did they go? How would their families or significant others react? It’s stories like these that always leave the reader thinking, even after completing it. They make you come to your own conclusions and that’s the beauty of these endings. Bruce Meyer puts you in a position to think and wonder and deliberate. Who knows, maybe he had an ending in mind, but wanted us to come up with something ourselves.
The Hours: Stories from a Pandemic is a compelling read. With the current state of the world, it’s great to be able to read a story and think “wow, I’m living this right now.”
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