Dinner Along the Amazon is a collection of twelve short stories by Timothy Findley. Lemonade is a tale of a young lad whose world is completely shattered by his self-destructive mother. The title story takes the reader through a journey of complex relationships in the modern world.
The collection covers the same aspects as Findley’s previous works as he tells stories of lost children who grapple with regret, seclusion, and emotional distress. There’s so much sadness in the stories but a shadow of beauty always linger beneath the narrative. Findley explores separation and abandonment issues from all people of all ages.
Children separated from their parents, wives from husbands. Partners and lovers grapple with loneliness and longing for the one they adore most. From broken families to broken people, the feeling of isolation, and the inability to establish a human connection lingers. Findley abandons complex narratives and settles for a more straight forward and precise approach.
The characters remain strangers throughout the story despite delving deep into who they are and what they are going through. The lack of a human connection in these characters also spills into the reader’s world. Findley has perfected the art of keeping the reader interested as they fly into the collection. The writing is accurate as it relays heavy emotions to the reader without sounding alien.
The short stories included; Lemonade, War, Effie, Sometime Later Not Now, What Mrs. Felton Knew, The People on the Shore, Hello Cheeverland Goodbye, Losers Finders Strangers at the Door, The Book of Pins, Daybreak at Pisa, Out In Silence and the titular Dinner Along the Amazon.
