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bithikahalder's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.0
antimony's review against another edition
3.0
this was a weird reading experience where each story I would think "I guess I liked that well enough" then read the next story and realize oh. no I didn't. this one was much better. this was an especially prevalent feeling towards the beginning. a lot of the stories felt like there should be more to them like they weren't quite complete...i don't know if it's a me thing but a lot of them felt like there was a lot more context we werent seeing. my favs were The Narrow Way and You Glow in the Dark.
<b>the cave:</b> I did like the way time was treated as nonlinear in this or perhaps technological progress was? you go from a prehistoric story to one where the character has a phone to more that feel like the distant past to space travel. and I did like that. but also I was SOOOO confused at all the vignettes because they were too short.
<b>atomito:</b> this one had its interesting bits. I had trouble keeping the characters straight but I did like the little vignette that was like Hi, I'm Atomito here to show you around the power plant! We aren't allowed in this part but trust that I sneak in anyway. And now in this room filled with dangerous gas I will light a match.... I wanted more in that vein and that direction and didn't quite get the dancing Orki situation. perhaps if the story was longer it would have felt more coherent.
<b>the debt:</b> this one was better because I really disliked the vignette situation going on in the first two. i do think that the relief of that being over made me more fond of this story than I would have been otherwise.
<b>chaco:</b> this one I did like. it was weird and interesting. in my notes I wrote "But did feel complete?" and I'm not sure why that has a question mark after it..
<b> the greenest eyes:</b> I liked this one as well. perhaps short and sweet is the wrong word but short and classic? and it did feel one hundred percent complete.
<b>the narrow way:</b> my favorite. I always love a cult story!!!
<b>you glow in the dark:</b> one of the reasons I picked this book up was bc I read the authors note in the library and thought the whole book was inspired by the radiological incident. alas it was not:( but I still enjoyed this story that was. because of my lingering obsession from 2020 with nuclear waste storage and a penchant for things strange and radioactive..
<b>the cave:</b> I did like the way time was treated as nonlinear in this or perhaps technological progress was? you go from a prehistoric story to one where the character has a phone to more that feel like the distant past to space travel. and I did like that. but also I was SOOOO confused at all the vignettes because they were too short.
<b>atomito:</b> this one had its interesting bits. I had trouble keeping the characters straight but I did like the little vignette that was like Hi, I'm Atomito here to show you around the power plant! We aren't allowed in this part but trust that I sneak in anyway. And now in this room filled with dangerous gas I will light a match.... I wanted more in that vein and that direction and didn't quite get the dancing Orki situation. perhaps if the story was longer it would have felt more coherent.
<b>the debt:</b> this one was better because I really disliked the vignette situation going on in the first two. i do think that the relief of that being over made me more fond of this story than I would have been otherwise.
<b>chaco:</b> this one I did like. it was weird and interesting. in my notes I wrote "But did feel complete?" and I'm not sure why that has a question mark after it..
<b> the greenest eyes:</b> I liked this one as well. perhaps short and sweet is the wrong word but short and classic? and it did feel one hundred percent complete.
<b>the narrow way:</b> my favorite. I always love a cult story!!!
<b>you glow in the dark:</b> one of the reasons I picked this book up was bc I read the authors note in the library and thought the whole book was inspired by the radiological incident. alas it was not:( but I still enjoyed this story that was. because of my lingering obsession from 2020 with nuclear waste storage and a penchant for things strange and radioactive..
ktjawrites's review against another edition
5.0
Strange and unrelenting and singular.
+
“She didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. Hardly anything, in fact: just the gentle flutter of memories escaping her, an incapacity to summon up the textures of jungle fruit and the faces of the village children, long-treasured images fading away, like the ribbon of starry sky between the branches of the trees…”
+
“She didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. Hardly anything, in fact: just the gentle flutter of memories escaping her, an incapacity to summon up the textures of jungle fruit and the faces of the village children, long-treasured images fading away, like the ribbon of starry sky between the branches of the trees…”
emr158's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
dukegregory's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
Flash fiction meets the short story, except most of these narratives surprise you by bridging the primordial and the futuristic, like the whole past-present-future lineage of human experience circumnavigates into contemporary communal disaster. A couple of the short pieces were weak, but the longer, broken-up stories really excite in their range and ecstatic precision of eccentric detail.
Flash fiction meets the short story, except most of these narratives surprise you by bridging the primordial and the futuristic, like the whole past-present-future lineage of human experience circumnavigates into contemporary communal disaster. A couple of the short pieces were weak, but the longer, broken-up stories really excite in their range and ecstatic precision of eccentric detail.
smuds2's review against another edition
3.0
Picked up on a whim from the library. I don't generally like Short Story collections, and for some reason I assumed they were all loosely interconnected before i picked up the book... but alas...
Anyways -- the first story in the book is heart wrenching, but I think does a good job setting the tone for the rest of the book. A bit dreamy, fantastical, and a kind of unsentimental violence that feels almost like a fact of life unfortunately thrust on the character by an external force (in the first story, nature, in others, forces of capital).
The second story followed a very similar theme, but this time, it was the abuse experienced by a woman directly at the hands of a partner. Equally unsentimental violence, equally fantastical.
The next story was perhaps my favorite, a collection of characters, all with vaguely unexplained experiences or powers, all reacting to an event.
After that, I felt like the storys blended together and felt significantly more unfocussed (although, that could be my fault for not reading them carefully enough).
I think I would recommend the 1, 2, 3, and 4th story to others. The rest... not so much.
Anyways -- the first story in the book is heart wrenching, but I think does a good job setting the tone for the rest of the book. A bit dreamy, fantastical, and a kind of unsentimental violence that feels almost like a fact of life unfortunately thrust on the character by an external force (in the first story, nature, in others, forces of capital).
The second story followed a very similar theme, but this time, it was the abuse experienced by a woman directly at the hands of a partner. Equally unsentimental violence, equally fantastical.
The next story was perhaps my favorite, a collection of characters, all with vaguely unexplained experiences or powers, all reacting to an event.
After that, I felt like the storys blended together and felt significantly more unfocussed (although, that could be my fault for not reading them carefully enough).
I think I would recommend the 1, 2, 3, and 4th story to others. The rest... not so much.
raru's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
admorobo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lqueijo's review
4.0
Vencedora do prémio “Ribera del Duero” (vale o que vale), Liliana Colanzi deixa-nos uns quantos contos duma crueza extrema. Pessoas que vivem em lugares inóspitos e desolados, crianças e movessem afectos e cujas condições de vida não auspiciam futuros risonhos (e grande parte das vezes, nem futuros) e, inclusivamente, uma caverna fazem parte dos personagens principais de contos que se debruçam sobre a vida nas margens de sociedades de consumo onde quem não tem recursos e instrução são “atropelados” nos seus direitos fundamentais e, completamente, ostracizados.
Ainda que muitos dos contos terminem de forma abrupta e fiquem “em suspenso” (o que vai sendo moda nos dias que correm e que me faça, cada vez mais, ver este género literário como “relato” e não “conto” ou “história curta”), o que detesto, as descrições e construção de personagens são bastante boas fazendo dele (ainda que desconheça os restantes) um bom candidato a vencedor de qualquer prémio nesta categoria.
A ler, definitivamente.
Ainda que muitos dos contos terminem de forma abrupta e fiquem “em suspenso” (o que vai sendo moda nos dias que correm e que me faça, cada vez mais, ver este género literário como “relato” e não “conto” ou “história curta”), o que detesto, as descrições e construção de personagens são bastante boas fazendo dele (ainda que desconheça os restantes) um bom candidato a vencedor de qualquer prémio nesta categoria.
A ler, definitivamente.
kalin_grace's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5