Last year, my husband read "The Infinite Jest" and he has been a little bit obsessed with David Foster Wallace since then: we had a little road trip pLast year, my husband read "The Infinite Jest" and he has been a little bit obsessed with David Foster Wallace since then: we had a little road trip planned to visit his family and we spent a significant amount of that drive listening to DFW’s surprisingly warm and soft voice as he read some of his short stories and essays. This audiobook also has a few interviews he gave to various platforms, as well as his famous Kenyon College commencement speech.
I haven’t read any of his work, though I am about to correct that, because I found myself enjoying this collection a lot more than I anticipated – even if I can’t really figure out why some of these pieces were selected for it, as they are kind of all over the place. Due to the fuzziness that I associate with listening to audiobooks on the road, I would be hard-pressed to give very specific examples of what drew me in, but I found the intricacies of his thoughts, his dedication to making the reader feel the setting he had drawn and the tragic yet hilarious humanity of his characters really fascinating.
The very insightful and erudite way he explores the topics of the various short pieces of this collection were really fascinating, and while I am well-aware that those words were strung together 30 years ago (in some cases), there was a freshness to them that really engaged me. A lot of the work explored here was really dark, often getting squarely into bleakness, and I know enough about DFW to see the battle with mental illness behind the words. But mostly, what strikes me is the nuanced thinking and intellectual rigor and honesty that informs his writing.
I think Jason was hoping to get me excited about reading "The Infinite Jest" myself after listening to this, and while I have been meaning to do it for a long time, I am definitely more excited about it now than I was before, though I will start with some of DFW’s slightly lighter work first. A very good little amuse-bouche to pique one’s curiosity about a man who cast a rather imposing shadow on modern literature. I am not sure this is the ideal way to dip your toes in his work if you’ve never read it before; the collection might be too dark for some palates, but I enjoyed it a lot, and would definitely recommend it to fans who haven’t gotten around to it yet....more
I have been a little obsessed with Ouija boards lately: I am not really interested in using one, but I find them to be rather beautiful and fascinatinI have been a little obsessed with Ouija boards lately: I am not really interested in using one, but I find them to be rather beautiful and fascinating objects. When I saw this little collection, edited by Ross Lockhart, it was impossible to resist getting a copy.
As you might have guessed, the theme of this anthology is spirit boards, but also all and any kinds of divination. Some stories are silly and fun, while other are more dramatic and emotional. But as with most anthology, this one is a bit of a mixed bag – that nevertheless contains a few stand out pieces that make the less exciting stories worth it.
The absolute best of “Tales From a Talking Board” for me was Orrin Grey’s “Haruspicate or Scry”. I have seen his name before in other collections I have enjoyed (namely “The Children of Old Leech” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)), and now I think I will pursue his work more seriously, because his little story definitely struck a nerve. Sure, part of it is about communicating with the Other Side, but mostly, it’s a story about the social pressure to be a mother, the weight of having such a decision imposed on you and the resulting trauma. I felt very strongly for the nameless protagonist, and while creepy, I enjoyed the conclusion.
Other stand outs were “YesNoGoodbye”, “Grief”, “Deep Into the Skin” and the rather hilarious “Questions and Answers” – which gives a whimsical explanation about who is moving the planchette when you use a Ouija board.
Overall, a fun little Spooktober read with just enough good stuff to keep it interesting, and one shining gem tucked in at the end....more
I visited Marseille – a city I had dreamed of for as long as I could remember, thanks to Pagnol’s novels – a couple of years ago, and fell in love witI visited Marseille – a city I had dreamed of for as long as I could remember, thanks to Pagnol’s novels – a couple of years ago, and fell in love with it much more than I had anticipated. It’s the oldest, and second largest city in France, and it’s beautiful in a gritty, wild sort of way. People there are colorful and loud, outspoken, kind and incredibly alive. I ate delicious food, visited the most beautiful neighborhood I had ever seen (the Cours Julien) and went to a coop punk bar to see a psychobilly band play, among other things, a cover of “Jolene”. I could have spent the rest of my life there.
Sometimes I miss that city very sharply, which is funny considering I barely spent a week there. I was in that nostalgic mood when I found this little collection of short stories and I immediately picked it up. The Marseille portrayed in the books I had read growing up is a boisterous and sunny place – and it absolutely is. But it’s also a maze of small crooked streets, strange shops and plazas, filled people from all walks of life; and it’s that Marseille the writers of this “anti-tour-guide” focused on.
I loved being transported back to places I visited when familiar spots were mentioned: my wandering in the Panier had little to do with hiding murder weapons, chopping exes into little pieces or dealing drugs. But the stories do such a wonderful job of transporting you to their setting that I would see Marseille with very different eyes if I went back there today. The Palais Longchamp would still be magnificent, but it would also make me think of Rebecca Lighieri’s tragic story.
Now the real question is: would I have liked these stories as much if I hadn't already been in love with their setting? Sadly, probably not. They aren't bad stories, by any stretch of the imagination, but they lack a little something to be really satisfying. Most anthologies are a mixed bag, and this one is no exception. Some are really good, but others are rushed and might have been better as longer stories. To cap it off, all these stories were translated from French, so I can't be sure if the translation is to blame for my feeling underwhelmed about it... Sigh....more
Getting a copy of this book was basically admitting to myself that Laird Barron has joined Neil Gaiman, China Mieville, Becky October spooky read #11!
Getting a copy of this book was basically admitting to myself that Laird Barron has joined Neil Gaiman, China Mieville, Becky Chambers, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Catherynne M. Valente and a handful of other writers I fangirl about shamelessly. Obviously, I am not the only one who feels this way, or such a collection would never have been put together! It was the perfect conclusion to my October spooky reads marathon. You see, I sometimes feel like a jaded husk of a human being because watching the news has made reading horror stories feel a lot less scary than it used to be. But Barron’s stuff is haunting in so many ways, and some pretty damn talented writers created amazing homages to his work with this anthology.
You can enjoy this collection without having read Barron’s stories before, but you will probably enjoy them much more if you have; a few places and characters get revisited. The themes of suppressed memories, isolation, insanity, badly concealed secrets, humans who aren’t quite what they seem, rural isolation, decrepit buildings with ominous histories: the good stuff that I adore about Barron’s stories are present here, reworked in each contributors’ voice. The stories are rich and clever, and only get better the more you think about them.
The strand-outs were:
-Gemma Flies’ creepy tale of “archaeology”: a literal slow descend into madness in one’s own backyard, in the creepiest setting in the world: Mississauga, Ontario (well, its scary to Montrealers anyway)! I loved the references to trepanning, the antiquated surgical procedure of drilling a hole in someone’s skull to let out the humors and relieve headaches. -Orrin Grey’s intriguing venture into high-end art scenes and their peculiar parties. I loved the way the narrator has no identity whatsoever in this tale, they have only one function: to be our eyes, to bear witness to whatever strange event took place as an eccentric, artistically inclined man gathers his entourage for a party where a film by Eadweard Muybridge will be projected. Maybe the Muses have dark sisters somewhere? -Molly Tanzer’s parody of academic correspondence is as funny and accurate in terms of how academics communicate with each other, as it is creepy. Pass the dairy-free donuts. -Jeffrey Thomas’ tale of expats indulging in certain vices they should have avoided. Is there any isolation sharper than being alone in a foreign land? I had heard of snake wine before and I was already not inclined to try it should I ever travel through Asia – now I know I’ll politely decline if it’s ever offered to me. -Cody Goodfellow's train-hopping crust punk's misadventures; how much that guy loves his dog almost broke my heart. -And of course, John Langan’s wonderful story of a woman with PTSD who takes a strange contract working for an eccentric millionaire who takes her to a remote and eerie diamond mine, with a perfect callback to one of my favorite stories from Barron’s collections.
If you like Barron’s work as much as I do, or even if you simply enjoy strange, creepy and ambiguous horror short stories, do not miss this little collection! A wonderful (if slightly uneven) end to my October spooky reads marathon....more
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