Published: 16th September 2014
Publisher: Amazon Kindle Digital Publishing
Pages: 210
Format: ebook
Genre: Short stories
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars
Creating stories from songs is one of my favourite writing ideas and one I have tried to replicate a few times myself. Padilla has developed this collection using the works of the band Train and turned their music and lyrics into a wonderful set of stories.
There are thirty stories in total, each of varying lengths, some are snippets, some have more complexity, but nevertheless all are enjoyable. Having never listened to that many Train songs I was not familiar with the majority of songs the stories were based on, but Padilla has created stories that are creative, interesting, and well told that are separate in a way from the songs they originate from.
With so many short stories in this collection they cover a range of topics and are filled with a diverse selection of characters and narrators. The characters are troubled and lost, people who want more from their lives, and who are just trying to cope the best way they know how. The feelings and desires are clear and Padilla brings these feelings to light in each story.
Padilla includes the song title and album name with each corresponding story, and does an excellent job crediting the writers as well. If you are familiar with the songs of Train then these stories may have an air of familiarity to them in terms of theme or narrative, but not knowing the songs are no hindrance and doesn’t limit the enjoyment. Padilla does not write as if she has simply expanded on the song lyrics, she has expanded on the themes and ideas, and the feelings that these song represent and she has done so rather well.
You can purchase Save Me, San Francisco via the following
Lost in a Good Book 