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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
Trying to read outside my comfort zone a bit with this fantasy-heavy set of shorts, but not much really connected with me. The low rating doesn't really reflect the quality of the book, more the disconnect between it and my tastes.
I loved most of the stories in this bind up, which seems like a rare thing when it comes to short story collections. There were a couple that were a bit slow, but the story lines were still solid and interesting. The overwhelming majority of the stories, however, were enthralling and diverse. Johnson has so many types of writing styles that she's experimented with, and it keeps the reader on their toes. There were a mix of genres as well, fantasy, SciFi, little but of surrealism...it was all golden. Normally, I would dock some points if any story was drawn out, but I can't bring myself to give At the Mouth of the River of Bees less than 5 stars. This collection made me FEEL things. Deep things. Horrifying things. Fun and adventurous things. I can tell that many of these stories will stick with me for a long time. This is one of those collections that you read and then feel like a changed person afterwards. Would 100% recommend reading any of Johnson's work.
reflective
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
At the Mouth of the River of Bees is an interesting and varied pack of stories. Although many of the stories in this collection could easily be labeled as Fantasy, many others escape such simple labeling. Spanning the genres, each stories is unique; while some are more strait-laced fantasy, fairy tales replete with talking animals and beasts of all sizes, others are more contemporary and literary in nature. This wide variety gives the reader many chances to fall for Johnson's stories, but may make this collection seem uneven. Some are extremely brief while others could probably be considered novellas. Some are powerfully shocking, others are simplistically quiet. The fact is, this is quite a mix to come from one author. You may read two or three stories before you find one you like. You may love all of them. Likely, there's something in this collection for most of us.
My personal favorites were “Spar,” “Wolf Trapping,” and “At the Mouth of the River of Bees.” “Ponies” was also a good story, but I'd heard so much about it over the years that I expected something more chilling; in fact, it felt to me like a tamer version of a Shirley Jackson story. For me, “Spar” was the truly haunting story that remains with me like no other one in this collection.
My personal favorites were “Spar,” “Wolf Trapping,” and “At the Mouth of the River of Bees.” “Ponies” was also a good story, but I'd heard so much about it over the years that I expected something more chilling; in fact, it felt to me like a tamer version of a Shirley Jackson story. For me, “Spar” was the truly haunting story that remains with me like no other one in this collection.
If you haven't yet stumbled into "The Man Who Bridged the Mist" in some random anthology -- this book is worth reading just for it. But not only for it.
I'm not a huge fan of short stories, although lately I've been trying to explore short story collections like this one based on other people's recommendations, and I've heard that this is an exceptional one. What I love about this collection is how varied it all it, but how all of them feel like they have the same thread and similar tones to it. I love the deep, dark, somewhat depressing feel of them, and the cold atmosphere you get while reading it, and also the one thread connecting them all, involving animals and their relationship with humans. And even in the shorter stories, I found that I managed to really like the characters and feel the whole vibe of the story.
Some of my favourites are: At the Mouth of the River of Bees, Wolf Trapping, and Ponies. I love the whole magical realism on the first one, and the ending was just perfect. Wolf Trapping was great as well, I love how I could feel the cold and the forest-y atmosphere. And Ponies is probably my favourite, since I love those kind of creepy and heart wrenching stories, and the length is just perfect.
Although some short stories were just forgettable for me, a lot of them stuck a lot to me and in eneral I really love this collection. Can't wait to read more of Kij's work!
Some of my favourites are: At the Mouth of the River of Bees, Wolf Trapping, and Ponies. I love the whole magical realism on the first one, and the ending was just perfect. Wolf Trapping was great as well, I love how I could feel the cold and the forest-y atmosphere. And Ponies is probably my favourite, since I love those kind of creepy and heart wrenching stories, and the length is just perfect.
Although some short stories were just forgettable for me, a lot of them stuck a lot to me and in eneral I really love this collection. Can't wait to read more of Kij's work!
I liked a couple of the stories a lot (the title story At the Mouth of the River of Bees, and 26 Monkeys), but mostly this collection wasn't really for me. I can see why there is so much praise for it, but for me these stories didn't really mean anything true, intellectually or emotionally. I skimmed a lot. Also I wasn't a fan of the seeming fetishy obsession with East Asian stories/myths/legends, co-opted into lackluster, shallow short stories.
As another reviewer said, there's just a disconnect between this collection and my tastes.
As another reviewer said, there's just a disconnect between this collection and my tastes.
A little bit [a:Kelly Link|24902|Kelly Link|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1422586197p2/24902.jpg] (26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss), a little bit [a:Maureen McHugh|4625773|Maureen McHugh|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1425404516p2/4625773.jpg] (The Horse Raiders), a little bit [a:Ursula K. Le Guin|874602|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1244291425p2/874602.jpg] (The Man Who Bridged the Mist). If you're keeping track, those are 3 of my top fav authors ever, so this is another way of saying I AM IN LOVE. Kij Johnson, please write 300 more books stat, thx. My fav was probably the novella, The Man Who Bridged the Mist, but I really grooved on the range in terms of topics, styles, tone. A few of the stories really didn't work for me. A lot really did.