I finished St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell yesterday and have such mixed feelings about it. The language is beautiful and the details are impressive, and I was mostly entertained, but after the first few stories, with each tale I found myself worrying whether I was going to get a decent ending as a reward for my efforts. I have nothing against the occasional open ending, but string too many of them together and I feel cheated and get bit narky. I also began to get the uneasy feeling that I was being flimflammed. Most of the stories are milquetoast bizarre - weird fiction for mainstream readers who are feeling a little adventurous but would never pick up an issue of Electric Velocipede or Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet. The stories are good, and quirky, but not as gob smackingly amazing as some would have us believe. The thing is, they could have been great. Still, I liked most of them. I particularly enjoyed the title story and from Children's Reminiscences of the Westward Migration, though once again, that "ending"...
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
The art of ending
I finished St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell yesterday and have such mixed feelings about it. The language is beautiful and the details are impressive, and I was mostly entertained, but after the first few stories, with each tale I found myself worrying whether I was going to get a decent ending as a reward for my efforts. I have nothing against the occasional open ending, but string too many of them together and I feel cheated and get bit narky. I also began to get the uneasy feeling that I was being flimflammed. Most of the stories are milquetoast bizarre - weird fiction for mainstream readers who are feeling a little adventurous but would never pick up an issue of Electric Velocipede or Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet. The stories are good, and quirky, but not as gob smackingly amazing as some would have us believe. The thing is, they could have been great. Still, I liked most of them. I particularly enjoyed the title story and from Children's Reminiscences of the Westward Migration, though once again, that "ending"...
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2 comments:
I liked the actual story 'St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves', but don't think I would want to read a whole collection by her.
Did she writer 'Vampires in the Lemon Grove'? I think it might have been her. I thought that was well written.
It's interesting how 'literary' types look down on sf and fantasy, as if it's something writers dash off, rather than working just as hard and at just as high a standard.
She really does write well, and as said, I enjoyed many of the stories, but I quickly discovered that I had to wait a few days between each piece to get through the collection. There was a sense of repetition if I read them too close together. Still, she's a young writer with many years ahead of her in which to develop, and there's no denying her talent.
I'm looking forward to reading 'Swamplandia' though. I'm curious as to how she ties up a longer work. However, if it turns out to be another open ending...
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