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A review by lizshayne
The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Okay, I SUPER want to take a class (or even teach one, I suppose) that actually reads this right after reading Dracula because what Zárate does here by taking the style and fascinations inherent in Dracula and queering it and also investigating it is really interesting. There's enough material included with the novella to make analysis somewhat unnecessary, but the choice to make queer desire explicit and also the consequences of both queerness and queerphobia explicit recasts the original in a really interesting way.
And also I wonder what the choice to use Dracula's fascination with mediation and continue the found text approach does to this story. Does it merely keep the interstitial text in line with the original or does it change our experience of The Route of Ice and Salt. I'm not sure, that's why I need a classroom to talk it through in.
And also I wonder what the choice to use Dracula's fascination with mediation and continue the found text approach does to this story. Does it merely keep the interstitial text in line with the original or does it change our experience of The Route of Ice and Salt. I'm not sure, that's why I need a classroom to talk it through in.