This series of short stories takes the reader around the globe, to a diversity of places, but all are set in our modern era and each deals with a morally ambiguous situation in some way. This is not, however, some kind of dry, didactic series of fairy tales for adults; each story is fully realized with fascinating, complicated characters. Matthew Kneale does a good job leaving judgment out of the story, for the most part. Some of these “small crimes” seem large: a suicide bomber has doubts as he goes to carry out his mission in “White.” Others seem more benign: a struggling writer finds himself supported by a rich patroness who controls him in subtle ways in “Sunlight.” By juxtaposing these tales, Kneale seems to be asking whether one “crime” is worse than another, leaving the reader to decide.
Most of these stories are short, driven by the machinations of the plot, rather than the development of the characters. Most of the stories unfold in a leisurely pace, leaving the reader to make conjectures. But throughout, there is an overwhelming sense that in each story the characters are locked into a fated series of events, doomed to play out their role making decisions that hurt themselves or others in small or large ways. Kneale’s subjects are not stereotypes, but they have a certain simplicity about them; the author focuses on the aspects of their personalities that make the most sense in the context of the story. By setting each story in a vastly different location, however, setting works together with the other story elements to create reading that makes you want to finish each section, just to see what will happen.
Some vignettes stood out: in “Powder” a middle-aged solicitor finds a bag full of illegal drugs under a park bench one day. His career is stalled and he and his family seem to have money problems every time they turn around. “Taste” finds a disaffected socialite who discovers that her maid is stealing expensive food from her pantry. In “Sound,” a young man is being followed at night by a sinister character in a hooded sweatshirt. What do they do? They react in ways that seem logical, certainly as they’ve justified it to themselves. How does it all turn out? You’ll have to read this collection to see.
Check the WRL catalog for Small Crimes in an Age of Abundance.
