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lizawall's review
5.0
there's this kind of overblown awkward/itchy/inherently uncomfortable with being alive narrator that i associate with some 19th c ppl i dunno like dostoevsky's underground man or some gogol or like some french guys too and then again a mid-20th c donald barthelme type thing that has just recently been revived in a particular timely/queer way, and i really got that in these stories! god i love that amy sillman cover and honestly the acknowledgments were just like a collective of all my favorite people. i really felt for these narrators, and their extreme desire to connect combined with maybe even more extreme revulsion and fear of connecting. there was a kind of pervasive body hatred/horror that sometimes spilled over into feeling actually misogynistic to me in a way i couldn't quite put my finger on? but honestly i think that feeling was just misreading on my part and something that might be fruitful for me to revisit because there was also a kind of overall narrative empathy or gentleness even holding these self-shaming narrators.
elsayles's review
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Hard to follow stream of conscious
etakloknok's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
chillcox15's review
3.0
On a surface level, I very much did appreciate Jess Arndt's short story collection Large Animals for its wholehearted incorporation of gender dysphoria and queer identities into basically every story in the collection, but the writing style ultimately didn't work for me as much as I wish it did. It seems like Arndt excels at boiling down narrative and language into the barest essentials, which means that each of these stories is usually extremely evocative for their length (usually only a few pages), but they tend to go by so quickly that it's hard to get a grasp on what exactly is going on. I'd maybe give Arndt another shot if/when they publish a long-form narrative, which would give me more time to get into their storytelling rhythm, but for now it's not wholly workin' for me.
syeborg's review
2.0
My queer, nonbinary self just did not enjoy this book. Far too much "isn't it weird having a body?" shit; not enough actual plot in any of the stories. Disappointing.
hollyec's review
2.0
i really loved the particular story ‘Large Animals’ in the collection but mainly i struggled with this one
notlikethebeer's review
4.0
I always find it harder to review short story collections as each individual one can differ so greatly. Large Animals is the same, which isn't a reflection on the author whatsoever, it's just a feature of short story collections I think!
My own favourite was the first story (I've forgotten the name!)- I would looove a whole novel based around the same characters and setting, but equally felt it was perfect in itself. There were some other particularly fantastic stories, but that one was my stand-out!
Regardless of my personal interest or enjoyment of each story, every single one was incredibly well-written, a massive testament to Arendt's skill. In addition, I found all of the characters to be really compelling, and I wanted to know more about all of them.
Given the nature of the work as a whole, being about bodies, and particularly about queer/trans bodies, I kind of liked that not all of them felt relevant or understandable to me. I think twelve people could really easily read this and each connect with a different story, and see their particular favourite as being highly important to them. It feels like an apt metaphor for bodies as a whole, in it's own way, which feels highly fitting for the themes.
Large Animals draws heavily on metaphor and imagery, which was great in itself, and particularly good in relation to the theme of bodies. I also really liked that almost all (if not all?) were portrayed as queer in some way, it was great to read a collection of stories like that!
I think what Arendt does, more than anything, is queers the short story form. This is a new and exciting collection, and it's made me eager to go out and seek more queer fiction that queers fiction. I'm super excited to see what else Arendt writes!!
My own favourite was the first story (I've forgotten the name!)- I would looove a whole novel based around the same characters and setting, but equally felt it was perfect in itself. There were some other particularly fantastic stories, but that one was my stand-out!
Regardless of my personal interest or enjoyment of each story, every single one was incredibly well-written, a massive testament to Arendt's skill. In addition, I found all of the characters to be really compelling, and I wanted to know more about all of them.
Given the nature of the work as a whole, being about bodies, and particularly about queer/trans bodies, I kind of liked that not all of them felt relevant or understandable to me. I think twelve people could really easily read this and each connect with a different story, and see their particular favourite as being highly important to them. It feels like an apt metaphor for bodies as a whole, in it's own way, which feels highly fitting for the themes.
Large Animals draws heavily on metaphor and imagery, which was great in itself, and particularly good in relation to the theme of bodies. I also really liked that almost all (if not all?) were portrayed as queer in some way, it was great to read a collection of stories like that!
I think what Arendt does, more than anything, is queers the short story form. This is a new and exciting collection, and it's made me eager to go out and seek more queer fiction that queers fiction. I'm super excited to see what else Arendt writes!!
lifesaverscandyofficial's review
"When I was young I knew that everything was sentient and I was capable of great harm."
abisesi's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25