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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
I would so recommend this as a starting point for all new, soon to be, Charles de Lint fans!
(I didn't start here but don't worry, I managed fine anyway!)
This collection of stories wets the appetite and makes you want to know more about Newford and the city that seems to be just a bit closer to the fay and the faerie than our own.
Warning: It will get you hooked on urban fantasy!
(I didn't start here but don't worry, I managed fine anyway!)
This collection of stories wets the appetite and makes you want to know more about Newford and the city that seems to be just a bit closer to the fay and the faerie than our own.
Warning: It will get you hooked on urban fantasy!
A wonderful collection of fantastical stories that are unlike anything I've read before. I had delayed reading this for years and am sorry it took me so long to finally getting around to reading it. If it weren't for having to read a short story as part of a reading challenge, I would have probably continued to push this to the bottom of the list.
It's hard to assign a single rating to a short story collection. Some stories were very good -- and some rather bad. But as a whole, my rating is a firm "it was okay."
The structure is strange to me: it begins with the longest and (I think) the weakest story in the bunch. While it does set the tone well, it's not an interesting story on its own, and it was a bit of a turnoff as someone who had never read de Lint before. "The Stone Drum" is better, I thought, evoking a rich world, and "Timeskip" is a short and beautiful piece that stands on its own well.
"That Explains Poland" could have been one of my favorites from the collection, but the whimsical story is marred by a cringe-inducing use of dialect by the narrator.
I'll skip over most stories because I don't have anything to say about them: I didn't like them; I didn't hate them. And this is where my rating comes from: it's too inconsistent. There are too many forgettable stories. But there are good ones as well!
"Pity the Monsters" is the shortest story in the bunch (beating "Timeskip" by a single page), and I felt that it worked really well. Just a nice, dark story. And for once the dark tone was not set because a female orphan suffered sexual abuse, which happens... more than necessary, I think. So much that it starts to feel like a lazy character device.
"Our Lady of the Harbor" was just a re-telling of Andersen's "The Little Mermaid," and while it had one interesting character, it was the second-longest story in the book and didn't really add to the rest of the collection (knowing exactly where it's going takes some of the fun out of it, I think).
"Paperjack" was a very good longer story that called back directly to a previous story in the collection, which I liked.
Alright. I'm done throwing out contextless opinions on stories you haven't read.
No, wait, one last thing: there are two original stories in this collection. One is "Small Deaths," where for much of the story they're trying to figure out what "small death" means, and there is not one mention of la petite mort. It just felt weird. I was expecting that shoe to drop any minute, and he just blew right past it. The other original story is "In the House of My Enemy," a perfect example of his character building via female sexual abuse (it grows tiring).
I have a minor gripe with the whole book: too many stories have a single hit-you-over-the-head message: magic is real if you just believe in it, but people choose not to. While I don't object to the thought, and I understand that that's the common theme of the stories, it's frequently spelled out too explicitly. Reading one story after another that states its moral word-for-word made my eyes roll a little bit. But this is forgivable: the stories were written independently, not meant to be read in succession like this.
Another minor gripe: there are many references to Irish traditional music, and I feel that they are a bit... self-indulgent. Reading it, I got the impression that de Lint himself plays the fiddle or bouzouki or flute, and he speaks of it in... unnecessary detail. I doubt that the average reader much cares about the common keys used in Irish music or knows the difference between a jig and a reel. Or, maybe, I don't know. It's a minor complaint.
Mechanically, de Lint is a good writer. His prose isn't flashy, it's direct and well-paced. With the exception of the Spanish in "That Explains Poland," there's nothing to complain about there. As my first introduction to his work, Dreams Underfoot is a mixed bag, but I would consider reading one of his novels.
The structure is strange to me: it begins with the longest and (I think) the weakest story in the bunch. While it does set the tone well, it's not an interesting story on its own, and it was a bit of a turnoff as someone who had never read de Lint before. "The Stone Drum" is better, I thought, evoking a rich world, and "Timeskip" is a short and beautiful piece that stands on its own well.
"That Explains Poland" could have been one of my favorites from the collection, but the whimsical story is marred by a cringe-inducing use of dialect by the narrator.
I'll skip over most stories because I don't have anything to say about them: I didn't like them; I didn't hate them. And this is where my rating comes from: it's too inconsistent. There are too many forgettable stories. But there are good ones as well!
"Pity the Monsters" is the shortest story in the bunch (beating "Timeskip" by a single page), and I felt that it worked really well. Just a nice, dark story. And for once the dark tone was not set because a female orphan suffered sexual abuse, which happens... more than necessary, I think. So much that it starts to feel like a lazy character device.
"Our Lady of the Harbor" was just a re-telling of Andersen's "The Little Mermaid," and while it had one interesting character, it was the second-longest story in the book and didn't really add to the rest of the collection (knowing exactly where it's going takes some of the fun out of it, I think).
"Paperjack" was a very good longer story that called back directly to a previous story in the collection, which I liked.
Alright. I'm done throwing out contextless opinions on stories you haven't read.
No, wait, one last thing: there are two original stories in this collection. One is "Small Deaths," where for much of the story they're trying to figure out what "small death" means, and there is not one mention of la petite mort. It just felt weird. I was expecting that shoe to drop any minute, and he just blew right past it. The other original story is "In the House of My Enemy," a perfect example of his character building via female sexual abuse (it grows tiring).
I have a minor gripe with the whole book: too many stories have a single hit-you-over-the-head message: magic is real if you just believe in it, but people choose not to. While I don't object to the thought, and I understand that that's the common theme of the stories, it's frequently spelled out too explicitly. Reading one story after another that states its moral word-for-word made my eyes roll a little bit. But this is forgivable: the stories were written independently, not meant to be read in succession like this.
Another minor gripe: there are many references to Irish traditional music, and I feel that they are a bit... self-indulgent. Reading it, I got the impression that de Lint himself plays the fiddle or bouzouki or flute, and he speaks of it in... unnecessary detail. I doubt that the average reader much cares about the common keys used in Irish music or knows the difference between a jig and a reel. Or, maybe, I don't know. It's a minor complaint.
Mechanically, de Lint is a good writer. His prose isn't flashy, it's direct and well-paced. With the exception of the Spanish in "That Explains Poland," there's nothing to complain about there. As my first introduction to his work, Dreams Underfoot is a mixed bag, but I would consider reading one of his novels.
I wanted to love this book! These stories *seem* like they are just up my alley - the stories I should love and adore, but this collection feels like being thrown into the deep end and expected to care deeply about all the characters and understand the shape of the plot and why it matters.
It all just felt so scattered and I just couldn't get myself to engage with either the characters or the plot, when I could find it.
It all just felt so scattered and I just couldn't get myself to engage with either the characters or the plot, when I could find it.
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is another one of those books where I just have to say 'How does one review something this special, this odd and this wonderful?' I can't. I can, though, try and tell you why I love this anthology so much.
It's the second of de Lint's works that I have read. The first was [b:The Blue Girl|182332|The Blue Girl (Newford, #15)|Charles de Lint|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1295707955s/182332.jpg|2893], which, when I started it, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. This anthology really connected some dots about Newford for me, though.
The characters in here are just magical in that they are totally realistic, but believe in their imaginations and the true spirit of the world. They are exactly the type of person I'd like to be... quirky, funny, interesting, imaginative, creative and open to other things.
Strewn among the many many short stories are famous and not so famous quotes that pertain to the story. Some of them were very memorable.
Also, it felt a bit as though de Lint was trying to tell me something with each story, trying to make me learn a lesson about life, love, living, what have you. But it didn't feel negative to me, like most authors bring it across.
This collection left me with a feeling of hope, awareness and but also knowledge. Just because something is magical doesn't mean that it's not bad as well. These stories are as much positive and wonderful and happily ever afters as negative and threatening and trying to explain that life isn't just cherry blossoms and tea time.
I know that some of these stories will stay to haunt me for a while yet. I know that the characters will; they definitely came off the page and seemed so real, like if I were to start walking the 2am streets of my city I could meet them, and they'd open the doors to the Faerie realm for me!
It's the second of de Lint's works that I have read. The first was [b:The Blue Girl|182332|The Blue Girl (Newford, #15)|Charles de Lint|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1295707955s/182332.jpg|2893], which, when I started it, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. This anthology really connected some dots about Newford for me, though.
The characters in here are just magical in that they are totally realistic, but believe in their imaginations and the true spirit of the world. They are exactly the type of person I'd like to be... quirky, funny, interesting, imaginative, creative and open to other things.
Strewn among the many many short stories are famous and not so famous quotes that pertain to the story. Some of them were very memorable.
Also, it felt a bit as though de Lint was trying to tell me something with each story, trying to make me learn a lesson about life, love, living, what have you. But it didn't feel negative to me, like most authors bring it across.
This collection left me with a feeling of hope, awareness and but also knowledge. Just because something is magical doesn't mean that it's not bad as well. These stories are as much positive and wonderful and happily ever afters as negative and threatening and trying to explain that life isn't just cherry blossoms and tea time.
I know that some of these stories will stay to haunt me for a while yet. I know that the characters will; they definitely came off the page and seemed so real, like if I were to start walking the 2am streets of my city I could meet them, and they'd open the doors to the Faerie realm for me!
My first de Lint! I tried reading The Little Country when I was younger (too young, actually) and got traumatized and stopped. But I still remember how enchanting the beginning was! I've always remembered the feeling of modernity and magic, mixed with folk music and a real sense of place. Dreams Underfoot shares all of that, and I think that's its strongest selling point.
This book is a collection of short stories, which is a strange way to begin a series, if you ask me, but a Bold one, for sure! Each story introduces a new inhabitant of the city of Newford (with the exception of the first story which takes place north of Los Angeles, and incidentally was possibly the strongest). The character stumbles upon some individual on the fringes of modern society and learns that the world is bigger. That's an over-simplification, but looking back, I believe most if not all follow that format. The first five or so stories had me reeling. It's the 90's, there are musicians everywhere, there are vague fey creatures, a sense of hazy, understated magic, and everyone compares things to Arthur Rackham or Pre-Raphaelite art?! Honestly, sometimes I felt like I had written this book. By which I mean that the author is incredibly specific (even self-indulgent) about his interests, and most of those are mine as well. It was a strange experience, and because of that, I really don't think I could give this book any less than 3 stars. Charles de Lint wrote it for people like me. And I appreciate him for that. It made me feel seen.
At the same time, Charles de Lint wrote it in 1993. I understand things have changed, and I'm cutting him some slack here, but this book has some issues. I truly got the sense that de Lint was trying his best to be progressive. He never tries to put women or minorities down intentionally. But the way they are written about is very dated.
Women are objectified frequently and used as character development for male characters. I sometimes got the sense that a character would be a self-insert of the author, and whenever women were involved with those characters, I felt uncomfortable. Of course, I could be reading the self-insert part wrong, but there IS one thing that is irrefutable: Mr. De Lint has a Type. The de Lint Girl is beautiful, with a slight build and delicate, pixie-ish features. Most have wide blue eyes and wild, lighter-toned hair. A couple are more punk-ish, yet still manage to retain some of that manic pixie dream girl goodness. Their ages are hard to determine. Young women seem to carry the weight of the world and appear more mature. Older women have he bodies of younger women and manage to maintain a childlike wonder. At least two de Lint Girls (let's just call them dLG, okay?) are actually confirmed to look like another dLG, even though they are all unrelated. Why??? I couldn't come up with a reason. Maybe it's explained in subsequent books, but I think Mr. de Lint just really liked that 90's waif look. It was a good look, I guess, but it started to feel uncanny that all the girls in this city looked the same. If I lived in Newford, I'd probably get creeped out by that alone.
The stories that involve POC are also problematic, but mostly in a dated sort of way. Although the term Roma, the less savory term is used even more. One bilingual character spoke in a white person's idea of Spanglish...I'll let an actually native Spanish speaker talk about this one, but it seemed pretty bad to me. If you listen to this in audiobook format, you'll also be treated to narrator's attempts at an accent, which really heightened the effect. That said, "That Explains Poland" was probably the most endearing story of the lot, if you could get past the racial stereotypes that were peppered throughout.
Despite the datedness, some stories still have an aura to them. A sense that you could be overlooking magic every time you walk down the street. A little nudge to respect everyone you pass because there's more to them than meets the eye. A firm belief in the equal magic of stories and music and dreams. I'm not really sure how to describe it, but I like de Lint's world quite a bit and will probably dip into it again. I just hope he grows with the times.
This book is a collection of short stories, which is a strange way to begin a series, if you ask me, but a Bold one, for sure! Each story introduces a new inhabitant of the city of Newford (with the exception of the first story which takes place north of Los Angeles, and incidentally was possibly the strongest). The character stumbles upon some individual on the fringes of modern society and learns that the world is bigger. That's an over-simplification, but looking back, I believe most if not all follow that format. The first five or so stories had me reeling. It's the 90's, there are musicians everywhere, there are vague fey creatures, a sense of hazy, understated magic, and everyone compares things to Arthur Rackham or Pre-Raphaelite art?! Honestly, sometimes I felt like I had written this book. By which I mean that the author is incredibly specific (even self-indulgent) about his interests, and most of those are mine as well. It was a strange experience, and because of that, I really don't think I could give this book any less than 3 stars. Charles de Lint wrote it for people like me. And I appreciate him for that. It made me feel seen.
At the same time, Charles de Lint wrote it in 1993. I understand things have changed, and I'm cutting him some slack here, but this book has some issues. I truly got the sense that de Lint was trying his best to be progressive. He never tries to put women or minorities down intentionally. But the way they are written about is very dated.
Women are objectified frequently and used as character development for male characters. I sometimes got the sense that a character would be a self-insert of the author, and whenever women were involved with those characters, I felt uncomfortable. Of course, I could be reading the self-insert part wrong, but there IS one thing that is irrefutable: Mr. De Lint has a Type. The de Lint Girl is beautiful, with a slight build and delicate, pixie-ish features. Most have wide blue eyes and wild, lighter-toned hair. A couple are more punk-ish, yet still manage to retain some of that manic pixie dream girl goodness. Their ages are hard to determine. Young women seem to carry the weight of the world and appear more mature. Older women have he bodies of younger women and manage to maintain a childlike wonder. At least two de Lint Girls (let's just call them dLG, okay?) are actually confirmed to look like another dLG, even though they are all unrelated. Why??? I couldn't come up with a reason. Maybe it's explained in subsequent books, but I think Mr. de Lint just really liked that 90's waif look. It was a good look, I guess, but it started to feel uncanny that all the girls in this city looked the same. If I lived in Newford, I'd probably get creeped out by that alone.
The stories that involve POC are also problematic, but mostly in a dated sort of way. Although the term Roma, the less savory term is used even more. One bilingual character spoke in a white person's idea of Spanglish...I'll let an actually native Spanish speaker talk about this one, but it seemed pretty bad to me. If you listen to this in audiobook format, you'll also be treated to narrator's attempts at an accent, which really heightened the effect. That said, "That Explains Poland" was probably the most endearing story of the lot, if you could get past the racial stereotypes that were peppered throughout.
Despite the datedness, some stories still have an aura to them. A sense that you could be overlooking magic every time you walk down the street. A little nudge to respect everyone you pass because there's more to them than meets the eye. A firm belief in the equal magic of stories and music and dreams. I'm not really sure how to describe it, but I like de Lint's world quite a bit and will probably dip into it again. I just hope he grows with the times.
Absolutely stunning. I'm still somewhat mesmerised by this book, under its spell, having a hard time not picking it straight back up and reading it again (and only stopped from doing so because I lent it to someone else with the insistence that they read it immediately).
This book doesn't really fit neatly into "genre". It's not quite a novel, but then not quite short stories either. Short stories, I suppose, in the sense that each "chapter" can be read independently of any other, and in fact were originally published in many separate literature collections. At the same time they all fit together so it really does feel like reading a fluid story that isn't quite in order, doesn't have a plot and is all the better for it.
When I got this out at the library, the librarian raved about it, stating finally tat she would give anything to live in Newford. I now share these feelings. Charles de Lint has managed that extraordinary feat of making magic feel utterly plausible, real, normal and yet not in the slightest bit mundane. Though much of the subject matter is very dark (themes include murder, child abuse, street gangs and other violence) it instantly took me back to childhood and the tales of Hans Christian Anderson, with their bitter-sweet magic.
I honestly cannot recommend this book enough, I hope that these confused attempts at reviewing it actually convince you to read it!
This book doesn't really fit neatly into "genre". It's not quite a novel, but then not quite short stories either. Short stories, I suppose, in the sense that each "chapter" can be read independently of any other, and in fact were originally published in many separate literature collections. At the same time they all fit together so it really does feel like reading a fluid story that isn't quite in order, doesn't have a plot and is all the better for it.
When I got this out at the library, the librarian raved about it, stating finally tat she would give anything to live in Newford. I now share these feelings. Charles de Lint has managed that extraordinary feat of making magic feel utterly plausible, real, normal and yet not in the slightest bit mundane. Though much of the subject matter is very dark (themes include murder, child abuse, street gangs and other violence) it instantly took me back to childhood and the tales of Hans Christian Anderson, with their bitter-sweet magic.
I honestly cannot recommend this book enough, I hope that these confused attempts at reviewing it actually convince you to read it!
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes