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juushikaTitle: Singing Innocence and Experience
Author: Sonya Taaffe
Published: Prime Books, 2005
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 272
Total Page Count: 71,184
Text Number: 208
Read For: reading mythpunk, checked out from the library
Short review: Sixteen short stories and a handful of poems, Singing Innocence and Experience is a collection of mythologies, retold or freshly imagined but in all cases humanized. The stories vary widely, from Orpheus's head found washed up on the seashore to a unicorn in the shape of the man, and all are written with lyrical prose and a strong sense of magic. All of the stories are a joy to read, but in a collection they sometimes suffer: when grouped together, there is not enough time to appreciate each story individually. Nonetheless, enthusiastically recommended.
Taaffe can place a golem on a sun-drenched Boston street, and still have his story read as a myth: she takes a myth, breaks it down, reinvents it, and then mythologizes it again in her lyrical writing. Clearly she knows her myths well, and she is able to render them to key themes and concepts which are a strong backbone that supports the story. By reinventing (or even creating) her myths, she renders them new again—in magical premises which capture the imagination, via characters who are nuanced and deeply empathetic. Her writing is a poetic voice rich with sensory detail, and it both brings her stories to life and renders them once again the thing of myth and legend. And so her stories are art: original, consuming, haunting, beautiful, empathetic, mythic, and truly meaningful.
Unfortunately, in a collection they suffer. Because the myths are reimagined and sometimes appear in incongruous settings, and because Taaffe's language is so lyrical and rich, it often takes half of the story to figure out its premise—and the second half to figure out what it means. Stories like this beg silence after their reading, to contemplate them and knit together their pieces. In a collection, with another story calling from just the next page, it's easy to skip that contemplation—and so the stories feel short, as if they end as soon as they make sense. But take your time in the reading, and this collection is a delight. I enjoyed every story, and was hugely impressed by Taaffe's talent. I recommend this collection with all enthusiasm. It's a work of art.
Review posted here on Amazon.
Author: Sonya Taaffe
Published: Prime Books, 2005
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 272
Total Page Count: 71,184
Text Number: 208
Read For: reading mythpunk, checked out from the library
Short review: Sixteen short stories and a handful of poems, Singing Innocence and Experience is a collection of mythologies, retold or freshly imagined but in all cases humanized. The stories vary widely, from Orpheus's head found washed up on the seashore to a unicorn in the shape of the man, and all are written with lyrical prose and a strong sense of magic. All of the stories are a joy to read, but in a collection they sometimes suffer: when grouped together, there is not enough time to appreciate each story individually. Nonetheless, enthusiastically recommended.
Taaffe can place a golem on a sun-drenched Boston street, and still have his story read as a myth: she takes a myth, breaks it down, reinvents it, and then mythologizes it again in her lyrical writing. Clearly she knows her myths well, and she is able to render them to key themes and concepts which are a strong backbone that supports the story. By reinventing (or even creating) her myths, she renders them new again—in magical premises which capture the imagination, via characters who are nuanced and deeply empathetic. Her writing is a poetic voice rich with sensory detail, and it both brings her stories to life and renders them once again the thing of myth and legend. And so her stories are art: original, consuming, haunting, beautiful, empathetic, mythic, and truly meaningful.
Unfortunately, in a collection they suffer. Because the myths are reimagined and sometimes appear in incongruous settings, and because Taaffe's language is so lyrical and rich, it often takes half of the story to figure out its premise—and the second half to figure out what it means. Stories like this beg silence after their reading, to contemplate them and knit together their pieces. In a collection, with another story calling from just the next page, it's easy to skip that contemplation—and so the stories feel short, as if they end as soon as they make sense. But take your time in the reading, and this collection is a delight. I enjoyed every story, and was hugely impressed by Taaffe's talent. I recommend this collection with all enthusiasm. It's a work of art.
Review posted here on Amazon.
