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A review by soinavoice
The Doll's Alphabet by Camilla Grudova
4.0
Three and a half stars, rounding up to support a new author.
These stories are deeply weird, which is great, but tend unfortunately towards the samey in their weirdness. Of the eight longer stories (there are eleven stories total, but three of them are only a page or two in length), five center around the surreally squalid domestic life of women living on the fringe of a spatially and temporally indeterminate society, and those women's relationship issues with bizarre and unsatisfactory men. The voice didn't vary much between these stories, and they all kind of flowed together. They're also preoccupied with gender roles in a way that often feels bizarrely outdated. The stories as a whole are very interested in social difference based on sex, class, physical appearance, and education, but contain not even a nod to difference based on sexuality, race/ethnicity, or religion. I'm not saying that every writer *needs* to talk about ethnicity and sexuality, but that in this particular case, the complete and utter absence felt somehow... conspicuous.
On the whole though, the stories were enjoyably surreal and unsettling, and there were a few ("Waxy," "Agata's Machine," and "Notes from a Spider") that REALLY stood out.
Other reviewers have compared Camilla Grudova to Angela Carter, Franz Kafka, and Margaret Atwood, which I'd say is pretty accurate--perhaps a little too much so (not that the stories are derivative, but there's a strong enough feel of these authors that some of the weaker stories seemed to invite a not particularly flattering comparison). I'd be more inclined to call this collection "promising" than "accomplished," but there is both talent and substance enough here to make it worth the read, especially if you're a fan of any of the above authors. I'm interested to see what Camilla Grudova comes out with next--definitely putting her on my "authors to watch" list.
These stories are deeply weird, which is great, but tend unfortunately towards the samey in their weirdness. Of the eight longer stories (there are eleven stories total, but three of them are only a page or two in length), five center around the surreally squalid domestic life of women living on the fringe of a spatially and temporally indeterminate society, and those women's relationship issues with bizarre and unsatisfactory men. The voice didn't vary much between these stories, and they all kind of flowed together. They're also preoccupied with gender roles in a way that often feels bizarrely outdated. The stories as a whole are very interested in social difference based on sex, class, physical appearance, and education, but contain not even a nod to difference based on sexuality, race/ethnicity, or religion. I'm not saying that every writer *needs* to talk about ethnicity and sexuality, but that in this particular case, the complete and utter absence felt somehow... conspicuous.
On the whole though, the stories were enjoyably surreal and unsettling, and there were a few ("Waxy," "Agata's Machine," and "Notes from a Spider") that REALLY stood out.
Other reviewers have compared Camilla Grudova to Angela Carter, Franz Kafka, and Margaret Atwood, which I'd say is pretty accurate--perhaps a little too much so (not that the stories are derivative, but there's a strong enough feel of these authors that some of the weaker stories seemed to invite a not particularly flattering comparison). I'd be more inclined to call this collection "promising" than "accomplished," but there is both talent and substance enough here to make it worth the read, especially if you're a fan of any of the above authors. I'm interested to see what Camilla Grudova comes out with next--definitely putting her on my "authors to watch" list.