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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“I Hold a Wolf by the Ears” by Laura van den Berg
A photographer handling grief through a series of expressively sad photographs. A husband and wife who are both trapped in a gaslighting cycle. A woman who finds meaningful work in living her life as dead women. A woman impersonating her sister in an attempt to find meaning in her travels. Laura van den Berg’s short story collection is aptly titled, drawing on the a Latin phrase which roughly translates to “I Hold a Wolf by the Ears” to allude to the way each of these stories represents a narrative in which there is no safe or fulfilling way out of the situation. I had read a couple of these stories a month ago while searching for a performance piece, but reading the full perspective puts van den Berg’s talent into perspective. Each of these stories has a sense of darkness to it, but not lacking in humor. The characters and plots feel twisted slightly, but in a way that reminds us of our human capacity to make fully-reasoned and yet poor decisions. Particular standouts for me are Slumberland, Cult of Mary, Lizards, and Your Second Wife, but the collection has a consistent level of excellence that marks it as an excellent collection. Thoughtful, human, and a little bit provocative, this is a strong collection for any lover of short fiction to read.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
I'm not sure how I feel about this one. Maybe it's because I'm not deeply interested in short stories about marital issues or maybe it's because the style of writing didn't click for me, but for most of the collection I felt like rating this as 2.5 stars at best. The first two stories, "Last Night" and "Slumberland" are the most interesting and the most original - after that, the collection begins to peter out into a repetitive selection of stories that all feel like they're vaguely set in Florida, even when they're not. I enjoyed "Lizards" and "Volcano House" the most out of these later stories, but overall I wasn't really interested in the stories van den Berg was trying to tell. I appreciated the gritty feeling of the text, I just wish I could feel a larger shift (both narratively and tonally) from story to story, to differentiate them from one another.
I will say that some of this can be attributed to the layout of the book - the way in which the stories are ordered places two of the strongest, most original stories at the beginning of the book, and the stories grow weaker as the collection continues. I can also recognize that I'm not necessarily the target audience for this collection - it would probably be a good read for 25-40 year old women who enjoy slow psychological thrillers. The book itself is sturdy and well-formatted - I read the 2020 hardcover version, and the art is beautiful. The formatting inside the book is also well done, and the title page inside is especially pretty. The aesthetics of the book are definitely 5/5 star quality.
I will say that some of this can be attributed to the layout of the book - the way in which the stories are ordered places two of the strongest, most original stories at the beginning of the book, and the stories grow weaker as the collection continues. I can also recognize that I'm not necessarily the target audience for this collection - it would probably be a good read for 25-40 year old women who enjoy slow psychological thrillers. The book itself is sturdy and well-formatted - I read the 2020 hardcover version, and the art is beautiful. The formatting inside the book is also well done, and the title page inside is especially pretty. The aesthetics of the book are definitely 5/5 star quality.
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Mixed on the passages/stories of this that are About Women Today as they vary in tact and feel already dated, but when it goes for trying to capture an unsettling unknowable terror or rendering the most devastating forms of interpersonal/familial drama there are, there's nothing like it. Been haunting me since I started this months ago, and have a feeling it'll be haunting me for a while longer.
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-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
This genre is right up my street. Unfortunately, this short story collection feels less compelling than others in the same arena. Van den Berg provides eerie commentary on violence against women and girls (VAWAG). She touches upon some important feminist points but the text felt disembodied from emotion, it wasn't intersectional at all, and the ideas weren't particularly advanced.
This collection provides more realistic feminist horror, it's less surreal than Kathryn Scanlan's 'The Dominant Animal' and more heteronormative than Carmen Maria Machado's 'Her body and other parties'. Not for me, but a good entry point for people new to the feminist movement looking for an entry point into reflective horror.
My score is an average taken of the individual rating.
*The ones with an asterisks by them are my favourites.
Last night 2/5
Slumberland 4/5* (loved the sub-story of the protagonist's neighbour's unsettling job)
Hill of hell 2/5
Cult of Mary 3/5
Lizards 3.5/5* (unsettling commentary of control and rape culture from a man's POV)
The pitch 2.5/5
Volcano house 2/5
Friends 3/5* (an unsettling story about female friendship!)
Karolina 3/5
Your second wife 2.5/5
I hold a Wolf by the ears 1/5
Average score = 2.5
This collection provides more realistic feminist horror, it's less surreal than Kathryn Scanlan's 'The Dominant Animal' and more heteronormative than Carmen Maria Machado's 'Her body and other parties'. Not for me, but a good entry point for people new to the feminist movement looking for an entry point into reflective horror.
My score is an average taken of the individual rating.
*The ones with an asterisks by them are my favourites.
Last night 2/5
Slumberland 4/5* (loved the sub-story of the protagonist's neighbour's unsettling job)
Hill of hell 2/5
Cult of Mary 3/5
Lizards 3.5/5* (unsettling commentary of control and rape culture from a man's POV)
The pitch 2.5/5
Volcano house 2/5
Friends 3/5* (an unsettling story about female friendship!)
Karolina 3/5
Your second wife 2.5/5
I hold a Wolf by the ears 1/5
Average score = 2.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
