The boy in time by Stephen Orr

This second book of short stories by Adelaide author Stephen Orr contains short fiction loosely connected by their central character ‘the boy’. They range in style from poignant and heartbreaking to absurd and cruel. The majority have deeply troubled main characters, often the overwhelmed ‘boy’, struggling to understand the complicated world of the flawed adults around him, or the man he grows up to become.

The stories span a number of continents and decades. Several are set in WW2 Germany, with the boy suffering the fallout of his father’s nazi connections, and then again trying to comprehend the suffering of his mentally ill uncle. Orr has set others in outback Australia, or on the SA coast.

A number are contemporary; the stream-of-consciousness of an African youth stowaway in an aeroplane wheel-well, and a disgruntled ex-employee contemplating his plan to kidnap his boss’s son.

The majority of the stories involve either death, dementia or mental illness, murder, mass shootings, execution or suicide. In these terrible scenarios Orr casts fathers as sometimes abusive, sometimes caring or introspective, but always flawed, exerting influences that are carried on to subsequent generations, including the bewildered 'boy'.

Although the content of his stories is often deeply disturbing, Orr’s writing is beautifully lyrical, and his descriptions and dialogue are to be savoured and reread. He specialises in the slow reveal, with perfect examples of ‘show don’t tell’, leaving the reader to fill in the gaps and reflect. He portrays ordinary men and boys facing crises far bigger than themselves; not necessarily happy reads, but powerfully thought-provoking ones.

Themes: Short stories, Family, Relationships.

Margaret Crohn