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A review by wanderlustlover
As the Last I May Know by S.L. Huang
5.0
Hugo 2020 Nominations (Best Short Story);
I was incredibly moved by this story from the first gasp of finally understanding what it was doing. The story is playing so deeply into the game of innocence and violence, morals and choices, and telling it through the point-of-view of a ten-year-old (and growing) child makes for a poignant, heartbreaking choice.
This is a story about what war does to adults, how it makes them desperate, no matter their position or vocation. This story is about the fleeting beauty of life, and how the threat of death makes it even more precious in every second, never knowing if you'll be alive the next year to see something you loved again. It's about anonymity, and poetry, and a world soaked in blood placed within the chest of a child with unwaveringly dedicated faith.
This such an important story and I'm still working my way around how to explain it without giving it away. There's such importance in the line that basically breaks down this whole short story in a summary:
It's not about right and wrong, she said to him. It's about making it hard.
I was incredibly moved by this story from the first gasp of finally understanding what it was doing. The story is playing so deeply into the game of innocence and violence, morals and choices, and telling it through the point-of-view of a ten-year-old (and growing) child makes for a poignant, heartbreaking choice.
This is a story about what war does to adults, how it makes them desperate, no matter their position or vocation. This story is about the fleeting beauty of life, and how the threat of death makes it even more precious in every second, never knowing if you'll be alive the next year to see something you loved again. It's about anonymity, and poetry, and a world soaked in blood placed within the chest of a child with unwaveringly dedicated faith.
This such an important story and I'm still working my way around how to explain it without giving it away. There's such importance in the line that basically breaks down this whole short story in a summary:
It's not about right and wrong, she said to him. It's about making it hard.