Clunk whirr.

[threemonkeys]

I'll just get this off my chest. I didn't enjoy Magic for Beginners, Kelly Link's collection of stories. I feel like I'm making a confession saying that. The reason is that so many people are giving Link astonishingly high praise - in print and in personal recommendation. I feel like I'm thumbing my nose at all those people. So what is it about these stories?

They are inventive. There is all sorts of clever structural devices - nested stories, backward stories, stories which just fade out and the like - very admirable. The images in them are unsettled and chaotic in a clever and admirable fashion. The behaviour of the characters is odd and non linear too. The settings are admirably strange too. There are lots of quips in the text - not funny but clever. The same goes for the pop culture references. The prose style is quite distinct - short stabbing sentences like an angry fairy tale that keeps prodding at you. You have got to admire all the clever stuff.

Well, maybe I'm overdoing the "admirable" and "clever" but that is what I feel about this work. There is lots of unique artistic merit here but it goes too far for my taste. As a result, the adjectives missing from the description are "engaging" and "enjoyable". I'm reminded of a Paul Klee painting - important, influential and well regarded, but I wouldn't want one on my wall.

Comments

[bluetyson.livejournal.com]

I think this obscure type stuff, is less likely to be on our shelves than in the original place because it has to compete with the big-name or best from the USA and the UK and locally, whereas in its origin country, mostly only competing with the local stuff there, because of the publisher oligopoly thing that doesn't apply here - NZ too probably?

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

The NZ market is probably one of the most open of all markets in terms of where retailers can source books. The downside of this is, as you say, all the big name players are there to dominate the attention of the buyers so it is difficult for more niche players to get a look in. A couple of the independents try to bring in interesting niche titles but not enough to get any sort of reliable supply.

[bluetyson.livejournal.com]

Right, I figured you likely had deregulated parallel importing type stuff too from vague memories of airports and such.