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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
loved the first story, the following two weren't really my vibe and I realized that was the trend for the whole collection.
Wasted potential, is what I'd call this. The basic premise behind the stories is interesting, but Russell fails to deliver on them or make them even mildly interesting. At best, they're meandering, at worst they're nearly incomprehensible in their "meaning", whatever it was intended to be. Her detailed, sumptuous prose was delightful to read at first, but quickly grew annoying to me as the stories proved to be very vapid. "Proving Up" was perhaps my personal favorite, as it was legitimately creepy in parts, and I enjoyed the quiet absurdity of "The Barn at the End of Our Term" and "Dougbert Shackleton's Rules for Antarctic Tailgating" (even if it did become a bit grating towards the end), but the rest of the stories I found middling and somewhat tedious.
dark
funny
medium-paced
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
I enjoyed this thought-provoking collection of short stories a lot. By Karen Russell, the author of Swamplandia, the stories contain absurd and often funny fantasy elements -- vampires sinking their fangs into lemons, girls turning into silk worms, former presidents reincarnated as horses, seagulls stealing items from the future, and more. Yet those serve only as starting points for tales that are grounded in vividly portrayed characters and settings. The eight stories, while independent, share thematic connections, exploring ideas of identity, memory, transformation, death, redemption.
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
I read Reeling for the Empire years ago and thought it an excellent short story then. Creepy and thought provoking as a short story should be.
Vampires in the Lemon Grove, The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach 1979, and The New Veterans didn't really do it for me. They were interesting in their way but not gripping.
The Barn at the End of Our Term was both absurdly hilarious and thought provoking.
Dougbert Shackleton's Rules for Antarctic Tailgating introduced a world unfathomable to me. Kinda funny but also v disturbing in its implications.
Proving Up and The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis (and Reeling for the Empire) are horror stories but in an intellectual way that really checks my short story boxes.
Vampires in the Lemon Grove, The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach 1979, and The New Veterans didn't really do it for me. They were interesting in their way but not gripping.
The Barn at the End of Our Term was both absurdly hilarious and thought provoking.
Dougbert Shackleton's Rules for Antarctic Tailgating introduced a world unfathomable to me. Kinda funny but also v disturbing in its implications.
Proving Up and The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis (and Reeling for the Empire) are horror stories but in an intellectual way that really checks my short story boxes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Suicide, War