TOM HANKS

Description

Uncommon Type: Some Stories is a collection of short stories by the actor, writer, and filmmaker Tom Hanks, released in 2017. It is Hanks’s first work as a fiction author and showcases his extensive storytelling talent across a range of themes and settings, often giving a commentary on the human experience and the complications of life.
Diverse Narratives: There are 17 stories inside the collection, very different in their characters and situations. Narratives range between poignant and reflective to humorous and lighthearted; love, loss, family, and time passage are all represented.

Common thread: There is a common thread running through most of the stories, which is typewriters. Hanks, individually, has a special affection for typewriters. Typewriters usually symbolise creativity and nostalgia beyond the writing itself. It thus seems to appear as a main motif throughout the collection.

Character-Driven Stories: The characters played by Hanks are often relatable and multi-dimensional, navigating lives filled with hope, humor, and vulnerability. Human relationships between friends, lovers, or family members are nuanced in the stories.

Exploration of Themes:

Connection and Isolation: Many stories delve into the complexities of human connections, “feeling lonely and wanting companionship.”.
Memory and Nostalgia: The storyline often reflects memories, be it sweet or painful, and how they effect the characters and also the people within their lives.
The Craft of Writing: Sometimes one or two stories draw on Hanks’s own lifetime as a writer and as an actor, giving insights into the craft of writing itself and its impediments.
Style of Writing:
The warm and accessible writing from Hanks captures the inner spirits of his characters’ emotions and experiences by combining plain prose with some lyrical beauty in it. The stories range in tone, even to the point of becoming light comedy, while others are serious.

Appreciation
Uncommon Type is actually a collection of reviews that are mostly very positive from critics and readers. Such reviewers praised Tom Hanks for his ability to pen some interesting stories or create characters anybody can identify with. The collection reveals his versatility as a teller of stories and understanding of human nature.

Conclusion:
The book Uncommon Type: Some Stories opens up a glimpse of Tom Hanks’s creative imagination, showing traits that are reflections of his life experiences and observations. For its fan base and especially those who have a liking for short fiction, anyone interested in the themes related to human connection, creativity, and human experience, this collection is sure to prove how talented, as well as an excellent writer and actor, Hanks is.