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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
dark
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War
Minor: Cancer, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail
This was another one of those "random" books I picked up from the new book shelf at our local library. The title intrigued me, of course. Then, as I began reading the first, and title, story (it's a book of short stories), I realized that I had read that particular story before. Sure enough, "Vampires in the Lemon Grove" (the story) was previously published in another collection called Vampires: The Recent Undead. It features a couple who have spent their time as vampires, trying to come up with ways to satisfy their thirst without drinking blood.
The rest of the stories in this delightful book, I have never read before, of course. "Reeling for the Empire" is an extremely disturbing tale of young girls who have been signed away to become, more or less, human silkworms. Basically sold away as slaves, they spend the rest of their brief lives "reeling" (spinning silk created inside their bodies), until one of them discovers a skill that she has that is a "game changer."
In "The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach, 1979," Young Nal stumbles on a tree hollow where this unusual gathering of seagulls seems to be deposing scavenged "treasure." The strange thing is that this treasure all seems to be from the future. One particular piece of treasure helps him in his quest to win a girl that his older brother has been seeing.
"Proving Up" reminds me of stories from Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Families have moved to a destitute area of Nebraska, with promise of visits from a yet unproven "Inspector," who can grant homestead licenses, based on a set of criteria, one of which is that the homestead must possess a "real glass window." Unfortunately, there seems to be only one of those in the land. The Zegner family, current owners of this window, have a plan to trick the Inspector by sharing this window. The boy chosen to ride to a neighboring homestead encounters some unexpected and unusual circumstances.
"The Barn at the End of Our Term" is a charming story that presents an alternate reality where ex-Presidents become horses when they die.
"Dougbert Shackleton's Rules for Antarctic Tailgating" is a strange and creepy story about cheering on the ultimate underdog in what they call the "Food Chain Games," that being Team Krill.
"The New Veterans" is about a professional masseuse who gets a new customer because of a bill passed to get free massages in PTSD treatments. This new customer has a very strange tattoo on his back.
Finally, "The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis" illustrates the truth of "what goes around, comes around." It is, perhaps, the most frightening story in the bunch.
Ms. Russell has presented a group of tales that is as diverse as any group of short stories I've ever seen. She uses a variety of writing styles that holds the interest. I believe all of these stories would fit into a genre of supernatural writing, residing somewhere on the border between horror and fantasy. I will definitely seek out more of her work.
The rest of the stories in this delightful book, I have never read before, of course. "Reeling for the Empire" is an extremely disturbing tale of young girls who have been signed away to become, more or less, human silkworms. Basically sold away as slaves, they spend the rest of their brief lives "reeling" (spinning silk created inside their bodies), until one of them discovers a skill that she has that is a "game changer."
In "The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach, 1979," Young Nal stumbles on a tree hollow where this unusual gathering of seagulls seems to be deposing scavenged "treasure." The strange thing is that this treasure all seems to be from the future. One particular piece of treasure helps him in his quest to win a girl that his older brother has been seeing.
"Proving Up" reminds me of stories from Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Families have moved to a destitute area of Nebraska, with promise of visits from a yet unproven "Inspector," who can grant homestead licenses, based on a set of criteria, one of which is that the homestead must possess a "real glass window." Unfortunately, there seems to be only one of those in the land. The Zegner family, current owners of this window, have a plan to trick the Inspector by sharing this window. The boy chosen to ride to a neighboring homestead encounters some unexpected and unusual circumstances.
"The Barn at the End of Our Term" is a charming story that presents an alternate reality where ex-Presidents become horses when they die.
"Dougbert Shackleton's Rules for Antarctic Tailgating" is a strange and creepy story about cheering on the ultimate underdog in what they call the "Food Chain Games," that being Team Krill.
"The New Veterans" is about a professional masseuse who gets a new customer because of a bill passed to get free massages in PTSD treatments. This new customer has a very strange tattoo on his back.
Finally, "The Graveless Doll of Eric Mutis" illustrates the truth of "what goes around, comes around." It is, perhaps, the most frightening story in the bunch.
Ms. Russell has presented a group of tales that is as diverse as any group of short stories I've ever seen. She uses a variety of writing styles that holds the interest. I believe all of these stories would fit into a genre of supernatural writing, residing somewhere on the border between horror and fantasy. I will definitely seek out more of her work.
The short stories ranged from frustrating to unforgettable with a lot of crossover in between. Russell's prose is excellent.
Short stories can be hit and miss, especially in a collection where transition from one to the next can be jarring. VAMPIRES IN THE LEMON GROVE had more hits than misses for me. It’s the sort of fantasy/magical realism/horror hybrid which is my perfect storm and a balance I hope to strike one day as an author.
Also as an author, it’s nice to read collections like these and remember that taste is subjective, especially in short story markets, and that I should not give up on putting those stories out because of rejections.
Also as an author, it’s nice to read collections like these and remember that taste is subjective, especially in short story markets, and that I should not give up on putting those stories out because of rejections.
Most stories were 3 to 4 stars, except for the titular story, which was of course 5 stars. They got weird in that Karen Russell way I love. The presidential horses one was a particular favorite.
most of these stories are fucking fantastic. i am not done with the last one, but i had a lot of trouble with the teenage boy voice she was using, and i thought the shackleton tailgating bit was funny but that it could have used more than just easy jokes, and its intimations at a deeper life and sadness could have been solved by just reading how barthelme does it, or just being the sort of person who makes desperate and highly involved jokes to stave off their own unavoidable depression, which always comes back, a sort of well that that rises up and then we see it and we say, oh, oh there is that, that is not what i was expecting but i should have, and we either stare at it or its gone, that's it, goodbye, but i mean, here i am trying to impose my will on a story someone else wrote, so what do i know. i liked the veteran story but i didn't love it. my feelings for the whaling story are stated above. the first 5 or 6 stories or whatever are real good. the seagull one was incredibly. it touched me. a lot. and the homesteader one was so surprising. and the first two were awesome. so there's that.
Short story collections are usually hit or miss for me so I knew I was taking a chance when I checked this book out at the library. There were some stories I loved (like the one about the silk worms) and some that just didn't strike my fancy at all. If you like short story collections, this one is a pretty good one. There's some odd, weird and down right fantastical things in it that are wonderful. Over all, most of the stories just weren't my cup of tea.
Karen Russell's second short story collection. Standouts: "Reeling for the Empire," in which young girls in feudal Japan are sold and transmuted into half-human silkworms in a silk factory, and "The Barn at the End of our Term," about a barn full of former presidents who have been reincarnated as horses.
I had to give it three stars due to the complete snooze fest some of the stories turned out to be. It's honestly worth the read though, for the title story, Vampires In The Lemon Grove, Reeling for the Empire, and the Barn at the End of Our Term.
Some lovely and unsettling writing here. I think you either like Russell or you don't. I do.