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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
One of my favourite books growing up was Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. I especially liked How the Elephant got His Trunk, How the Camel Got His Hump, and How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin. Mum tried to raise me on a range of stories set all around the world (Little Black Sambo, etc) all of which I can pretty well guess would be problematic now without a re-read.
Thus, I'm glad this anthology exists; a chance to share the lyrical style of writing along with explanations of how things came to be. I live in remote Australia, so have also been surrounded by dreamtime stories, How the Birds Got their Colours, How the Kangaroos got Their Tails, and so on (told by Mary Albert, of the Bardi people but put together by a children's author; I can only hope they did them justice...)
Stories like these from around the world certainly give a better answer to kids and all their questions, and as a child I found they could be read again and again (or listened to dozens of times) because there was always some other understanding to be found in them; something else to giggle at, a new way at keeping your mind open for cultures other than your own.
The foreword by Nikesh Shukla starts with an important quote, attributed to Junot Diaz;
“You know, vampires have no reflections in a mirror? There’s this idea that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. And what I’ve always thought isn’t that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. It’s that if you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves.”
This is why we need to support authors and their books from all parts of the world, and why we shouldn't settle for only one main 'default' setting... which, aside from allowing everyone to be able to see themselves in media (which is absolutely crucial to steps towards a better world), it also makes for a far more interesting one. People are so quick to jump on books where a plot is similar to another one they've read; why aren't we as quick to demand more than the usual main character we so constantly see?
The contents are as follows:
Foreword by Nikesh Shukla
How the Spider Got Her Legs, Cassandra Khaw
Queen, Joseph E. Cole
Best Beloved, Wayne Santos
The Man Who Played With the Crab, Adiwijaya Iskandar
Saṃsāra, Georgina Kamsika
Serpent, Crocodile, Tiger, Zedeck Siew
How the Tree of Wishes Gained its Carapace of Plastic, Jeannette Ng
How the Ants Got Their Queen, Stewart Hotston
How the Snake Lost its Spine, Tauriq Moosa
The Cat Who Walked by Herself, Achala Upendran
Strays Like Us, Zina Hutton
How the Simurgh Won Her Tail, Ali Nouraei
There is Such Thing as a Whizzy-Gang, Raymond Gates
How the Camel Got Her Paid Time Off, Paul Krueger
The anthology starts strong; How the Spider Got her Legs is one of my favourites in the collection. The spider's voice (and Khaw's for that matter) are so elegant for both Spider and Tiger, and with grim satisfaction for Man.
Also a standout is Saṃsāra, by Georgina Kamsika, not so much a story reminiscent of 'best beloveds' but equally enthralling; an Indian family who now live in England; the daughter being pulled away from her culture but coming back to it at the passing of her grandmother, which sparks an interest in her culture she wishes she knew more of.
Raymond Gates has a story in this anthology; hoorah for Aboriginal inclusion; with quite an Australianesque tale There is Such Thing as a Whizzy-Gang.
All in all this is a decent anthology, though there were some stories within that didn't manage to hold my attention. The artwork, also, didn't appeal to me personally... which is a shame. I do love when artwork is included in an anthology however the style here seemed to detract; the visuals I had in my head spoke louder. It's entirely possible the artwork in my review version were placeholders for work that's more detailed, perhaps?
Thus, I'm glad this anthology exists; a chance to share the lyrical style of writing along with explanations of how things came to be. I live in remote Australia, so have also been surrounded by dreamtime stories, How the Birds Got their Colours, How the Kangaroos got Their Tails, and so on (told by Mary Albert, of the Bardi people but put together by a children's author; I can only hope they did them justice...)
Stories like these from around the world certainly give a better answer to kids and all their questions, and as a child I found they could be read again and again (or listened to dozens of times) because there was always some other understanding to be found in them; something else to giggle at, a new way at keeping your mind open for cultures other than your own.
The foreword by Nikesh Shukla starts with an important quote, attributed to Junot Diaz;
“You know, vampires have no reflections in a mirror? There’s this idea that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. And what I’ve always thought isn’t that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. It’s that if you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves.”
This is why we need to support authors and their books from all parts of the world, and why we shouldn't settle for only one main 'default' setting... which, aside from allowing everyone to be able to see themselves in media (which is absolutely crucial to steps towards a better world), it also makes for a far more interesting one. People are so quick to jump on books where a plot is similar to another one they've read; why aren't we as quick to demand more than the usual main character we so constantly see?
The contents are as follows:
Foreword by Nikesh Shukla
How the Spider Got Her Legs, Cassandra Khaw
Queen, Joseph E. Cole
Best Beloved, Wayne Santos
The Man Who Played With the Crab, Adiwijaya Iskandar
Saṃsāra, Georgina Kamsika
Serpent, Crocodile, Tiger, Zedeck Siew
How the Tree of Wishes Gained its Carapace of Plastic, Jeannette Ng
How the Ants Got Their Queen, Stewart Hotston
How the Snake Lost its Spine, Tauriq Moosa
The Cat Who Walked by Herself, Achala Upendran
Strays Like Us, Zina Hutton
How the Simurgh Won Her Tail, Ali Nouraei
There is Such Thing as a Whizzy-Gang, Raymond Gates
How the Camel Got Her Paid Time Off, Paul Krueger
The anthology starts strong; How the Spider Got her Legs is one of my favourites in the collection. The spider's voice (and Khaw's for that matter) are so elegant for both Spider and Tiger, and with grim satisfaction for Man.
Also a standout is Saṃsāra, by Georgina Kamsika, not so much a story reminiscent of 'best beloveds' but equally enthralling; an Indian family who now live in England; the daughter being pulled away from her culture but coming back to it at the passing of her grandmother, which sparks an interest in her culture she wishes she knew more of.
Raymond Gates has a story in this anthology; hoorah for Aboriginal inclusion; with quite an Australianesque tale There is Such Thing as a Whizzy-Gang.
All in all this is a decent anthology, though there were some stories within that didn't manage to hold my attention. The artwork, also, didn't appeal to me personally... which is a shame. I do love when artwork is included in an anthology however the style here seemed to detract; the visuals I had in my head spoke louder. It's entirely possible the artwork in my review version were placeholders for work that's more detailed, perhaps?
Finally wrestled this book away from my mother. I joke. She finished. And she really enjoyed it so there.
As with all short story collections there were some I enjoyed more than others but overall this is a pretty good collection.
As with all short story collections there were some I enjoyed more than others but overall this is a pretty good collection.
Not So Stories is a delightfully diverse collection of stories based on myths, legends, folktales from around the world. A lot of them involve animal anthropomorphism often to depict human cruelty (like George Orwell's Animal Farm), deplorable colonialist attitudes and power structures within relationships and communities. This book is a direct repudiation of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories with its colonialist justifications. This creates a whole new debate of its own where literary 'classics' or mainstream culture such as Dr Suess cartoons or Agatha Christie novels have obvious racist content: do we wholescale reject the work or call it a product of its time?
The anthology starts off very strongly and the first three stories knocked my socks off: How the Spider Got Her Legs by Cassandra Khaw, Queen by Joseph E. Cole and Best Beloved by Wayne Santos. Of all the authors featured, I had only read Cassandra Khaw and Jeannette Ng before (Rupert Wong series and Under The Pendulum Sun respectively). There is a common refrain of "Best Beloved" which I gather is from Kipling's original work but evokes in my fantasy reading mind Robin Hobb's Fool addressing Fitz. Unfortunately as with most anthologies, it was uneven and I got mired in some of the stories in the middle which resulted in this book being picked up and put down periodically. I'd also like to mention that each story was accompanied by a black and white illustration which is a great idea but the stick drawings seem to have been done haphazardly and without much care.
So this poor book languished for quite a bit before my guilt in having to finish a review for Netgalley pushed me to finish it and to my surprise, I had actually been quite near the end. The last few stories (There is Such Thing as a Whizzy-Gang and How the Camel Got Her Paid Time Off ) were fairly underwhelming but I'll always remember that frisson of excitement and energy I felt reading those first few brilliant stories. There were a few in the middle that were pretty good like Samsara by Georgina Kamsika and How the Tree of Wishes Gained its Carapace of Plastic by Jeannette Ng. In truth I would need to go back and re-read the whole book again to give it a more thorough review.
Overall, I feel like this is an important book with important voices and tales to be heard. It may make some people squirm because of its unflinching look at the effects of colonialism but too often mainstream literature has celebrated colonialist narratives. The foreword of the book has one of the most articulate treatise I've ever read of why we need diverse representation in literature and media. Thanks to Netgalley and Abaddon Books for this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
The anthology starts off very strongly and the first three stories knocked my socks off: How the Spider Got Her Legs by Cassandra Khaw, Queen by Joseph E. Cole and Best Beloved by Wayne Santos. Of all the authors featured, I had only read Cassandra Khaw and Jeannette Ng before (Rupert Wong series and Under The Pendulum Sun respectively). There is a common refrain of "Best Beloved" which I gather is from Kipling's original work but evokes in my fantasy reading mind Robin Hobb's Fool addressing Fitz. Unfortunately as with most anthologies, it was uneven and I got mired in some of the stories in the middle which resulted in this book being picked up and put down periodically. I'd also like to mention that each story was accompanied by a black and white illustration which is a great idea but the stick drawings seem to have been done haphazardly and without much care.
So this poor book languished for quite a bit before my guilt in having to finish a review for Netgalley pushed me to finish it and to my surprise, I had actually been quite near the end. The last few stories (There is Such Thing as a Whizzy-Gang and How the Camel Got Her Paid Time Off ) were fairly underwhelming but I'll always remember that frisson of excitement and energy I felt reading those first few brilliant stories. There were a few in the middle that were pretty good like Samsara by Georgina Kamsika and How the Tree of Wishes Gained its Carapace of Plastic by Jeannette Ng. In truth I would need to go back and re-read the whole book again to give it a more thorough review.
Overall, I feel like this is an important book with important voices and tales to be heard. It may make some people squirm because of its unflinching look at the effects of colonialism but too often mainstream literature has celebrated colonialist narratives. The foreword of the book has one of the most articulate treatise I've ever read of why we need diverse representation in literature and media. Thanks to Netgalley and Abaddon Books for this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
Not So Stories is a collection that’s working off the legacy of Kipling’s famous Just So Stories, which is a classic children’s book deeply rooted in colonialism. Not So Stories addresses this problematic legacy by creating an anthology of fable-like stories all by authors of color, from the colonized nations Kipling was writing about.
I know I read Just So Stories as a child, but I can hardly remember anything about it. As a result, some of these stories may have nuances or connections to Kipling’s work that I am missing.
The collection opens with “How the Spider Got Her Legs” by Cassandra Khaw, which was excellent. Cassandra Khaw was one of the reasons I picked up Not So Stories to begin with, as I am a big fan of her work. As I would expect, the writing is absolutely lovely. It’s a very emotional story that’s thematically centered around motherhood.
“Queen” by Joseph E. Cole was another story I highly enjoyed. The story follows a lioness who’s telling her life’s tale, which involves being captured by humans and forced to fight other lions in an arena. The story as a whole works as a metaphor for slavery, with the language and description being such that you don’t immediately realize the narrator is a lion.
“How the Ants Got Their Queen” by Stewart Hotson is another fable that uses animals to explain colonialism and oppression. It sort of that story by E. Lily Yu — “The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees” — which deals with some of the same concepts, only using bees and wasps instead of ants and anteaters. Still, I thought “How the Ants Got Their Queen” was a strong addition to Not So Stories.
My other favorite of the anthology was “The Cat Who Walked by Herself” by Achala Upendran, which I strongly suspect is drawing off of a Kipling story I can’t remember. In this story, Woman lives a carefree life with her friends Dog, Horse, and Cow, singing and wandering the forest, until she’s kidnapped by Man. With Cat’s help, she plots a way to be free. (TW: self harm)
I didn’t find any of the other stories in the collection as strong. I was really looking forward to Jeannette Ng’s story (her name is part of why I picked up Not So Stories), but “How the Tree of Wishes Gained Its Carapace of Plastic” left me cold. Maybe I loved her book so much that my expectations were too high? “How the Tree of Wishes Gained Its Carapace of Plastic” tells local history through the focus on a tree where people attach their wishes.
“Best Beloved” by Wayne Santos wasn’t one of the best stories in Not So Stories, but I think it’s in the top half. Unlike some of the others, I don’t know if it could be considered a children’s story. Maybe young adult? Anyway, the story follows Seah Yuan Ching, who keeps the restless undead away from Hong Kong but is distracted from her duties by her British lover, Adam. As a reader, it takes no time at all to figure out that Adam’s full of shit…. and then he turns out to be even more rotten than you suspected.
Most of the other stories in Not So Stories were fairly forgettable. “Samsā ra” by Georgina Kamsika is about a girl who realizes she’s been rejecting her own heritage in order to appeal to a white culture. “The Man Who Played with the Crab” by Adiwijaya Iskandar follows a father and daughter who are guardians of their goddess but who are threatened and endangered when a white, Kipling-esque adventurer shows up, determined to kill the goddess. “How the Snake Lost Its Spine” by Tauriq Moosa is what it says in the title. “Serpent, Crocodile, Tiger” by Zedeck Siew is a confusing intermingling of three related stories that ultimately felt too long. “Strays Like Us” by Zina Hutton is about Bastet in modern day USA taking in a stray kitten. “There Is Such Thing as a Whizzy-Gang” by Raymond Gates is a creepy little story that I can’t see how fits in with the collection’s themes of Kipling and colonialism. “How the Simurgh Won Her Tale” by Ali Nouraei uses the frame story of a grandfather telling his sick granddaughter Lilly stories as she receives dialysis. “How the Camel Got Her Paid Time Off” by Paul Krueger takes a very different approach from the others, having camel try to organize other animals to demand action and reforms from HR.
Not So Stories isn’t a great collection — the ratio of stories I loved to stories I was “eh” about wasn’t enough for that. But it’s not a bad collection either. I found the aim of the collection admirable, and there’s still great stories to be had here.
I received an ARC in exchange for a free and honest review.
Review from The Illustrated Page.
I know I read Just So Stories as a child, but I can hardly remember anything about it. As a result, some of these stories may have nuances or connections to Kipling’s work that I am missing.
The collection opens with “How the Spider Got Her Legs” by Cassandra Khaw, which was excellent. Cassandra Khaw was one of the reasons I picked up Not So Stories to begin with, as I am a big fan of her work. As I would expect, the writing is absolutely lovely. It’s a very emotional story that’s thematically centered around motherhood.
“Queen” by Joseph E. Cole was another story I highly enjoyed. The story follows a lioness who’s telling her life’s tale, which involves being captured by humans and forced to fight other lions in an arena. The story as a whole works as a metaphor for slavery, with the language and description being such that you don’t immediately realize the narrator is a lion.
“How the Ants Got Their Queen” by Stewart Hotson is another fable that uses animals to explain colonialism and oppression. It sort of that story by E. Lily Yu — “The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees” — which deals with some of the same concepts, only using bees and wasps instead of ants and anteaters. Still, I thought “How the Ants Got Their Queen” was a strong addition to Not So Stories.
My other favorite of the anthology was “The Cat Who Walked by Herself” by Achala Upendran, which I strongly suspect is drawing off of a Kipling story I can’t remember. In this story, Woman lives a carefree life with her friends Dog, Horse, and Cow, singing and wandering the forest, until she’s kidnapped by Man. With Cat’s help, she plots a way to be free. (TW: self harm)
I didn’t find any of the other stories in the collection as strong. I was really looking forward to Jeannette Ng’s story (her name is part of why I picked up Not So Stories), but “How the Tree of Wishes Gained Its Carapace of Plastic” left me cold. Maybe I loved her book so much that my expectations were too high? “How the Tree of Wishes Gained Its Carapace of Plastic” tells local history through the focus on a tree where people attach their wishes.
“Best Beloved” by Wayne Santos wasn’t one of the best stories in Not So Stories, but I think it’s in the top half. Unlike some of the others, I don’t know if it could be considered a children’s story. Maybe young adult? Anyway, the story follows Seah Yuan Ching, who keeps the restless undead away from Hong Kong but is distracted from her duties by her British lover, Adam. As a reader, it takes no time at all to figure out that Adam’s full of shit…. and then he turns out to be even more rotten than you suspected.
Most of the other stories in Not So Stories were fairly forgettable. “Samsā ra” by Georgina Kamsika is about a girl who realizes she’s been rejecting her own heritage in order to appeal to a white culture. “The Man Who Played with the Crab” by Adiwijaya Iskandar follows a father and daughter who are guardians of their goddess but who are threatened and endangered when a white, Kipling-esque adventurer shows up, determined to kill the goddess. “How the Snake Lost Its Spine” by Tauriq Moosa is what it says in the title. “Serpent, Crocodile, Tiger” by Zedeck Siew is a confusing intermingling of three related stories that ultimately felt too long. “Strays Like Us” by Zina Hutton is about Bastet in modern day USA taking in a stray kitten. “There Is Such Thing as a Whizzy-Gang” by Raymond Gates is a creepy little story that I can’t see how fits in with the collection’s themes of Kipling and colonialism. “How the Simurgh Won Her Tale” by Ali Nouraei uses the frame story of a grandfather telling his sick granddaughter Lilly stories as she receives dialysis. “How the Camel Got Her Paid Time Off” by Paul Krueger takes a very different approach from the others, having camel try to organize other animals to demand action and reforms from HR.
Not So Stories isn’t a great collection — the ratio of stories I loved to stories I was “eh” about wasn’t enough for that. But it’s not a bad collection either. I found the aim of the collection admirable, and there’s still great stories to be had here.
I received an ARC in exchange for a free and honest review.
Review from The Illustrated Page.
After having checked on the stories written by Kipling that prompted this collection of short stories, I finally dove into these stories, all 14 of them written by authors of colour.
I found an amazing bunch of stories that have been written in reaction to the stories, Kipling wrote more than a hundred years ago. You do not have to go back to them in order to enjoy this story collection by itself.
For me it was freeing to see what the authors wrote about, the topic of the mother that was brought in, but then also going beyond and writing about what matters nowadays in the 21st century with its globalisation.
In all of the stories you can also find the excitement and the joy of the respective author to tell a story. And telling stories is a lot what life is about, is it not?
I got this book as an eARC for its 2020 publication from the publisher via Netgalley in return of an honest review.
I found an amazing bunch of stories that have been written in reaction to the stories, Kipling wrote more than a hundred years ago. You do not have to go back to them in order to enjoy this story collection by itself.
For me it was freeing to see what the authors wrote about, the topic of the mother that was brought in, but then also going beyond and writing about what matters nowadays in the 21st century with its globalisation.
In all of the stories you can also find the excitement and the joy of the respective author to tell a story. And telling stories is a lot what life is about, is it not?
I got this book as an eARC for its 2020 publication from the publisher via Netgalley in return of an honest review.
trigger warnings
racism, abduction, torture, animal cruelty, slavery
This anthology includes short stories set in different time periods and mythologies. Some protagonists are animals, some are ghosts, some are humans. Some stories appealed more to me than others, but every single one provided something I liked. All the people who contributed to this are very talented, and I really like how different all the stories are. You never know what the next tale will bring, where it will send you, what kind of people you'll be meeting.
To be honest, I liked this more than the Just So Stories, but I did not grow up with those, so there is no nostalgia to influence my opinion.
This anthology includes short stories set in different time periods and mythologies. Some protagonists are animals, some are ghosts, some are humans. Some stories appealed more to me than others, but every single one provided something I liked. All the people who contributed to this are very talented, and I really like how different all the stories are. You never know what the next tale will bring, where it will send you, what kind of people you'll be meeting.
To be honest, I liked this more than the Just So Stories, but I did not grow up with those, so there is no nostalgia to influence my opinion.
I do not remember reading the Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, but I must have done because I felt a hint of recognition at the tone of some of the stories. I liked the content of the foreword, but I think that also set my bar incredibly high about what I was to encounter next.
The stories did not follow the set pattern that I was almost expecting, there was no cohesive narrative pattern. Some did seem like origin stories, but others were just stories based in different times and different places written by people who have seen what the colonial influence does to local traditions and the stories that go with it. I will not try to review them separately because they were many and too varied. I think it's for more adventurous people than me. I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would (as mentioned earlier about the foreword). The individual authors did a great job individually, and I do not believe it would be 'suitable for children considering the language used in some stories, but for adults, it would be entertaining. I would have actually loved it if these authors had actually tackled the 'origin' narrative like how the animals supposedly became the way they were. The book can raise an exciting conversation for people who think they can add a different focus to narratives to show the other side instead of the version of the victors/more powerful people. Still, I do not think this collection achieves that ambition entirely.
I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and the publishers but my review (as is obvious) is completely based on my own reading experience.
The stories did not follow the set pattern that I was almost expecting, there was no cohesive narrative pattern. Some did seem like origin stories, but others were just stories based in different times and different places written by people who have seen what the colonial influence does to local traditions and the stories that go with it. I will not try to review them separately because they were many and too varied. I think it's for more adventurous people than me. I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would (as mentioned earlier about the foreword). The individual authors did a great job individually, and I do not believe it would be 'suitable for children considering the language used in some stories, but for adults, it would be entertaining. I would have actually loved it if these authors had actually tackled the 'origin' narrative like how the animals supposedly became the way they were. The book can raise an exciting conversation for people who think they can add a different focus to narratives to show the other side instead of the version of the victors/more powerful people. Still, I do not think this collection achieves that ambition entirely.
I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and the publishers but my review (as is obvious) is completely based on my own reading experience.
*I received a free ARC of this book, with thanks to the author, Abaddon Books – Rebellion Publishing and NetGalley. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*
This a very varied collection of stories centred around mythology and cultural legends, each told by a different author and in a different style, but there wasn’t a single story I didn’t enjoy here.
Each author has taken Rudyard Kipling’s anthology of Just So Stories as their touchstone, but then taken their own individual paths, allowing their voices to take, mould and reshape those colonial narratives into something that speaks to their own experiences, rather than those of a cultural ‘tourist’ – seeing, perhaps admiring, but not understanding.
Diversity doesn’t only apply to the authors here then, but to their work. Some have chosen to follow the original style of Kipling’s stories (O Best Beloved), but forged their own path of content and morals. Others kept the parable nature but with a style all of their own, for example using the language of a modern employment dispute.
There are underlying unifying themes though too. Obviously there is a common thread of the destructive appropriation of the white man as he colonises native land and culture, and the more subtle effect of creeping Westernisation as it seeps more insidiously through the world, homogenizing all it touches. There is exploitation; racism, both overt and covert; grief at the loss of tradition to modern values. The main beat thrumming beneath each story is the corrupting nature of power, whether that power takes the form of wealth, status, race, sex, or magic.
As with all of the best short stories, the moral messages here are delivered clearly and loudly, but with all of the trappings and skill required to provide entertainment, not just education. Readers can simply enjoy the fantastical stories of creation mythology, modern parable and even a touch of horror, for what they are. Still, they may find themselves taking away seeds of ideas, from which (hopefully) thoughtful fruits may grow.
In those days, O Best Beloved, before Man knew to dream of cities, when the skin between worlds was thin enough that you could look into death and converse with those who came before you, Tiger had far more stripes than he did today. I am sure you can see where this story is leading, but be patient, Beloved. A denouement is nothing without its narrative.
– Cassandra Khaw, ‘How the Spider Got Her Legs’ in Not So Stories
Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog
https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpress.com/2020/02/22/not-so-stories-various-authors-ed-david-thomas-moore/
This a very varied collection of stories centred around mythology and cultural legends, each told by a different author and in a different style, but there wasn’t a single story I didn’t enjoy here.
Each author has taken Rudyard Kipling’s anthology of Just So Stories as their touchstone, but then taken their own individual paths, allowing their voices to take, mould and reshape those colonial narratives into something that speaks to their own experiences, rather than those of a cultural ‘tourist’ – seeing, perhaps admiring, but not understanding.
Diversity doesn’t only apply to the authors here then, but to their work. Some have chosen to follow the original style of Kipling’s stories (O Best Beloved), but forged their own path of content and morals. Others kept the parable nature but with a style all of their own, for example using the language of a modern employment dispute.
There are underlying unifying themes though too. Obviously there is a common thread of the destructive appropriation of the white man as he colonises native land and culture, and the more subtle effect of creeping Westernisation as it seeps more insidiously through the world, homogenizing all it touches. There is exploitation; racism, both overt and covert; grief at the loss of tradition to modern values. The main beat thrumming beneath each story is the corrupting nature of power, whether that power takes the form of wealth, status, race, sex, or magic.
As with all of the best short stories, the moral messages here are delivered clearly and loudly, but with all of the trappings and skill required to provide entertainment, not just education. Readers can simply enjoy the fantastical stories of creation mythology, modern parable and even a touch of horror, for what they are. Still, they may find themselves taking away seeds of ideas, from which (hopefully) thoughtful fruits may grow.
In those days, O Best Beloved, before Man knew to dream of cities, when the skin between worlds was thin enough that you could look into death and converse with those who came before you, Tiger had far more stripes than he did today. I am sure you can see where this story is leading, but be patient, Beloved. A denouement is nothing without its narrative.
– Cassandra Khaw, ‘How the Spider Got Her Legs’ in Not So Stories
Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog
https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpress.com/2020/02/22/not-so-stories-various-authors-ed-david-thomas-moore/
Not So Stories edited by David Thomas Moore is an anthology in conversation with Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, with stories shining a light on (mostly British) colonialism and its legacies. (I really like how this idea is conveyed through the union jacks on the cover.) If you've been following along my blog and my #ReadShortStories posts you will have seen me slowly making my way through these stories. The individual story reviews are reproduced at the end of this review, but first I will talk about the anthology as a whole.
This anthology contained an interesting mix of stories and authors of different backgrounds, including a lot of new-to-me authors. Most of the stories tackled colonial themes in one way or another and most of them took cues from Just So Stories (mind you, I haven't read the other book since I was a child and even then I'm not sure I read all of it, so my opinion on that point is unreliable). A lot of the stories engaged with difficult themes and were emotionally challenging to read, which is why I found myself breaking up the anthology with other unrelated short stories and a couple of novels.
My favourite stories, in table of contents order, were: "How the Spider Got Her Legs" by Cassandra Khaw, which did the thing where the starting situation was quite far from what we now think of as the status quo and made the story more interesting for it; "Best Beloved" by Wayne Santos, which was heartbreaking and powerful; "How the Tree of Wishes Gained its Carapace of Plastic" by Jeannette Ng, which was told on a grander scale than the other stories for all that it focussed on a specific tree; "The Cat Who Walked by Herself" by Achala Upendran, which was also heartbreaking and which ended in a way I didn't foresee from the start. As you can see, I liked a lot of the stories. Some didn't grab me as much, but that's to be expected in an anthology.
By the time I got to the end of the anthology, I did find the arrangement of the stories a little peculiar. Not only was it odd to find the only two cat-centric stories next to each other, but I also found the last few stories engaged with ideas of colonialism a lot less strongly than the earlier stories. That didn't necessarily make them bad stories, but a lot of the last part of the anthology didn't feel like it fit in with what the first part had set the book up to be. I think it would have worked better if the stories had been more intermixed and set up the expectation of varying engagement with colonial ideas earlier. As it was, I felt faintly confused reading three of the last four stories, even though they were perfectly fine stories in their own right.
Overall this anthology was filled with solid stories that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to anyone interested in the themes and ideas it explores. The authors come from a variety of backgrounds so the anthology does not lack in diversity on that front. (It could have stood to be a bit more gender diverse, however.) I very much like the concept of Not So Stories and recommend it to all readers to whom the basic premise appeals.
~
How the Spider Got Her Legs by Cassandra Khaw — Probably my favourite Khaw story so far. Told in the style of Kipling/traditional children’s cosmology stories as suggested by the title. It was also a bit longer and more complicated than I might have expected with a few acts to the story rather than just one simple origin explanation of how the spider got her legs. Anyway, I rather liked it.
Queen by Joseph E. Cole — A story about slavery and human cruelty. Not exactly an enjoyable read but not a bad story either. It didn’t particularly grab me but it was still told in an evocative way (and I think I spotted several references to Just So Stories).
Best Beloved by Wayne Santos — A Singaporean guardian of the living against the dead has taken up with a British official while still finding time for her duties. Until those duties become more difficult and she learns more of what the British are up to. A powerful story of love and devastation.
The Man Who Played With the Crab by Adiwijaya Iskandar — A father and daughter come across a westerner killing animals and demanding to be taken to their sacred crab so that he can kill it. A story that’s about as positive as possible, given colonial history.
Saṃsāra by Georgina Kamsika — A story set in the present day about a mixed race teenager reconnecting with her Indian heritage as she and her mother clean out her late grandmother’s home. It feels a bit out of place among the other Not So Stories I’ve read so far, but then so does the protagonist in her life, and maybe that’s the point.
Serpent, Crocodile, Tiger by Zedeck Siew — This is more like a few stories that ended up being tied together in a way I didn’t predict from the start. It tells Malay folktales as well as giving a few different modern perspectives on the tales and on the people having perspectives. It gives an interesting cross-section of views and various cultural influences. I enjoyed it although I found the sections that were academic excerpts a little too dry.
How the Tree of Wishes Gained its Carapace of Plastic by Jeannette Ng — A story telling the history of a wishing tree in Hong Kong and, by necessity, the history of the people and the place. A sweeping story of gods and history told in the style of a bedtime story. I enjoyed it.
How the Ants Got Their Queen by Stuart Hotston — A clear metaphor for colonialism, it’s ills and aftermath. Although the story was not subtle, I still found myself enjoying it. And the direction of the ending was not overly telegraphed, which was nice. Not a cheerful story (of course), but a good read.
How the Snake Lost its Spine by Tauriq Moosa — As you can guess from the title, this is another creature-origin type story. I liked the ideas in it, but I didn’t find it to be as strong as some of the others. The writing could have been tighter where I found it a little dull in places. Not bad overall, just not one of the best.
The Cat Who Walked by Herself by Achala Upendran — This story is about how common domesticated animals, as well as Man and Woman found their place. I found this story quite upsetting in how it just kept escalating in patriarchal (not sure that’s the right word) terribleness. The ending was satisfying but didn’t erase what went before.
Strays Like Us by Zina Hutton — A story about Bastet, the Egyptian cat goddess, who no longer has a place in the world, and a stray kitten. The story was fine, but I’m not sure how well it fits with the other stories in the anthology. It put me more in mind of various forgotten/unworshipped god stories more than colonialism per se.
How the Simurgh Won Her Tail by Ali Nouraei — A lovely story within a story. A grandfather visiting his sick (cancer, I think) granddaughter in hospital and telling her the titular story. It was very heartwarming, despite the depressing hospital setting and the hints of life outside the hospital.
There is Such Thing as a Whizzy-Gang by Raymond Gates — A story about a boy in Australia, his uncle that likes to (mostly) benevolently tease him and the Whizzy-Gang that attacks him. Not a bad read, but I didn’t really spot any direct engagement with colonialism.
How the Camel Got Her Paid Time Off by Paul Krueger — If not for the title itself, this story would feel quite unresolved, which I have mixed feelings about. I didn’t mind the story overall, but I again didn’t find it to be quite what I expected. It’s about animals fighting (or not) for worker rights.
4 / 5 stars
You can read more of my reviews on my blog.
This anthology contained an interesting mix of stories and authors of different backgrounds, including a lot of new-to-me authors. Most of the stories tackled colonial themes in one way or another and most of them took cues from Just So Stories (mind you, I haven't read the other book since I was a child and even then I'm not sure I read all of it, so my opinion on that point is unreliable). A lot of the stories engaged with difficult themes and were emotionally challenging to read, which is why I found myself breaking up the anthology with other unrelated short stories and a couple of novels.
My favourite stories, in table of contents order, were: "How the Spider Got Her Legs" by Cassandra Khaw, which did the thing where the starting situation was quite far from what we now think of as the status quo and made the story more interesting for it; "Best Beloved" by Wayne Santos, which was heartbreaking and powerful; "How the Tree of Wishes Gained its Carapace of Plastic" by Jeannette Ng, which was told on a grander scale than the other stories for all that it focussed on a specific tree; "The Cat Who Walked by Herself" by Achala Upendran, which was also heartbreaking and which ended in a way I didn't foresee from the start. As you can see, I liked a lot of the stories. Some didn't grab me as much, but that's to be expected in an anthology.
By the time I got to the end of the anthology, I did find the arrangement of the stories a little peculiar. Not only was it odd to find the only two cat-centric stories next to each other, but I also found the last few stories engaged with ideas of colonialism a lot less strongly than the earlier stories. That didn't necessarily make them bad stories, but a lot of the last part of the anthology didn't feel like it fit in with what the first part had set the book up to be. I think it would have worked better if the stories had been more intermixed and set up the expectation of varying engagement with colonial ideas earlier. As it was, I felt faintly confused reading three of the last four stories, even though they were perfectly fine stories in their own right.
Overall this anthology was filled with solid stories that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to anyone interested in the themes and ideas it explores. The authors come from a variety of backgrounds so the anthology does not lack in diversity on that front. (It could have stood to be a bit more gender diverse, however.) I very much like the concept of Not So Stories and recommend it to all readers to whom the basic premise appeals.
~
How the Spider Got Her Legs by Cassandra Khaw — Probably my favourite Khaw story so far. Told in the style of Kipling/traditional children’s cosmology stories as suggested by the title. It was also a bit longer and more complicated than I might have expected with a few acts to the story rather than just one simple origin explanation of how the spider got her legs. Anyway, I rather liked it.
Queen by Joseph E. Cole — A story about slavery and human cruelty. Not exactly an enjoyable read but not a bad story either. It didn’t particularly grab me but it was still told in an evocative way (and I think I spotted several references to Just So Stories).
Best Beloved by Wayne Santos — A Singaporean guardian of the living against the dead has taken up with a British official while still finding time for her duties. Until those duties become more difficult and she learns more of what the British are up to. A powerful story of love and devastation.
The Man Who Played With the Crab by Adiwijaya Iskandar — A father and daughter come across a westerner killing animals and demanding to be taken to their sacred crab so that he can kill it. A story that’s about as positive as possible, given colonial history.
Saṃsāra by Georgina Kamsika — A story set in the present day about a mixed race teenager reconnecting with her Indian heritage as she and her mother clean out her late grandmother’s home. It feels a bit out of place among the other Not So Stories I’ve read so far, but then so does the protagonist in her life, and maybe that’s the point.
Serpent, Crocodile, Tiger by Zedeck Siew — This is more like a few stories that ended up being tied together in a way I didn’t predict from the start. It tells Malay folktales as well as giving a few different modern perspectives on the tales and on the people having perspectives. It gives an interesting cross-section of views and various cultural influences. I enjoyed it although I found the sections that were academic excerpts a little too dry.
How the Tree of Wishes Gained its Carapace of Plastic by Jeannette Ng — A story telling the history of a wishing tree in Hong Kong and, by necessity, the history of the people and the place. A sweeping story of gods and history told in the style of a bedtime story. I enjoyed it.
How the Ants Got Their Queen by Stuart Hotston — A clear metaphor for colonialism, it’s ills and aftermath. Although the story was not subtle, I still found myself enjoying it. And the direction of the ending was not overly telegraphed, which was nice. Not a cheerful story (of course), but a good read.
How the Snake Lost its Spine by Tauriq Moosa — As you can guess from the title, this is another creature-origin type story. I liked the ideas in it, but I didn’t find it to be as strong as some of the others. The writing could have been tighter where I found it a little dull in places. Not bad overall, just not one of the best.
The Cat Who Walked by Herself by Achala Upendran — This story is about how common domesticated animals, as well as Man and Woman found their place. I found this story quite upsetting in how it just kept escalating in patriarchal (not sure that’s the right word) terribleness. The ending was satisfying but didn’t erase what went before.
Strays Like Us by Zina Hutton — A story about Bastet, the Egyptian cat goddess, who no longer has a place in the world, and a stray kitten. The story was fine, but I’m not sure how well it fits with the other stories in the anthology. It put me more in mind of various forgotten/unworshipped god stories more than colonialism per se.
How the Simurgh Won Her Tail by Ali Nouraei — A lovely story within a story. A grandfather visiting his sick (cancer, I think) granddaughter in hospital and telling her the titular story. It was very heartwarming, despite the depressing hospital setting and the hints of life outside the hospital.
There is Such Thing as a Whizzy-Gang by Raymond Gates — A story about a boy in Australia, his uncle that likes to (mostly) benevolently tease him and the Whizzy-Gang that attacks him. Not a bad read, but I didn’t really spot any direct engagement with colonialism.
How the Camel Got Her Paid Time Off by Paul Krueger — If not for the title itself, this story would feel quite unresolved, which I have mixed feelings about. I didn’t mind the story overall, but I again didn’t find it to be quite what I expected. It’s about animals fighting (or not) for worker rights.
4 / 5 stars
You can read more of my reviews on my blog.
A charming collection of stories that are definitely a thumbed nose to Kipling's 'Just So' stories - and delightfully done. My particular favourite was Achala Upendran's 'The Cat Who Walked by Herself' - a very powerful story. I also enjoyed Stewart Hotston's 'How the Ants Got Their Queen' and Ali Nouraei's 'How the Simurgh Won Her Tail'.