Rate this book

May We Shed These Human Bodies (2012)

by Amber Sparks(Favorite Author)

4.18 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0983422877 (ISBN13: 9780983422877)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Curbside Splendor Publishing Inc.

review 1: This is a book full of creation myths, and magic, and bigger than life stories that sometimes journey into the domestic though usually with a magical spin. the focus here is language: there's not a lot of story in these stories and while the language is beautiful and there will be the occasional hyperfocused gem of emotion, the bombastic poetry (and it is often superbeautiful) often feels like it falls short of the grand scale emotions that it wants to portray. concrete details sort of get frittered away in a stream of language, which is great for in the moment reading, but doesn't leave a lot to grasp on to after the fact.
review 2: She uses some very creative framing devices to compartmentalize the sections in these stories, like lists or ingredients or itine... moreraries. I did occasionally grow weary of such methods (like writing-exercise prompts), but overall they enhanced my enjoyment of the stories within them. There were many gorgeous and insightful lines I found myself rereading in awe. She often employs a fairy-tale-like rhythm with a simplicity and repetition that lends those stories an objectivity I found pleasant, on multiple occasions referring to characters as “the mother” or “the father,” etc. A few of the more surreal bits weren’t to my personal tastes, but still well done. Unfortunately, the Kindle Edition has no functional ToC, which should be mandatory, especially for story collections. less

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