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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
one thing i’ve learned about reviewing books awhile after finishing them is allowing time to process is so enlightening. i would have easily given this 4 stars when i first read it but now i’m struggling to remember a single story in its entirety. that’s not necessarily a bad thing because short stories are easy to revisit. i’m going to leave this at a 3.5 star for now and maybe it’ll go up if i choose to re-read. however, i remember really loving some of these when i listened to them in the moment & would recommend if the synopsis is interesting to you!
The title says it all in Laura van den Berg’s new collection, I Hold a Wolf by the Ears—every narrator lives in precarity, with a power that might kill them should they give it up.
Read my full review here: http://blog.pshares.org/index.php/i-hold-a-wolf-by-the-ears-by-laura-van-den-berg/
Read my full review here: http://blog.pshares.org/index.php/i-hold-a-wolf-by-the-ears-by-laura-van-den-berg/
I Hold a Wolf by the Ears is a perfect book of both figurative and literal modern ghost stories.
The collection has gothic twinges of both Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties and Florida by Lauren Groff, while still holding its own through its specific brand of creepy: nighttime walks, missing persons, wolves in disguise, lessons in solitude...
I especially enjoyed Your Second Wife, as well as the title story, which reminded me of Vendela Vida’s highly underrated novella The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty.
The collection has gothic twinges of both Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties and Florida by Lauren Groff, while still holding its own through its specific brand of creepy: nighttime walks, missing persons, wolves in disguise, lessons in solitude...
I especially enjoyed Your Second Wife, as well as the title story, which reminded me of Vendela Vida’s highly underrated novella The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Loved the atmosphere and surreal qualities to these stories. Great writing and each story packs a punch. Dark, uncanny and David Lynch-esque.
I Hold a Wolf by the Ears: Stories by Laura Van Den Berg
Man oh man were these stories unsettling. They each follow women in the seemingly mundane realities of their lives, but nothing actually turns out to be mundane. They all felt very dreamlike, with basically no plot structure, which added to the unsettling nature of them. My favorite of the collection was Volcano House, by far.
3.5/5⭐️
Man oh man were these stories unsettling. They each follow women in the seemingly mundane realities of their lives, but nothing actually turns out to be mundane. They all felt very dreamlike, with basically no plot structure, which added to the unsettling nature of them. My favorite of the collection was Volcano House, by far.
3.5/5⭐️
I Hold a Wolf by the Ears is an atmospheric, thrillingly dynamic and compulsively readable short story collection that ruminates on themes of identity, violence against women, duality, responses to trauma and longing. That's a lot to pack into 201 pages, especially when the stories in those pages are comprised of brief and often fragmented narratives but Laura Van den Berg impressively pulls it off with only a few exceptions.
All of these tales focus on women in unusual and confounding situations that challenge them and the reader in many ways. The ideas at the heart of these stories are creative and often riveting. Though the narrative voice remains pretty homogenous throughout, the setting and conflict for each is distinct and intriguing while maintaining a cohesive air of mystery and menace. The stories start in Florida and take the reader all the way from Australia to Rome to Mexico City. I particularly enjoyed the more transportive tales like Volcano House which takes place in the treeless tundra of Iceland. Karolina and the titular tale took place in Mexico and Italy respectively and they were highlights as well. The one stinker that stood out, to me, was Friends but it was also one of the shortest which probably has something to do with my underwhelmed reaction to it. Though, even my feelings toward that one were more apathy than antipathy.
Laura van den Berg's writing was undeniably inspired and inventive but it sometimes meandered a bit into clunky execution that felt rushed or nonsensical. Some of the compelling and creative ideas she created felt like they deserved a bit more consideration or maybe just a healthier page count but perhaps that is simply down to the nature of short form fiction?
The prose felt a little uneven at times. At one moment, the author would hook me with a clever concept or propulsive event before losing me slightly with an arbitrary anecdote that seemed to lead nowhere or toward a too-easy resolution that verged on unbelievable. In a passage where the events unfolding became too unlikely and conveniently coincidental she cleverly brought up the idea that fact is often stranger than fiction and lamented that in telling the truth you inevitably wind up sounding like a liar. I loved this meta moment in the story and it perfectly exemplified the emotional tug-of-war that sometimes thwarted my enjoyment of this book.
However, upon finishing the whole collection, the sum of its parts easily won out and I would definitely recommend it to any fans of short stories or literary fiction. I am relatively new to this form and likely suffering from a few growing pains in that process but even I can tell that this collection is uncommonly captivating and brilliantly beguiling.
All of these tales focus on women in unusual and confounding situations that challenge them and the reader in many ways. The ideas at the heart of these stories are creative and often riveting. Though the narrative voice remains pretty homogenous throughout, the setting and conflict for each is distinct and intriguing while maintaining a cohesive air of mystery and menace. The stories start in Florida and take the reader all the way from Australia to Rome to Mexico City. I particularly enjoyed the more transportive tales like Volcano House which takes place in the treeless tundra of Iceland. Karolina and the titular tale took place in Mexico and Italy respectively and they were highlights as well. The one stinker that stood out, to me, was Friends but it was also one of the shortest which probably has something to do with my underwhelmed reaction to it. Though, even my feelings toward that one were more apathy than antipathy.
Laura van den Berg's writing was undeniably inspired and inventive but it sometimes meandered a bit into clunky execution that felt rushed or nonsensical. Some of the compelling and creative ideas she created felt like they deserved a bit more consideration or maybe just a healthier page count but perhaps that is simply down to the nature of short form fiction?
The prose felt a little uneven at times. At one moment, the author would hook me with a clever concept or propulsive event before losing me slightly with an arbitrary anecdote that seemed to lead nowhere or toward a too-easy resolution that verged on unbelievable. In a passage where the events unfolding became too unlikely and conveniently coincidental she cleverly brought up the idea that fact is often stranger than fiction and lamented that in telling the truth you inevitably wind up sounding like a liar. I loved this meta moment in the story and it perfectly exemplified the emotional tug-of-war that sometimes thwarted my enjoyment of this book.
However, upon finishing the whole collection, the sum of its parts easily won out and I would definitely recommend it to any fans of short stories or literary fiction. I am relatively new to this form and likely suffering from a few growing pains in that process but even I can tell that this collection is uncommonly captivating and brilliantly beguiling.
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is my favorite short story collection of the year, no question. Van Den Berg has created a surreal, chilling, and often bleak world in this book, telling the stories of haunted women as they traverse grief, trauma, and violence from men. Van Den Berg writes with such precision and thought that it is clear that every word of this book was considered to make the most of the short form. Her sentences are precise and captivating, pulling you into each story immediately and not letting you loose until she decides to. The best example of this is the first story “Last Night,” which opens with “I want to tell you about the night I got hit by a train and died.” Even better, the following sentence is “The thing is - it never happened.”
Each story is unique in its approach yet feels grounded in cohesiveness. Van Den Berg is not afraid to constantly surprise her readers, and her narrative choices work wonders to leave a deep imprint on your mind with each story. Even for some short story collections that I love, I can forget the details of individual stories yet appreciate it overall. This is not the case here - every story is unforgettable and punches you in the face. While this is the only book I have by her, I cannot wait to read everything she has written and eagerly await her next work.
Each story is unique in its approach yet feels grounded in cohesiveness. Van Den Berg is not afraid to constantly surprise her readers, and her narrative choices work wonders to leave a deep imprint on your mind with each story. Even for some short story collections that I love, I can forget the details of individual stories yet appreciate it overall. This is not the case here - every story is unforgettable and punches you in the face. While this is the only book I have by her, I cannot wait to read everything she has written and eagerly await her next work.