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A review by assimbya
The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares by Joyce Carol Oates
2.0
The title story was the most engrossing; all were well-written.
Oates was trying to manipulate me; I felt frustrated with the cheapness of it. So much focus, in all these stories, on false accusation, on women's naivete and self-absorption. I could stomach the horror easily, but not the worldview. "Beersheba" made me so angry, and not at the characters. Because she works hard at setting her horror within familiar settings, the device of turning her readers' expectations on their heads has more troubling implications than it might if she chose more fantastical settings.
I don't know. It bothered me, and I felt the presence of the author behind the text, smug at bothering me. But it doesn't feel true.
Oates was trying to manipulate me; I felt frustrated with the cheapness of it. So much focus, in all these stories, on false accusation, on women's naivete and self-absorption. I could stomach the horror easily, but not the worldview. "Beersheba" made me so angry, and not at the characters. Because she works hard at setting her horror within familiar settings, the device of turning her readers' expectations on their heads has more troubling implications than it might if she chose more fantastical settings.
I don't know. It bothered me, and I felt the presence of the author behind the text, smug at bothering me. But it doesn't feel true.