Skinny Dipping Into Books
I like the rain. I want to have a spring bookworming rain party full out with wellies—but not those Hunter Boots; absolutely not—, with yummy airy things like puffed pastries, meringues, mini fluffy cheese cakes, mousse dessert, macaroon, biscuits, crepe, and Earl Grey tea, definitely Earl Grey tea. and Tillandsia. We'd have lots of "air plants". Lots! And We'd read, but not anything structured. We'd bring books, trade books, read out-loud, pass books around between sentences and paragraphs. We'd leave with books we hadn't discovered.
I like books like I like my Jazz; euphoric, dangerous, occasionally a bit manic, sorrowful, bleak, raging, mood-incongruent, mournful, unforgivingly ragged, symbolic in a quiet way, warm apple pie for the soul. Give me a Plath style. Yōko Ogawa, M. Roach,
Criteria: Not rated on likability of characters. Not objective. I like Moxie Soda; chances are you don't.
time spent in that before bed reading slot:
5-until blurry eye 4-Later than I intended, but I still kept to my extended, extended reading time 3-I really should have been to bed an hour ago 2-customary 30 minutes. 1-book. side table. eyes closed.
How are common themes handled?
5-With an aesthetic that repurposes everyday themes into something fresh. Think of Hole Celebrity Skin covered by Cat Power 4-there is a comfortable air of familiarly.
3-Deja Vu 2. No deviation from its mates 1. Devastatingly trite, redundant, and stale.
Where would you keep it post-reading?
5-Next to my bed. 4-it's the center piece of my favorite bookshelf 3. On my other favorite bookshelf, but it's a bit dusty over their 2-Great cheap bookends 1-It never made it out of the box marked 'moving'.
Emotional response-
5- Where is my teddy bear? Emotional-hangover 4- If I wasn't so emotionally stunted I'd cry.
3. Did James Cameron co-wrote this? Artfully contrived.
2- calculative emotional manipulation. This was literally written by James Cameron.1- I…feel…..nothing.
Mechanics (plot structure, voice, presentation, word choice, sentence structure, characters, writing style, pacing, and consistency):
5-Chanel 4-Prada 3-J-Crew 2-Gap 1-Old Navy
don't judge THIS book by its cover
"Books are the mirrors of the soul."
Virginia Woolf, Between the Acts
take Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales by Yoko Ogawa, especially the writing style and slight drips of metaphysicalness, spirituality, and imagery, slather it with Haruki Murakami; but don't over do it. Add a dash of Karen Russell (when she is on her game).... and you have this book.
these stories, while completely, definitely grounded in their ownness, are somehow linked. The linking is personal, and grounds the read, or at least it did for me. It's difficult to explain, but for the most part I found myself able to identify personally with every story, and curtail its meaning around my history—present and past—advancing this long, expansive trajectory. It's remarkably scary in its depth and honesty, nakedness and realness. It's jagged around the edges, but a warm and assuring hug in the middle. It whispers "it will all be ok" and it honestly means it.
A link to my favorite, below recalled the raw, gnawing, realness of mental illness (or death, or whatever feelings rush in) and completely shattered me word by word.
the rememberer
Personally, it was my 'Mia Michaels moment' of the series (see below for visual)....
I kid you not, dear goodreader's this one made me tear up, and that is a rarity. If you can not connect to this story to a bad break up, your own mental illness or a loved one, or terminally ill grandparents/parent's then you are heartless... terribly and absolutely heartless.
Calling these amazing gems short stories is a disservice. They aperitifs, sliding down your throat after a long cry. Some will hurt, and you will buckle over, holding your stomach, as if your insides might burst open. Some glide across your palate effortlessly and kindly, relieving inward and outward pain. Others are a shade of gray, some learning towards the darker side of the color wheel, while others are dashed with heavy white tones.
good god the first story crushed my soul, spit it out, and folded it back into pieces....