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extrikated's review
4.0
Imagine Edward Gorey told a story, but the story was chopped up into 52 pieces and printed on playing cards. That's The Family Arcana in a nutshell.
drewsof's review
5.0
5+ out of 5.
A fantastic and totally unique reading experience. Yes, it draws from the same spirit as [b:Composition No. 1|11271173|Composition No. 1|Marc Saporta|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328766701l/11271173._SY75_.jpg|6182449], in its 'read in any order' methodology -- but this is a deck of cards! Each card has perhaps two or three sentences tops. Some cards have an image. There's an additional suit, a suit of squares, that I got because I received this book as a part of Ninepin Press' Gift Box.
There is a story here, of a family somewhere outside Poughkeepsie (naturally) trying to save their way of life. There are echoes of Jackson and Bradbury and Gorey and Addams here: the family Arcana is strange indeed. There is a Grandfather and a Grandmother, there is a Mother and Father, there are aunts and uncles and cousins and children... but there are also other things. There are fewer things? There are so many things.
I shuffled the whole deck up after playing a few rounds of Ratscrew and Speed, and then read in a single sitting. I look forward to revisiting the family again, after another few games some day. But also, wonderfully, I can't imagine having read this story in any other order than the one I read it in. Oh yes, oh yes, this is strange and wonderful.
A fantastic and totally unique reading experience. Yes, it draws from the same spirit as [b:Composition No. 1|11271173|Composition No. 1|Marc Saporta|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328766701l/11271173._SY75_.jpg|6182449], in its 'read in any order' methodology -- but this is a deck of cards! Each card has perhaps two or three sentences tops. Some cards have an image. There's an additional suit, a suit of squares, that I got because I received this book as a part of Ninepin Press' Gift Box.
There is a story here, of a family somewhere outside Poughkeepsie (naturally) trying to save their way of life. There are echoes of Jackson and Bradbury and Gorey and Addams here: the family Arcana is strange indeed. There is a Grandfather and a Grandmother, there is a Mother and Father, there are aunts and uncles and cousins and children... but there are also other things. There are fewer things? There are so many things.
I shuffled the whole deck up after playing a few rounds of Ratscrew and Speed, and then read in a single sitting. I look forward to revisiting the family again, after another few games some day. But also, wonderfully, I can't imagine having read this story in any other order than the one I read it in. Oh yes, oh yes, this is strange and wonderful.
mcipher's review
4.0
Thus could be quick because it’s only 52 cards with a few sentences each - but you also can keep shuffling and reading as long as you want and re-read it in a completely different order. It’s not a linear story but a series of weird vignettes and tiny character studies, with no real narrator and a huge host of family members, and a setting that’s another important and interesting character, too. Some things repeat in several cards and some things are mentioned only once, and somehow it all comes together into a picture that is full of details that aren’t written anywhere on the cards. The more I think about it, the more I like it. I don’t know why I waited so long to read it — except that today was a really good day for it.
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