Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Small Beer Pr (2023), 269 pages
Description
"A half-remembered children's TV show. A hotel that shouldn't exist. A mysterious ballad. A living flag. A group of girls goes camping. Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author Sarah Pinsker's second collection brings together her touchstones of music and memory, secret subversions and hidden messages"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member Chrisethier
Disclaimer: I received an ARC via a Librarything giveaway.
Can I just say, I love the fact that Pinkser has older women as heroines in some of her short stories?
I am also very disappointed that I cannot find anything about a composer called Bess Morris and I know think that Pinsker just made her
Of this collection, I had only read one story before. That was “Everything is Closed Today”. When I first read it, it was before the pandemic, so it hits a little bit differently now. It is still good.
My favorite story in the collection is “Escape from Caring Seasons,” and in some ways I kept thinking of Sophia and Shady Pines from the Golden Girls. But what Pinsker does is address the idea of control that AI and devices can have over us. The ending is quite good. Zora is a particularly believable character, and it really does feel like you are right there with her.
It was also strange to read “That Our Flag was Still There” while the multiple votes for Speaker of the House occurred. Pinsker short story is about real values versus the fake patriotism that so many politicians and other people claim as their own. The use of opiates for the masses also appears in this story, and it works because it could happen. You can see it happening.
The collection kicks off with “Two Truths and a Lie” which relies mostly on atmosphere to gets creep level on, but it works extremely well. That sense of menace is slightly present in “Left the Century to Sit Unmoved”.
A few of the stories in the collection, for instance ‘Escape from Caring Seasons” mentioned above deal with the issue of technology and the potential damage and sapping of free will that it can cause. It makes some of the stories in the collection to be particularly cautionary tales, it not outright fables. But Pinsker also experiments with style. For instance, “I Frequently Hear Music in the Very Heart of Noise” is in part a love letter to New York, a love letter to music, and a mediation on hotel culture. “Where Oaken Hearts do Gather” is a rather interesting look/take on a famous ballad told in an interesting way.
The one that is the most moving but least magical in terms of what defines fantasy and sci-fi for many people is “Remember This for Me” which is beautifully told with a mixture of humor and grace.
Can I just say, I love the fact that Pinkser has older women as heroines in some of her short stories?
I am also very disappointed that I cannot find anything about a composer called Bess Morris and I know think that Pinsker just made her
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up and I am so disappointed. But Pinsker made her up well enough that I didn’t think she was made up so that is really writing talent right there. You know what I mean?Of this collection, I had only read one story before. That was “Everything is Closed Today”. When I first read it, it was before the pandemic, so it hits a little bit differently now. It is still good.
My favorite story in the collection is “Escape from Caring Seasons,” and in some ways I kept thinking of Sophia and Shady Pines from the Golden Girls. But what Pinsker does is address the idea of control that AI and devices can have over us. The ending is quite good. Zora is a particularly believable character, and it really does feel like you are right there with her.
It was also strange to read “That Our Flag was Still There” while the multiple votes for Speaker of the House occurred. Pinsker short story is about real values versus the fake patriotism that so many politicians and other people claim as their own. The use of opiates for the masses also appears in this story, and it works because it could happen. You can see it happening.
The collection kicks off with “Two Truths and a Lie” which relies mostly on atmosphere to gets creep level on, but it works extremely well. That sense of menace is slightly present in “Left the Century to Sit Unmoved”.
A few of the stories in the collection, for instance ‘Escape from Caring Seasons” mentioned above deal with the issue of technology and the potential damage and sapping of free will that it can cause. It makes some of the stories in the collection to be particularly cautionary tales, it not outright fables. But Pinsker also experiments with style. For instance, “I Frequently Hear Music in the Very Heart of Noise” is in part a love letter to New York, a love letter to music, and a mediation on hotel culture. “Where Oaken Hearts do Gather” is a rather interesting look/take on a famous ballad told in an interesting way.
The one that is the most moving but least magical in terms of what defines fantasy and sci-fi for many people is “Remember This for Me” which is beautifully told with a mixture of humor and grace.
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LibraryThing member bragan
A collection of short stories, all of which qualify as some sort of speculative fiction, but often in odd or hard-to-define ways. it's a bit difficult to review this one, because my responses to the stories vary so much. The best of them are terrific, with the absolute standout of the collection
But here's the thing about this collection. It feels to me very much like Pinsker is absolutely fearless about trying any kind of idea, or format, or writing style. (A story told in the form of comments on an internet forum devoted to analyzing the lyrics of folk ballads? Sure, why not!) Some of it pays off wonderfully and some of it falls a bit flat, but I think I do love that she's willing to try all of it.
Rating: I'm going to call this one 3.5/5, because it probably works as some kind of weighted average of my evaluation of each story, but I'm not entirely sure that tells you very much.
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being "The Court Magician," which takes a familiar fantasy trope and handles it in a way that feels so fresh and so effective that I actually find myself completely forgetting that I've ever seen it used before at all. Other stories are decent enough, but make much less of an impact. At least a couple show great promise, but end in ways I found unsatisfying, as if the author weren't entirely sure where to go with them. And a few are trying to engage in social commentary in ways that just end up feeling clunky and rather dull.But here's the thing about this collection. It feels to me very much like Pinsker is absolutely fearless about trying any kind of idea, or format, or writing style. (A story told in the form of comments on an internet forum devoted to analyzing the lyrics of folk ballads? Sure, why not!) Some of it pays off wonderfully and some of it falls a bit flat, but I think I do love that she's willing to try all of it.
Rating: I'm going to call this one 3.5/5, because it probably works as some kind of weighted average of my evaluation of each story, but I'm not entirely sure that tells you very much.
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LibraryThing member susanbooks
I want so much to like this! And the third story, "I Frequently Hear Music in the Very Heart of Noise," is a symphonic paean to the arts of twentieth-century New York City that is quite nice. But for me, this collection reads like a bunch of interesting (some not so much) ideas worked out in a YA
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manner, if one imagines the worst of YA lit. Nothing ever gets too complicated. The whimsy remains breath-like, the deeper thoughts shallow as puddles. As I'm writing, I'm thinking of Jo Walton, whose work is also whimsical but who uses whimsy to really dig, to investigate harder, darker places in our psyches. Pinsker, despite her awards, pales in comparison. Show Less
LibraryThing member pussreboots
Excellent collection of short stories. Will write / post proper review soon.
LibraryThing member mahsdad
8/10 I got this from LT's Early Review program for a honest opinion. And honestly, I really enjoyed this collection quite a bit. This was my first time reading her stuff and I think I'll look to read more. The only story that I tapped out on that kept me from giving it more stars, was "Where Oaken
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Hearts Do Gather". It was a really interesting premise, a kind of Reddit thread discussion of an obscure English ballad. I liked it, but it just went a little long for me and I skipped it. The rest were different slightly off types of stories, kind of near science fiction. My favorites were probably "Science Facts", the story of a group of girls going on a backpack trip and how they bond together, or "Remember This for Me", about an artist having to deal with her dementia and memory problems. Definitely recommend reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member alliepascal
Spectacular! This might be one of my favorite short story collections now, because I loved all of them. My favorite was the first story, "Two Truths and a Lie," but they were all beautiful and strange and spoke to some part of me.
LibraryThing member InfoQuest
I usually don't like short fiction, but keep trying it anyway, hoping each time that the experience won't be too uneven, disjointed, and/or unpleasant (why do short stories seem to end ambiguous-to-unhappy so often?), and almost every time, I have to force myself to get through the volume. Oddly,
Though I hadn't realized it, I had read one of these stories before ("A Better Way of Saying"), but all the rest were new to me, though I'd heard of some of them as award-winners. I'd say they deserved the plaudits; personally, "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather" was a particularly fascinating blend of internet culture and folklore. I also appreciated the large number and variety of ekphrastic stories, centering on other forms of art, like music and painting. Often, fiction focusing on creative endeavors can be dull or confusing when shrunk down to words, and happily, these weren't.
Overall, the main and occasional drawback for me was that the overt political or social message to several of these; though I often agree or sympathize with the perspectives, a too-clear agenda can still bog down the narrative at times. For the most part, though, the stories are engaging in themselves aside from any polemic purpose. The other aspect that can be a drawback for me is many of these stories center on something dark or unsettling aspect. At least in this reading, I didn't find the collection as a whole to leave a negative aftertaste, though I might hesitate to reread the collection while depressed or anxious. Still, I'll definitely plan on revisiting these stories in the future and looking out for more of Pinsker's work in the future.
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that was not my experience this time. I actually enjoyed these stories, and I think I might want to try another collection by Pinsker. What a pleasant surprise!Though I hadn't realized it, I had read one of these stories before ("A Better Way of Saying"), but all the rest were new to me, though I'd heard of some of them as award-winners. I'd say they deserved the plaudits; personally, "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather" was a particularly fascinating blend of internet culture and folklore. I also appreciated the large number and variety of ekphrastic stories, centering on other forms of art, like music and painting. Often, fiction focusing on creative endeavors can be dull or confusing when shrunk down to words, and happily, these weren't.
Overall, the main and occasional drawback for me was that the overt political or social message to several of these; though I often agree or sympathize with the perspectives, a too-clear agenda can still bog down the narrative at times. For the most part, though, the stories are engaging in themselves aside from any polemic purpose. The other aspect that can be a drawback for me is many of these stories center on something dark or unsettling aspect. At least in this reading, I didn't find the collection as a whole to leave a negative aftertaste, though I might hesitate to reread the collection while depressed or anxious. Still, I'll definitely plan on revisiting these stories in the future and looking out for more of Pinsker's work in the future.
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LibraryThing member msf59
This was a solid story-collection. I like the themes of music, art, nature and lost chances. I did prefer her earlier collection.
LibraryThing member quondame
Stories that, at least in one case reminded me of both The WIckerman and The Ballad of Beta-2. Strange vibes of the immanence of the uncanny and sometimes the uncan is fully opened.
LibraryThing member booklove2
I love a short story collection like one that Sarah Pinsker delivers -- when it is sci-fi/fantasy/speculative, these stories can go anywhere, do anything, limited by nothing. Usually, the only problem I end up with some of these stories is that they aren't long enough to reward me with the full,
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rich detail that I wish for as a greedy reader. The ideas are so good, but the stories are sometimes a few pages, so you are really only getting the idea. Again, this could be a perfect story for the WRITER, with the intent of planting that idea in the reader's head, but yep, greedy reader here. Most of these actually seem complete to me, but also so compelling that I wish there were more to them! At the same time, it's why I love speculative short stories - that they can contain unique ideas without needing to be an entire novel. The stories here are immediately engaging and immersive, chock full of great out-there scenarios. On a sentence level, very rich and detailed. For example, Douglas Fairbanks shooting a man with an arrow from atop a building in NYC (really happened) -- but Pinsker giving this real event a spin of her own. One story reads like it's a website with comments of fans analyzing the lyrics of a mysterious old ballad. I'm a huge fan of Pinsker's first collection 'Sooner Or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea', and with this collection, I can add a few more favorite stories to the pile. I think both of these collections aren't to be missed if you like speculative and weird short stories. I know I will be reading whatever words Sarah Pinsker throws out into the world and I will also definitely check out her music soon. Show Less
Awards
Locus Recommended Reading (Collection — 2023)
Language
Original publication date
2023-05-02
Physical description
269 p.; 8.5 inches
ISBN
1618731998 / 9781618731999