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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
suzy_g's review against another edition
3.0
Okay, full disclosure: I read the entire 'Faraway' series simply because I'm a completionist, and I wanted to read this submission from one of my favourite short-story authors, Ken Liu. Truth be told, I have minimal interest in fairytale retellings having read very few good ones in my time. Turns out this was fairly lucky, as this was more of a 'Ken Liu' story than a 'retelling' anyway.
What I love most about Ken Liu's writing is his ability to dream up incredible, thought-provoking and original concepts that genuinely blow my mind. This one wasn't one of his best and it wasn't as unique as I'm used to seeing from him - but it was still intriguing enough to warrant development, leading to the outcome of a fairly solid, if a little underwhelming, short story.
In this story, memories are transferred from people to objects in a way that echoes virus transmission, i.e.: via touch and proximity. Almost everyone has some degree of sensitivity to the memories imbued in objects, meaning that if you want to forget - truly forget - someone/a time in your life, you would have to purge everything that they ever touched/anything that could remind you of that period. One way is to destroy such objects. Another way is to clean them.
Due to the distressing nature of memories you'd go to such lengths to rid yourself of, this is when most people seek out the services of a professional cleaner - such as Gui. Gui is an anomaly, in that he cannot feel the residue of any memories. He therefore isn't haunted by these, and can live a life free of all the damning consequences of such a 'gift'; but, of course, he also misses out on the benefits it can bring, too.
There is hardly a plot to speak of in this one (although I wouldn't say that that's entirely unheard of in Liu's writing); it is almost entirely concept and character driven. It discusses how material our emotional attachments can be, and how sometimes it is best to accept the life we are left with - bad memories and all. It suggests our innate ability to learn and grow from such life experiences and raises the question of whether it is really the right decision to rid ourselves of them, even if we can (think: 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind').
Overall this story felt more confined than I expected. Liu has always stretched the limits of a short story to the absolute max, giving me the experience of having read an entire novel in the space of 20-or-so pages. But in this case I simply got a short story, rather than a marvel.
When considering this story in the context of Liu's other works, I'd say I'm a bit disappointed. But when considering it in the context of the 'Faraway' collection, it is easily one of the better stories on offer.
What I love most about Ken Liu's writing is his ability to dream up incredible, thought-provoking and original concepts that genuinely blow my mind. This one wasn't one of his best and it wasn't as unique as I'm used to seeing from him - but it was still intriguing enough to warrant development, leading to the outcome of a fairly solid, if a little underwhelming, short story.
In this story, memories are transferred from people to objects in a way that echoes virus transmission, i.e.: via touch and proximity. Almost everyone has some degree of sensitivity to the memories imbued in objects, meaning that if you want to forget - truly forget - someone/a time in your life, you would have to purge everything that they ever touched/anything that could remind you of that period. One way is to destroy such objects. Another way is to clean them.
Due to the distressing nature of memories you'd go to such lengths to rid yourself of, this is when most people seek out the services of a professional cleaner - such as Gui. Gui is an anomaly, in that he cannot feel the residue of any memories. He therefore isn't haunted by these, and can live a life free of all the damning consequences of such a 'gift'; but, of course, he also misses out on the benefits it can bring, too.
There is hardly a plot to speak of in this one (although I wouldn't say that that's entirely unheard of in Liu's writing); it is almost entirely concept and character driven. It discusses how material our emotional attachments can be, and how sometimes it is best to accept the life we are left with - bad memories and all. It suggests our innate ability to learn and grow from such life experiences and raises the question of whether it is really the right decision to rid ourselves of them, even if we can (think: 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind').
Overall this story felt more confined than I expected. Liu has always stretched the limits of a short story to the absolute max, giving me the experience of having read an entire novel in the space of 20-or-so pages. But in this case I simply got a short story, rather than a marvel.
When considering this story in the context of Liu's other works, I'd say I'm a bit disappointed. But when considering it in the context of the 'Faraway' collection, it is easily one of the better stories on offer.
thechaosofcheshirebelle's review against another edition
4.0
Voor een kort verhaal, vind ik het een leuk concept, maar ik wil zoveel meer weten van deze wereld! Komt er nog een boek uit? Of 3? Alsjeblieft?
olo_bear's review
dark
mysterious
tense
2.0
the cleaner who couldn’t blab about your business because he couldn’t sense substantiated memories.*
neha_aswal's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
tealightfully's review against another edition
3.0
I’m not sure what I just read
Nor even what fairy tale it was reimagining?
Nevertheless it is a far cry from Book 1 in this collection. Which made little sense but in an unpleasant way.
I want a full length novel about The Cleaners, it’s curious it feels like there’s a world waiting to be unlocked behind this novella’s doors
Nor even what fairy tale it was reimagining?
Nevertheless it is a far cry from Book 1 in this collection. Which made little sense but in an unpleasant way.
I want a full length novel about The Cleaners, it’s curious it feels like there’s a world waiting to be unlocked behind this novella’s doors
bethg331's review against another edition
3.0
I listened to this novella. This one was at least interesting to me. Inanimate objects hold memories and you can take them to the cleaners to have the memories erased. One of the cleaners feels nothing which if you think about it is kind of sad. And is erasing memories always a good idea?
igoandread's review against another edition
3.0
So the concept of this story was super intriguing and very cool, but the length really didn’t give it a fair chance to shine. I was immediately drawn into the plot and characters and wanting more, but no sooner did it begin then it was just, done. Without real resolution and lots of questions of how this could have been developed further. I wanted more of Gui, Clara, and Beatrice’s gifts and stories!
I also had to look up what fairytale this was based on (princess and the pea) but I didn’t find any connections so idk how it ties in lol. 3 stars cuz it was a cool idea but lacked the length for an awesome execution!
I also had to look up what fairytale this was based on (princess and the pea) but I didn’t find any connections so idk how it ties in lol. 3 stars cuz it was a cool idea but lacked the length for an awesome execution!
iam_solyne's review against another edition
2.0
2.4 stars. The meaning of the story was deep, but i wasn't a fan of the writing style or the characters.
itsmebernie's review against another edition
1.0
I found the idea interesting - memories accumulate on objects and can be felt by the person holding said object. My main issue is the writing style. It really didn't work for me so I'm glad it was only a very short story.
This sentence in particular made me stop in my tracks and question what I was even reading: "The plane banked, and in the shifting sunlight, she saw the rainbow hues scintillating in a haze over the plastic arm, a jumble of externalized psyche."
Not my cup of tea.
This sentence in particular made me stop in my tracks and question what I was even reading: "The plane banked, and in the shifting sunlight, she saw the rainbow hues scintillating in a haze over the plastic arm, a jumble of externalized psyche."
Not my cup of tea.