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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Rankings:
1. Salt Slow
2. Granite
3. The Great Awake
4. Stop Your Women's Ears With Wax
5. Cassandra After
6. The Collectibles
7. Mantis
8. Smack
9. Formally Feral
1. Salt Slow
2. Granite
3. The Great Awake
4. Stop Your Women's Ears With Wax
5. Cassandra After
6. The Collectibles
7. Mantis
8. Smack
9. Formally Feral
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
The New Yorker dubbed Salt Slow “delightful and discomfiting”; the only modification I’d make to this review is to say that Armfield’s stories are delightfully discomfiting. This collection is an enjoyably strange treat.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’ve never had a visceral reaction to the quality of writing until Julia Armfield. To say this anthology was a work of art would be a vast understatement. I am in awe - I borrowed this from the public library but I will be purchasing it to own as part of my small collection of books. My personal favorites were The Great Awake, The Collectibles, Granite, and Cassandra After (I know I listed almost half but they were all so good) and my least favorite was actually the final story and title story - salt slow. The style of writing intertwined with both the power of feminism and elements of horror: absolutely beautiful. Armfield explores gender, body, and sexuality in a nuanced way, resulting in this gem of an anthology. Reading this was like listening to an album that flows all the way through - in a perfect queue with no floppy tracks.
Drei Worte, um Armfields Kurzgeschichten zu beschreiben: bizarr, düster, zärtlich.
Geschichten voller Transformation, Wildheit. Eine Feier der Unangepasstheit, der zersprengenden Kraft von unkonventionellen Frauen. Thematisch zeichnet die Autorin “our wives under the sea” vor, ihr Debüt, das von mir heiß geliebt ist. Das Monströse und das Mysteriöse findet hier genauso Erzählraum wie die Sehnsucht und die Unsicherheit. Alles ist in Bewegung, in Veränderung. Eine außergewöhnliche Erzählerin, deren neuestes Buch, Private Rites, schon ganz oben auf meinem Lesestapel liegt.
“In the space between Mass and classes, we talk long, indulgent circles of self-hatred. It is Girl Language - a cosy bonding rite.”
“When the two of us grew up and moved away - to our long thin city of narrow stairs and queasy chimney stacks - our mother cried and demanded we reconsider, insisting that cities could not be lived in but only haunted, that we would simply become two more ghosts in a place where ghosts already abounded.”
“Looking out into the shared garden, she sees Mrs Lumis making a shuffling tour of the lawn in the first of the snow. A strange sight, spectral. Like death walking in the morning, looking for its lost cat.”
“She is no longer seasick, although the motion of the boat gives her bad dreams - thoughts of the ocean overspilling the sides of their craft and getting into bed with her, damp fingers against the small of her back.”
Geschichten voller Transformation, Wildheit. Eine Feier der Unangepasstheit, der zersprengenden Kraft von unkonventionellen Frauen. Thematisch zeichnet die Autorin “our wives under the sea” vor, ihr Debüt, das von mir heiß geliebt ist. Das Monströse und das Mysteriöse findet hier genauso Erzählraum wie die Sehnsucht und die Unsicherheit. Alles ist in Bewegung, in Veränderung. Eine außergewöhnliche Erzählerin, deren neuestes Buch, Private Rites, schon ganz oben auf meinem Lesestapel liegt.
“In the space between Mass and classes, we talk long, indulgent circles of self-hatred. It is Girl Language - a cosy bonding rite.”
“When the two of us grew up and moved away - to our long thin city of narrow stairs and queasy chimney stacks - our mother cried and demanded we reconsider, insisting that cities could not be lived in but only haunted, that we would simply become two more ghosts in a place where ghosts already abounded.”
“Looking out into the shared garden, she sees Mrs Lumis making a shuffling tour of the lawn in the first of the snow. A strange sight, spectral. Like death walking in the morning, looking for its lost cat.”
“She is no longer seasick, although the motion of the boat gives her bad dreams - thoughts of the ocean overspilling the sides of their craft and getting into bed with her, damp fingers against the small of her back.”
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Beautifully written but also strange and unsettling collection of short stories. Keen to read more