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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
I heard the author read part of a story on NPR. I missed the title, the author's name, everything. Just came into the beginning of the story. I drove till it was over and went home and just hoped that I could google enough to figure it out and I'm so glad I did! As with most books of short stories there are some I like more than others, but I liked them all. The had just enough oddity that they didn't turn me off, but intrigued me. The characters, even when they wre supernatural, were so human that I, a serious realist, didn't care that they happened to be vampires. Normally that stops me from being able to go along with a story, but not in this case. Such crafsmanship is just a pleasure to read.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
I'm a fan of short stories. This book is a solid collection that I would recommend to a friend. It's a selfish recommendation because I'd like someone to talk to about the stories, their themes, and what we're left to interpret. The standouts for me are Reeling for the Empire, New Veterans, and the Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis. The stories are written with beautiful detail, but I found myself skipping a few pages to get to the action, even in the stories I did like. This is a collection I could see myself revisiting a few times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
I haven't given a new short story collection 5 stars in a while (ever?), but this one hit me right where I like it. It was at a solid 4 stars all the way through, but the last two stories? Just...wow. I'm already feeling haunted by The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis. I can't remember the last time I highlighted this many gorgeous sentences. Russell's prose, especially in this last story is exquisite.
“Reeling for the Empire”, a story about young women in Japan during the Meiji empire who are conscripted to spin silk in a factory and find themselves permanently altered by the commitment, stands out as a potent example of why I fell in love with this collection so quickly.
The story touches on all my sweet spots- magical fantasy, introspective and fascinating female protagonists, and my favorite pet fascination with Russell in particular – the female protagonist who believes herself to be the agent of her own undoing. Russell has written this type of character before in Swamplandia and in St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, a character who is struggling to understand the cause of her great transformative trauma, and to devise a way to transcend it. The meditation on regret in this iteration is especially captivating, and the narrator distills her understanding of it beautifully when she explains “Regret is a pilgrimage back to the place where I was free to choose.” How lovely and apt to think of regret, or any internal processing of memory or imagination as a journey, and especially to view the kind that you must repeat and revisit as pilgrimages. For gems like this it’s been a joy to watch the author develop over time, and as with all my favorite authors I derive as much pleasure watching them negotiate and construct recurring themes over the course of their careers. In this way, Russell joins my list contemporary authors whose new works will always have a spot reserved on my “To Read” shelf.
“Reeling for the Empire”, a story about young women in Japan during the Meiji empire who are conscripted to spin silk in a factory and find themselves permanently altered by the commitment, stands out as a potent example of why I fell in love with this collection so quickly.
The story touches on all my sweet spots- magical fantasy, introspective and fascinating female protagonists, and my favorite pet fascination with Russell in particular – the female protagonist who believes herself to be the agent of her own undoing. Russell has written this type of character before in Swamplandia and in St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, a character who is struggling to understand the cause of her great transformative trauma, and to devise a way to transcend it. The meditation on regret in this iteration is especially captivating, and the narrator distills her understanding of it beautifully when she explains “Regret is a pilgrimage back to the place where I was free to choose.” How lovely and apt to think of regret, or any internal processing of memory or imagination as a journey, and especially to view the kind that you must repeat and revisit as pilgrimages. For gems like this it’s been a joy to watch the author develop over time, and as with all my favorite authors I derive as much pleasure watching them negotiate and construct recurring themes over the course of their careers. In this way, Russell joins my list contemporary authors whose new works will always have a spot reserved on my “To Read” shelf.
Meh.... Most of the stories were just too boring to keep going.
I thoroughly enjoy the imagination put into these stories not only for how playful they are, but how they force you to ask yourself important questions. Like, what does it mean to take vows of marriage - till death do you part - when you are a vampire who will never die, but will still change as a person through each 'lifetime'? Fascinatingly crafted hard questions.
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
This collection of odd eccentric stories was a disappointment for me. No doubt that Karen Russell knows how to work with words in a very original way, but the story telling wasn't always clear. A few I was left pondering "what did I just read". I did enjoy about half of the stories, but they did leave me yearning for more of an ending. It really helped me at the end to read the book group discussion questions as she draws parallels across the stories. I would not have seen those and it added to the stories when I realized how they connected in different ways.
If someone attempted to line up all the different kind of monsters in order to write an abecedary of loneliness, they could no better than to start right here with Karen Russell's odd lot of characters. Despite disliking Swamplandia, I decided to give Russell another read after hearing her interviewed on stage recently. She is clearly a brilliant writer who has peculiar insight into the darker recesses of the mind. Expect the unexpected.
Of the 8 shorts in this collection two really stuck with me afterwards. The Barn at the End of Our Term (which was both hilarious and poignant) and The New Veterans. All the stories made me nervous with a sort of dread that a stormy sky portends. Karen Russell has a wicked imagination!
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Here’s a quick story-by-story. btw, my overall rating was the mean between my ratings for each individual story.
VAMPIRES IN THE LEMON GROVE:
⭐️⭐️⭐️
a bit hard to understand, but a very interesting concept. the ending, if i understood it correctly, was really well done and heartbreaking. interesting metaphor for addiction and mental illness.
REELING FOR THE EMPIRE:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
such a disturbing concept, really brilliantly handled. interesting intrahistoria concept (thank you AP Spanish for that one). had a satisfying but not totally closed ending, which i appreciate in a short story.
THE SEAGULL ARMY:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
struggling with self awareness hit a little too hard. had to reread quite a bit, but i got there. much longer than the others, and the seagull part didnt really become relevant until late in the story. really a story of insecurity and adolescence.
PROVING UP:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
wow that was scary as shit. wish they answered more questions in the end, but it was so well done and horrifying in so many ways…..
THE BARN AT THE END OF OUR TERM:
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2
that was a weird one. craziest concept i’ve possibly ever read, but somehow really good? and kind of interesting?
ANTARCTIC TAILGATING:
⭐️⭐️
nothing special. i feel like i’m missing something.
THE NEW VETERANS:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
heartbreaking and a fascinating concept. really well written.
THE GRAVELESS DOLL:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
this one was brilliant. just amazing. i don’t even know where to begin. such a good closing story.
VAMPIRES IN THE LEMON GROVE:
⭐️⭐️⭐️
a bit hard to understand, but a very interesting concept. the ending, if i understood it correctly, was really well done and heartbreaking. interesting metaphor for addiction and mental illness.
REELING FOR THE EMPIRE:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
such a disturbing concept, really brilliantly handled. interesting intrahistoria concept (thank you AP Spanish for that one). had a satisfying but not totally closed ending, which i appreciate in a short story.
THE SEAGULL ARMY:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
struggling with self awareness hit a little too hard. had to reread quite a bit, but i got there. much longer than the others, and the seagull part didnt really become relevant until late in the story. really a story of insecurity and adolescence.
PROVING UP:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
wow that was scary as shit. wish they answered more questions in the end, but it was so well done and horrifying in so many ways…..
THE BARN AT THE END OF OUR TERM:
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2
that was a weird one. craziest concept i’ve possibly ever read, but somehow really good? and kind of interesting?
ANTARCTIC TAILGATING:
⭐️⭐️
nothing special. i feel like i’m missing something.
THE NEW VETERANS:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
heartbreaking and a fascinating concept. really well written.
THE GRAVELESS DOLL:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
this one was brilliant. just amazing. i don’t even know where to begin. such a good closing story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Murder