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tasmanian_bibliophile's review
5.0
‘Once upon a time there were gods and goddesses.’
If you read a copy of this delightful collection of short stories, you will meet all manner of people, travel to different worlds and encounter new challenges. You may also discover new perspectives in one (or more) of the twenty-six short stories contained between Sherwood Smith’s introduction and Gillian Polack’s thoughts at the end. Me, I am tempted to include a few random quotes such as:
‘Sheila never could resist trying to live every role she was allocated.’
Why? Because reading these stories invite you to think about life, and lives.
Or how about this:
‘There were still areas of her mind which were like the wind-whistled house behind the cat—inaccessible.’
The inaccessible mind is a favourite space of mine, and I don’t even need a cat. I liked the first image that the wind-whistled house conjured up, but I can find others which I might like less.
But perhaps the most powerful story, the one which will stay with me is the very brief (less than one page) ‘Being Other’.
It starts with:
‘I am the Other. I am the person you do not see. I am the person you make decisions for.’
In very few words, Gillian Polack can convey that sense of invisibility which is part of othering, of exclusion. And there’s a warning.
If you like reading complex short stories, if you want to explore fantasy and reality then you may also enjoy this collection. I loved it!
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
If you read a copy of this delightful collection of short stories, you will meet all manner of people, travel to different worlds and encounter new challenges. You may also discover new perspectives in one (or more) of the twenty-six short stories contained between Sherwood Smith’s introduction and Gillian Polack’s thoughts at the end. Me, I am tempted to include a few random quotes such as:
‘Sheila never could resist trying to live every role she was allocated.’
Why? Because reading these stories invite you to think about life, and lives.
Or how about this:
‘There were still areas of her mind which were like the wind-whistled house behind the cat—inaccessible.’
The inaccessible mind is a favourite space of mine, and I don’t even need a cat. I liked the first image that the wind-whistled house conjured up, but I can find others which I might like less.
But perhaps the most powerful story, the one which will stay with me is the very brief (less than one page) ‘Being Other’.
It starts with:
‘I am the Other. I am the person you do not see. I am the person you make decisions for.’
In very few words, Gillian Polack can convey that sense of invisibility which is part of othering, of exclusion. And there’s a warning.
If you like reading complex short stories, if you want to explore fantasy and reality then you may also enjoy this collection. I loved it!
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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