This short story by Rahul Kanakia is another from Clarkesworld Magazine, and you can read it for free here. The full title of this short story is "Seeking boarder for rm w/ attached bathroom, must be willing to live with ghosts ($500 / Berkeley)," and that title tells you pretty much everything I can say about the plot without telling you the whole thing. The story is told in the form of several listings for a boarder, and the poster may or may not be a reliable narrator. That's for the reader to decide. :)
I love stories with unreliable narrators, where I spend half of my time reading it trying to figure out if I'm the narrator is telling the truth, lying, or just delusional. I always think about "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a short story I read in college that is, in my opinion, one of the best examples of an unreliable narrator.
"Seeking Boarder..." is extremely well-written. The voice of the narrator was consistent and believable, and the story had a strange, uneasy mood that stayed with me for a while after reading. The story is more a study of the narrator's character than it is a plot-driven tale.
I would recommend this short story to people who enjoy unreliable narrators, stories told in non-standard formats, character-driven stories, and modern supernatural tales. It's extremely short, only 3762 words long, so I would also recommend it to someone who wants to spend no more than ten minutes reading something thought-provoking.
Rating: 4 stars
Showing posts with label 4 stars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 4 stars. Show all posts
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Book Review: Underland Chronicles, by Suzanne Collins
I realize that this is not so much a book review as a series review. I read all five volumes of this series in three days. It's safe to say I enjoyed it immensely.
Gregor is an 11-year-old who falls into a New York kid's version of Wonderland. Instead of talking rabbits, caterpillars, and cards, he finds himself in a world populated by six-foot tall talking rats, bats big enough to ride on, and enormous cockroaches, as well as a race of humans with translucent white skin and violet eyes. The Underland is on the verge of war, and according to the Underlanders' prophecies, Gregor is the warrior who will save them all.
Each book follows a formula: Gregor and his sister Boots (and sometimes one or two other members of their family) go to the Underland, Gregor finds out about a prophesy concerning him, he goes on an adventure, the prophesy is unraveled, and Gregor and Boots go back home.
Within this format, the books explore what it means to belong somewhere, when (and if) war and violence are legitimate, and whether you can have any power over your own life when someone else is telling you what you have to do (even when the person telling you is doing so through a centuries-old prophesy). Collins does not hesitate to kill her characters when it's necessary, which makes the story more believable, and I think that death and grief are important things for children to read about. This series is full of darkness and pain, but also humor, love, and excitement. I also loved Luxa, the princess of the human Underlanders. She's young, but she's a strong-minded warrior, and I've always been a fan of strong female characters.
This series, with its prophesies and wonderful young characters, was a really fun read. Gregor's 2-year-old sister, Boots, comes with him on all of his adventures, and she brings an element of lightheartedness to the books, while grounding Gregor in reality. He can't get too lost in being a hero when he needs to change his baby sister's diaper.
I would highly recommend these books to readers who thought Wonderland wasn't gritty enough, and readers who like exciting adventure stories.
Rating: 4 stars
Gregor is an 11-year-old who falls into a New York kid's version of Wonderland. Instead of talking rabbits, caterpillars, and cards, he finds himself in a world populated by six-foot tall talking rats, bats big enough to ride on, and enormous cockroaches, as well as a race of humans with translucent white skin and violet eyes. The Underland is on the verge of war, and according to the Underlanders' prophecies, Gregor is the warrior who will save them all.
Each book follows a formula: Gregor and his sister Boots (and sometimes one or two other members of their family) go to the Underland, Gregor finds out about a prophesy concerning him, he goes on an adventure, the prophesy is unraveled, and Gregor and Boots go back home.
Within this format, the books explore what it means to belong somewhere, when (and if) war and violence are legitimate, and whether you can have any power over your own life when someone else is telling you what you have to do (even when the person telling you is doing so through a centuries-old prophesy). Collins does not hesitate to kill her characters when it's necessary, which makes the story more believable, and I think that death and grief are important things for children to read about. This series is full of darkness and pain, but also humor, love, and excitement. I also loved Luxa, the princess of the human Underlanders. She's young, but she's a strong-minded warrior, and I've always been a fan of strong female characters.
This series, with its prophesies and wonderful young characters, was a really fun read. Gregor's 2-year-old sister, Boots, comes with him on all of his adventures, and she brings an element of lightheartedness to the books, while grounding Gregor in reality. He can't get too lost in being a hero when he needs to change his baby sister's diaper.
I would highly recommend these books to readers who thought Wonderland wasn't gritty enough, and readers who like exciting adventure stories.
Rating: 4 stars
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