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A review by dreadtoaster
The Rainbow Stories by William T. Vollmann
3.0
As with any short story collection, the quality of the stories varies pretty wildly. I first read this in high school and it was way over my head then but now it’s a bit more approachable- or at least, as approachable as Vollmann can be. I really like the Green Dress and Scintillant Orange, both of them are phenomenal stories. Most of the semi autobiographical stories about skinheads, sex workers, and Vollmann’s terrible sounding relationship are pretty good too if explicitly off-putting. The ones that are explicitly medical in nature are cold & clinical in a way that I appreciate, excellent prose - skin-crawling even. The Blue Yonder - indulgent though it may be - stuck with me pretty forcefully on this read but if the swampy prose turns you off, I really cannot blame you. If I ever have to read Violet Hair again, it will be too soon. That one was practically unreadable. It’s the second to last story, although the final story is only about three pages so it is frankly a terrible note to end on.
I’ve read interviews with Vollmann where he’s said that his goal with this book was misguided and ultimately a failure and that he probably wouldn’t write it now. I think that’s a disappointment but at the same time, I agree. His thesis statement, that all peoples contain vibrancy and depth even if their exterior is X or Y, is hopeful despite the crude, dark subject matter but it just doesn’t hold water. The skinhead chapters alone in this book are proof of that, let alone the resurgence of Nazi culture in America that this book unfortunately presaged.
I’ve read interviews with Vollmann where he’s said that his goal with this book was misguided and ultimately a failure and that he probably wouldn’t write it now. I think that’s a disappointment but at the same time, I agree. His thesis statement, that all peoples contain vibrancy and depth even if their exterior is X or Y, is hopeful despite the crude, dark subject matter but it just doesn’t hold water. The skinhead chapters alone in this book are proof of that, let alone the resurgence of Nazi culture in America that this book unfortunately presaged.