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A review by unfetteredfiction
The Doloriad by Missouri Williams
3.0
“A shadow fell across the land. The shadow had no name; the shadow was white, and it was this pale shadow that had crooked the world.”
- Missouri Williams, The Doloriad
One of the strangest tales I’ve read in a while, and perhaps one of the most memorable.
On the outskirts of a deserted city, an incestuous family wanders, directed by their leader and protector, the Matriarch. In the background, an unusual television programme plays on a VHS and seemingly melts into the peripheral of their universe.
Over the course of a few days, the Matriarch’s rule comes to a quiet but gradual end. She was wrong about something, and the others are now strong enough to see it, deciding she is no longer fit to govern.
The children are often writhing in dirt, they have no set path but to try their best to think of a new world and forget the old. Relationships are violent and abusive, their parameters for living are absurd. How could they go on? They do not live for love or meaning, they live for survival, and cling to it hungrily, whilst also seeming incredibly lazy and out of touch. Who knows what will come next?
This was a unique and ambitious one. I appreciate the uniqueness of the landscape, the tower blocks and the fields, the mound. The stories and lies which are spoken between characters, the memories and delusions are fragrant and fascinating. I am glad I read this, although I did get lost in parts. I look forward to what Williams writes next.
- Missouri Williams, The Doloriad
One of the strangest tales I’ve read in a while, and perhaps one of the most memorable.
On the outskirts of a deserted city, an incestuous family wanders, directed by their leader and protector, the Matriarch. In the background, an unusual television programme plays on a VHS and seemingly melts into the peripheral of their universe.
Over the course of a few days, the Matriarch’s rule comes to a quiet but gradual end. She was wrong about something, and the others are now strong enough to see it, deciding she is no longer fit to govern.
The children are often writhing in dirt, they have no set path but to try their best to think of a new world and forget the old. Relationships are violent and abusive, their parameters for living are absurd. How could they go on? They do not live for love or meaning, they live for survival, and cling to it hungrily, whilst also seeming incredibly lazy and out of touch. Who knows what will come next?
This was a unique and ambitious one. I appreciate the uniqueness of the landscape, the tower blocks and the fields, the mound. The stories and lies which are spoken between characters, the memories and delusions are fragrant and fascinating. I am glad I read this, although I did get lost in parts. I look forward to what Williams writes next.