Scan barcode
A review by frasersimons
Stories We Tell Our Children by Marc Nash
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
I am always a bit hesitant to read short story collections because how can you rate something that is, almost ubiquitously, uneven? Different genres; different voices crafted for each narration; different perspectives; different points of interest for each conceit and premise. Terrifying.
I think this might be the third collection I’ve read that’s pulled it off though. Mostly by being exceptional with prose and diction work, making every story, if not a thing of personal interest, a pleasure to consume and feel on the proverbial tongue. And also with one story in particular that managed to form a dialogue with me regarding something I’ve never once fully articulated nor certainly verbalized. A story called A Briefing on Time’s History. I am a twin myself and make sense of my world primarily through narrative (Malka Older would probably call it a narrative disorder, actually), so that story was really striking and thought provoking to me. Not to mention moving.
There are other stand outs though. A story about a woman negotiating life with the ostensible memory of her father forcing food down her throat as a child when obstinate as an extrapolation of men in the future perceiving her body in a similar way. There are lots of things in here like that. I like to call these kinds of things prismatic. You shift something just a small degree and look at it from a different angle and it’s entirely something else.
Or a whole new view of the same thing, anyway. Excellent stuff. Rumination and stray thoughts that run rampant into stories regarding rearing and socialization and the good and damage we do to those we love, regardless of intent. You’ll laugh and you’ll be horrified. It goes places, from time to time.
I think this might be the third collection I’ve read that’s pulled it off though. Mostly by being exceptional with prose and diction work, making every story, if not a thing of personal interest, a pleasure to consume and feel on the proverbial tongue. And also with one story in particular that managed to form a dialogue with me regarding something I’ve never once fully articulated nor certainly verbalized. A story called A Briefing on Time’s History. I am a twin myself and make sense of my world primarily through narrative (Malka Older would probably call it a narrative disorder, actually), so that story was really striking and thought provoking to me. Not to mention moving.
There are other stand outs though. A story about a woman negotiating life with the ostensible memory of her father forcing food down her throat as a child when obstinate as an extrapolation of men in the future perceiving her body in a similar way. There are lots of things in here like that. I like to call these kinds of things prismatic. You shift something just a small degree and look at it from a different angle and it’s entirely something else.
Or a whole new view of the same thing, anyway. Excellent stuff. Rumination and stray thoughts that run rampant into stories regarding rearing and socialization and the good and damage we do to those we love, regardless of intent. You’ll laugh and you’ll be horrified. It goes places, from time to time.