Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
With a bold mixture of magical realism and unflinching frankness, Daisy Johnson guides readers into the brooding fenlands of England. Fen: Stories uses the wetlands fed by underground springs to tie together her remarkable stories.
The setting is central to her work; as Johnson has said in an interview, the fen "is not the coast. It is land that dreams of being coast." Similarly, her characters are not quite one thing, instead they dream of being something else. She adds, "The women in these stories feel the way the land does. As if they're missing something." In "Starver," a seemingly typical teenager stops eating. Instead of the expected tale of anorexia, the girl transforms into an eel and is reverently deposited in canal.
A theme of language weaves throughout the collection. In "Heavy Devotion," a messiah-like child learns to speak by taking words and memories from his mother. "The stealings," as she calls them, begins with the words she needs most, and ends with the inability to remember her name or "the sense of things." Johnson observes that "language spoken [in the fen] isn't the same as in other places; it's taken over, changed or destroyed entirely."
The women in these stories drink and smoke and swear and have sex and make bad choices. "A story seemed to find its place here when it did not look away from what was coming. I'm not sure our literary words should be for soothing." Johnson's next offering will be eagerly awaited after this strong and fearless debut.
-reviewed for Shelf Awareness 5/30/17
The setting is central to her work; as Johnson has said in an interview, the fen "is not the coast. It is land that dreams of being coast." Similarly, her characters are not quite one thing, instead they dream of being something else. She adds, "The women in these stories feel the way the land does. As if they're missing something." In "Starver," a seemingly typical teenager stops eating. Instead of the expected tale of anorexia, the girl transforms into an eel and is reverently deposited in canal.
A theme of language weaves throughout the collection. In "Heavy Devotion," a messiah-like child learns to speak by taking words and memories from his mother. "The stealings," as she calls them, begins with the words she needs most, and ends with the inability to remember her name or "the sense of things." Johnson observes that "language spoken [in the fen] isn't the same as in other places; it's taken over, changed or destroyed entirely."
The women in these stories drink and smoke and swear and have sex and make bad choices. "A story seemed to find its place here when it did not look away from what was coming. I'm not sure our literary words should be for soothing." Johnson's next offering will be eagerly awaited after this strong and fearless debut.
-reviewed for Shelf Awareness 5/30/17
I really enjoyed Johnson's writing throughout Fen. Her prose is just gorgeous in a stark, consuming sort of way. And the setting is just glorious. I absolutely love how the stories revolve around the fen landscape and The Fox and Hound. The way the characters are connected throughout these short stories are interesting as well. Connected might not be the correct term exactly, but the way they pop up throughout other stories is really fun and the connections make sense.
The only reason this isn't a 5 star read for me is simply because a lot of the stories left me wanting more. It felt that Johnson enjoys leaving her stories in the middle, particularly her last story. I just wanted more and I think that's a good thing, but it's also a frustrating thing as a reader to never feel that you've gotten enough of the story to feel satisfied.
I would recommend Johnson to anyone who likes the surreal and creepy, to anyone who is a feminist, and to anyone who just enjoys a damn good read.
The only reason this isn't a 5 star read for me is simply because a lot of the stories left me wanting more. It felt that Johnson enjoys leaving her stories in the middle, particularly her last story. I just wanted more and I think that's a good thing, but it's also a frustrating thing as a reader to never feel that you've gotten enough of the story to feel satisfied.
I would recommend Johnson to anyone who likes the surreal and creepy, to anyone who is a feminist, and to anyone who just enjoys a damn good read.
Real people live their lives here. They wrestle with familiar instincts, with sex and desire, with everyday routine. But the wild is always close at hand, ready to erupt. This is a place where animals and people commingle and fuse, where curious metamorphoses take place, where myth and dark magic still linger. So here a teenager may starve herself into the shape of an eel. A house might fall in love with a girl. A woman might give birth to a – well what?
Daisy Johnson's book came to me by chance. I retweeted a contest, didn't know what books to say I liked, and was given a surprise bundle. The moment I read the blurb, I knew I had to read it. So I've been dipping in and out. Female protagonists each find themselves rooted in a British landscape that's familiar, but surrounded by a world that isn't.
From absorbing personalities of prey, to a house that - as the blurb suggests - might fall in love with a girl, there's a dark magic that touches her stories. After writing this, I'm going back to re-read Languages before moving onto the next book, because I think it's possibly my favourite thing I've read this year. Such a striking story.
Fen is on one hand ordinary. There's couples, sex, pubs, marriage. But within that, she weaves tales of magic and darkness, of inexplicable things, underpinned with something you understand. A longing, a need, that's ordinary, but works with the otherworldly.
tl;dr. I really bloody like this book.
Daisy Johnson's book came to me by chance. I retweeted a contest, didn't know what books to say I liked, and was given a surprise bundle. The moment I read the blurb, I knew I had to read it. So I've been dipping in and out. Female protagonists each find themselves rooted in a British landscape that's familiar, but surrounded by a world that isn't.
From absorbing personalities of prey, to a house that - as the blurb suggests - might fall in love with a girl, there's a dark magic that touches her stories. After writing this, I'm going back to re-read Languages before moving onto the next book, because I think it's possibly my favourite thing I've read this year. Such a striking story.
Fen is on one hand ordinary. There's couples, sex, pubs, marriage. But within that, she weaves tales of magic and darkness, of inexplicable things, underpinned with something you understand. A longing, a need, that's ordinary, but works with the otherworldly.
tl;dr. I really bloody like this book.
An impressive off-kilter short story collection mainly focused on women with an almost liminal animalistic nature
Favorite stories were A Bruise the Shape and Size of a Door Handle, Language, and Birthing Stones
Favorite stories were A Bruise the Shape and Size of a Door Handle, Language, and Birthing Stones
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I enjoyed these stories more than the longer tale I've read from her recently, however there were a lot of the same themes. Some of the stories I enjoyed with their blend of magic-realism, but none of them really stood out.
Man, I need to talk about this with someone. It's lower class and horrifying and earthy and desolate and the way she writes is fascinating. Minimal dialogue and only obliquely touching any plot. But it has such a secure sense of place.
I'm still mulling it over if no one can tell.
I'm still mulling it over if no one can tell.
This is a story of a woman who defies society stereotypes. It is a quiet read with fantastical elements embedded through the narrative. Listened via Levar Burton reads who did a great job.
“Fen” is a collection of short stories written by Daisy Johnson, an author from the UK. It’s the first collection of short stories I’ve ever read before and to be honest it’s turned me onto reading more collections.
With all of the grotesqueness of life played out in the fantastic or as Johnson says the ‘liminal’ - a spot in between real and unreal - the lives of women are exposed. Relationships with parents, siblings, sexual partners, mistakes (im)permanent, and the places people find themselves in are all found between the covers of the book. And with each unfolding story, there are hidden gems scattered throughout as Johnson writes her stories with a poetry with tremendous feeling. I ended up rereading a couple of the stories trying to piece together the different ways you could interpret the characters, their words, and their motivations. It’s certainly a book worth rediscovering in the future.
Two things “Fen” builds on are change and stagnation and how it touches everyone. And I loved the different ways these things came out in the stories all the way up to the end.
If you’re a fan of contemporary fiction, short stories, or that liminal space in stories, I’d certainly recommend you check out “Fen.”
With all of the grotesqueness of life played out in the fantastic or as Johnson says the ‘liminal’ - a spot in between real and unreal - the lives of women are exposed. Relationships with parents, siblings, sexual partners, mistakes (im)permanent, and the places people find themselves in are all found between the covers of the book. And with each unfolding story, there are hidden gems scattered throughout as Johnson writes her stories with a poetry with tremendous feeling. I ended up rereading a couple of the stories trying to piece together the different ways you could interpret the characters, their words, and their motivations. It’s certainly a book worth rediscovering in the future.
Two things “Fen” builds on are change and stagnation and how it touches everyone. And I loved the different ways these things came out in the stories all the way up to the end.
If you’re a fan of contemporary fiction, short stories, or that liminal space in stories, I’d certainly recommend you check out “Fen.”