A review by mamimitanaka
The Doll's Alphabet by Camilla Grudova

4.0

Truly uncanny fiction that defies all genre conventions I'm currently aware of, there are recognizable influences that Grudova is keen on divulging [the obvious love for Kafka and classic fairy tales is all over this collection], but for the most part the author carves out her own niche, and the points of reference are just that, rather than anything that overwhelms the singular artistic vision here. Most potently, this is a deeply feminist [and often appropriately angry and even misandric] batch of stories with a keen focus on the divides in expectation and privileges between men and women and the hegemonic violence that occurs as a result of patriarchy. But the violence is rarely ever direct - more appropriately everything in these stories comes to a sinister, slow boil of confusion, communication breakdowns and the disquiet that comes with that. It's a deeply aesthetically interesting volume as well - I agree completely with the person who said this has a post-war feel, everything in these stories is fractured and haunted and desolate, often centering urban landscapes that are apocalyptic only in what is suggested, rather than directly explained, and Grudova has a lot of obsessive motifs of things that shouldn't be unsettling but made are by this bizarro world; fish, dolls, weird tastes in food, sewing machines, etc. - Objects and Items [and the capitalist mass production thereof] are a big thing here, working in tandem with the many themes of objectification of women's bodies and the subjugation of women on basis of their physicality. Vivid despite [and because of] its sparseness, and genuinely disturbing; Camilla Grudova is definitely a contemporary author I'll be revisiting.