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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
slow-paced
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A truly odd collection of stories, each one leaving me with the distinct feeling that I have just glimpsed into a disturbing pocket world. Have seen behind some kind of veil separating the real from the surreal. As a reader, I feel like the most unwitting voyeur. Like I was being made to see something I didn’t necessarily want to but that I was interested in knowing all the same.
These works really toe the line between unsettling and uncanny. The world is both familiar and yet not quite, like every other word is slightly out of place, every character slightly out of step with their world. I leave each story in this collection wondering at my own place in my own pocket world, wondering how many of us are a step out of place, how many us experience a reality we cannot articulate. Mostly, I wonder if this is the way, if there is a way out or if there truly are no easy ways out. I wonder if that makes sense.
These stories leave me wondering and I appreciate the invitation to do so.
These works really toe the line between unsettling and uncanny. The world is both familiar and yet not quite, like every other word is slightly out of place, every character slightly out of step with their world. I leave each story in this collection wondering at my own place in my own pocket world, wondering how many of us are a step out of place, how many us experience a reality we cannot articulate. Mostly, I wonder if this is the way, if there is a way out or if there truly are no easy ways out. I wonder if that makes sense.
These stories leave me wondering and I appreciate the invitation to do so.
A really brilliant off-kilter collection of short stories. Each story is dreamlike, uneasy and weird.
My favourite stories were: “Slumberland”, where a woman who is kept up by her upstairs neighbour nighttime wailing goes out to take photographs. “The Pitch”, where an old photograph from a husband's childhood becomes a strange fixation. And the titular story “I Hold a Wolf by the Ears”, where a woman impersonates her sister in a small Italian village she appears to be stuck in.
As a whole, this collection was a lot of fun. Speculative with a sense of humour. I will definitely read more from Van Den Berg!
My favourite stories were: “Slumberland”, where a woman who is kept up by her upstairs neighbour nighttime wailing goes out to take photographs. “The Pitch”, where an old photograph from a husband's childhood becomes a strange fixation. And the titular story “I Hold a Wolf by the Ears”, where a woman impersonates her sister in a small Italian village she appears to be stuck in.
As a whole, this collection was a lot of fun. Speculative with a sense of humour. I will definitely read more from Van Den Berg!
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
What an excellent story collection. Laura van den Berg's stories are strange and spooky, with slightly surreal undertones. This book is full of many lost women, women who aren't sure who they are anymore or what their role is in the world. There's also lots of misogyny and violence against women. Plenty of family relationships, too- sisters and brothers and mothers and daughters. These stories are haunting and beautiful and sparse. van den Berg doesn't overexplain anything or give you neatly tied up endings--and the open-ended mystery of it is stunning in its own right.
Jak to często w przypadku zbiorów opowiadań bywa, niektóre spodobały mi się bardzo, a niektóre w ogóle. Każda historia przepełniona jest lękiem pochodzących z różnych źródeł, ale w centrum zawsze znajduje się kobiecoś i kobieca perspektywa. Jestem pewien, że niektóre opowiadania i motywy zostaną ze mną na dłużej.
Last Night ⭐⭐⭐
Slumberland ⭐⭐⭐
Hill of Hell ⭐⭐⭐
Cult of Mary ⭐⭐⭐
Lizards ⭐⭐⭐
The Pitch ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Volcano House ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Friends ⭐⭐⭐
Karolina ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Your Second Wife ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I Hold a Wolf By the Ears ⭐⭐⭐
Mostly these stories were just fine. I prefer my fabulism to go a little weirder.
Slumberland ⭐⭐⭐
Hill of Hell ⭐⭐⭐
Cult of Mary ⭐⭐⭐
Lizards ⭐⭐⭐
The Pitch ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Volcano House ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Friends ⭐⭐⭐
Karolina ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Your Second Wife ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I Hold a Wolf By the Ears ⭐⭐⭐
Mostly these stories were just fine. I prefer my fabulism to go a little weirder.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes