Take a photo of a barcode or cover
1.08k reviews for:
Krótka historia Stowarzyszenia Nieurodziwych Dziewuch i inne opowiadania
Helen Oyeyemi
3.76 AVERAGE
1.08k reviews for:
Krótka historia Stowarzyszenia Nieurodziwych Dziewuch i inne opowiadania
Helen Oyeyemi
3.76 AVERAGE
Three stars isn’t a bad rating and this isn’t a bad short story collection, but I have to say, I’m disappointed. I knew that I liked Helen Oyeyemi’s writing going into this (and I still do!), plus, the blurb sounded super intriguing and all the right people (aka people whose opinions I trust) liked it – all of this combined and I had very high expectations going into this collection. And while there were some pretty great stories, quite a few of them left me more confused than anything else. I don‘t need to have everything spelled out for me, but a little more guidance would've been nice. More often than not, I felt rather lost in stories that combined multiple storylines into one and jumped from character to character – all things that aren't inherently bad, but were executed in a way that made me feel distant from the cast of characters and the narratives. I do think that Oyeyemi has a knack for the whimsical and magical that shines through in these stories. I also really liked that some characters reappeared in more than one story. Overall however, this was a bit of a let-down for me personally.
Gave up. Really sorry, book clubbers. But, I'm gonna die one day, and I just can't waste my precious reading time on stuff that's trying so painfully hard to be weird and shocking.
I would say this is a 2.5 for me.
Books and Roses, Presence, If a Book is Locked where 4 ⭐️
Dornička and the St. Martins Day Goose, Freddy Barrandov and Drownings were 3⭐️
"Sorry", Is your blood, and a Brief History were 1 stars.
The 1⭐️ were so dull or confusing that I almost DNF the book.
I did enjoy how characters are linked between each story. I would enjoy the writing style and get into the story and then it would take a 180 and I'd be lost. Just a bit of a weird book. Best word to describe it, odd.
Books and Roses, Presence, If a Book is Locked where 4 ⭐️
Dornička and the St. Martins Day Goose, Freddy Barrandov and Drownings were 3⭐️
"Sorry", Is your blood, and a Brief History were 1 stars.
The 1⭐️ were so dull or confusing that I almost DNF the book.
I did enjoy how characters are linked between each story. I would enjoy the writing style and get into the story and then it would take a 180 and I'd be lost. Just a bit of a weird book. Best word to describe it, odd.
Helen Oyeyemi is a wizard of a wordsmith and is quickly becoming one of my favorite contemporary writers. Her prose and storytelling is always a rich treat, even when the actual details of the plot go over my head - which happens more often than not, if we're being honest - I'm still enraptured by her skill.
This skill is never more apparent than in this collection of not-quite-related short stories. All revolve around the theme of possession and keys and locks, all are wonderfully diverse, and all are bizarrely beautiful. A few characters can be found disappearing and reappearing throughout multiple narratives, which as soon as I realized made me want to re-read to see just how interconnected they are. Now, as with any short story collection, your enjoyment of the book as a whole can fluctuate wildly - my personal favorites are the opener, Books and Roses, Drownings, and Dornicka and the St. Martin's Day Goose - that those three resonate most strongly with me should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me, as they are the ones that are most directly fairytale in their inspirations - especially Dornicka, as a twisted Red Riding Hood. My least favorite is unfortunately one of the most central in the interconnected plot, Is Your Blood As Red As This?, but I mostly disliked it because puppets are terrifying, not from any lack of quality in the story itself.
This skill is never more apparent than in this collection of not-quite-related short stories. All revolve around the theme of possession and keys and locks, all are wonderfully diverse, and all are bizarrely beautiful. A few characters can be found disappearing and reappearing throughout multiple narratives, which as soon as I realized made me want to re-read to see just how interconnected they are. Now, as with any short story collection, your enjoyment of the book as a whole can fluctuate wildly - my personal favorites are the opener, Books and Roses, Drownings, and Dornicka and the St. Martin's Day Goose - that those three resonate most strongly with me should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me, as they are the ones that are most directly fairytale in their inspirations - especially Dornicka, as a twisted Red Riding Hood. My least favorite is unfortunately one of the most central in the interconnected plot, Is Your Blood As Red As This?, but I mostly disliked it because puppets are terrifying, not from any lack of quality in the story itself.
Do you ever WANT a book to be good so badly that you almost will it into being good? That's how I feel about Helen Oyeyemi's short story collection What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours. It has so many things in it that I love: fairy tales, fabulism, diverse characters, beautiful prose. But somewhere between the book and my brain there was a disconnect. I wanted to love it but I couldn't quite get there.
I read Oyeyemi's novel Boy, Snow, Bird last summer and really enjoyed it. I've noticed that most of her novels tend to be short while her stories are long, most coming in at over 30 pages. Even the longest stories felt like they needed more room with some ending in the middle of the climax, almost like she took the writing rule of cutting the last paragraph or page to the extreme.
Nearly every story is full of layers of plot, backstory, world building, and character lists. I couldn't keep all of the different threads separate in my brain which wasn't helped by many characters showing up in multiple stories. Each story also includes a key somewhere giving the collection as a whole a center of this one symbol. I love that idea and could feel it connecting the narratives, but a sharp image eluded me.
I honestly think Oyeyemi is a brilliant writer maybe almost to a fault. Reading these stories was like being in the mind of someone who has infinite ideas and creativity but not enough control over them. I also understand that I may not have done a fair job as a reader. I read this book quickly, in part because I was so excited about it. I absolutely intend to reread it eventually at which point my feelings may very well change. Until then, I'll continue reading her backlog and keep an eye out on what she does next.
I read Oyeyemi's novel Boy, Snow, Bird last summer and really enjoyed it. I've noticed that most of her novels tend to be short while her stories are long, most coming in at over 30 pages. Even the longest stories felt like they needed more room with some ending in the middle of the climax, almost like she took the writing rule of cutting the last paragraph or page to the extreme.
Nearly every story is full of layers of plot, backstory, world building, and character lists. I couldn't keep all of the different threads separate in my brain which wasn't helped by many characters showing up in multiple stories. Each story also includes a key somewhere giving the collection as a whole a center of this one symbol. I love that idea and could feel it connecting the narratives, but a sharp image eluded me.
I honestly think Oyeyemi is a brilliant writer maybe almost to a fault. Reading these stories was like being in the mind of someone who has infinite ideas and creativity but not enough control over them. I also understand that I may not have done a fair job as a reader. I read this book quickly, in part because I was so excited about it. I absolutely intend to reread it eventually at which point my feelings may very well change. Until then, I'll continue reading her backlog and keep an eye out on what she does next.
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One of my favorite collections of short stories ever! Loved piecing together the stories and all the little threads the author left behind. Can't wait to read more of her books
4.5 stars.
These stories were strange, unexpected, and a little magical. They weren't necessarily related to each other, but they shared themes: locks and keys, puppets, ghosts, fire. And, throughout, main characters from one story would pop up in the background of another, giving them a sense of taking place in the same universe. I'm not a short story lover by nature, but I really liked these!
These stories were strange, unexpected, and a little magical. They weren't necessarily related to each other, but they shared themes: locks and keys, puppets, ghosts, fire. And, throughout, main characters from one story would pop up in the background of another, giving them a sense of taking place in the same universe. I'm not a short story lover by nature, but I really liked these!
As with most short story collections, I struggled to read this in a timely manner, but that's not because the stories were bad or there's anything wrong with it.
I'm a major fan of Oyeyemi's work, and after seeing one of the stories in this book read at a Symphony Space: Selected Shorts series by actress Colby Minifie, I picked it up. Each story is entirely different, though there are common threads and some common characters, and entirely representative of Oyeyemi's weird, beautiful world. I recently reread [b:Mr. Fox|13542601|Mr. Fox|Helen Oyeyemi|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355090788s/13542601.jpg|15237931], and the more I think about that book, I think of it as a very closely-linked set of stories, with some narrative tying them together. While What Is Yours isn't as closely-linked, the stories remain linked in a few ways, with a few characters. And it makes me feel like I did with Mr. Fox - that upon a second reading, I'll have a much greater appreciation for the stories now that I know how they interact with each other.
One thing I love most about Oyeyemi's work is that she won't hesitate to insert feminist thought into her writing, but does so in a way that feels right with the narrative, in her way of knocking you slightly off balance when you think you've become comfortable with a man being terrible. And that's it, I think - in everything of hers I've read, she writes sympathetic male characters who aren't great to women, but the women they interact with, no matter who has the POV, refuse to cut them any slack for it.
I loved this book as much as the rest of them. Smart, interesting, and thoughtful, without being so literary that you find yourself bored with the self-righteous cleverness of the author.
I'm a major fan of Oyeyemi's work, and after seeing one of the stories in this book read at a Symphony Space: Selected Shorts series by actress Colby Minifie, I picked it up. Each story is entirely different, though there are common threads and some common characters, and entirely representative of Oyeyemi's weird, beautiful world. I recently reread [b:Mr. Fox|13542601|Mr. Fox|Helen Oyeyemi|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355090788s/13542601.jpg|15237931], and the more I think about that book, I think of it as a very closely-linked set of stories, with some narrative tying them together. While What Is Yours isn't as closely-linked, the stories remain linked in a few ways, with a few characters. And it makes me feel like I did with Mr. Fox - that upon a second reading, I'll have a much greater appreciation for the stories now that I know how they interact with each other.
One thing I love most about Oyeyemi's work is that she won't hesitate to insert feminist thought into her writing, but does so in a way that feels right with the narrative, in her way of knocking you slightly off balance when you think you've become comfortable with a man being terrible. And that's it, I think - in everything of hers I've read, she writes sympathetic male characters who aren't great to women, but the women they interact with, no matter who has the POV, refuse to cut them any slack for it.
I loved this book as much as the rest of them. Smart, interesting, and thoughtful, without being so literary that you find yourself bored with the self-righteous cleverness of the author.
