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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
The first two stories are really interesting, the rest are...less so.
These stories are beautiful, vivid, and deeply unsettling. A couple could be considered horror, the others just get under your skin and leave you with a sense of unease about the world, your life, your past, your future... all the things that we can not undo. There are a few light parts, but it is mostly a haunting read.
A really solid collection of stories, some sticking out more than others. Everything is surreal, bizarre, darkly humorous and somehow relatable in strange ways. It's also very eerie and unsettling, at times even uncomfortable, which I'm coming to realize is Karen Russell's trademark. How does she come up with these things? They're all fascinatingly odd and absolutely original. I particularly liked the last story, which was the creepiest and most powerful of them all. At times it gets tiring, slogging through so much weirdness and darkness. Certain stories seem pointless, although none suffer from a lack of good writing or good characters. The stories are all vivid and easy to picture, it's just that at times you don't want to imagine them.
This review can also be found on my blog.
I’m honestly devastated that I didn’t enjoy this more, considering I had originally given it five stars. This is one of those rare (for me) instances where re-reading is not necessarily a good idea. Interestingly, the stories I don’t remember liking much were my favorites on this readthrough, and vice-versa. It’s interesting to see how my reading tastes have changed over time, and this is very indicative of that. I wish I had read the rest of Russell’s bibliography around the first time I read this, as I think her writing isn’t really for me anymore and it would have been nice to experience it when it was.
By this time we'd found a dirt cellar in which to live in Western Australia, where the sun burned through the clouds like dining lace. That sun ate lakes, rising out of dead volcanoes at dawn, triple the size of a harvest moon and skull-white, a grass-scorcher. Go ahead, try to walk into that sun when you’ve been told your bones are tinder.
My ratings for each story are as follows:
Vampires in the Lemon Grove 4/5
Reeling for the Empire 5/5
The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach, 1979 3/5
Proving Up 2.5/5
The Barn at the End of Our Term 2/5
Dougbert Shackleton’s Rules for Antarctic Tailgating 2/5
The New Veterans 3/5
The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis 4/5
He couldn’t remember the last time he had acted without reservation on a single desire.
The average rating for these is 3.19, which I rounded down to 3. While there were a couple strong stories in here, the ones that didn’t work for me really stood out. I will mention that Reeling for the Empire is an incredible read. I think before I had even read this collection the first time, I had heard an audio version of the story -- meaning this is my third time “reading” it and I still loved it. It becomes more meaningful to me each time.
I was glad he was afraid--I hadn’t known that you could feel so grateful to a friend, for living in fear with you. Fear was otherwise a very lonely place.
There is nothing wrong per se with the stories I didn’t like, and it’s certainly all personal preference. I found the stories I rated on the lower end either needlessly goofy or uncompelling. Proving Up in particular has a lot of promise but unfortunately fell flat for me. I’d definitely recommend this collection to people who like “weird” short fiction, though. There are a lot of fantastic elements that I would say could be categorized as magical realism. If you’ve enjoyed more of Russell’s work, you’ll probably like this and if not, then I doubt you will.
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I’m honestly devastated that I didn’t enjoy this more, considering I had originally given it five stars. This is one of those rare (for me) instances where re-reading is not necessarily a good idea. Interestingly, the stories I don’t remember liking much were my favorites on this readthrough, and vice-versa. It’s interesting to see how my reading tastes have changed over time, and this is very indicative of that. I wish I had read the rest of Russell’s bibliography around the first time I read this, as I think her writing isn’t really for me anymore and it would have been nice to experience it when it was.
By this time we'd found a dirt cellar in which to live in Western Australia, where the sun burned through the clouds like dining lace. That sun ate lakes, rising out of dead volcanoes at dawn, triple the size of a harvest moon and skull-white, a grass-scorcher. Go ahead, try to walk into that sun when you’ve been told your bones are tinder.
My ratings for each story are as follows:
Vampires in the Lemon Grove 4/5
Reeling for the Empire 5/5
The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach, 1979 3/5
Proving Up 2.5/5
The Barn at the End of Our Term 2/5
Dougbert Shackleton’s Rules for Antarctic Tailgating 2/5
The New Veterans 3/5
The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis 4/5
He couldn’t remember the last time he had acted without reservation on a single desire.
The average rating for these is 3.19, which I rounded down to 3. While there were a couple strong stories in here, the ones that didn’t work for me really stood out. I will mention that Reeling for the Empire is an incredible read. I think before I had even read this collection the first time, I had heard an audio version of the story -- meaning this is my third time “reading” it and I still loved it. It becomes more meaningful to me each time.
I was glad he was afraid--I hadn’t known that you could feel so grateful to a friend, for living in fear with you. Fear was otherwise a very lonely place.
There is nothing wrong per se with the stories I didn’t like, and it’s certainly all personal preference. I found the stories I rated on the lower end either needlessly goofy or uncompelling. Proving Up in particular has a lot of promise but unfortunately fell flat for me. I’d definitely recommend this collection to people who like “weird” short fiction, though. There are a lot of fantastic elements that I would say could be categorized as magical realism. If you’ve enjoyed more of Russell’s work, you’ll probably like this and if not, then I doubt you will.
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adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Some great stories mixed with some that are in desperate need of workshopping. Some should’ve never been sent to print. Some are simply writing exercises and nothing more. I would’ve been happier had Russel cut the fat but I can’t deny that when she’s good she’s great. Reeling for the Empire and Proving up were my favorites.
These stories are so unique and creative. There were so many that I enjoyed. There were a couple that were weird and unsettling but still captivating to read. There were a few endings that were open-ended, which I both liked but also go against my desire for tied up endings. The stories stay with you because of how they leave off, your mind wanders to the questions of what actually happened.
Some of them were pretty long in my opinion, but it was like a slow burn to get you absorbed in the new story.
I haven't read anything by Karen Russell before and after this I plan to read her other books. Loved her writing style.
Some of them were pretty long in my opinion, but it was like a slow burn to get you absorbed in the new story.
I haven't read anything by Karen Russell before and after this I plan to read her other books. Loved her writing style.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Just not my style. I did enjoy some of the stories, hence the two stars instead of one. However, I kept searching for the point of the story. Some of them to me, are either not interesting or completely pointless. the few that I like, The Barn at The End of Our Term, The New Veterans, and The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis. The rest were forgettable except for Reeling for the Empire. Than one actually gave me nightmares for days.