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3.37 AVERAGE
3.37 AVERAGE
I have always loved fractured fairy tales, and this book of stories was one of the better compilations I've read. The flourished, deadpan writing contrasted with the sometimes deeply disturbing content made it a twisted and immersive read.
It's rare these days that I am able to read a book without letting myself get distracted, and this one pulled me in deep.
It's rare these days that I am able to read a book without letting myself get distracted, and this one pulled me in deep.
It was a fine compilation, a couple of real gems, but most of the stories fell flat/felt unfinished. Fairy tales feel complete, these felt like reimagined snippets. Too many loose threads.
3.5 stars? I'm very torn on this one.
This is Mallory Ortberg*at their Mallory Ortberg-iest. I love retellings of popular folk tales, I love horror stories, and, more often than not, I love Mallory Ortberg. However, it did get to be Too Much.
There is no doubt that Ortberg is a true wordsmith -- the artistry from which one word connects to the other is incredible. Their writing is astonishing good. But it is palpably self-satisfied, so pleased with its own cleverness that I found myself turned off more often than not.
I really enjoyed the story of Jacob and the Angel and The Rabbit is an instant classic. The rest of the stories were fine, but Ortberg's overly-aware-of-their-own-cleverness kept me from truly enjoying the work.
*I don't know how to proceed here -- is his official author name for this book Daniel Mallory or Mallory Ortberg? I'm going with the Goodreads name for now.
This is Mallory Ortberg*at their Mallory Ortberg-iest. I love retellings of popular folk tales, I love horror stories, and, more often than not, I love Mallory Ortberg. However, it did get to be Too Much.
There is no doubt that Ortberg is a true wordsmith -- the artistry from which one word connects to the other is incredible. Their writing is astonishing good. But it is palpably self-satisfied, so pleased with its own cleverness that I found myself turned off more often than not.
I really enjoyed the story of Jacob and the Angel and The Rabbit is an instant classic. The rest of the stories were fine, but Ortberg's overly-aware-of-their-own-cleverness kept me from truly enjoying the work.
*I don't know how to proceed here -- is his official author name for this book Daniel Mallory or Mallory Ortberg? I'm going with the Goodreads name for now.
I love a good retelling of a classic story and I was excited to read what I thought was a feminist spin on old stories. It is not. It is grim and dark but without any real redeeming or thought provoking qualities. Skip this one.
This book was great, but I'm probably not knowledgeable enough on fairy tales to fully *get* it. Still though, it was a fun, quick read with delightful little bites of horror.
i have no idea how to shelve this book; is it fantasy? not for children and not a classic, but based on children's/classic stories...i kind of feel like i need someone smarter than me to point out all the things i probably missed in these stories. they are all intentionally creepy, so i didn't really enjoy most of them, but they're also often making social commentary and that's where i feel like i probably didn't 'get' them all. my favorites were Daughter Cells (creepy little mermaid) and Fear Not: An Incident Log (genesis from the perspective of an angel).
Beautifully crafted prose that doesn’t give a f***. They’re heavy, but not any heavier than its fairy tale/folklore source material. Interesting takes on some classics. At first I was worried I didn’t “get” it, but after the third story, I didn’t care—it’s a fairy tale, you don’t have to *get* it. It’s not homework.
I have to say though, the one that really got me was “Some Of Us Have Been Threatening Our Friend Toad.” It almost brought tears to my eyes.
And the end of the titular story gave me a chuckle.
I have to say though, the one that really got me was “Some Of Us Have Been Threatening Our Friend Toad.” It almost brought tears to my eyes.
And the end of the titular story gave me a chuckle.
Daniel Mallory Ortberg brings all of his former feminist website The Toast's wit and cleverness to The Merry Spinster, his collection of dark fairytale, folklore and biblical retellings. His stories range from the weird and uncomfortable (Little Mermaid retelling The Daughter Cells, The Frog Princess), to the downright terrifying (The Rabbit, Some of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Mr Toad) with all sorts of genderfuckery and feminist revenges along the way. These stories feel like natural successors to the horror of the Grimms' original fairytales and I loved that about them.