Right, March. March was that weird month that started out sort of normal and ended up with working from home in lockdown. Yeah. But... I did read some stuff. So here goes:
Even more so than with other China Miéville books I've read, I wasn't sure what to make of this when I started it. It's bleak, and creepy, and leaves a lot to the imagination and interpretation of the reader. I admit I took a while to get into it, whereas with the others I've read (The City & The City and Perdido Street Station) I was immediately pulled into their worlds. But as the different layers of narrative play out and the story comes together, I did end up liking it a lot by the time I finished it. It feels a bit like peering through a partially obscured window into a place you'd like to see more of - so many unanswered questions, so many things mentioned but left unexplained (particularly about the past), so much you still don't know about the main character's life outside of the brief moments you are shown. But it's beautifully done, and reinforces to me that I need to work my way through the other books of his I haven't yet read!
And highlights of March's online reads:
Lock and Key by Candace Hartsuyker (in Cease, Cows) - A delightfully disturbing retelling of a possibly less well known folk tale.
The Reflection Room by Angela Wipperman (in STORGY) - An interesting take on the idea of your life passing before your eyes when you die, and I like the conversational, instructive voice.
Vigil by Kate Finegan (in Cease, Cows) - I'm finding it hard to put into words quite what I love so much about this one, but I think maybe it's something to do with the weirdness-accepted-as-normal (or at least, stated in a tone of acceptance) combined with some of the imagery.
A Moment Coloured Dusk by Elodie Rose Barnes (in The Cabinet of Heed) - Just gorgeous writing! The details and the sense of nervous anticipation of being in the moment before something might happen.
Lucy Ignores Death by L. Soviero (in SmokeLong Quarterly) - A brilliant concept, again with an innate acceptance of something entirely not normal woven through it; the idea that you could be dead but not know it.
Watch List by Amy Zhang (in Jellyfish Review) - Powerfully conveys the experiences it describes, and stayed with me because it reminded me of the many international students I see all the time in my day job (studying in another country & another language is such a brave thing to do!)
Miss Quinn's Instruction to Class 8Q by Angelita Bradney (in Ellipsis Zine) - A lovely combination of the mundane and the magical, that feels both nostalgic and whimsical, and slightly sad.
Wetted Appetites by Molly Gabriel (in Okay Donkey) - Something wonderfully creepy to finish on! The imagery and turn of phrase are unsettling from the start, and it ends up somewhere very strange indeed.
That's all for now. If there's anyone out there finding my book-related ramblings at all interesting, then thanks for reading! 😘
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