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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
What an imagination!!! I would have rated it higher, but I found two of the stories just totally unappealing to me personally. That being said, what I did read was beyond a sane person's reckoning and great skill.
Only several of the stories appealed to me, including Vampires in the Lemon Grove, Reeling for the Empire, and The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis. Those four stories I give a solid 4 stars.
I would have to put on my deconstructive criticism hat in order to be able to really furnish a decent review, but I will try it without. Odd little collection of stories; not really horror, semi-suspenseful. For the most part they make you stop and think, "What was I really supposed to take away from this story? What are the deeper issues or topics?" There were a couple that really gave me the creeps, the others made me tilt my head to one side and say, "Hm. Interesting."
It wasn't a bad collection, but I'm not impressed.
It wasn't a bad collection, but I'm not impressed.
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoy Karen Russell. The title story, "Reeling For The Empire", and "Proving Up" were my absolute favorites. Russell is a stronger writer here. She has honed her skill at describing the eeriness of the human condition. But even so, nothing beats her short story "St. Lucy's Home For Girls Raised By Wolves".
I just looked at the existing reviews, and my assessment would appear to be at odds with most everyone else's, but I will add it to the mix.
I truly loved "Swamplandia", and went into reading this collection with high expectations. Then I read the title story. I cannot recall the last time I have so disliked any short story. It was a struggle to finish the thing, and had I not read and loved Russell's prior work I would have stopped right there. To say the story is precious is a colossal understatement. A vampire who learns about the transience of satiation and the downside of forever. Just freaking adorable! Having read this I can see there were portions of "Swamplandia" that were similarly overwritten, but in the context of the entire book those things worked. This story is out there flapping in the wind with nothing to redeem it from its muck of message-y cuteness. Its like Faerie Tale Theatre for disillusioned 30-somethings. Given my dislike for the first story I almost stopped reading, but continue I did, and I am glad I made that choice. It turns out the remainder of the book is far better, and some of the work is positively gorgeous.
Though sometimes her stories are less than the sum of their parts, there is no question that Karen Russell is a fantastic writer. Her sentences are like perfectly cut jewels, inherently beautiful and remarkable for how they refract all that is around them. Hemmingway, move over, you have company in the "Best Sentences in American Lit" category. In the end I liked most of the stories and truly loved a few.
Like most reviewers, I was blown away by "Reeling for the Empire." This is among the best short stories I have read. One thing people complain about in reviews is that Russell's stories just end with no resolution. Not so here. This is spare but absolutely complete. I also shared with other reviewers a wildly positive reaction to "Proving Up." Russell dips into horror with this one, and that is typically not a genre I enjoy, but it works here. Where I differ from most other reviewers is that I liked all but one of the stories at the end of the book. Most reviewers extolled the first four stories and wrote off the remaining four as filler, but I disagree. "The Barn at the End of our Term" and "Dougbert Shackleton’s Rules For Antarctic Tailgating" were the most fun reads here. I laughed all the way through both of them. "The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis" was exceptionally thought provoking. "The New Veterans" was too long by half, and the characters seemed less nuanced than is typical for Russell, but there was still some there there. I just re-read this and realized I had forgotten to mention that seagull story, which basically summarizes my thoughts in that story. Very MFA. It was entirely...fine.
So, all in all I am going to give this a 3-star. Maybe 3.5. There is lots of good here, but the vampire drek, the neverendingness of the veteran story, and the forgetablness of the seagull story make it hard to get to a four. I fully expect to see a couple of these stories in anthologies (Reeling he Empire for sure), and they will shine once they are divorced from the whole.
I truly loved "Swamplandia", and went into reading this collection with high expectations. Then I read the title story. I cannot recall the last time I have so disliked any short story. It was a struggle to finish the thing, and had I not read and loved Russell's prior work I would have stopped right there. To say the story is precious is a colossal understatement. A vampire who learns about the transience of satiation and the downside of forever. Just freaking adorable! Having read this I can see there were portions of "Swamplandia" that were similarly overwritten, but in the context of the entire book those things worked. This story is out there flapping in the wind with nothing to redeem it from its muck of message-y cuteness. Its like Faerie Tale Theatre for disillusioned 30-somethings. Given my dislike for the first story I almost stopped reading, but continue I did, and I am glad I made that choice. It turns out the remainder of the book is far better, and some of the work is positively gorgeous.
Though sometimes her stories are less than the sum of their parts, there is no question that Karen Russell is a fantastic writer. Her sentences are like perfectly cut jewels, inherently beautiful and remarkable for how they refract all that is around them. Hemmingway, move over, you have company in the "Best Sentences in American Lit" category. In the end I liked most of the stories and truly loved a few.
Like most reviewers, I was blown away by "Reeling for the Empire." This is among the best short stories I have read. One thing people complain about in reviews is that Russell's stories just end with no resolution. Not so here. This is spare but absolutely complete. I also shared with other reviewers a wildly positive reaction to "Proving Up." Russell dips into horror with this one, and that is typically not a genre I enjoy, but it works here. Where I differ from most other reviewers is that I liked all but one of the stories at the end of the book. Most reviewers extolled the first four stories and wrote off the remaining four as filler, but I disagree. "The Barn at the End of our Term" and "Dougbert Shackleton’s Rules For Antarctic Tailgating" were the most fun reads here. I laughed all the way through both of them. "The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis" was exceptionally thought provoking. "The New Veterans" was too long by half, and the characters seemed less nuanced than is typical for Russell, but there was still some there there. I just re-read this and realized I had forgotten to mention that seagull story, which basically summarizes my thoughts in that story. Very MFA. It was entirely...fine.
So, all in all I am going to give this a 3-star. Maybe 3.5. There is lots of good here, but the vampire drek, the neverendingness of the veteran story, and the forgetablness of the seagull story make it hard to get to a four. I fully expect to see a couple of these stories in anthologies (Reeling he Empire for sure), and they will shine once they are divorced from the whole.
After reading Swamplandia last summer, I was really pumped to pick up this collection of short stories. Karen Russell you fail to disappoint, but your books are just so...weird. Some of the stories in this collection are true gems, a few were total duds. Often Karen Russell's dark sense of humor, quirky use of language, and totally bizarre subject matter have me laughing aloud as a reader. Other times I'm left thinking "what the fuck...?" I particularly like the title story, Proving Up, and The Barn at the End of our Term. Despite the few duds stories, I'm still looking forward to whatever KR puts out next.
Karen Russell creates worlds with a few paragraphs that are utterly believable and all encompassing. It is if it has always been so. Her fantastic worlds are truly only a setting though, as she explores real human emotion. Absolutely a must read. I do think her first short story collection is still my fav though. :)
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A