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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
This collection was made up of stories set in the slightly fantastical setting of the “fen”, where the lives of protagonists are shaped by the wildness of their surroundings. Some of these stories wove the two well, others I felt were just descriptions of this world and that lost me a bit. I was here for the intersection, the people doing weird things under weird influences, but sometimes I felt like the stories lacked purpose.
From LeVar Burton Reads. I must have missed something because I didn't catch anything special nor do I t understand why he prefaced it with a discussion of the hero's journey.
Starver - 5*
Blood Rites - 4*
A Bruise the Shape and Size of a Door Handle - 5*
How to Lose it - 3*
How to Fuck a Man You Don't Know - 3*
Language - 5*
The Superstition of Albatross - 2*
A Heavy Devotion - 4*
The Scattering: A Story in Three Parts - 3*
Birthing Stones - 4*
The Cull - 3*
The Lighthouse Keeper - 4*
Blood Rites - 4*
A Bruise the Shape and Size of a Door Handle - 5*
How to Lose it - 3*
How to Fuck a Man You Don't Know - 3*
Language - 5*
The Superstition of Albatross - 2*
A Heavy Devotion - 4*
The Scattering: A Story in Three Parts - 3*
Birthing Stones - 4*
The Cull - 3*
The Lighthouse Keeper - 4*
Interesting and also super weird... The short stories kind of nod to one another. Lots of sexual repression, weird landscape/inanimate objects, talking foxes and strange fish. An interesting read but I also felt the whole time like there was some deep metaphorical point just beyond my grasp. The last story about the lighthouse keeper and the fish was my favourite.
medium-paced
Starver - 5*
Blood Rites - 4*
A Bruise the Shape and Size of a Door Handle - 5*
How to Lose it - 3*
How to Fuck a Man You Don't Know - 3*
Language - 5*
The Superstition of Albatross - 2*
A Heavy Devotion - 4*
The Scattering: A Story in Three Parts - 3*
Birthing Stones - 4*
The Cull - 3*
The Lighthouse Keeper - 4*
Blood Rites - 4*
A Bruise the Shape and Size of a Door Handle - 5*
How to Lose it - 3*
How to Fuck a Man You Don't Know - 3*
Language - 5*
The Superstition of Albatross - 2*
A Heavy Devotion - 4*
The Scattering: A Story in Three Parts - 3*
Birthing Stones - 4*
The Cull - 3*
The Lighthouse Keeper - 4*
We're not here for a laugh. We're here for the grim determination, overcast skies, lingering dampness...
We see short stories of pale, young women, searching for love and fulfillment. But their environment is fenland, and most of their socialization occurs in pubs, or while fishing. Some travel to a larger town for their jobs. Others are still teens in school.
No one is happy. No one cracks a joke. No one is surprised if a girl slowly transitions into an eel. Or if her boyfriend is raised from his peat-covered burial plot. Now he walks around the house again, but doesn't talk much. Understandably.
Every story is deliberate and stark. Even as I read simple exchanges, it seems like the characters are meant to be lit via chiaroscuro...
In the morning, she heard the sound of the van driving down the straight rocky path that ran along the spit. Went out to meet it.
You busy? Lionel said, shifting forward.
Yeah. She took the first crate, upping it on her hip. She did not know why he always asked; she felt always busy: out every morning sifting for goods through the sands, scanning the water for something left behind. He didn't think magpie work amounted to much; he didn't know any better.
Not stormy, though, Lionel said, not really, is it?
No. Not stormy, she said—though it had been.
We see short stories of pale, young women, searching for love and fulfillment. But their environment is fenland, and most of their socialization occurs in pubs, or while fishing. Some travel to a larger town for their jobs. Others are still teens in school.
No one is happy. No one cracks a joke. No one is surprised if a girl slowly transitions into an eel. Or if her boyfriend is raised from his peat-covered burial plot. Now he walks around the house again, but doesn't talk much. Understandably.
Every story is deliberate and stark. Even as I read simple exchanges, it seems like the characters are meant to be lit via chiaroscuro...
In the morning, she heard the sound of the van driving down the straight rocky path that ran along the spit. Went out to meet it.
You busy? Lionel said, shifting forward.
Yeah. She took the first crate, upping it on her hip. She did not know why he always asked; she felt always busy: out every morning sifting for goods through the sands, scanning the water for something left behind. He didn't think magpie work amounted to much; he didn't know any better.
Not stormy, though, Lionel said, not really, is it?
No. Not stormy, she said—though it had been.
Another lovely "read" thanks to LaVar Buton Reads. It wasn't the kind of story I usually read but I enjoyed it.