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A review by li3an1na4
The Black Prince and Other Stories by Shirley Ann Grau
4.0
I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
An uneven book of short stories originally published in the 1950s. It deals with the South and all the politics and portrayals that you'd expect with a mix of magical realism. The stories range from ~1920's to present (which was 1950's for the publication of this book).
Different stories have different writing styles, for instance White Girl Fine Girl reminded me of Faulkner's Sound and the Fury in terms of not quite getting it on the first read through. There's a lot of hidden messages in the stories, metaphors and references, that I'm sure I've missed a lot. And perhaps my inability to enjoy some stories were due to the fact that there were some thing that just flew over my head.
I do think what would have helped would have been perhaps something written about each story to give it context. While it wouldn't have been necessary when the book was initially published, the republication at this point needs it. However, how the author chose to deal with classism, racism, sexism in the American South was unique even by today's standards and I do appreciate that.
3.5/5 rounds to 4/5.
An uneven book of short stories originally published in the 1950s. It deals with the South and all the politics and portrayals that you'd expect with a mix of magical realism. The stories range from ~1920's to present (which was 1950's for the publication of this book).
Different stories have different writing styles, for instance White Girl Fine Girl reminded me of Faulkner's Sound and the Fury in terms of not quite getting it on the first read through. There's a lot of hidden messages in the stories, metaphors and references, that I'm sure I've missed a lot. And perhaps my inability to enjoy some stories were due to the fact that there were some thing that just flew over my head.
I do think what would have helped would have been perhaps something written about each story to give it context. While it wouldn't have been necessary when the book was initially published, the republication at this point needs it. However, how the author chose to deal with classism, racism, sexism in the American South was unique even by today's standards and I do appreciate that.
3.5/5 rounds to 4/5.