レビュー要約

• 幻想と事実、随筆的な語りと物語性を自在に混ぜる語り口が評価されている。分類しにくい作品群だが、細部の鮮やかさと確かな声によって、驚きのある読書体験を生むと受け止められている。

レビュー

• "Meanwhile, I found that the second world, having first appeared to me in darkness, was here to stay; it turned out to be a multifaceted underside of so-called reality, a dungeon full of treasure, an aetherial world through the looking glass, a mysterious box with passcodes to all enigmas, an address book with the exact coordinates of those who never existed." • "The chopped-up legs in the shopping bag are pulling your arm down, and it seems as if at the very last moment they’ll refuse to get into the elevator. They’ll twitch, break free, and run away, clacking across the ceramic tiles: clippity-clop, clippity-clop, clippity-clop." • This short story collection has embedded itself inside my heart. In a mix of fiction and nonfiction, Tolstaya writes the most divine short stories that sublime the mundane. In "Aspic" making aspics becomes a complete sensory experience that transcends reality. It is as if the words were in motion. The bounteous language she uses rolls in your mouth, titillating every little string of your heart. It's a symphony of words and images, almost a cinematic experience. In an acerbic tone, Tolstaya's narrator delivers her reflections always in the most trenchant, but also the most perspicacious way. • Tolstaya made my heart sing from the very first page. It felt like a revelation. I am forever spellbound by her words and by this book. • 5/5 ~ #fridayinaprilbookreviews

• Beautiful, open , sensitive, lyric, poetic. Tatyana Tolstaya, Aetherial Worlds, On the golden Porch, The Slynx, Sleepwalker in the Fog, Pushkin's Children, all masterpieces. Once I read , The Slynx, I could not help myself.

• We all have our internal paradoxes. One of mine is the coexistence of a long-standing disconnect with blood relatives and a fascination with my cultural heritage. Both sides of my family have extensive roots in Eastern Europe, so, while perusing a list of women authors of weird short fiction, I happened upon Tatyana Tolstaya, a marvelous Russian writer whose Russianness is an intimate part of her work. Her stories are the sort where I can never tell if she’s writing about actual experiences or artfully weaving herself into her aetherial fiction. Perhaps both. There’s a wonder, a melancholy, and an edge to all of these stories, even the most mundane has an otherworldly feel, that tastes distinctly Russian to me. I loved them and will be seeking out more of her work.

• The dreaded Amazon 3 star review. If something earns a 4 or 5 star review you know exactly what the reviewer thought of it. If he assigns a 1 or 2 star review there is always a chance that he has a personal issue with the book and is being petulant, or feels betrayed in some way because the book was not what he thought. But 3 stars? Right in the middle of the road, not quite bad enough to stop reading but unable to say that he really enjoyed it. And that is what I think of this book. If you were trapped somewhere with this book and few or no other books I would suggest that you read it. But if you have access to a library or money to buy books I could recommend hundreds of other books that I think you should read first. The stories seem mostly about real event's in this Russian woman's life. I didn't find the stories more than moderately interesting and her style was not all that appealing. There was one story that was most definitely fantasy, which I was looking forward to. But it never grabbed me. It was typical and I couldn't help thinking how any number of authors would have done it better. I do think 3 stars are warranted; perhaps you will enjoy it more than I did. If you want to read an author talk honestly about their life I recommend that you read the My Struggle Series by Karl Ove Knausgaard. Those books are absolutely masterful. They are unlike anything I have ever read and are subtly addictive. I have to mete them out because I don't want to run out of them.

• Fascinating. The very short story “Aspic” is one of the best I have ever read.

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