One of the more appalling of these stories is called ''The Pain Continuum.'' About 10,000 words long, it is a fantastically detailedĪccount by a little boy of the tortures inflicted on him by his stepsister. Brodkey's most striking characteristic is his passion for what I can only call protraction. stories important as evidence of the scope and nature of this writer's gifts, which are certainly remarkable, though often a cause of pain to the reader. No doubt it is to these stories that Harold Brodkey owes his considerable reputation but there is in ''Stories in an Almost Classical Mode'' fiction that one can hardly imagine finding in The New Yorker They were written over the last 25 years, and mostly appeared in the admirably accommodating New Yorker Some of the stories in this huge book are short, some are long enough to be called novellas, but all are from the same intense and dedicated mind. STORIES IN AN ALMOST CLASSICAL MODE By Harold Brodkey. Section 7, Column 1 Book Review Deskīy FRANK KERMODE Frank Kermode is a literary critic whose most recent book is ''History and Value.'' September 18, 1988, Sunday, Late City Final Edition
