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A review by w0rmonastring
Bliss Montage by Ling Ma
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
an incredibly imaginative collection of stories where the seemingly innocuous moments of life in cities across the us take a turn for the surreal. ma’s writing is undeniably creative but a lot of these stories either left me wanting a fully fleshed out piece where concepts are fully explored or on the opposite end, not sure which concepts are meant to be being explored at all. there’s also not enough of a connecting thread through each of these stories for my taste, but i am eagerly looking forward to picking up Severance and exploring ma’s long-form work.
“What if I dissected my feelings, pulled them apart and brutalized them so that he would know they were true? Is this enough? … They would explode and drip over everything like bodily fluids and finally he’d be forced to look away.”
- from Los Angeles
“‘I never gave you my heart,’ you told me, two days before you got into that bike accident, breaking three ribs and your ancient, Germanic clavicles. If your body had been broken beyond repair, I would have paid them to pluck out those bones for me — me before all others…”
- from Yeti Lovemaking
“‘Ice cream is my favorite food.’ I write these words in the journal my mother gives me to record my first days in the US. English is just a play language to me, the words tethered to their meanings by the loosest, most tenuous connections. So it's easy to lie. I tell the truth in Chinese, I make up stories in English. I don't take it that seriously … It is the language in which I have nothing to lose, even if they don't believe a thing I say.”
- from Peking Duck
“What if I dissected my feelings, pulled them apart and brutalized them so that he would know they were true? Is this enough? … They would explode and drip over everything like bodily fluids and finally he’d be forced to look away.”
- from Los Angeles
“‘I never gave you my heart,’ you told me, two days before you got into that bike accident, breaking three ribs and your ancient, Germanic clavicles. If your body had been broken beyond repair, I would have paid them to pluck out those bones for me — me before all others…”
- from Yeti Lovemaking
“‘Ice cream is my favorite food.’ I write these words in the journal my mother gives me to record my first days in the US. English is just a play language to me, the words tethered to their meanings by the loosest, most tenuous connections. So it's easy to lie. I tell the truth in Chinese, I make up stories in English. I don't take it that seriously … It is the language in which I have nothing to lose, even if they don't believe a thing I say.”
- from Peking Duck
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Terminal illness