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ampersunder's review
3.0
‰ЫПMy friend is an archaeologist. He likes bones. Dinosaur bones, Neanderthal bones, ribs from the Chinese takeaway. When I am Egyptian he brushes me with his brushes, my flesh his dust. When I am Siberian he ladles warm water over me, thawing me slowly. I open my eyes. My mother says, Just remember: if it‰ЫЄs pink inside, it isn‰ЫЄt done.‰Ыќ
jemini's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Oxygen is a collection of 13, quite absurd, stories based on connecting and pulling back from others by a Canadian author! I enjoyed the blunt, poetic writing and how disconnected the stories are. It feels like you’re just dropped into a moment and exit just as quick. I think my favourite story was Black, the first story, or Tea Drinks. Trials was a cool one and Play, the last one, was a great closer for the collection.
I believe this was their debut book and I am intrigued to read more of their work in the future.
mizmoffatt's review
4.0
Annabel Lyon debuted with a forceful, impressive collection of short stories fine-tuned to haunt the quiet hours of the night. Here, we see an experimental form rarely seen in Canadian short prose -- the author teases out complex narratives through compact, often fragmented sections of dialogue/description, allowing her to flicker across timelines and skip between perspectives in a matter of sentences. She whittles her prose to a fine point and is unyielding with her approach.
Highlights of Oxygen include: the dizzying, bittersweet portrait of Suzy and her guardian, Morris, in "Black"; the loneliness and alienation of a young woman, framed through a simple grocery list in "Things"; the terrifying, splintered testimony of three teens in "Song"; and the danger of the stalker-made-familiar in "Run".
Ideal for: Kids who like their Can. lit. shaken, not stirred; Folks with a penchant for literary journals and firecracker prose; Public transit commuters in need of a rough morning jolt.
Highlights of Oxygen include: the dizzying, bittersweet portrait of Suzy and her guardian, Morris, in "Black"; the loneliness and alienation of a young woman, framed through a simple grocery list in "Things"; the terrifying, splintered testimony of three teens in "Song"; and the danger of the stalker-made-familiar in "Run".
Ideal for: Kids who like their Can. lit. shaken, not stirred; Folks with a penchant for literary journals and firecracker prose; Public transit commuters in need of a rough morning jolt.
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