Not the End of the World (short story collection)
Encyclopedia
This article is about Kate Atkinson's book of short stories. For Geraldine McCaughrean's young adult novel, see Not the End of the World (young adult novel); for Christopher Brookmyre's crime novel, see Not the End of the World (crime novel)
Not the End of the World is a short story collection by British author Kate Atkinson
. It was mostly set in Scotland, and an experiment in magic realism
. It was first published in 2002 by Doubleday.
It contains 12 loosely connected stories :-
Not the End of the World is a short story collection by British author Kate Atkinson
Kate Atkinson
Kate Atkinson MBE is an English author.She was born in York, and studied English Literature at the University of Dundee, gaining her Masters Degree in 1974. She subsequently studied for a doctorate in American Literature. She has often spoken publicly about the fact that she failed at the viva ...
. It was mostly set in Scotland, and an experiment in magic realism
Magic realism
Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of...
. It was first published in 2002 by Doubleday.
It contains 12 loosely connected stories :-
- "Charlene and Trudi go Shopping" : Two women obsessively make unreal and bizarre lists, managing to lead apparently normal lives, oblivious to the reality around them which is of the city being torn apart by an apocalyptic war.
- "Tunnel of Fish" : A pregnant mother living in Edinburgh with her partner Hawk, worries about her fish-obsessed son Eddie and reminisces about the past including her first holiday abroad to Crete during which Eddie was conceived; she has a vivid memory of being dragged down to the Mediterranean sea-bed and ravaged by an undersea god. On his birthday Eddie is taken to Deep Sea WorldDeep Sea WorldDeep Sea World is a popular aquarium located in the village of North Queensferry, in Fife, Scotland. It is host to a collection of large sand tiger sharks, also known as ragged toothed sharks or grey nurse sharks, and various other species of shark.-History:...
where in the undersea tunnel he receives a message from a giant carp... - "Transparent Fiction" : Meredith Zane (one of the Zane sisters) is working her way around Europe but has come to a halt in London where she finds herself living with Fletcher, a writer for a television soap Green Acres. The night before she plans to leave Fletcher and continue her tour they are invited to a dinner party by a television producer at which Meredith meets Merle Goldeman who appears to have been alive for millennia. Meredith determines to steal the secret of eternal life for herself...
- "Dissonance" : Rebecca and Simon live with their divorced mother Pam. Simon spends most of his time in his room playing Tekken 3Tekken 3Tekken 3 is the third installment in the popular Tekken fighting game series. It was released for Arcades in March 1997, and for the PlayStation in mid-1998. The original Arcade version of the game was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 as part of Tekken 5s Arcade History mode...
on his PlayStationPlayStationThe is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
, listening to KornKornKorn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The current band line up includes four members: Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, and Ray Luzier. The band was formed as an expansion of L.A.P.D.The band released their first demo album,...
and 'Boak' on his stereo and making occasional trips out to shoplift and skateboardSkateboardA skateboard is typically a specially designed plywood board combined with a polyurethane coating used for making smoother slides and stronger durability, used primarily for the activity of skateboarding. The first skateboards to reach public notice came out of the surfing craze of the early 1960s,...
. Rebecca in contrast is studying hard for her highersHigher (Scottish)In Scotland the Higher is one of the national school-leaving certificate exams and university entrance qualifications of the Scottish Qualifications Certificate offered by the Scottish Qualifications Authority. It superseded the old Higher Grade on the Scottish Certificate of Education...
listening to classical music, and plans to study Medicine at University... - "Sheer Big Waste of Love" : Addison Fox was orphaned at the age of eight. His mother, a prostitute is dying of cancer attempts to reunite Addison with his father, a successful local businessman. As a result of this meeting Addison, his mother and an innocent bystander end up in casualtyEmergency departmentAn emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...
... - "Unseen Translation" : Missy has just become nanny for Arthur, the eight-year-old son of glamour model Romney Wright and the lead singer of a rock band 'Boak'. Arthur's father is on tour in Germany and Missy is to take Arthur to visit him...
- "Evil Doppelgangers" : Fielding is media correspondent for a newspaper suspects he has a doppelgangerDoppelgängerIn fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...
who is having far more fun than himself and creating havoc in the process. Fielding resolves to track him down... - "The Cat Lover" : After breaking up with her boyfriend Fletcher (a TV scriptwriter) Heidi is followed home by a dishevelled cat. She names the cat Gordon and it soon takes over her flat; eating more and more food and growing ever larger, until Heidi wonders when she will be eaten herself. Gordon also becomes more and more human and eventually begins sleeping in Heidi's bed...
- "The Bodies Vest" : Vincent is well acquainted with death. He remembers his father falling from the fourth floor window he was trying to clean. And then the death of his new wife (one of the Zane sisters) who died whilst having a wisdom toothWisdom toothA wisdom tooth, in humans, is any of the usually four third molars. Wisdom teeth usually appear between the ages of 17 and 25. Most adults have four wisdom teeth, but it is possible to have fewer , or more, in which case they are called supernumerary teeth...
extracted. Her father (a dentist) then kills himself. - "Temporal Anomaly" : Marianne dies in a road accident on the M9M9 motorwayThe M9 motorway is a major motorway in Scotland. It runs from the outskirts of Edinburgh, bypassing the towns of Linlithgow, Falkirk, Grangemouth and Stirling to end at Dunblane.- Route :...
. She wakes to find herself sitting on the hard shoulder and stumbles into the nearby Little ChefLittle ChefLittle Chef is a chain of roadside restaurants in the United Kingdom, founded in 1958 and owned by the UK private equity group RCapital. Little Chef's previous owners were The People's Restaurant Group Ltd., a company belonging to British catering entrepreneurs Simon Heath and Lawrence Wosskow,...
but cannot make herself noticed, then she walks the 4 miles home... - "Wedding Favours" : Pam's son Simon has now left home. Soon Pam finds herself in business with her friend Maggie producing wedding favours...
- "Pleasureland" : Charlene and Trudi soon find themselves boarded up in Trudi's flat, the whole building being declared a plague area. With electricity failing and food running out they tell each other tales of the Greek gods. The tale ends with Trudi telling Charlene "Don't worry, it's not the end of the world"...