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Jagannath (2012)

by Karin Tidbeck(Favorite Author)

4.17 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Cheeky Frawg Books

review 1: I'm not quite sure what happened, but I know it was very good. This extremely varied and rich collection of short stories moves along from whimsical, to odd, to haunting, to so-bizarre-it-feels-like-it-has-to-be-real, to disgusting, to triumphant. I was at turns confused and exhilarated; delighted and nauseated by Karin Tidbeck's confident and ethereal prose and her utterly singular take on the seamy-fantastical realm beneath the everyday. She tackles sexuality, anatomy, culture, place, and identity with terse beauty and an unflinching, almost clinical, flatness. These stories are not for everyone, though: there were moments in the reading of "Aunts" and the title story, "Jagannath," in particular, when my whole being grimaced and I caught myself wondering, "why am I readi... moreng this, and just what in the hell is it?" But I pushed on, or, rather, I was pulled along, by the plodding inevitability of it all: the story exists in a world and a time that exists, and it is heading somewhere, with or without me. Nor does Tidbek ever judge her characters or their surroundings, making it easier to feel like an impartial observer. Though, when you're done, you will feel like much more than that. You'll feel like you just lived, for a time, inside a deeply vivid dream on the other side of which is a terrible reality that's almost too lovely to touch.
review 2: This collection is not long at all, but these 13 stories are massive in breadth of imagination. Tidbeck has become an instant favorite of mine on the strength of these and "Moonstruck" from the Year's Best Weird Fiction, Vol 1. I appreciate the organic aspects of her prose, the firmly rooted sense of culture, and, of course, the creatures. (What lover of weird fiction doesn't love cool creatures?) The fact that these stories were not merely written, but written and translated, speaks to Tidbeck's immense talent. less

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